Spectacular sunset or the spectacle of the Super Bowl. White-tablecloth restaurant or garden-to-table beneath the rainforest canopy. Bright lights, big city or beachy isle away from it all. This year, we chose what we love most. Because not all travel is inherently special. Any given day, week, month, we are required to go places—the grocery store, the doctor’s office, an industry conference. And because time is precious, we aren’t wasting it. Within our list of 10 best places to visit in 2024, there is a perfect match for practically every kind of explorer. Whether there be weeks or one epic long weekend to work with, they’re all Trip of a Lifetime material. Go on, take your pick.
Cyclades, Greece
There’s no need to buy a can of paint to bring “Peach Fuzz,” Pantone’s color of the year, into one’s life when brushstrokes of the hue show up in the Cyclades’ skies nearly every night. Santorini is synonymous with these sunsets, and Andronis Arcadia (shown left), walking distance from Oia’s center, provides a swoony perch from which to see them. And why stop at one island when there are so many more to explore. Pop over to Paros, which has evolved from sleepy to stylish in the last decade, and stay at Parīlio, a design hotel with a portmanteau melding the isle’s name with the Greek word for sun. For the most sweeping view of that setting orb, follow the path out to lighthouse on Cape Korakas. Next, ferry to The Island of the Winds where Grace Mykonos (shown right) offers private balconies and a bar oriented westward to take in nature’s nightly masterpiece. Given circles represented both the divine and natural balance in ancient Greece, centering a holiday to these “circular” Aegean Islands around the rising and setting of the closest star Earth orbits seems especially auspicious for 2024.
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Las Vegas, Nevada
Viva Las Vegas, indeed. The city is always scintillating but lately it’s got extra verve. In September, the opening of the , named one of the best inventions of 2023 by Time Magazine, turned concertgoing into a whole new kind of immersive experience. Long considered the boxing capital of the world, Vegas is expanding its sports rep, too—months after pulling off its first Formula 1 Grand Prix, it hosts February’s Super Bowl LVIII. The pageantry of a major event deserves a top-tier stay to match and the Fontainebleau Las Vegas, which just opened in December, fits the bill beautifully. So does Aria Sky Suites—booking here comes with complimentary airport pick-up, big views and a long list other perks to make one feel as famous as all the bold face names that roll through town.
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Photo + video credit: Sphere / Sam Morris, LVCVA Collection, LVCVA Archive
London, United Kingdom
Sure, there’s a new king in town, but, for avid travelers, it’s all the new London hotel openings that are most thrilling. A park-stroll from Buckingham Palace, The Peninsula London swung open its doors in September, to much fanfare—it’s the Hong-Kong-based hospitality group’s first foray into the U.K. and the city’s first billion-pound hotel project. That same month, across from the Royal Horse Guards, the Raffles London at The OWO opened within the transformed Old War Office building. Then this spring, both the Mandarin Oriental Mayfair and The Emory will start welcoming guests. Along with five-star stays, there’s Michelin-star dining. Helmed by the first and only female British chef to be awarded three stars, Core by Clare Smyth in Notting Hill recently revealed an extensive refurbishment, which includes a new bar. In London Bridge, Tom Sellers’ two-Michelin-star Restaurant Story just debuted a makeover, in celebration of its 10th anniversary. Another kind of star will give a big boost to the local economy this summer—while Taylor Swift no longer dates a “London Boy,” she’ll return to play eight shows at Wembley Stadium in June and August.
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Dominica
Seeing more of Nature Island is about to get easier. With a new 4.1-mile-long cable car that links the Roseau Valley to Boiling Lake completing later this year, Dominica visitors and locals will no longer need to take a grueling, 8-hour-return hike to witness the piping-hot, flooded fumarole. That’s not the only new “car” ride on the isle. Just outside Portsmouth, Secret Bay launched its own 300-foot-long, energy efficient funicular last summer, to whisk its guests into the surrounding rainforest. Utilizing its own organic garden, the award-winning resort also debuted a new outdoor Chef’s Table experience set along the Cario River. Around the same time, they began booking out their new multi-room villas, which are set up on the clifftops for spectacular panoramas. North to south, bird’s-eye views abound.
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South Korea
An enticingly practical reason to visit South Korea in 2024: the country is waiving visa requirements for 22 countries as a part of its “Visit Korea Year” campaign. Along with the temporary no-visa option, remote workers and K-pop fans can apply to stay longer through new, respective workation and Hallyu aka “K-culture training” visas. Once one touches down in Seoul, the highlights include Signiel Seoul, with its Michelin-star dining courtesy of Chef Yannick Alléno, and a ground-breaking Robot and AI Museum slated to open later this year. Busan, the second largest city, will get its own Michelin Guide this February. After the food coma sets in from hitting up all the hot spots, recover in style at Signiel Busan’s infinity pool or beach (shown left). On Jeju Island, dubbed the Hawaii of Korea, there’s more sunning and swimming. Looking out over the East China Sea, Parnas Hotel Jeju (shown right) boasts the longest infinity pool in the country—oh, and the popular K-drama King the Love filmed here.
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Indonesia
To coincide with its Independence Day, Indonesia plans to inaugurate a brand-new capital this August. Being built from the ground up as a green, walkable city, Nusantara, ancient Javanese for “archipelago,” isn’t slated for full completion until 2045, but travelers can start supporting the country’s sustainability goals now by choosing more eco-conscious escapes outside of beautiful-but-overtrodden Bali. A week away at Anambas archipelago’s Bawah Reserve would be one—the Best Mindful Luxury winner in our 2024 Kiwi Collection Hotel Awards is all about minimizing impact. Alternatively, take the journey through Java by train, departing out of former-capital Jakarta, to Amanjiwo which overlooks the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Borobudur. From rewilding the land around the Buddhist monument to batik art classes for local children, the immersive resort is dedicated to environmental and cultural preservation.
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Brazil
Home to 60 percent of the Amazon, Brazil is making protection of the world’s largest rainforest a priority again. After Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva became president on January 1, 2023, deforestation rates dropped by a third within months. One big political event begets another, with the country hosting the G-20 Summit in November, followed by COP30 in 2025. But the big news for vacationers is the launch of Rota Verde Azul or Green-Blue Route, a kind of Brazilian Riviera spanning from Rio de Janeiro to Sao Paulo. Start at MGallery Santa Teresa Hotel and end at Tivoli Sao Paulo Mofarrej with seaside stops in between, including Angra Dos Reis where there’s a stunning waterfront Fasano (shown left). For more blue that’s also “green,” head northeast to Kenoa Resort (shown right), a boutique eco-chic property right on Alagoas’ Atlantic coast.
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Thailand
Three words: The White Lotus. The hit HBO show is set to begin production on Season 3 this February in Thailand. Previous seasons were shot at Four Seasons resorts, and Bloomberg reports that the brand’s Koh Samui property (shown left) is a confirmed location. To get the vibe of a White Lotus resort right now, sans the literal footstep-following crowds, opt for quieter Ko Lanta and the scenic infinity pools, luxury villas and traditional Thai treatments of Pimalai Resort & Spa. Bustling Bangkok is another setting, and here the Rosewood (shown right) serves up an extravagant Two-Bedroom Sky Pool Suite that previous seasons’ Tanya McQuoid undoubtedly would’ve booked for herself, if only she could. With both risotto and Tom Yum Goong on the menu—not to mention, a terrace for al fresco dining—the hotel’s Lakorn European Brasserie also creates the perfect culinary bridge between last season and the next.
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Budapest, Hungary
Sometimes referred to as the Paris of the East, that being as east as Eastern Europe, Budapest is also always a good idea. Its abundance of architectural marvels, thermal baths, cultural events and riverfront is ever-present, but this year, 150 years after its three divided cities unified, it sparkles even more. A lot of what’s old is new again. Last year, following a two-year restoration, the historic Chain Bridge reopened. The W Budapest also moved into the 19th-century Drechsler Palace on Andrássy Avenue, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The previous year saw both the opening of the House of Music Hungary, with its futuristic façade and permanent exhibit on music history, and the reopening of the modernized Hungarian State Opera building. From free outdoor concerts in the summer to festive holiday markets in the winter, there’s always something going on here. Notably, like Paris, the Pearl of the Danube will also host an Olympiad in 2024—September’s 45th Chess Olympiad.
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Mauritius
Off the eastern coast of Africa, lapped by the Indian Ocean’s warm turquoise waters, Mauritius is renowned for glitz and glamour—the island country has been Princess Stéphanie of Monaco’s favored holiday playground since the ‘80s—but it doesn’t just rest on its luxuries. In Port Louis, the Intercontinental Slavery Museum opened this past September. One of the Truth and Justice Commission of Mauritius’ key recommendations, the museum is one tangible way the country is reckoning with its colonial history. Less than a kilometer away, the new House of Digital Art showcases cutting-edge digital installations with an Indo-Oceanic cultural focus. As far as where one should kick up their bare feet, Constance has been a constant here, from its first resort opened in 1975, Belle Mare Plage, to Sakoa Boutik revealed mere days ago. The brand’s Prince Maurice property, which just celebrated its 25th anniversary, still boasts the island’s only real overwater villas perched above a barachois that also acts as a natural fish reserve.
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Photo + video credit: Constance resorts / Delphine Neto
