1. Panama
Go for the canal. Stay for everything else.
It’s been 12 years since
Panama regained control of its canal and the country’s economy is booming.
Cranes stalk the skyline of the capital, Panama
City, where high-rises sprout one
after the next and immigrants arrive daily from around the world. Among those
who have landed en masse in recent years are American expatriates and
investors, who have banked on Panamanian real estate by building hotels and
buying retirement homes. The passage of the United States-Panama free trade agreement in October is expected to accelerate this
international exchange of people and dollars (the countries use the same
currency).
Among the notable development projects is the Panama Canal
itself, which is in the early stages of a multibillion-dollar expansion. The
project will widen and deepen the existing canal and add two locks, doubling
the canal’s cargo capacity. For those who want to see the waterway as it was
originally designed, now is the time. The expansion is expected to be completed
by 2014, the canal’s 100-year anniversary.
Other high-profile projects include the construction of
three firsts: The
Panamera, the first Waldorf Astoria hotel in Latin America (set to
open in June 2012); the Trump Ocean Club,
the region’s tallest building, which opened last summer; and Frank Gehry’s
first Latin American design, the BioMuseo,
a natural history museum scheduled to open in early 2013. Even Panama City’s
famously dilapidated historic quarter, Casco Viejo, has been transformed. The
neighborhood, a tangle of narrow streets, centuries-old houses and neo-colonial
government buildings, was designated a Unesco World Heritage site in 1997 and
is now a trendy arts district with galleries, coffeehouses, street musicians
and some of the city’s most stylish restaurants and boutique hotels.
Across the isthmus, on Panama’s Caribbean coast, theBocas del Toro archipelago
has become a popular stop on the backpacker circuit, with snorkeling and
zip lining by day and raucous night life after dark.
2.Helsinki, Finland
Design.
Design. Design. Aesthetics fuel a new cool.
Copenhagen’s culinary awakening and Stockholm’s
trend-setting fashion may have ignited the world’s current infatuation with
Nordic culture; now Helsinki is poised for the spotlight. The International
Council of Societies of Industrial Design has designated it the World Design Capital for 2012.
Design has long been part of the city’s DNA, but in recent
years the scene has been increasingly energized: the official Design District
has ballooned to encompass 25 streets and nearly 200 design-minded businesses,
which range from shops selling housewares and furniture to boutique hotels and
clothing stores. Design has infiltrated the restaurant scene as well, notably
the elegant Chez Dominique and the hot
newcomer (and Michelin-starred) Olo.
On top of all that is the spectacular new $242 million
Helsinki Music Center. Student ensembles from the Sibelius Academy — the sole
university in Finland devoted exclusively to music — will perform in the
striking glass-walled space, and both the Vienna Philharmonic and the Helsinki
Philharmonic Orchestras will give concerts in 2012.
3. Myanmar
Back
on the tourist map after being off-limits for years.
With renowned cultural treasures, world-class boutique
hotels and deserted beaches, Myanmar has long been high on intrepid
travelers’ wish lists. For years, though, heeding calls by the pro-democracy
leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyiand others, many
stayed away in protest of Myanmar’s authoritarian regime. Now, however, this is
changing. Since November 2010, when Myanmar’s rulers held nominally free
elections and released Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi after 15 years of house arrest, the
boycott has been lifted and Myanmar is set for an influx of visitors.
Because the country has been so isolated, the deeply
Buddhist “Land of the Golden Pagoda” resonates with a strong sense of place,
undiluted by mass tourism and warmed by genuine hospitality. Travelers will
find atmospheric hotels and a network of well-maintained regional jets serving
the main sites. (Keep in mind that visas are still required and that the
economy remains largely cash-based.)
But locals are aware of the potential downside of tourism as
well. Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi has called for sustainable development and “trickle
down” tourism where dollars will do the most good.
With these goals in mind, nestled along the banks of
meandering Lake Inle in eastern Myanmar, the ViewPoint eco-lodge combines
locally sourced materials with individually tailored activities supporting the
local economy (like garden-to-table lunches at an island village house).
Similarly, in Ngapali Beach — a pristine swath of coastline
on the Bay of Bengal — the Amara
Ocean Resort ratchets
up the om factor with a hand-built spa. The resort finances relief projects in
the Irrawaddy River delta.
4. London
The
Olympics! The Queen! Charles
Dickens turns
200!
Dotted with construction sites, London is preparing for the
pomp and circumstance of the Olympic Games and the Diamond Jubilee celebration
of the Queen’s 60th year on the throne. New stadiums, public spaces and
shopping centers are emerging on the city’s eastern edge, and on the western
edge a 137-room Waldorf Astoria has opened on a 400-acre estate near Heathrow
Airport.
But it’s not all sport and royalty. On a street of
chocolate-box Georgian houses in Bloomsbury, the Charles Dickens Museum is open, in
time for the author’s 200th birthday.
Across town, Warner Brothers Studio Tour will open the Harry Potter studios to
those keen to re-live the films. The Rolling Stones, celebrating their 50th
anniversary, might tour again, with a possible finale here. And Robert Redford
will inaugurate a London outpost of the Sundance Film festival at the O2 Arena
in April.
Amid the hubbub, flashes of eccentricity emerge. If the
Waldorf doesn’t appeal, stay in an
architect-designed boat, perched on the edge of a roof overlooking
the Thames. Or visit the British outpost of Occupy London, which will be
maintaining its tent city outside St. Paul’s cathedral.
5. Oakland,
Calif.
New restaurants and bars beckon amid the
grit.
Tensions have
cooled since violence erupted at the recent Occupy Oakland protests, but the
city’s revitalized night-life scene has continued to smolder.
The historic Fox
Theater reopened in 2009 and quickly cemented its status as one of the Bay
Area’s top music venues, drawing acts like Wilco and
the Decemberists. Meanwhile, the city’s ever more sophisticated restaurants are
now being joined by upscale cocktail bars, turning once-gritty Oakland into an
increasingly appealing place to be after dark. James Syhabout, the chef who
earned Oakland its first (and only) Michelin star two years ago at Commis,
followed up in May with the instant-hit Hawker Fare,
a casual spot serving Asian street food. Big-name San Francisco chefs are now joining him.
Daniel Patterson (of two-Michelin-star Coi) opened the restaurant Plum in
late 2010 and an adjacent cocktail bar later, and another restaurant,
called Haven,
in the recently renovated Jack London Square last month.
6. Tokyo
With some tourists slow to return,
greater opportunities for those who do.
The thought of
traveling to Tokyo will most likely make some people nervous. Though the city
is about 180 miles from the Fukushima Daiichi power plant, the site of the
worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl — and the State Department recommends travelers
avoid only the area directly around the disaster site — Tokyo has suffered as
well, a problem of perception as much as reality.
But from another
vantage point, it’s a perfect time to visit. A decrease in tourism and business travel is
making the city all the more accessible and welcoming. According to Laurent
Vernhes, a founder and the chief executive of TabletHotels.com,
a travel site with a curated list of distinctive lodging options, tourism
hasn’t yet returned to normal levels. “Rates are still down about 10 percent on
average compared to the same time last year,” Mr. Vernhes said.
When I visited
the city in the fall, it was clear that it is still crackling with energy. But
now it’s possible to get a previously unthinkable last-minute reservation at
one of the city’s many world-class restaurants or a room in hotels usually booked
solid. A Saturday night dinner at Kagurazaka
Ishikawa, a pricey but discreet restaurant with three Michelin stars
and an artful tasting menu? No problem. And lodging options for all budgets
have gotten easier. Chances are you can find a room at the elegant Park Hyatt
Tokyo, a luxurious high-rise, or at the Tokyo Ryokan,
a family-run hotel with just three simple bedrooms that often are reserved well
in advance. OLIVER STRAND
Note: An earlier
version of the subheading with this entry has been changed because it was
unintentionally insensitive in making a link between last year’s
tragedy in Japan and the opportunity for tourism.
7. Tanzania
Coming into its own as an upscale safari
destination.
For the last
several years the number of tourists going to Tanzania has been edging up,
according to East African travel specialists like Hippo Creek Safaris and
Abercrombie & Kent. But it wasn’t until several violent attacks on visitors
to neighboring Kenya that the numbers really took off,
as Tanzania started to absorb skittish Kenya-bound safari seekers.
Not that Tanzania
is coasting along solely on Kenya’s troubles; it’s always had Mount
Kilimanjaro, after all. And now other attractions are being discovered, too —
places likeGibb’s
Farm, a small lodge from which guests can hike to the Ngorongoro Crater area, a
prime destination for big game viewing. In addition, the opening of exclusive
safari reserves like the Singita Grumeti and the upscale camps
managed by Nomad Tanzaniaand Chem Chem are
evidence that the country’s tourist infrastructure is becoming more
sophisticated, perhaps even catching up to Kenya’s.
8. Chilean
Patagonia
Proof that adventure doesn’t have to mean
roughing it.
With its mix of
snowy peaks, pristine rain forest and network of virgin
national parks,Chile is emerging as one of the world’s
adventure hot spots and now has a spate of rugged luxury lodges in which
adventure-seekers can stay.
Puma Lodge,
a glass-and-wood design showcase about an hour and a half south ofSantiago, features heli-skiing through miles of untouched powder,
and outside of Patagonia’s Torres del Paine Park, the brand-new Tierra
Patagonia offers activities like horseback riding over the
steppes and boat outings on a glacial lake (while also offering creature
comforts like a spa and a heated indoor pool). Meanwhile,
the latest Singularproperty,
which also opened in November outside the park, leads expeditions into the
nearby glaciers. For custom trips, pioneers to the region like Cazenove & Loyd can
help navigate the logistical challenges of criss-crossing Chile’s dramatic
landscapes.
9. Lhasa,
Tibet
New luxury hotels bring respite — and
controversy.
Tibet’s holy
capital is in the throes of a luxury-hotel boom. In Lhasa, this is news: not
only is operating an upscale hotel at nearly 12,000 feet above sea level no
small feat, but real-estate developments here are, almost by default, also
culturally loaded.
The majestic,
162-room St. Regis Lhasa Resort has been in full
operation since May. In 2010, a charming Tibetan-owned villa called the Lingtsang reopened
as a boutique hotel with opulent, colorful woodwork and courtyard verandas. And
coming soon are the sprawling InterContinental Resort Lhasa Paradise and the
284-room Shangri-La, both scheduled to open in 2013.
On the upside,
it’s the first time that travelers can get high-end amenities in a city where
even basic hospitality has been a challenge. On the downside, the openings —
like Lhasa’s booming population, new business districts and shopping malls —
are seen by many Tibetans and interested outsiders as more cultural
colonization and exploitation of a sacred land.
10. Havana, Cuba
The Cuban capital is once again within
Americans’ reach.
The only thing
that lies between Americans and the sultry streets of Havana these days is the
Florida Straits, since the Obama administration has widened the kind of travel
allowed. A growing list of organizations have licenses to operate trips to Cuba,
includingNational Geographic Expeditions, Austin-Lehman and the Center for Cuban
Studies. There are also more flights from more American
cities: Fort Lauderdale and Tamparecently joined New York, Miami and Los Angeles on the list, and Chicago will be added this year.
The
“people-to-people” rules require Americans to interact with Cubans
(sun-and-sand vacations are still prohibited) so tours involve meeting
with art historians, organic farmers and
others. Conveniently, new restaurants and bed-and-breakfasts, some in gorgeous
colonial villas, have sprung up over the past year as the government has
allowed more private enterprise. Havana is also gearing up for its 11th Biennial, from May 11 to June 11, which
will draw more than 100 Cuban and international artists.
11. Moscow
New cultural venues add a dash of the
sacred and profane.
The extravagantly
renovated Bolshoi
Theater has been preening like a prima donna before the news
media’s flashbulbs since it reopened in October. And given the $760 million
face-lift to the 236-year-old grand dame you can almost hear the czars applauding
from their tombs.
But beyond the
spotlight, two compelling museums have also made their debuts. TheRussian Icon Museum is said to hold the
largest private collection of Russian and Eastern Christian religious artwork
(some 4,000 pieces). Admission to the museum is free.
You won’t find
many virgins or saints at Tochka G, whose name translates as “G Spot.”
With more than 3,000 sex-related items, the bounty includes everything from
Soviet-era condoms to high-tech sex dolls to “Wrestling,” a 2011 painting by
the Russian artist Vera Donskaya-Khilko that depicts a buff Vladimir Putin and
Barack Obama challenging each other with their cartoonishly oversized
phalluses. In Russia, size does matter.
12. Glasgow
Zaha Hadid takes on a Scottish
waterfront.
Scotland’s second city now has a $115 million
museum designed by Zaha Hadid to go with its shiny new harbor and river
promenade.
The Riverside Museum, which opened in June, is
housed in a stunning building on the waterfront, with a 3,000-piece collection
devoted to Glasgow’s rich shipbuilding and engineering past. Its location,
along the River Clyde, was once home to many shipyards, and considered the
economic heart of Glasgow. But when the industry left, the area stagnated.
Not anymore.
Glasgow has spent more than a decade redeveloping 130 acres of derelict
shipyard and unused dockland in an effort to restore the waterway to its former
glory. Now there’s a pleasant riverside walkway with steel street furniture,
cobblestones from Victorian Glasgow and maritime paraphernalia. Lime trees are
planted on both sides of the esplanade, and there are bicycle paths throughout.
A new ferry stop for the Riverside Museum, which just saw its one-millionth
visitor, marks the first time in around 50 years that this section of the river
has had regular passenger service.
13. Puebla, Mexico
International mole festival. Need we say
more?
May 5, 2012, is
the 150-year
anniversary of Cinco de Mayo, the date when, in 1862, an
outmanned Mexican army defeated the French troops of Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte.
The occasion will be marked with a fiesta in Puebla, the chief spot in Mexico
that celebrates the holiday. Ahead of the May festival, the city, the affluent
capital of one of Mexico’s safest states, is building a light rail line similar
to the one in Mexico City and renovating public spaces.
Privately, Museo
Amparo, which holds one of the country’s most impressive collections
of indigenous and colonial-era artifacts, has undergone a $17 million update
and expansion.
But the city’s
biggest draw might be its famous mole poblano. The city is inaugurating
an international mole festival which will begin on May 2. Hopes are that it
will attract celebrity chefs like Rick Bayless, who recently took staff
members to Puebla’sMural de los Poblanos restaurant for their
annual employee trip.
14. San Diego
With breweries and brewpubs, a sunny
heaven for suds lovers.
Even in times of
tight budgets, finely crafted beer remains a relatively approachable luxury,
and few American regions have more brewing momentum than San Diego County.
Maybe it’s time, then, to think about building a beer safari in the land of
sunshine, fish tacos and hopped-up American IPAs. Long established craft
breweries like Karl Strauss Brewing Company and the
cheeky Stone
Brewing Company have mentored brewmasters and created demand
for some seriously offbeat ales.
The area has long
been a hotbed of garage-based hobbyists, so it’s no surprise that the region
also has a tradition of dedicated home brewing. The result is a cluster of
small breweries, like the tiny but soon-to-expand Hess Brewing.
And there are
numerous opportunities for rigorous but never dour beer tastings, at
staggeringly comprehensive shops like Bottlecraft Beer Shop & Tasting Room and Pizza
Port Bottle Shop, as well as beer-obsessed taverns like Hamilton’s
and O’Brien’s and restaurants like Local Habit. Those looking for full immersion can
pack a stein for the fourth annual San Diego Beer Week in
November.
15. Halong
Bay, Vietnam
New ways to visit a natural wonder in
Southeast Asia.
Though Halong
Bay, a staggering seascape of some 1,600 limestone islands and islets in the
Gulf of Tonkin, formed over millions of years, there’s never been a better time
to visit. In November, the Unesco World Heritage site was
provisionally named one of the world’s “new seven wonders of nature” based on a
global poll conducted by the Swiss foundationNew7Wonders —
just as Vietnam Airlines announced the first-ever nonstop flights between London and Vietnam. Largely untouched by
humans and topped with thick jungle flora, the rock formations rise
dramatically in conical peaks and pillars from the surrounding waters, which
feature offshore coral reefs, freshwater swamps, mangrove forests and sandy beaches. Visitors can now reach what Ho Chi
Minh himself called “the wonder one cannot impart to others,” on local junk
boats, luxury cruises or a spate of new adventure tours
offered by companies like InterAsia, World Expeditions and the Luxury
Travel Group.
16. Florence, Italy
A Renaissance city gets a contemporary
kick.
Since 2009,
Florence’s youthful mayor, Matteo Renzi, has championed efforts to build a
livable, living city that celebrates — but is not yoked to — its rich history
(and historic riches). The result? An energized arts scene unfolding inside
various medieval palazzi, ancient landmarks restored and reopened to the public
for the first time in decades and restaurants abandoning traditional Tuscan
staples for sophisticated contemporary food.
The grand
15th-century Palazzo Strozzi is now home to the Center for
Contemporary Culture Strozzina and a destination for must-see
events like the coming “Americans in Florence: Sargent and the American
Impressionists,” which opens in March. Spazi Urbani Contemporanei, an arts
space occupying a 15th-century former monastery, now features works from
emerging Italian artists. Last year, the 148- foot-tall 14th-century San
Niccolò tower reopened to the public with one of the best panoramic views of
the city. And in September, the flagship Gucci Museum made its debut in the
historic Palazzo della Mercanzia.
The city’s stock
of refined hotel offerings has also been elevated by the opulent new St. Regis
Florence, which opened in a palatial riverside palazzo in May, and
the Grand
Hotel Villa Cora, another five-star stunner near the Boboli Gardens.
Even the once-staid Florentine dining scene has been reborn with new
restaurants like IO Osteria Personaleand Ossi di Seppia.
Next for the Tuscan capital are plans to
restore the banks of the Arno River and spruce up the city’s largest
park.
17. St. Vincent
A new resort may put this Caribbean
island on the map.
The fact that
American Airlines does not fly there could explain why St. Vincent remains
among the Caribbean’s best-kept secrets: a stunningly
lush, unspoiled gem of an island surrounded by water cerulean enough to render
that of other islands murky by comparison. What there is here — a climbable
volcano, dramatic waterfalls, black-sand beaches — is dwarfed by what there
isn’t: chain stores, crowds, big hotels.
Except, that is,
for one notably new exception. Buccament Bay, a five-star resort, opened in
the fall and boasts more rooms, about 360, than all other hotels on the island
combined. And there are the resort’s five restaurants, a spa, a soccer camp and performing arts center.
The resort, along with a new international airport that is scheduled to open in
late 2013 and designed to handle five times the number of passengers currently
arriving at the island, will most likely let the cat out of the bag and attract
the long overdue crowds. Get there before they do.
18. Moganshan, China
Luxury in the former mountain hideaway
of Shanghai gangsters.
For much of the
early 20th century, Moganshan, a bamboo-covered mountain about three hours from
Shanghai, served as a tranquil retreat for the elite. Wealthy foreigners took
up residence on the mountain first, building stone villas and tennis courts.
Then came the Chinese power brokers, including the Shanghai mob boss Du
Yuesheng and the Kuomintang leader Chiang Kai-shek, who honeymooned here in
1927.
After a lull, the
past decade has seen foreigners repopulating Moganshan’s sleepy slopes,
transforming old villas into homes and guesthouses. And in late 2011, the
mountain went upscale with two new luxury properties. The 121-room
eco-resort Naked Stables features tree-top villas
with Jacuzzis set on balconies overlooking the mountains, and African-inspired
“earth huts” built with environmentally friendly rammed-earth walls. Set on a
tea plantation, the 40-room Le Passage Moganshan, which partly opened in
December, takes its inspiration from Moganshan’s historic manor homes, with
century-old recycled wood floors and a magnificent garden planted with 12,000 rose
bushes.
19. Birmingham, England
Could England’s second city be first in
food?
Olive, the BBC’s
food magazine, recently startled British gourmands when it declaredBirmingham, England’s second
largest city, the United Kingdom’s “foodiest town,” ahead of London and
Edinburgh. The award came last October, just as Birmingham was hosting an
annual festival, the 10-day Birmingham Food Fest, which featured such
local talents as Aktar Islam of Lasan Restaurant; up-and-comers like David
Colcombe of Opus, Andy Waters of Edmunds
Restaurant and Steve Love of Loves
Restaurant; and a troika of Michelin-starred chefs: Glynn Purnell
of Purnell’s;
Andreas Antona, Luke Tipping and Adam Bennett of Simpsons
Restaurant; and Richard Turner of Turners of
Harborne.
The chefs are
building on an already rich dining scene. Birmingham is famous in Britainfor its Balti
Triangle, an area of town that is home to a beloved
Pakistani-Kashmiri curry dish invented here; it is also birthplace to such
classically British food items as Typhoo Tea,Bird’s Custard and HP Sauce.
20. Space
The final frontier now has a ticket
agent.
It’s not just the
imaginings of science fiction geeks. Pretty soon anyone with $200,000 will be
able to travel to the last frontier: space or — more specifically — the upper
edge of Earth’s atmosphere. In 2004 Richard Branson founded Virgin
Galactic with the primary goal of pioneering commercial flights
to space. Last year the company began test-flying SpaceShipTwo, an aircraft
that will enable two pilots and six passengers to travel to suborbital space.
Although no launch date has been confirmed (a 2012 date was pushed back to
2013), about 450 people from around the globe have already purchased tickets;
the first passengers will be (surprise!) Richard Branson and his two children,
Sam and Holly.
Flights will take
off from the brand-new spaceport near Las Cruces, N.M., but Virgin Galactic “Space
Agent” Joshua Bush of Park
Avenue Travel in Philadelphia, predicts that in a few years
“We’ll eventually be able to take off from New York, orbit the Earth and then
land in Tokyo in two or three hours.” What will
it be like? “After the rocket motor turns off there is complete silence,” said
Mr. Bush, who has read about the experiences of many astronauts. “You look out
the window and see a thin blue line of the atmosphere and
comprehend how small and insignificant we are.”
21. Kerala, India
A new Indian biennale will make its debut
in this coastal state.
Last year India
hosted its first pavilion at the Venice Biennale. This year the country
inaugurates a biennale of its own. To be held in the southwestern state of
Kerala, theKochi-Muziris Biennale will feature
contemporary painting, film, sculpture, installations, new media and
performances by Indian and international artists. Most of the action will
unfold in the colonial city of Kochi, whose contemporary art scene already offers more than a
dozen venues, from the two-year-old David Hall — a 1695 Dutch colonial mansion
— to the longstanding Kashi
Art Café, a restaurant-gallery-garden-cafe. To host the events, the
city’s 19th-century Durbar Hall and other old buildings are getting
top-to-bottom face-lifts.
But the most
remarkable historical reclamation project is happening in the biennale’s other
Kerala site, Muziris. A fabled ancient port that traded spices and silk
with Egypt andGreece two millennia ago, Muziris
mysteriously vanished sometime after the fall of Rome. Archaeologists have
recently located and started to excavate the vanished settlement, which opened
to tourists this year. The biennale’s start date is Dec. 12, 2012, or
12/12/12.
22. Paraty, Brazil
Putting Brazil’s Costa Verde on the
cultural map.
This peaceful
hideaway is swiftly becoming the most culturally rich destination in Costa
Verde, the 325-mile coastline between Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. Paraty’s
cultural calendar includes a three-year-old jazz, blues and soul festival
organized by São Paulo’s top live music venue, the Bourbon
Street Music Club. Every June, acts like the American trumpeter Roy
Hargrove and the Brazilian trombonist Raul de Souza bring their sounds to the
historic quarter’s cobblestone streets. Another recently inaugurated event
is Paraty
Em Foco, a yearly series of photography exhibits showcasing
up-and-coming artists from Brazil and beyond. And there’s Flip, a
literary festival packed with readings, caipirinha-fueled parties and erudite
stars like Ian McEwan, Isabel Allende and Salman Rushdie.
Paraty’s other
attractions include boutiques with tasteful handcrafts, cozy cafes, candlelit
seafood restaurants and charming inns. The most stylish is Casa
Turquesa, voted best new pousada of 2009 by Guia Quatro Rodas
(Brazil’s version of the Michelin guide). Late this year, Paraty will get its
first high-profile luxury hotel. The French brand Maisons des
Rêves — known for its chic Relais & Châteaux lodgings —
plans to open a property near the town’s sailboat-lined harbor.
23. Koh Rong, Cambodia
A string of islands recalls an
undiscovered Asian paradise.
Many adventurous
travelers are looking beyond the temples at Angkor to see what else Cambodia
has to offer. One possibility is the Koh Rong Archipelago, whose main island is
a 30-minute boat ride from the coastal town of Sihanoukville. Until recently there was no
place to stay on this string of islands, but that changes with the opening of
the Song Saaresort
this year.
Rory Hunter, the
owner, and his wife, Melita, discovered the untouched archipelago several years
after they moved to Cambodia in 2004. Melita, previously an artist specializing
in sculptural art installations, designed Song Saa to resemble a Cambodiafishing village — at least from the
outside. Inside guests will find luxurious contemporary comforts like an
infinity pool and Wi-Fi complimented by Asian antiques and market finds, like
large driftwood columns, old copper bowls, recycled boat timber walls and
century-old Cambodian day beds. (For about $600 per person a night.)
Guests will be
able to snorkel with sea horses by day and swim
in bioluminescent waters at night. And then there’s the food. The resort’s
chef, Neil Wager, imported from the exclusive North Island resort in the Seychelles, will be serving up his own version
of local Khmer cuisine starring sustainable local seafood.
24. Vienna
Modern art spruces up Austria’s imperial capital.
After a flurry of
activity, Vienna’s venerable museum scene is prepped for a banner year. July
marks the 150th birthday of its native son Gustav Klimt, the Vienna
Secessionist master whose dreamily erotic gold-leaf paintings have become some
of modernism’s most popular (and expensive) works; in a range of exhibitions
throughout 2012, more of his pieces will be on display in one place than ever
before.
And in a city
known for its starchy reluctance to change, two pre-eminent institutions have
taken on ambitious new directors: Christoph Thun-Hohenstein, the influential
former director of the Austrian Cultural Forum in New York, was announced as
the new head of the sprawling Museum
of Applied Arts, and the Museum of Modern Art reopened in
September after extensive renovations and the appointment of a new director,
the German curator Karola Kraus.
Last month,
another modern art specialist, 20er Haus, reopened as 21er
Haus, an exhibition space and cultural center presenting Austrian
art from 1945 to the present. And a new high-profile collaboration, to make its
debut this spring, will further strengthen the city’s art scene: the contemporary
art doyenne Francesca von Habsburg will lend both her keen artistic direction
and considerable coffers to Augarten Contemporary at the Belvedere museum, set
in a Baroque palace complex. The three-year project, called Thyssen-Bornemisza
Augarten Contemporary, weds the Belvedere, one of the city’s biggest public art
institutions, with Ms. von Habsburg’s private foundation, Thyssen-Bornemisza
Art Contemporary.
25. Chattanooga,
Tenn
A city stages a comeback fueled by
artists and retailers.
In 1969, Walter
Cronkite famously called Chattanooga the “dirtiest” city in America. In recent
years, though, it has undergone a dramatic overhaul with a radical
gentrification plan and an aggressive citywide push to lure artists. In
addition to a $120 million clean-up-and-invest 21st Century Waterfront Plan, an
incentive program called Arts Move brings artists of all mediums into town; a
yearly Southern arts fair called Four Bridges draws thousands each April; and
several arts districts have been cultivated and nurtured.
On the heels of
this artistic transformation has come the inevitable, yet not unwelcome,
boutique boom in places like the recently restored Warehouse Row, a Civil
War-era factory turned shopping center filled with local, upscale and artisanal
goods.
26. Dakhla, Morocco
In Morocco’s south, an arty hideaway.Morocco’s cool
crowd doesn’t want anyone else to discover this remote but strangely beautiful
desert town on the Atlantic Coast of the Western Sahara, an area with a
tumultuous history now governed by Morocco. On a 30-mile-long spit of sand
between the ocean and a tranquil lagoon about 600 miles south of Marrakesh, the town is becoming one of the
world’s greatest wind- and kite-board surfing destinations.
But there’s more
to Dakhla than high-flying fun. Many come for its fledgling bohemian status:
it’s a wild, remote, sun-drenched place with a freewheeling atmosphere and
plenty of local Tuareg culture. Water temperatures remain a constant 80 degrees
year-round, the desert is a short trek away, and the locally caught seafood is
delicious. Sleepy during the day thanks to the often intense Saharan heat, the
town comes alive after dark with lively cafes and restaurants. Dakhla also
finally has a place for nonbackpackers: the Calipau
Sahara hotel, a modern riad that opened two years ago, with a long
stretch of private beach and a seawater pool. And although part of Dakhla’s
charm is its relative inaccessibility, Royal Air Maroc offers daily flights
from Casablanca.
27. Maldives
A cushy place for hard-core surfers? Here
it is.
When one thinks
of the Maldives, a necklace of 26 tropical atolls in the Indian Ocean, one might
envision $2,000 suites on stilts over turquoise waters and honeymooners dining
barefoot on the beach. But world-class surfers? Not so much. Think again. “It’s
ideal,” said Ross Phillips, founder of Tropicsurf, a leading outfitter in the
high-end surfing scene. “Good, consistent waves, warm water, a wide choice of
five-star resorts and plenty of things to do for the partners who don’t surf.”
This past summer six world champion surfers headed to the Maldives for what was
billed as the world’s most exclusive surfing event: Four Seasons Maldives
Surfing Champions Trophy, which was held at the Four Seasons Kuda
Huraa resort.
Early 2012 will
see several new splashy resorts, like the Niyama,
which has an underwater restaurant, and the Viceroy,
66 villas on the remote private island of Vagaru.
28. Malacca, Malaysia
A World Heritage site ramps up its
tourism options.
With its
lantern-lighted canals and silent, narrow streets lined with decades-old ornate
temples and shop houses, few places in Southeast Asia conjure romantic images
of the past as effectively as Malacca, Malaysia’s oldest city. A former
Portuguese, Dutch and British colony, this Unesco
World Heritage site is now attracting record numbers of
tourists lured by its unusual architecture and cuisine, which reflect
centuries of foreign influences.
More than seven
million visitors are expected in 2011, so the town, about 90 miles southeast of
the capital, Kuala Lumpur, is welcoming new hotels like
the Casa
del Rio, a Portuguese-inspired luxury boutique property with 66
rooms; and Courtyard@Heeren, a 100-year-old shop house converted into
a 14-room hotel. When you’re not exploring places like the 17th-century former
Dutch town hall or Jonker Street’s antiques shops, gorge on Malacca’s
outstanding local specialties, like creamy, piquant nyonya laksa at the
family-run Donald & Lily’s.
29. The Algarve
Portugal’s Riviera gets a new spate of luxury hotels.
The Algarve, on
Portugal’s southern coast, has long been a major package-holiday destination
for northern Europeans. But the sun-drenched region is aiming to attract a wider
crowd as it recycles itself with a crop of new or renovated luxury hotels
emphasizing style, authenticity and eco-friendliness. In Portimão, a perfect
example is the just reopened 38-room Hotel Bela
Vista. This 1918 villa overlooking the famous seaside Praia da Rocha
was renovated by the French hotelier Thierry Naidu and features a stunning
design by the Portuguese decorator Graça Viterbo.
There are hotels
opening in quieter areas of the Algarve, too, including the strikingMartinhal resort
in Sagres, and a Conrad hotel scheduled to open in
November. Trendy Lisboans are also flocking to Olhão, a former fish-canning town turned resort with stylish
lodging options, like the recently opened Real Marina
Hotel & Spa, and natural attractions, including the Ria Formosa,
a national park made up of one of the largest barrier-reef lagoons in Europe, where you might have the pristine
beauty of white sand beaches to yourself — for now, at
least.
30. Tahoe, Calif.
New lifts, lodging, trails and snowcat
rides.
Lake Tahoe’s seven major ski areas have been undergoing a dizzying
slate of improvements that will eventually tally at least $100 million. Most
notable is Squaw
Valley’s November merger with adjacent Alpine Meadows;
at 6,000 acres, it now offers the most ski terrain in the United States. Guests can take a free shuttle
between base areas and will find, among other upgrades, new ski school
services, expanded terrain parks, a kids’ snow-play area with mini-snowmobiles,
and new restaurants, including Rocker @ Squaw, a burger joint where skiers can
upload their own helmet-cam videos to TV.
Improvements
at Northstar,
recently acquired by Vail Resorts, include a quad chairlift and an on-mountain
restaurant with stellar views of the Pacific Crest. Advanced skiers can explore
170 acres of new gladed terrain or hop a snowcat to ski the Sawtooth Ridge.
Likewise, Sierra-at-Tahoe introduced
snowcat rides to Huckleberry Canyon. Kirkwoodrenovated
its Mountain Club hotel and Heavenly added three trails, a children’s
ski school center and a kids’ trail.
31. Wales
A new hiking path brings new views of rugged
shores.
Wales’s many
hiking trails are known for their views of rugged highlands and cliff-hemmed
coasts. Exploring the country by foot will become easier in May, when the Wales
Coast Path is completed, connecting several disparate paths and
creating a 1,030-mile pedestrian route that rings the country. The Wales Coast
Path — which in stretches will be open to cyclists and horseback riders —
follows the Atlantic and the Irish Sea over the length of the country, passing
medieval castles and threading through cities includingCardiff and seaside resort towns like
Tenby.
While few will
have the legs to tackle the entire trail, outfitters including Celtic Trails andContours Walking
Holidays lighten the load by offering inn-to-inn luggage
shuttles over several portions of the long distance path.
32. Antarctica
Still remote and exotic. Now luxurious
too.
The 100-year
anniversary of the arrival of these rugged explorers is a reminder of our
continued fascination with a region that remains in many ways as remote, exotic
and evocative as it ever was. White Desert is marking the event with a
new camp that allows travelers to spend the night in accommodations that
Amundsen and Scott could only have dreamed of: fiberglass pods with en-suite
bathrooms, dressing rooms and comfy beds. During the day, groups (limited to 12
) pass the time ice climbing, abseiling through open crevasses, kite skiing and
visiting colonies of Emperor penguins.
Another way to
see the icy scapes is by ship: Abercrombie & Kent’s Le Boreal, for
example, can navigate some of the smaller fjords and has onboard experts who
lecture on everything from wildlife to the history of the region.
Luckily though,
the number of overall visitors will remain restricted, guaranteeing, it is
hoped, at least another 100 years of relative isolation and pristine
wilderness.
33. Uganda
Stability and sustainable tourism restore
luster to Africa’s pearl.
Marred by the
murderous regime of Idi Amin in the 1970s, Uganda remained largely off the
typical African safari tour map. But after more than two decades of relative
stability under President Yoweri Museveni, the country that Winston Churchill
called the “pearl of Africa” is regaining some of its allure for tourists.
While Uganda has
not been without problems, including twin bombings in Kampala during the 2010
World Cup, some street clashes during political protests last year and a
history of extreme antagonism toward gay people, it’s still considered one of
the more stable countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
The country is
perhaps best known to tourists as the home of half of the world’s last
remaining mountain gorillas, and this year there are more opportunities to spot
the elusive creatures. The Uganda Wildlife Authority recently added two gorilla
families to the groups it tracks on tours in Bwindi
Impenetrable Forest, a Unesco World Heritage site in southwest
Uganda. Sanctuary Gorilla Forest Camp, a luxury tented
camp inside the forest, is working with the Batwa Pygmy tribe, indigenous
hunter-gatherers who were relocated when the park was established, to share
their history and culture with guests. And Country Walkers ,
based in Waterbury, Vt., is offering its first safari ever in Uganda.
Beyond up-close
gorilla encounters, Uganda is also the source of the Nile, boasts mountains
that are among the highest in Africa — the Mountains of the Moon in Rwenzori
Mountains National Park — and offers formidable
white-water rapids for thrill seekers.
34. Ukraine
Virginal beaches and czarist palaces — at
Old World prices.
Ukraine has
finally seen an influx of much-needed cash to fund its long underdeveloped
tourism sector, in part thanks to its selection as a co-host of the 2012 Union
of European Football Associations European Championship. Beautiful, historic
cities like Kiev, Odessa and Lviv have seen modernization, restoration and
fresh cultural energy, but are still cheap, laid-back and largely free of
tourist traps. All three cities have revamped their airports and added numerous
hotels, restaurants and retail outlets, while new roadwork makes travel outside
the city centers easier and more comfortable.
Beach lovers are
well advised to head to the Black Sea coast, which extends along the Crimean
Peninsula to Odessa. Long a popular beach destination for Russians, the area
has slowly begun attracting a wider audience with its pristine beaches, mild
climate, jutting cliffs and architectural marvels.
35. Samaná
Peninsula, Dominican
Republic
Unspoiled beaches, but not for long.
For years, the
Samaná Peninsula on the northeast coast of the Dominican Republic was one of
the Caribbean’s remaining natural holdouts,
largely untouched because of its remote location. But an international airport,
El Catey, built near the peninsula’s base a few years ago and, more recently, a
highway that shortened the drive from Santo Domingo to two hours from five, are
bringing new development.
Balcones
del Atláantico, a RockResort that opened last May in the village of
Las Terrenas, is the newest luxury resort on the peninsula. Its 86 two- and
three-bedroom villas start at $500 a night, supplying a cushy base from which
to explore ecotourism. The Peninsula House, a plantation-style estate
with just six suites from $580 a night, was named a 2011 Grand Award winner by
Andrew Harper’s Hideaway Report. And Auberge Resort’s’ Casa Tropicalia , with
44 beachfront suites and an open-air spa on Samaná Bay, is to open in 2014.
There are plenty
of off-resort attractions, too. Just last month, Bravaro Runners, an adventure tour operator,
opened a new zip-line tour consisting of 20 platforms and 10 zip-lines.
Go now, before
the crowds arrive.
36. Dubrovnik, Croatia
The St.-Tropez of the Balkans, equal parts
classic and modern.
The last five
years have been good to Dubrovnik: as it has opened to Western tourists, its
number of visitors has climbed steadily — around 10 percent a year — since the
global recession hit in 2008. Often called the Jewel of the Adriatic, this
seaside city features marble streets, Renaissance fountains and white sand
beaches. It has also recently completed an expansion of its airport and a sleek
renovation of its cable car system, offering improved city access and views.
Meanwhile, local
hoteliers compete to capture the growing stream of high-end tourists, with the
17th-century Pucic Palace , the upscale Excelsior
Hotel & Spa and the gorgeous clifftop Villa
Dubrovnik all seeing extensive renovations in the last few
years. Newer culinary draws include the French-fusion spot Gil’s, the
two-year-old Panorama and Lucin Kantun, a Croatian tapas restaurant that opened
last year in the Old Town.
37. Chiloé
Island, Chile
A
new look, and controversy, on the edge of South America.
Just off the west
coast of Chile, where the land starts to look as if it had been broken apart by
a jackhammer, Chiloé Island — known for its stilt houses, Unesco-anointed
churches , nature preserves, unusual wildlife and raw natural
beauty — is getting a facelift. Until recently, the 3,200-square-mile island
was mainly a respite for locals. But President Sebastián Piñera has plans to
share the island with the rest of the world.
The Chilean
government has started pouring billions of pesos into the island’s infrastructure
and the results are already evident: new paved roads, a new ferry terminal and
the soon-to-open Mocopulli Airport in the town of Castro, which will offer
direct flights to Santiago. The Chilean power company Ecopower
has plans to build a 56-turbine wind farm, which is expected to produce three
times the island’s power needs. Once construction begins, however, the island could
lose many of its migratory birds, penguins and endangered blue whales,
environmental groups have cautioned. In other words, the time to go is
now.
38. Jordan
New flights and a new modernist airport
ease the way for visitors.
It might seem
foolhardy for an airline to add a Middle East destination just as much of
the Arab world is in political turmoil. But the airline is easyJet, known for
its forays into unexpected markets, and the country is Jordan, which has mostly
been spared the kind of protests that have toppled leaders elsewhere.
Why get on board?
Starting this summer, travelers will be able to disembark at the new
state-of-the-art terminal of Queen Alia airport.
Designed by Sir Norman Foster using desert and Middle Eastern motifs, the
building is a fitting welcome to a country that is trying to modernize while
maintaining its natural beauty and traditions.
From there, head
to the infinity pool of the new DoubleTree by Hilton hotel in the Red Sea
resort of Aqaba. It’s a soothing way to wind down after a camel expedition
through the Mars-like landscape of nearby Wadi Rum, a 285-square-mile expanse
of desert punctuated by wind-eroded rock formations. The region — “vast,
echoing and God-like,” in the words of Lawrence of Arabia — was named a Unesco
World Heritage site last year.
39. Crans-Montana, Switzerland
Restaurants and luxury chalets shine a
light on an Alpine resort.
Surprisingly few
international tourists visit Crans-Montana,
favoring better-known Alpine resorts like Zermatt and Verbier to see and be seen. But with its
upmarket designer shops, five-star hotels, Michelin-starred dining and 87 miles
of downhill slopes, the word is getting out.
Perched high
above the Rhone Valley in western Switzerland on a
sunny, south-facing plateau, the two-town resort offers panoramic views of the
Matterhorn and Mont Blanc. With more than 250 boutiques, 60 restaurants and 30
hotels, Crans-Montana isn’t lacking for après-ski activities. And new flights from the
charter airline Snowjet from LondonStansted to Sion airport, about 19 miles
from the resort, are making it easier to be on the slopes within an hour of
stepping off the plane.
Abercrombie &
Kent Villas, a division of the luxury tour company, has taken notice, adding
the destination to its collection of luxury ski chalets this season. Weekly
rental rates at one of its five 2,700-square-foot chalets, each featuring a
Jacuzzi and wine cellar, start at 3,936 euros (about $5,085) for a
four-bedroom.
The mountain
resort is also celebrated for being the host of the Omega European Masters,
among Europe’s largest golf events, every September at one of
the highest 18-hole golf courses in the Alps, the Severiano Ballesteros. Last
year, the Crans-sur-Sierre Golf Club opened the first year-round
high-altitude European
golf training center so avid duffers can practice their swing
despite the snow.
40.
Montpellier, France
France’s eighth-largest city is dressing
up in designer style.
The most
celebrated architect in France, Jean Nouvel, and a collaborator, François
Fontès, introduced their blue and cube-like city hall in November,
and early next year Mr. Nouvel’s RBC Design Center — another coolly
modernist structure that will house the RBC brand’s furniture showroom — is to
open its doors in this medieval, student-filled Mediterranean city.
Even more
innovative, the long-awaited Pierres Vives Building from the star architect
Zaha Hadid will be ready by year’s end. A long, sprawling edifice of swirly
white concrete layers and green-tinted glass, the futuristic structure will
hold a library, archives and municipal offices.
And to reach
them, the city is installing what may be Europe’s sexiest tram system. The two
existing lines sport exteriors of kaleidoscopic birds and flowers by Christian
Lacroix, and two new lines with Mr. Lacroix’s trademark color-soaked style are
on their way. Both will make their debut this spring with an underwater design
theme and a solar theme, respectively, along roughly 17 miles of new track.
Think of it as France’s longest fashion runway.
41. Nosara, Costa Rica
Surfing geeks have descended on a remote little town.
With sandy
beaches, warm, jade-green waters and rolling waves that rarely get too big, the
remote jungle community of Nosara on the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica has become
the ideal spot to learn to surf. The crescent-shaped Guiones beach is a good
jumping-off point to go hiking or visit the nearby turtle refuge,
and there are small, charming hotels and local bars with live music. But in a place that sees sunny,
rainless weather from December to May, surfing’s the thing.
Surf schools have
popped up all over town, including Surf Simply, which focuses on a technical,
sports-coach philosophy and has a new guided trip option along the coast for
its 2012 surf programs, and Safari Surf School , an official
Billabong-certified surf camp.Nosara Surf Cam offers a real-time Web
feed of the waves. Take a look and get your stoke on.
42. South Korea
Is golf’s newest hot spot in Asia?
South Korea is
redefining just how luxurious golf resorts can be. A slew of new private clubs
— the kind with six-digit membership fees, designs by celebrity architects and
clubhouses that look like modern art museums — have opened recently in the
country.
The most
prestigious is Haesley Nine Bridges, just outside Seoul, with a clubhouse covered by a huge,
sinuous web of wooden beams (it also features one of Jeff Koons’s giant balloon
toy sculptures).
Then there’s
the Ananti
Club, also a commuter’s distance from Seoul: 486 acres containing three
courses nestled in the Yumyeongsan forest, with a clubhouse, designed by the
architect Ken Min, built almost entirely underground. And the futuristic Jack Nicklaus Golf Club Korea, which opened
last year in the financial center of Songdo, has a huge, undulating clubhouse
designed by the California architect Mehrdad Yazdani.
In 2015, South
Korea will be the host of the Presidents Cup for the first time; apparently
there are some tournament-worthy courses to go with all those fancy new
clubhouses.
43. Lodz, Poland
The Hollywood of Poland reclaims its
industrial past.
Poland’s
third-largest city and the movie-making headquarters of the country (with a
film school that started the careers of Roman Polanski and Andrzej Wajda), Lodz
has seen its labyrinth of textile warehouses and industrial-era relics
repurposed for artistic and entrepreneurial ventures.
The latest is by
the director David Lynch, who has a deal to establish a major film studio in a
former 19th-century power plant in the city. Its makeover — which will also
include a planetarium, a library, an exhibition space and a theater — is
scheduled to be shown to the public in 2014. Additionally, the architect Frank
Gehry, whose grandparents were from Lodz, is in talks to design a festival and
congress center with an avant-garde, building-block shape.
These ventures
will be in good company. One Lodz weaving mill is now a retail and
entertainment center called Manufaktura, while another, Ms2, is a
three-year-old contemporary art museum filled with experimental leanings. A
19th-century industrial complex has been reborn as an art incubator, Lodz Art
Center, that is the host of lectures and festivals.
44. Dalarna, Sweden
A storied region offers a getaway
from Stockholm.
Most travelers
know Sweden only for the urban cool of Stockholm and Gothenburg. But when the
sun approaches its summer apex, city dwellers often leave town for one of the
country’s central provinces, Dalarna. Its deep forests and glimmering lakes
host traditional midsummer parties, and every brick-red farmhouse deserves its
own postcard. With Dalarna’s southern edge only about 125 miles from the
capital, getting there — by car, bus or rail — is easy enough, though the
rustic landscape of “the Dales,” as Dalarna translates, can feel worlds apart.
That’s made it a
natural respite for Swedish painters like Anders Zorn, whose home in the
town of Mora is now a museum. Artisans still produce traditional
handicrafts like the Dala Horse, a national mascot. But Dalarna is not just for
summer journeys: every March, the region hosts the Vasaloppet, one of the world’s biggest
cross-country ski races, and autumn brings incredible foliage and rich game
dishes at restaurants of surprising sophistication like the Dala-Husby
Hotell.
45. Portovenere, Italy
Stepping
in while the Cinque Terre rebuilds.
In late October, torrential rain caused catastrophic mudslides and
flooding that devastated Monterosso and Vernazza, two of the cliff-clinging,
seaside villages in the famed Cinque Terre on Italy’s northwestern coast.
Though the towns are slowly being rebuilt, travelers seeking the
pleasures of the area in 2012 should instead consider Portovenere, an equally
charming, though largely overlooked, town just south of the Cinque Terre.
Like its more famous neighbors, Portovenere is a traditional fishing village with a picturesque jumble of
pastel houses, boats bobbing in the harbor and a network of meandering hiking
trails. But here, crowds are sparse, so poke around the 13th-century,
black-and-white striated church in peace, before marveling at the views across
the glittering Bay of La Spezia, which has long inspired poets and writers,
from Lord Byron to D.H. Lawrence.
