31 Places to Go in 2010

 

1.) Sri Lanka:
	The island, with a population of just 20 million, feels like one big tropical zoo: elephants roam freely, water buffaloes idle in paddy fields and monkeys swing from trees. And then there's the pristine coastline. The miles of sugary white sand flanked by bamboo groves.

 

2.) Patagonia Wine Country:
	Ten years ago, a group of adventurous winemakers set their sights on an Argentine valley called San Patricio del Chanar, an unusually fertile and eerily beautiful corner of Patagonia. The outcome? A blossoming wine country with delicious pinot noirs and malbecs and smartly designed wineries.

 

3.) Seoul:
	Forget Tokyo. Design aficionados are now heading to Seoul. They have been drawn by the Korean capital's glammed-up cafes and restaurants, immaculate art galleries and monumental fashion palaces. And now Seoul, under its design-obsessed mayor, Oh Se-hoon, is the 2010 World Design Capital.

 

4.) Mysore:
	Yogis seeking transcontinental bliss head these days to Mysore, the City of Palaces, in southern India. The yogi pilgrimage was sparked by Ashtanga yoga, a rigorous sweat-producing, breath-synchronized regimen of poses popularized by the beloved Krishna Pattabhi Jois.

 

5.) Copenhagen:
	The Danish capital has already emerged as one of the world's greenest - and maybe coolest - cities. Copenhageners don't simply preach the "progressive city" ethos, they live it. Long, flat urban thoroughfares are hemmed with bicycle paths.

 

6.) Koh Kood:
	The Trat islands are emerging as Thailand's new luxury outpost. Islands like Koh Kood are starting to draw venturesome paradise seekers, thanks in part to new direct flights to the port city of Trat.

 

7.) Damascus:
	The next Marrakesh? Perhaps mindful of the way that renovations of historic riads have drawn upscale travelers to Marrakesh, Damascus hoteliers are trying to mine tourism gold in the rundown buildings of the Syrian capital's Old City.

 

8.) Cesme:
	The next Bodrum? While revelers continue to descend upon the seaside retreat, another corner of Turkey's Aegean coastline has begun to emerge as a stylish alternative: the once-sleepy villages of the Cesme Peninsula.

 

9.) Antarctica:
	Until recently, most vessels passing through Antarctica were limited scientific expeditions, but an exploding number of tourists now flock to what is arguably the world's last great wilderness.

 

10.) Leipzig:
	The city's cultural high note is likely the Neo Rauch retrospective opening in April at the Leipzig Museum of Fine Arts. The city is also making a splash on the musical front. Moon Harbour Recordings and Kann Records are based here.

 

11.) Los Angeles:
	Visitors love to bemoan the lack of an old-fashioned cultural neighborhood in Los Angeles. In truth, the city has as many thriving art spots as it does Zip codes.

 

12.) Shanghai:
	In the run-up to the Expo, Shanghai seems to have taken this year's theme, "Better City, Better Life," to heart, spending tens of billions of dollars to upgrade the city. The riverfront Bund promenade is getting a makeover with parks and pedestrian-friendly sidewalks, while the subway is being dramatically expanded.

 

13.) Mumbai:
	On the one-year anniversary of the 2008 Mumbai attacks, citizens painted a one-kilometer stretch of wall in South Mumbai with murals to show their love and hope for the city. A walk through the newly dubbed Colaba Art district yields no fewer than five contemporary art galleries.

 

14.) Minorca:
	While the beat of disco pounds in Ibiza and Majorca, their quiet sister Minorca offers tranquil contrast to the glitz next door. Picture miles of beaches - some 120 of them, in fact, like the northern sweep of crystal-clear swimming waters in the coves with fine sand and rolling dunes.

 

15.) Costa Rica:
	Costa Rica has been on any eco-minded traveler's radar for years, but with a new birding route in the northeast region of the country, there's a new reason to pay the country a visit.

 

16.) Marrakesh:
	The ancient walls of Marrakesh must have protected the city from the global recession. Luxury boutique hotels, which began opening a few years ago, are now popping like Champagne corks over this historic and atmospheric North African city.

 

17.) Las Vegas:
	Despite a 4 percent drop in visitors in 2009, and the fact that several Las Vegas hotels have drastically slashed their rates to attract bargain-seeking travelers, a number of ambitious developers seem to think there is still money to be made in Sin City.

 

18.) Bahia:
	All eyes will turn to sultry Rio de Janeiro when it hosts the 2016 Olympic Games, but right now Brazil's white-hot destination may be the northeastern state of Bahia. With its distinctive African-influenced flavors, cultural diversity, palm-fringed beaches and a new crop of chic hotels, the region is fast emerging as a jet-set playground.

 

19.) Istanbul:
	The reputation of Istanbul's contemporary art scene has been steadily growing in recent years. That reputation is bound to be burnished even more this year, now that Istanbul has been named the 2010 European Capital of Culture.

 

20.) Shenzhen:
	Shenzhen is one of China's wealthiest cities, right up there with Shanghai and Beijing. Situated just 45-minute train ride north of Hong Kong, the thriving city exemplifies China's breakneck transformation from peasant economy to capitalist giant.

 

21.) Macedonia:
	One of the deepest lakes on the planet, with a dazzling Unesco World Heritage site of ancient dwellings rising high above its shores, Lake Ohrid in Macedonia is a local vacation star poised for a greater international acclaim.

 

22.) South Africa:
	As host of the 2010 World Cup this summer, South Africa has gotten its game on with a flurry of new stadiums, new hotels and safari lodges. Much of the action off the field is taking place in Cape Town, known for its stunning beaches, mouthwatering cuisine and sophisticated night life.

 

23.) Breckenridge:
	The ski resort of Breckenridge is not content to be merely the party capital of the Colorado Rockies - now it wants to be the Amsterdam, too. The former mining town is known for its anything-goes reputation among ski fanatics.

 

24.) Montenegro:
	On the southern edges of Montenegro, almost at the border of Albania, is an unusual land formation: a powdery, eight-mile-long beach called Velika Plaza (Long Beach) and a triangular island where the Bojana River meets the sea. The island is called Ada Bojana, and the area is quickly becoming a party destination for the young surfer set.

 

25.) Vancouver Island:
	Vancouver will have the sporting world's attention when it hosts the Winter Olympics this year, but the most rewarding outdoor exploration is found outside the city, Nanaimo on Vancouver Island's east coast. The new Wild Pacific Trail skirts rocky, rugged shoreline, overlooking sandy coves lined with driftwood and tidepools.

 

26.) Colombia:
	Bogota, its capital, has emerged as a role model of urban reinvention. Starting in the late 1990s, the city underwent a breathtaking transformation. Meanwhile, the picturesque coastal city of Cartagena, a Unesco World Heritage site, gets even more stylish.

 

27.) Kitzbuhel:
	Most Austrians know the Austrian town of Kitzbuhel as nothing less than a ski paradise, with 53 lifts and 104 miles of powdery slopes. But in the past few years, Kitzbuhel has started to earn a reputation for its high-end dining.

 

28.) Norway:
	With an acclaimed new opera house and plenty of high-end dining options, Oslo is already a must-visit urban destination. But this year the focus should be on the wilds of the Norwegian countryside. With its dazzling Nordic light and dramatic landscape, Norway is perhaps the most unexplored and exotic corner of Europe.

 

29.) Gargano:
	The Italian peninsula of Gargano sits on the Adriatic and boasts a checklist of summer-perfect Italian holiday options. The offerings are largely a part of the protected Gargano National Park, a swath of terrain encompassing everything from oak and beech Foresta Umbra to the sheer chalk-colored cliffs and grottoes of the coast's Caribbean.

 

30.) Kuala Lumpur:
	While Phuket and Angkor Wat are tourism anchors in Southeast Asia, jetsetters in the region are heading these days to Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian capital that's quietly evolved into one of the area's coolest and friendliest cities.

 

31.) Nepal:
	Looking for the next gay destination? How about the Himalayan country of Nepal? In the roughly two years since the nation's supreme court ordered that gay, lesbians and transgendered people be afforded equal rights, this conservative, mostly Hindu country appears to be moving ahead full throttle.

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