Elaine Glusac

October 3, 2025

This year, our annual list is about making big memories.

Every year, we check in with Virtuoso advisors and our contributors around the world to hear more about the best places to go in the year ahead (and why). Trips that prioritize cultural immersion are hot, according to the just-released Virtuoso Luxe Report – a survey of more than 2,400 Virtuoso advisors around the world – as are getaways that put food or adventure first.

Whether it’s to celebrate another decade around the sun, soak up the last summer before the nest is empty, or simply spend time with your favorite people, our annual Where Next list of the best travel destinations is filled with vacation inspiration. Chant alongside thousands of fans at a World Cup match in Miami, find the real-life setting for a favorite TV show in England, or take a Kenyan safari in a way that makes a real, positive impact – whatever your travel dream, we’ve got fresh ideas for how to make it happen.

Where to Travel in 2026

Europe’s Next Hot Capital:Riga, Latvia
A Cinematic Pilgrimage:Cornwall, England
Countryside Totality:Catalonia, Spain
Holy Slopes:Deer Valley, Utah
Snorkel This Way:The Philippines
Urban Goals:Miami, Florida
South American Star:Bolivia
New Frontiers:Brahmaputra River, India
An Elevated Classic:Kenya
Gold-Medal Summer:Dolomites, Italy

Riga aglow.
Getty Images

Riga, Latvia

Everyone’s always looking for Europe’s next destination darling. We’ve got you: Just across the Baltic Sea from Sweden, Latvia’s capital, Riga, is home to a storybook medieval city center (a UNESCO World Heritage site), Europe’s highest concentration of art nouveau buildings, and, says Virtuoso travel advisor Lance Gilliam, huge nineteenth-century boulevards “that feel like Paris” – minus the crowds. “Riga is a layer cake of centuries in one relatively small capital; with so many European destinations dealing with overtourism and long lines for top attractions, it’s a place where visitors can still feel like locals.” Adding to the appeal is a massive food market in century-old military hangars, a world-renowned symphony, and a ballet company where Mikhail Baryshnikov used to dance. Chances are, Riga won’t be flying under the radar for much longer.

Get There: Across from the Latvian National Opera and within walking distance of Old Town, the palatial Grand Hotel Kempinski Riga straddles tradition and modernity with 141 elegant rooms, a rooftop bar, and a spa with treatments inspired by Latvian bathhouse culture. Virtuoso travelers receive breakfast daily and a $100 dining or spa credit.

To the seaside in Cornwall.
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Cornwall, England

In England’s southwest, travelers are set-jetting their way straight to the sheer, cliff-walled headlands that shelter Cornwall’s golden beaches. Its land’s-end drama and photogenic fishing villages – lined with art galleries, boutiques, and seafood-centric cafés – have attracted scores of film and television productions, from House of the Dragon and Poldark to Tim Burton’s Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. Throw in the region’s environmental innovation (projects include peatland restoration) and emerging culinary cred, and it’s a recipe for on-it travelers to “experience this enchanting corner of the United Kingdom at its most authentic before the rest of the world catches on,” says Virtuoso advisor Jennifer McCrea.

Get There: England’s first luxury sleeper train, Belmond’s Britannic Explorer, takes up to 36 passengers on three-night tours round-trip from London to Penzance, at Cornwall’s tip. Guests can step off their cosseting cars to taste wines overlooking the castle-crowned island of Saint Michael’s Mount or take a sightseeing cruise from the medieval town of Fowey. Departures: Multiple dates, November 14, 2025, through November 13, 2026.

Besalú’s eleventh-century bridge.
Christian Kerber

Catalonia, Spain

The next total solar eclipse – on August 12, 2026 – follows a picturesque (and cruise-friendly) route from Greenland and Iceland across Portugal and northern Spain. After a few days exploring Catalonia favorites Barcelona and the Costa Brava, the region’s more rural pockets and their nature preserves, vineyards, and ancient villages such as Girona and Besalú present a tranquil home base for eclipse viewing. Bonus: The eclipse coincides with the annual Perseid meteor shower, making time away from busy-city lights an excellent choice.

Get There: Virtuoso on-site tour connection Made for Spain & Portugal can work with Virtuoso advisors on custom Catalonia trips, including paella cooking classes, hot-air balloon excursions, and, for eclipse watching, a bike ride before dinner at a seventeenth-century masia (Catalan manor) and cava to toast the show.

Downhill at Deer Valley.
Re Wikstrom

Deer Valley, Utah

Deer Valley, renowned for its manicured corduroy and skiers-only policy, will double in size this winter, debuting more than 2,000 acres, nearly 100 new ski runs, a peak-to-peak gondola, and seven additional lifts. The groundbreaking expansion joins the Sundance Film Festival’s Utah swan song – the Robert Redford-founded event moves to Colorado in 2027 – in making Park City the season’s buzziest ski town.

Get There: Check in 8,200 feet above sea level at the 220-room Montage Deer Valley for panoramic views of the Wasatch Mountain range, ski-in/ski-out access, an après-ski yurt pouring Veuve Clicquot, and an alpine-inspired spa for recovery. Virtuoso travelers receive a $90 daily breakfast credit and a $100 spa, dining, or activities credit.

A coastal escape on Palawan Island.
Getty Images

The Philippines

Reef-fringed, mountain-topped, palm-lined – with more islands than the Maldives and Greece combined (around 7,600 for anyone counting), “the Philippines has some of the world’s best beaches,” says Catherine Heald, cofounder and CEO of Remote Lands, which plans bespoke tours in the country. At Amanpulo, on a private island in the Cuyo Archipelago northeast of Palawan Island, “you can walk almost half a mile out in the water, and it’s still shallow and calm,” she says.

Virtuoso advisor Ashleigh Paschke agrees: “The world has really only scratched the surface of discovering this country,” she says. “The appeal comes from not only its beautiful landscapes and crystal-clear waters, but also the people, who are so incredibly kind.”

Get There: A new 12-night itinerary on The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection’s 452-passenger Luminara departs Hong Kong for Singapore via the Philippines. Cruisers swim among the karst islands of the Bacuit Archipelago during a call at El Nido, beachcomb Boracay’s white sands, and explore street food and history in Palawan’s Puerto Princesa. Departure: January 13, 2026.

South Florida’s sleekest skyline.
Getty Images

Miami, Florida

Miami is living large in 2026: Tennis pros arrive at the Miami Open in March, Formula 1 races through town in May, and the city will host seven FIFA World Cup matches in June and July. In between the fast cars and corner kicks, travelers can stroll the city’s mural-filled Wynwood District, practice their rumba in Little Havana’s Cuban clubs, or soak up the reliable South Florida sunshine at one of many ultra-luxe resorts. A hotel boom is nigh, too: The Delano Miami Beach reopens early next year, and more than a handful of the industry’s biggest names (including Rosewood, Aman, Bvlgari, and Waldorf Astoria) will debut or break ground in the next two years. “The city is where the tropics meet chic,” says Virtuoso travel advisor Jonathan Marin. “If you’re looking for elegant exclusivity, Miami delivers that on a new level right now.”

Get There: The hotel that sparked South Beach’s renaissance 30 years ago, Delano Miami Beach debuts anew in 2026 after a five-year redesign. Its 171 rooms include poolside bungalow suites and airy penthouses, while the reimagined Rose Bar will anchor the hotel’s four restaurants and bars. Virtuoso travelers receive breakfast daily and a $100 hotel credit.

Stargazing on the Salar de Uyuni.
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Bolivia

From the Amazonian rainforest to the Andes, Bolivia has long served intrepid adrenaline junkies with highland-to-lowland bike descents and treks at soaring altitudes. Now the country’s growing appeal has established some serious range, from an emerging Indigenous culinary scene in La Paz to peak astrotourism in the Salar de Uyuni, the world’s largest salt flat.

Get There: Abercrombie & Kent’s new ten-day, small-group Bolivia tour from Santa Cruz to La Paz taps into the country’s variety, including visits to UNESCO-listed archaeological sites, impeccably preserved colonial cities (including Sucre and Potosí), and the Salar de Uyuni’s reflective expanse. Departures: Multiple dates, April 23 through November 23, 2026.

Sunset on the Brahmaputra.
Getty Images

The Brahmaputra River, India

The under-the-radar, northeastern state of Assam is emerging as India for the adventurous set. Thanks to a crop of soon-to-come cruises on the Brahmaputra River – from National Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions in 2026 and Viking in 2027 – the area is becoming more accessible. The broad waterway connects travelers to Jorhat, renowned for its colonial-era tea estates; Majuli, a river island home to the Mising, Deori, and Sonowal Kachari people; and the area’s biggest draw, Kaziranga National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage-listed expanse flush with Indian elephants, water buffalo, one-horned rhinoceroses, and one of India’s highest densities of Royal Bengal tigers. “The Brahmaputra is one of the world’s least-touristy rivers,” says Virtuoso travel advisor Jonathan Phillips. “Kaziranga is amazing, but my favorite part was the cuisine – the river offers an abundance of freshwater fish.”

Get There: On a ten-night round-trip-from-Kolkata voyage, National Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions cruises the Brahmaputra aboard the 34-passenger Charaidew II. Cabins on the three-deck ship have French balconies, colonial accents, and traditional Assamese hand-woven fabrics. Departures: March 12, March 26, and April 2, 2026. – David Swanson

Wildlife-watching in bed at andBeyond’s Suyian Lodge.
andBeyond

Kenya

Travelers are already sold on Kenya’s safari appeal (the country is a top-five adventure-travel destination in the Virtuoso Luxe Report), but a slate of new sustainable concessions is expanding the destination’s reach. AndBeyond’s new 14-suite Suyian Lodge – the sole operation in the 44,000-acre Suyian Conservancy on the biodiverse Laikipia Plateau north of Mount Kenya – introduces guests to a patchwork of wildlife reserves, cattle ranches, and tribal lands whose stakeholders have united to support the highest diversity of large mammals in Kenya. Game drives, walks with local herders, and horseback safaris give way to sightings of reticulated giraffes, African wild dogs, and black leopards. In southwestern Kenya’s Maasai Mara National Reserve, Wilderness Mara will open next year in the quiet Mara Triangle. Tucked within a healthy marsh ecosystem and managed by the Mara Conservancy to keep the numbers of visitors low, its 12 tented suites offer unpressured access to Great Migration sightings.

Get There: Wilderness designs custom journeys between its 60 African camps – a comprehensive East Africa jaunt can include gorilla treks in Rwanda’s Virunga Mountains, an introduction to the Serengeti in Tanzania, and a stay at Kenya’s new Wilderness Mara. Departures: Any day from June 2026.

A Northern Italian trek.
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Dolomites, Italy

Next year’s Winter Olympics will see legions of sports fans make their way to Italy’s Dolomite Mountains, where skiing, curling, and sliding events are set to take place in Cortina d’Ampezzo. But as the region’s hikers, rock climbers, and cyclists can attest, the peak adventure is even more blissful in summer, when the enrosadira (alpenglow) paints the limestone pinnacles pink. The Dolomites’ quiet byways and hilltop towns, with their narrow lanes, frescoed churches, and cozy restaurants, are also ideal for fleeing Europe’s rising summertime temperatures. “Global warming has made European summers a scorcher, so I’m sending travelers to its cooler mountain spots instead,” says Sarah W. Lee, a Virtuoso advisor who spent time this summer in the Dolomites. (According to the Virtuoso Luxe Report, 45 percent of Virtuoso advisors say climate change is causing travelers to rethink their vacation plans.) Lee’s pro tip: “Take a helicopter tour not just for the stunning views, but to expedite commute time on the gorgeous but dizzying mountain roads.”

Get There: In a 1939 chalet in the village of San Cassiano, the recently revamped Aman Rosa Alpina houses 51 contemporary rooms with glass-enclosed fireplaces and floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking forested slopes, a two-story spa with indoor and outdoor heated pools, and six restaurants. Summer excursions range from golf outings to summiting the peaks on via ferrata climbing routes. Virtuoso travelers receive breakfast daily and a $100 dining credit.

This article originally appeared in the November/December 2025 issue of Virtuoso, The Magazine (U.S./Canada edition).

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Where Next: The Ten Best Places to Go in 2026