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by Ashton Rigg on 28-Dec-2015 07:00:00
With the New Year comes an opportunity for new adventures! Whether your New Year's Resolution is to explore the world or just see more of your own backyard, we've tracked down the 10 hottest travel destinations set to be on Australians' holiday radars.
Without further adieu and in no partciular order, here are our top 10 destinations for 2016...
Chances are you had friends who went to Mexico in 2015 – they Instagrammed day naps in hammocks; they checked-in on Facebook to secret cenotes. Now it’s time to get yours. The vibrant city of Oaxaca is an excellent place to start a vay-cay in Mexico. It’s an artistic epicentre, the birthplace of chocolate and a prime base for day-tripping to archaeological wonders. Oh, and it’s pronounced “wa-hah-kah”. You’re welcome.
Travel restrictions between Cuba and the United States have been relaxed after more than half a century of the countries giving each other the cold shoulder. As a result, tourism is forecast to go gangbusters on the Caribbean island, making it one of the best places to visit in 2016. The time to see this colourful communist outpost is now before the bandwagon truly rolls into town.
This South African seaside city has it all: soaring peaks, golden beaches, rambling vineyards... and that’s just for starters! Cape Town is fast becoming a fashion-forward creative hub. When you’re in the Mother City, be sure to visit the colourful neighbourhood of Bo-Kaap, take a cable car to the top of Table Mountain, and swirl and sip your way through Stellenbosch.
The confetti has barely been cleared away after the 2014 FIFA World Cup and Brazil is getting into party mode again for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. The samba-fuelled city is no stranger to a shindig, as the annual Carnaval celebrations prove, but the Olympics are set to see the beaches of Copacabana and Ipanema buzzing with even more bikini-clad bods than usual.
Let’s be honest here: when is Japan NOT one of our top travel destinations? The abundance of cheap flights to Japan these days makes it such an easy international escape, whether you’re travelling to see the sakura blossoming or ski the slopes of Niseko. Grab yourself a Japan Rail Pass before you head off and the country is your oyster! Or should that be sashimi...?
Adding some serious cool factor to our best in travel 2016 list, Iceland is a destination that promises to inspire, surprise and excite, from the geothermal wonders of the Reykjanes Peninsula to its too-cool capital Reykjavik. Iceland is a serious bucket-list item, whether your goal is to see the Aurora Borealis or the ‘land beyond the wall’ from Game of Thrones.
Hot destinations don’t come much hotter than our own WA! Turns out Australia’s Wild West has been keeping some pretty incredible sights all to itself. From the Bungle Bungles to Broome and Euro-cool capital Perth, Western Australia serves its holiday destinations sunny side up. Lonely Planet has ranked the port city of Fremantle a must for 2016, with the Margaret River wine region making an appearance on plenty of Best in Travel lists too.
Hosting the UEFA Euro 2016 is a pretty big deal, but France is up to the challenge. A swag of cities including Marseille and Lyon are set to roll out the welcome mat for the best soccer talent in Europe as they take part in the second biggest sporting event in the WORLD. Couple that with the new river cruises set to float in 2016 – like APT’s new wine-focused journeys in Bordeaux – and France is ripe for the picking and sipping!
New Zealand is one of the best holiday destinations any given year, but the Land of the Long White Cloud is major favourite for Aussies at the moment. While South Island towns boast serious appeal in winter, NZ’s North Island is gaining plenty of attention for its year-round offerings. Think Auckland day trips to island wineries, cafe crawling through the windy capital, and grabbing a pint at Hobbiton's Green Dragon Inn.
Hong Kong is a long-standing favourite holiday destination for Australians. It’s a major stopover for tonnes of international flights, making it a no-brainer to double your fun with a few nights in Honkers en route to elsewhere. The Special Administrative Region of China is a utopia for shoppers and foodies alike, with a little colonialism and rich heritage thrown in for good measure.
