Discover unforgettable travel destinations in 2024. The bustling streets of Paris, where the Olympics meet art, to the tranquil landscapes of New Zealand, where sustainable train journeys take you through breathtaking scenery. Explore diverse places around the globe on this list, whether you’re looking for cultural enrichment, natural wonders, or thrilling adventures.
Here are 20 places that you should visit in 2024
1- PARIS
One of the world’s most visited cities, Paris will welcome millions of tourists this summer as host of the 2024 Olympics and Paralympics. This will be the biggest sporting event in the city’s history, and many well-known monuments are being turned into sports and entertainment venues.
For the first time, the Olympics opening ceremony won’t be in a stadium, but along the River Seine near the Eiffel Tower. The Pont d’Iéna will be the backdrop for the outdoor swimming and para-triathlon. Fencing and taekwondo will be held at the Grand Palais, renowned for its huge glass dome. In Versailles’ grand gardens, just outside Paris, equestrian events will take place on a gallery and course. La Concorde will host the Olympics debuts of break dancing, skateboarding, and three-on-three basketball.
Paris and Normandy are also celebrating the 150th anniversary of the first Impressionist exhibition. Musée d’Orsay’s “Paris 1874: The Impressionist Moment” features 130 works tracing the artistic movement and how it captured a changing city. The reconstructed Notre-Dame Cathedral, which was destroyed by fire in 2019, will open to visitors on Dec. 8, 2024.
2- Yamaguchi Japan
A compact city of about 190,000, Yamaguchi lies in a narrow valley between the Inland and Japan Seas. It’s often compared to Kyoto, but it’s much more interesting.
Rurikoji Temple’s gardens and five-story pagoda make it a national treasure. The city’s small winding lanes offer an assortment of experiences: pottery kilns like Mizunoue, located on the grounds of Toshunji Temple; chic coffee shops like Log and Coffeeboy, old school choices like Haraguchi; and wonderful counter-only shops with oden, or one-pot meals. A 15-minute walk south is Yuda Onsen, a hot springs village.
Yamaguchi offers a smaller scale – but no less historic – alternative to Kyoto’s Gion summer festival, given the tourist crush. As part of Yamaguchi’s Gion Festival, which features parades, costumes, and dancing, 2024 will be the festival’s first full year since before Covid.
3- New Zealand by Train
Taking a camper van across New Zealand is a free-spirited traveler’s dream. Trains are easier and more sustainable. Take a 17-day journey on the Northern Explorer, Coastal Pacific, or TranzAlpine trains offered by KiwiRail’s tourism division, Great Journeys.
The journey starts in Auckland and takes you to places like Tongariro National Park and Te Papa Tongarewa Museum. On the South Island, guests ferry across the Cook Strait and board the Coastal Pacific for a ride through world-class vineyards and along jagged coastline, stopping to see whales and dolphins. As the TranzAlpine climbs over the Southern Alps, you’ll see white-capped peaks, rushing rivers, and alpine lakes. At each stop, you’ll stay in a four-star hotel. Introducing luxury carriages with reclining seats, panoramic windows, and partial glass ceilings in spring.
4-Maui & Hawaii
Maui, Hawaii’s second largest island, was devastated by wildfires last summer, killing at least 100 people and razing the town of Lahaina. Nonessential travel to the affected areas was paused for two months; with such tragedy came concerns about Maui’s tourism resurgence.
While Lahaina is still closed to visitors, it’s bursting with activities and lush landscapes: In Kihei, Kamaole State Beach Park is perfect for snorkeling and spotting sea turtles. Farther north in Kapalua, a gentle walking trail meanders through lava fields and along the sea. Haleakala National Park, one of Maui’s most cherished natural attractions, is a long way from the fire zone. You can also volunteer to help people who were displaced by the fires.
5- Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah KukveniArizona
It’s no secret that Grand Canyon National Park is on many travel bucket lists, but there’s a new reason to go. It’s now around 900,000 acres of plateaus, canyons, and other land surrounding the Grand Canyon that’s protected by the Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni. More than 3,000 Native cultural and historic sites are preserved in the monument, which represents the ancestral homelands of more than a dozen Indigenous tribes.
You can support Native American communities by booking an adventure on the Colorado River with Hualapai River Runners. Whatever you do, be sure to look up: The California condor, once on the verge of extinction, now has a population of more than 100 thanks to recent conservation efforts.
6- Singapore
Since 1965, Singapore hasn’t stopped modernizing. With a luxury hotel boom, the cosmopolitan city-state is transforming itself with its cuisine, architecture, and world-class airport. There’s a new 204-room Edition on Orchard Road, and the Standard is coming soon. There will also be a return of famous hotels like the Mandarin Oriental and Grand Hyatt.
A major expansion has also been done at Changi Airport. In November, Terminal 2 reopened with new automated check-in kiosks, bag drops, and immigration lanes, more than quadrupling its capacity to 28 million passengers. Changi will offer passport-free departures this year with the latest biometrics and facial recognition technology.
7- O’Higgins Chile
In this undervalued region south of Santiago, wildfires threaten hundred-year-old grapevines, earthquakes are common, and the climate is changing. There’s a group of cooks, winemakers, and artisan growers trying to preserve the rural farmer identity. The Ruta de los Abastos initiative started offering rural culinary experiences in late 2023 to connect visitors with local beekeepers, oyster farmers and other producers.
Markets and eateries such as El Abasto in Rancagua and the vineyard-based eateries at Food and Wine Studio and Viña Vik are showcasing local ingredients such as lamb raised nearby, sea salt from Cáhuil, and chacolí, a low-alcohol wine made by local growers. . Local gastronomy and organic wine lists, such as those at Mareal, are the main draws along the coast between Pichilemu and Punta de Lobos, where modern beach resorts like Hotel Alaia are scattered around the shore.
8- Ladakh India
Ladakh is a mountainous region between the Himalayas to the south and the Karakoram range to the north. It’s a place where time seems to have stood still, with its stark beauty and remote villages.
Administrative changes have improved infrastructure and accessibility in recent years. Atal Tunnel allows visitors to bypass Rohtang Pass, turning a treacherous ride – lasting several hours in good weather – into a brisk 20 minutes. Visitors can now enjoy stunning landscapes, pristine lakes, Buddhist monasteries, and other cultural attractions in Leh (Ladakh’s largest city), including markets, museums, and a nine-story palace. There are new hiking and trekking routes in Leh and the Zanskar Valley.
9- Geneva Switzerland
On the outskirts of Geneva, the European Organization for Nuclear Research and its 17-mile-long particle accelerator are home to the tiniest bits of nature. Up until recently, there weren’t many options for nerding out. In October, Renzo Piano designed CERN Science Gateway changed that with quantum karaoke and quantum air hockey. Physicists discovered the Higgs boson in 2012 at the Large Hadron Collider, a key to understanding the universe’s origins.
Visitors can sample Geneva’s famous truffles, bonbons, and pralines on the Choco Pass, a self-guided chocolate tour that debuted in 2022. Book a table at Breitling Kitchen, the Swiss watch brand’s fourth crossover restaurant, which features menus designed by “Top Chef” Juan Arbelaez.
10- DominicaThe Caribbean
This 290-square-mile island in the West Indies is nicknamed the Nature Island because of its volcanoes, rainforests, waterfalls, and hot springs. Visitors will be able to see the wild landscape from a bird’s-eye later this year thanks to a $54 million cable car line that will take them from Roseau Valley to Boiling Lake, a 200-foot-wide fumarole flooded with water that’s nearly 200 degrees, but you have to hike to get there.
You can also find hiking trails all over the island, crystal waterfalls are perfect for rappelling, and pristine coral reefs offer some of the best diving in the world. As well as more than 20 species of whales and dolphins, the island’s west coast boasts a population of sperm whales that’ll get their own sanctuary soon.
11- Manchester England
Music has long been a part of Manchester’s gritty soul, from Joy Division to Oasis to Harry Styles, who is backing the largest new music venue in Britain, Co-op Live. The 23,500-capacity venue will be inaugurated by stars like Liam Gallagher, Eric Clapton and Barry Manilow. It’ll complement the reopening of Band on the Wall, the post-punk incubator, and New Century, where the Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, and Tina Turner played.
There are two major music conferences in the city this year, Worldwide Music Expo, a behemoth with concerts, speakers, films, and an awards ceremony, and Beyond the Music, a smorgasbord of performances, parties, workshops, and more. Laurie Anderson headlines Factory International arts center with “ARK,” a multimedia “dark comedy for the end of the world.”
12- Craters of the Moon Idaho
In Idaho, lava outpourings from 15,000 to 2,000 years ago created a surreal landscape filled with gaping craters, steep-sided cinder cones, and underground lava tubes. It was declared a national monument by Calvin Coolidge in 1924, and Craters of the Moon is celebrating its centennial with new trails, wayside exhibits, and events.
Stargaze at a centennial Star Party with the Idaho Falls Astronomical Society or camp under one of the country’s largest “pools” of natural nighttime darkness. And enjoy it all in relative solitude. It’s about the size of Yosemite National Park but gets just 6 percent of the visitors thanks to its 750,000 acres covering the Great Rift, a 52-mile crack in the earth’s crust.
13- Baltimore Maryland
Charm City is having a great year. It’s the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act, and a new Justice Thurgood Marshall Amenity Center is coming in. There are solo shows, thematic exhibitions, and changes to displays and labels at the Baltimore Museum of Art, and Baltimore Peninsula, a place for locals and tourists to shop, dine, and play, will breathe new life into a long-neglected port area.
Visitors can kayak, canoe, paddle board, and rowboat along the Baltimore Blueway, a network of waterways connecting cultural, historic, and natural sites along the waterfront. The director John Waters will be shooting a movie based on his first novel, Liarmouth, in his hometown.
14- salar de Uyuni Bolivia
Salar de Uyuni, 12,000 feet high in the Andes, is tough. Getting there means a rough overland journey, nights in dusty hotels and the threat of altitude sickness, but walking on the world’s largest salt flat is often the sound of your crunching footsteps on this blanched, 4,000 square mile salt crust, left behind by prehistoric lakes. In the rainy season, the salt flat turns into a liquid mirror that reflects otherworldly cloud formations, sunsets and starry nights.
It’s also home to Earth’s second-largest lithium deposit. There’s a big demand for “white gold” – used in electric cars and smartphones. Bolivia authorized two Chinese companies to start extracting about 50,000 tons from the Uyuni salt flats last year. There’s a chance the mining will affect the area’s beauty and ecosystem. You should go to the Salar soon.
15- Negombo Sri Lanka
The southern coast of Sri Lanka and Dambulla’s cave temple have long drawn tourists. Tourists looking for less-trafficked destinations are paying new attention to Negombo, a fishing village. Negombo, less than 25 miles west of Colombo, has a nearby international airport, hiking trails, and plenty of beaches.
Have you had enough sun? Take in stunning temples and landmark cathedrals then relax in one of the dozens of seafood restaurants — chefs here make good use of local prawns and crabs — in the charming downtown.
Businesses are focusing on sustainability, like the newly-opened Uga Riva, a luxury hotel in a renovated manor house that once welcomed Mohandas K. Gandhi and diplomats from around Asia. Despite political unrest and the Coronavirus pandemic, Sri Lankan tourism is back on track, and your money goes a long way.
16- Massa-Carrara Italy
The Uffizi in Florence has been moving some of its masterpieces to lesser-known spots across Tuscany to reduce crowds. As part of the ever-expanding program known as Uffizi Diffusi, a collection of works, including paintings from the studio of the Italian Baroque painter Carlo Dolci, will be exhibited this spring in Massa at the Palazzo Ducale, where the Massa-Carrara government offices also sit.
Visit the surrounding Apuan Alps where marble for so many masterpieces was sourced, tour marble quarries, and maybe even meet a working sculptor.
17- Bannau Brycheiniog Wales
Changing the name of a beloved Welsh national park to Bannau Brycheiniog last year wasn’t just about switching from English to Welsh; it was about highlighting the Welsh culture of the 520-square-mile park. In a new logo, the park emphasizes the relationship between nature and local culture. It’s no longer a burning brazier of Brecon Beacons, but now it’s an ancient Welsh crown set against a green forest under the stars, a symbol of the park’s commitment to restoring temperate rainforest, capturing carbon with revegetation of peatland, and protecting the dark sky.
Use the park’s public transport, including the Explore Wales Pass for trains and buses, or hike through waterfall country from Pontneddfechan village to see Bannau Brycheiniog, “the peaks of Brychan’s kingdom.”.
18- Morocco
In September, almost 3,000 people died in the Ourika Valley in Morocco after an earthquake. A short drive from Marrakesh, the Ourika Valley combines silvery green olive groves with dramatic reddish ridges of the Atlas Mountains, luxury boutique hotels and simple guesthouses, farm-fresh food, hiking, horseback riding, and all within an hour.
The retreats are almost entirely staffed by people from the valley’s villages, which have long been neglected by the government. Many mud-brick homes around Ourika were pulverized by the earthquake. Despite moving into makeshift tents, most hospitality workers were back on the job within days.
The whole region depends on tourism, and it – along with Marrakesh as a whole – needs visitors now more than ever. Moroccans hope visitors will realize there’s more to Morocco than its glossy exterior. Despite the destruction of his home, Khalid Ait Abdelkarim said Ourika welcomed tourists because “that’s what Moroccans do.” But he added, “We also deserve good lives.”
19- Valencia Spain
Valencia, Spain’s third largest city, has long been overshadowed by Barcelona, even though it shares similar features: miles of velvety sand beaches, a vibrant cultural scene, and a rich gastronomic tradition (paella was invented here). Valencia, which won the European Commission’s “green capital” award for 2024, stands out for travelers looking for less crowded, more sustainable destinations. Plaza de la Reina, its lively public square, has been revitalizing its historic center with leafier, pedestrian-only spaces, and the city is on track to be climate-neutral by 2030.
Hortensia Herrero Art Center has also boosted Valencia’s cultural landscape. Hortensia Herrero’s private contemporary-art collection was displayed in the restored Valeriola Palace in November, including more than 100 pieces by Anish Kapoor, Andreas Gursky, and Mat Collishaw.
20- Kansas CityMissouri
As the only Midwestern host for the FIFA World Cup 2026, Kansas City holds bragging rights as the first stadium built for a National Women’s Soccer League team. There are also new attractions for budding bookworms and adventurers.
With immersive and interactive exhibits, Rabbit Hole will showcase a century of American children’s literature. Young thrill-seekers can soar up the new 150-foot-tall KC Wheel at Pennway Point, a new entertainment district, in “The Funny Thing,” by Wanda Gág. Starting in April, visitors can kayak, canoe, and paddle board beneath the reimagined Rock Island Bridge.
In a world that’s always changing, these destinations offer a mix of tradition and innovation, nature and culture, and adventure and relaxation. Whether you’re looking to witness the grandeur of the Olympics in Paris, adventure in Japan’s Yamaguchi, or explore the Grand Canyon’s surroundings, 2024 holds a world of possibilities. Get ready to create lasting memories in these amazing places.
