I love reading the annual travel lists compiled by various travel websites and newspapers on top travel destinations for the year. While I don’t particularly care if a destination I travel to is considered a must see, I love reading these lists for inspiration on where to travel to and discovering places I might not have considered.

The New York Times list is one of my favorites. Here are their picks for places to go in 2026:

New York Times 52 Places to Go in 2026

1. Revolutionary America
2. Warsaw
3. Bangkok
4. Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica
5. Bandhavgarh, India
6. Dallas
7. Oran, Algeria
8. Route 66
9. Saba, the Caribbean
10. Poblenou, Barcelona
11. Nepal’s Other Mountains
12. Bayreuth, Germany
13. Canadian Rockies by Train
14. Top End, Australia
15. Penang, Malaysia
16. Los Angeles
17. Nagasaki, Japan
18. Breuil-Cervinia, Italy
19. Memphis
20. Armenia
21. Sorolla’s Spain
22. Winnie-the-Pooh’s England
23. Seychelles
24. Inhotim, Brazil
25. Iceland
26. Sanibel and Captiva Islands, Fla.
27. Hyde Park, Chicago
28. Traena Islands, Norway
29. Miches, Dominican Republic
30. Portland, Ore.
31. Tien Shan Mountains, Kyrgyzstan
32. Assisi, Italy
33. Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
34. Vietnam
35. Querétaro, Mexico
36. Medora, N.D.
37. Camiguin, the Philippines
38. Messinia, Greece
39. Guyana
40. Deer Valley, Utah
41. Yunnan, China
42. Bentonville, Ark.
43. Cape Froward, Chile
44. Genoa, Italy
45. Dongseo Trail, South Korea
46. Okinawa, Japan
47. Río Pastaza Watershed, Ecuador
48. Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Tanzania
49. Melbourne, Australia
50. Virginia Beach
51. Big Sur, Calif.
52. Mon, Denmark

While some of these destinations are not well known, there are a few places that already receive many visitors including Iceland, Los Angeles, Bangkok, Vietnam, Portland and Melbourne.

Ngorongoro Conservation Area is a popular safari destination because of the annual migration and it is towards the top of my travel wish list.

As Chicagoan, I have always found Hyde Park to be somewhat underrated. In addition to the Museum of Science of Industry, other attractions worth visiting include Promontory Point (which has great skyline views) and Jackson Park (home to a beautiful and quiet Japanese garden). It will be interesting to see how the neighorhood changes after the Obama Presidential Center opens later this year.

Click here for the full New York Times article.

To see the past lists from recent years here are the New York Times 52 Places to Go lists from 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025.