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Lonely Planet unveils best travel destinations of 2020

Bhutan came first in Lonely Planet's top 10 countries to visit. [Photo: Getty]
Bhutan came first in Lonely Planet's top 10 countries to visit. [Photo: Getty]

Lonely Planet has unveiled its best travel destinations for 2020 and now we’re in the mood to book some flights.

The highly respected list was chosen from nominations by staff, writers and bloggers at Lonely Planet, which was then built into a top 10 in each category.

Bhutan, in the eastern Himalayas, came out on top of the best countries to visit, beating out England, which came in second place. A key reason for this is bound to be because it’s set to become the world’s first fully organic national by 2020.

England nabbed second place thanks to the England Coast Path, the longest managed costal path in the world, which is set to be completed in 2020.

England came in second place due to its almost completed coastal path. [Photo: Getty]
England came in second place due to its almost completed coastal path. [Photo: Getty]

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Bhutan’s approach to tourism is described by Lonely Planet as “high-value, low impact”. In essence, this means that tourists have to pay a fee for walking the mountain trails, but that as a result, they are kept clean from litter.

Top 10 countries to visit in 2020:

  1. Bhutan

  2. England

  3. North Macedonia

  4. Aruba

  5. eSwatini

  6. Costa Rica

  7. The Netherlands

  8. Liberia

  9. Morocco

  10. Uruguay

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In the cities poll, Salzburg, Austria won the coveted top spot. It’s a big year for Salzburg, with the centenary anniversary of its globally renowned festival of music and drama.

Another city close to home came in fourth place. Galway, Ireland, made it onto the list just below Washington DC and Cairo.

Top 10 cities to visit in 2020:

  1. Salzburg, Austria

  2. Washington, DC, USA

  3. Cairo, Egypt

  4. Galway, Ireland

  5. Bonn, Germany

  6. La Paz, Bolivia

  7. Kochi, India

  8. Vancouver, Canada

  9. Dubai, UAE

  10. Denver, USA

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Lonely Planet also curated a top 10 best regions and top 10 best-value destinations for 2020.

The Central Asian Silk Road was awarded the top spot for the best region. It runs through East and Southeast Asia, Arabian Peninsula, East Africa and Southern Europe.

As visa improvements have been made, alongside infrastructure and transportation investment, it’s now easily accessible to most of the world.

As for the best-value destinations, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia won the top spot. The travel guide said it’s a largely overlooked region with some of the best Indonesian diving available.

If you’d rather stay in Europe, Budapest, Hungary came in second for value.

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