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Need help determining where to travel in 2023? National Geographic has released its annual list of the world’s best destinations for travelers – and this year’s contenders celebrate locations and experiences that not only illuminate our beautiful planet but also help strengthen local communities and environments.
For 2023, National Geographic’s “Best of the World” is grouped by category: Family, Adventure, Culture, and Nature. However, new this year is an additional category.
The Community category is designed to be inclusive of healing and heritage journeys, community-led conservation efforts, ways for travelers to give back, and locations doing groundbreaking work in eco-tourism, sustainability, and inclusive travel. The goal is to spotlight destinations where people make places better for locals, the environment, and visitors and to showcase homegrown, rooted, locally relevant, and engaging places to visit.
“Best of the World’ is Nat Geo’s annual love letter to the most incredible places in the world, both near and far,” said Nathan Lump, National Geographic’s Editor-in-Chief, in a press release. “We couldn’t be prouder to shine a light on these 25 extraordinary places that most inspired us this year, and which we know will define travelers’ itineraries for years to come. From craft breweries and Asia’s top film festival in Busan, South Korea, to women-led Indigenous tourism in Alberta, Canada, and the densest leatherback turtle nesting ground in the world in Trinidad and Tobago, this year’s list reminds us that there is still so much out there to explore and experience.”
The Top 25 National Geographic’s “Best of the World 2023” List are:
Culture
Appian Way, Italy
Busan, South Korea
Longmen Grottoes, Henan Province, China
Egypt
Charleston, South Carolina
Nature
Scottish Highlands
Botswana
Slovenia
Big Bend National Park, Texas
Azores
Adventure
New Zealand
Choquequirao, Peru
Utah
Austrian Alps
Revillagigedo National Park, Mexico
Community
Dodecanese Islands, Greece
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Alberta, Canada
Laos
Ghana
Family
Trinidad and Tobago
San Francisco, California
Colombia
Manchester, UK
Switzerland