As a
travel agent I get asked what is the newest or hottest destination right now.
There are a lot of different opinions, but here is a list of destinations
that popping up for us.
Reykjavik, Iceland
Travel
between June and August tends to be the most popular with visitors. June offers
24 hours of Arctic daylight, while July and August are the warmest months,
offering the best chances for good weather. Travel between mid-September and
mid-October is perhaps the most ideal, as you’ll miss the swell of high-season
tourist traffic, sneak in before snowfall blankets the trails, and have a solid
chance of seeing the northern lights. Although winter weather can be an
impediment, and the narrow window of daylight can shorten your sightseeing,
excellent deals can be scored during the off-season.
Turin,
Italy
Best known for its historic cafes and
the Shroud of Turin, the city is also a vibrant contemporary art destination.
Last year, superstar curator Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev was named director of
two major institutions, Galleria Civica d'Arte Moderna, Italy's first
modern art museum, and Castello di Rivoli, its first contemporary art
museum, featuring works from powerhouses like Michelangelo Pistoletto and Paul
McCarthy. Earlier eras can be explored at two other newly overhauled museums:
the Galleria Sabauda, where visitors can see more than 500 works once
owned by the royal Savoy family, and the Egyptian Museum, which houses one
of the most extensive Egyptian-artifact collections in the world. Early in
2017, Turin's medieval roots will be revealed at Lavazza coffee's new
headquarters in the Aurora neighborhood, when the company unveils a
fourth-century basilica discovered during construction.
Mayanmar
Thankfully,
the pace of change is not overwhelming, leaving the simple pleasures of travel
in Myanmar intact. Drift down the Ayeyarwady (Irrawaddy) River in an old river
steamer or luxury cruiser. Stake out a slice of beach on the blissful Bay of
Bengal. Trek through pine forests to minority villages scattered across the
Shan Hills without jostling with scores of fellow travellers. Best of all,
you'll encounter locals who are gentle, humorous, engaging, considerate,
inquisitive and passionate – they want to play a part in the world, and to know
what you make of their world. Now is the time to make that connection.In 2015,
Myanmar voted in its first democratically elected government in more than half
a century. Sanctions have been dropped and the world is rushing to do business
here. Relaxing of censorship has led to an explosion of new media and an
astonishing openness in public discussions of once-taboo topics. Swathes of the
county, off-limits for years, can now be freely visited. Modern travel
conveniences, such as mobile phone coverage and internet access, are now
common, but largely confined to the big cities and towns, where the recent
economic and social improvements are most obvious.
Paros Greece
Kitesurfers
have long made a playground of the breezy
beaches of Paros, and no wonder: this
sunshiny isle is a Cycladic triumvirate of sandy shoreline, history, and
culture. Last summer the island debuted a new airport, opening it to larger
aircraft and more vacationers. And the fishing village of Naousa, with its boxy
white architecture and seaside tavernas, is increasingly sophisticated—check in
to the modern, adults-only apartments of Porto Naousa or the elegant Seven Santa Maria, where six airy, all-white suites (and a separate
villa) come with a private boat and skipper for exploring the island’s secret
coves.
Malaga, Spain
Málaga,
in Spain’s Andalusia region, is now a veritable museum-goer’s paradise. The first wave included a Picasso museum (the artist was born here) and the sprawling
8,000-square-foot CAC (Centro de Arte Contemporáneo), which has hosted exhibits by Ai Weiwei and Marcel
Dzama. Since then, the Carmen Thyssen,
an outpost of Madrid’s Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum that houses the famous
baroness’s extensive private collection, has opened; so has a five-year pop-up
of Paris’s Centre Pompidou displaying works by Magritte, Chagall, and Kahlo.
The Pompidou’s location along Málaga’s renovated waterfront is marked by a hypermodern,
rainbow-hued glass cube. And in the industrial space of a former tobacco
factory is a sister site of the Russian Museum in St. Petersburg. Archaeology
buffs can comb the extensive collection at the Aduana Palace (it houses both a
fine arts and archaeological museum) or head to the Antequera Dolmens (a
prehistoric burial site that earned its UNESCO World Heritage nod in 2016).
Unwind afterward at the lavishly appointed Gran Hotel Miramar; it opened at the end of 2016 in a historic 1926 Art
Nouveau building across from Málaga’s most timeless attraction: Malagueta
Beach.
