It's never too early to plan your next vacation, and National Geographic has travelers covered with its annual Best of the World 2027 list.
The list, released to USA TODAY on Oct. 20, includes top destinations in the world and lesser-known ones, inspiring "travelers to explore the world with curiosity and a sense of discovery."
Nat Geo said locations on the list were selected by National Geographic’s global community of travel experts and editors, and range from the birthplace of American railroading, Baltimore, to Normandy, France, which will celebrate 1,000 years since the birth of William the Conqueror, to Luxor, Egypt, where a "total solar eclipse will cast the ancient city into more than six minutes of daytime twilight."
Best of the World
"looks beyond the obvious to highlight places where new openings, landmark anniversaries, cultural celebrations and improved access are creating fresh ways to experience a destination," Nat Geo said, adding it also "captures the creative energy shaping cities and communities around the world."
"The core spirit behind 'Best of the World' is to provide people with fresh, exciting, new reasons to get out there and see the world," National Geographic editor-in-chief Nathan Lump told USA TODAY. "That's something that our audience looks for from us. We know that they're interested in both returning to places that might be familiar to them but also exploring new places that they might never have considered, and so we're really trying to give them inspiration to do that."
Lump added the publication is also "looking to try to find places we think will add greater meaning to people's travels."
"Our audience, and travelers in general, are looking for their travel to be meaningful and enriching in some way, so we also really look for places that deliver something that feels like it's going to add to the experience and give you a bit more," Lump said. "People's leisure time is so precious − it is one of those things that none of us feel we have enough of. That's why I think our list is really focused on trying to find places that deliver that for people across a wide range of interests."
What are the best places to visit in 2027?
- Baltimore
- Pacific Coast Highway, California
- Halifax, Nova Scotia
- Southern Ozarks, Missouri and Arkansas
- Puerto Rico
- Grenada
- Cape Froward, Chile
- Kuélap, Chachapoyas, Perú
- Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland
- Leipzig, Germany
- Normandy, France
- Santander, Spain
- The Transcaucasian Trail, Armenia
- Tricity, Poland
- Vestland, Norway
- Luxor, Egypt
- Malawi
- Chengdu, China
- Niigata, Japan
- Jaipur, India
- Melbourne, Australia
- Madison, Wisconsin
- Maya Ka’an, Mexico
- Salvador, Bahia, Brazil
- Penang, Malaysia
While the list includes a variety of destinations for all kinds of travelers, Lump said Kuélap in Perú particularly stood out for him.
"I think very few people have probably ever heard of it, and it is only vaguely familiar to me," Lump said. "People know Machu Picchu, the famous site in Perú, but Kuélap in northern Perú is a really interesting pre-Incan site that has only recently become more accessible to visitors. It was built by the Chachapoya people in about 500 BC, and it's an incredible feat of engineering. They've got like human-shaped sarcophagi perched on a cliffside, and it's like one of those really mysterious places that most people have probably never heard of."
"It's a really, really fascinating place," he added.
With overcrowding and overtourism weighing down popular destinations, Lump said: "It is something that we factor in."
"For instance, one of our selections this year in Japan is a place called Niigata, which is really awesome, but it is not one of the places that everyone goes to," Lump said. "We factor that thinking into our selections because we want to provide those alternatives to people where it's like you can go to a place that's really popular, but you can go to a part of that place that is maybe less busy, where you might have a better, more interesting experience, even."
For more on Nat Geo's "Best of the World 2027" and to explore each destination through National Geographic photography and reporting, visit NatGeo.com/BestOfTheWorld.
Which US sites made National Geographic's 'Best of the World 2027' list?
From Baltimore to the ruggedly scenic Pacific Coast Highway in California, National Geographic's "Best of the World 2027" has a U.S. destination for every kind of traveler.
Lump said several U.S. destinations were included to ensure that "we have options that are reasonably accessible, a little bit easier for people to get to."
"Travelers are looking for trips of different lengths, and for our U.S. readers, we wanted to make sure that there are some options that feel like they're good for shorter trips as well," Lump said. "We made a particular effort to make sure that there was a good selection of domestic destinations in addition to some of our farther-flung ones."
U.S. destinations on the list include:
- Baltimore
- Pacific Coast Highway, California
- Southern Ozarks, Missouri and Arkansas
- Madison, Wisconsin
How did National Geographic decide these places?
It all begins with a call out to the National Geographic community, Lump said.
He added that the final list of destinations is narrowed from hundreds of submissions.
"We basically solicit nominations from the National Geographic community," Lump said. "Writers, reporters, photographers, videographers we work with, plus National Geographic explorers, plus of course our own editors and staff members."
With National Geographic having a large network and bureaus across the world, the initial list includes hundreds of nominations, after which the team goes "through a whole vetting process to really determine which ones we think deserve to be on the list."
"We're looking for places that we feel like have a kind of a wow factor to them," Lump said, while cautioning that "we (also) want to make sure there's a good range of geographies, special interests or passion points."
According to Lump, National Geographic wanted a list that includes "something for everyone," so it factored in accessibility, trip lengths and budgets.
Reader's Choice campaign
In the weeks leading up to the release of "Best of World," National Geographic launched a "Readers’ Choice" campaign via social media, inviting audiences to share their favorite travel destination recommendations.
Hundreds of destinations worldwide were nominated, but only five were chosen as finalists: Kotor, Montenegro; Son-Kol Lake, Kyrgyzstan; Catamarca, Argentina; Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, Uganda; and Santa Catalina Island, U.S.A.
From the final list, audiences named Santa Catalina Island the Readers’ Choice winner, which is the 26th destination on Nat Geo's list.
Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at sshafiq@gannett.com and follow her on X and Instagram @saman_shafiq7.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Nat Geo reveals top travel destinations you should explore in 2027
