Icon of the Seas: Royal Caribbean's Icon of the Seas is the world's largest cruise ship and can carry nearly 10,000 people. It's one of the travel experiences highlighted in TIME's "World's Greatest Places of 2024."
Fontainebleau Las Vegas: This $3.7-billion Las Vegas Strip hotel finally opened late last year, after being 23 years in the making.
International African American Museum: This museum in Charleston, South Carolina opened in June 2023 and sits on the former site of Gadsden's Wharf, where slave ships were once received.
Cortina D'Ampezzo: This Italian winter sports resort will be in the spotlight soon as the venue for the 2026 Winter Olympics. Get there before everyone else does.
Raffles London at The OWO: The historic office once used by Winston Churchill has been transformed into the luxury Raffles London hotel. Rooms start at £1,100 (around $1,392) per night.
Zeyrek Çinili Hamam: This stunning 500-year-old bathhouse in Istanbul’s Zeyrek neighborhood was closed for more than a decade, but reopened its doors last year.
The Eastern & Oriental Express, A Belmond Train: The iconic luxury rail company has launched two seasonal return-trip journeys out of Singapore that take in the landscapes of its northern neighbor, Malaysia.
Abrahamic Family House: This spectacular new multifaith complex opened in Abu Dhabi last year and is a mosque, synagogue and church.
Kamba African Rainforest Experiences: This company focuses on "low-impact ecotourism adventures and is the only private operator" in Odzala-Kokoua National Park the Republic of Congo, says TIME.
Iberá Provincial Reserve: "The largest protected area in Argentina is home to one of the most comprehensive rewilding projects on the planet and it’s paying off far beyond the borders of this 5,000-square-mile reserve," says TIME.
White Desert, Antarctica: This tour operator has “really set a model for how that tourism can be more sustainable, by partnering with the scientists that are going to Antarctica," says TIME senior editor Emma Barker.
Baths of Caracalla: Water has returned to these ancient public baths in Rome for the first time in 1,500 years.
TIME World's Greatest Places of 2024
CNN —
Make sure you’ve got enough pages in your passport, because TIME has just released its list of the world’s 100 greatest places to visit in 2024.
From Costa Rica to Koh Samui to the Republic of the Congo, the team of editors at the New York-based news magazine has selected extraordinary destinations and exciting new experiences travelers need to know about.
CNN Travel spoke to TIME senior editor Emma Barker about some of the trends they’ve seen emerging this year.
This trend isn’t new but it’s certainly huge. Millions of us are choosing our vacation destinations because of how stunning they looked on other people’s TikTok videos or Instagram stories, and we want to go there and get some of that sweet shareable content, too.
Barker points to “these sort of otherworldly art and design places” like Aranya, China. It’s “this amazing, minimalist-design seaside town that a lot of young people in China are going to for its slow pace of life and relaxing ethos” — and because it looks incredible on camera.
“Those kinds of places that result in stunning photography are really popular,” she says.
Active travel
Gen Z has been sharing its love for wholesome outdoor adventures on social media, and it’s a big trend for travelers at large as well.
Barkers says that when pulling together their list, TIME noticed lots of travel operators offering “a twist on a traditional experience,” such as Natural Selection’s guided cycling safari in Botswana.
Instead of “going on a safari where you’re in a truck and you’re driving through nature, it’s a cycling safari where you’re biking, you’re doing something active, it’s more of a tour.”
Science tourism
Space-related tourism is booming in China and elsewhere and travelers around the world are using their vacations to learn more about our world and our universe.
Barker notes that the recent increase in Antarctic travel has been challenging because “it increases the footprint on a very delicate landscape.”
So for their list they’ve highlighted tour operator White Desert, which has “really set a model for how that tourism can be more sustainable, by partnering with the scientists that are going to Antarctica.”
Tourists share flights with scientists going out to the region and then get the chance to assist the researchers in their work.
“They’re not increasing the number of flights coming in, they’re just kind of piggybacking on what’s already happening with the scientists,” says Barker. “And then the tourists also get to help with that science and learn about the landscape, and how they can protect it.”
Self-discovery
The Modern Elder Academy in Santa Fe, New Mexico, focuses on midlife self care.
It’s “kind of like a middle-aged retreat,” says Barker, “which I think is really interesting and fun. It’s kind of like a twist on the wellness retreat.”
White Desert allows tourists to visit Antarctica responsibly.
The center offers people resources on working through this challenging life period, as well as offering a community where visitors can connect with people going through the same experiences.
CNN Travel recently covered the rise in menopause retreats, while sexual wellness is also a hot trend.
Regenerative tourism
Voluntourism — where travelers work as volunteers in the regions they visit —“has become a little bit cliched, perhaps, in that it makes you feel good about what you’re doing, but maybe isn’t actually that helpful,” says Barker.
The fresh new take on this theme is regenerative tourism, which is “more about really leaving the landscape and the place better than it was.”
TIME wanted to bring attention to Maui, where West Maui reopened to tourism in November after being devastated by wildfires last summer.
The indigenously-owned non-profit Maui Cultural Lands offer volunteer opportunities that are “legitimately fun,”says Barker. “You’re not wasting your vacation by doing hard labor, although it is work. You’re out in this stunning landscape, planting trees. You have a great time and then go support the local businesses.”
For more highlights from this year’s selection, check out the gallery above. And for the full list, take a look at TIME’s website.
