Pick one or two district clusters a day, pay at the window, and plan around the fees that moved this year. Here are the temples in Kyoto by district, with costs, closures and where to sleep.
Hotel rates are usually lowest close to check-in, but peak weeks and event dates reverse that. Here is the window, the best check-in day and a refundable-rate routine.
By the Fortrip editorial desk. Arrivals data comes from the UN Tourism World Tourism Barometer, January 2025 edition. Newer editions are published by UN Tourism, so check there for the latest figures before you plan.
The best tourist destinations depend on the kind of trip you want: the most visited countries suit an easy, well-connected trip, while islands, mountain roads and quiet regions suit travellers who will trade convenience for atmosphere. Arrivals data measures how many people go. Editorial lists record what a writer or panel prefers. This page keeps those apart, then gives a shortlist of places to go on a trip for each type and a decision guide at the end.
Most visited is a count of visitors. Best is a judgement, and it depends on your dates, your budget and how you feel about crowds.
The sections below follow the trip types in this order: most visited, unusual or exotic, road trips, and off the beaten path. After those come regional growth, a beach, city or road trip guide, and a pre-booking checklist.
UN Tourism's World Tourism Barometer is the cleanest measure of popularity: an estimated 1.4 billion international tourists were recorded worldwide in 2024.
The same report says international tourism virtually recovered (99%) to pre-pandemic levels in 2024, with most destinations exceeding 2019 numbers.
The recovery was uneven, as the UN Tourism Barometer shows by region. The Middle East, Africa and Europe were above 2019 levels, while the Americas and Asia and the Pacific were still below.
France, Spain, the United States, Türkiye, Italy and Mexico recur in secondary top-ten rankings, but the order is not settled.
Time Out and AbroadMaster place China and Thailand differently, and place Germany and Austria differently. Those lists are secondary sources, so this page names the recurring countries without ranking them. For entry rules and seasons, go to each country's official site, such as Visit Morocco or Tourism Thailand.
A high arrival count signals infrastructure, flight links and name recognition, which makes getting there and finding a bed easy.
It says nothing about crowding at a particular site or whether the place suits your trip. A country can hold both a packed old town and an empty coast.
Publisher lists disagree because each is opinion, built by a different set of people with different aims.
The usual annual lists come from U.S. News Travel, BBC Travel, National Geographic Travel, Condé Nast Traveler, CNN Travel and The New York Times Travel.
The overlap is thin. Greenland appears on both the BBC Travel and Condé Nast Traveler lists, and most other picks do not repeat across lists. That is the clearest evidence that 'best' depends on who is choosing.
Lists reward different things: reader scores, editor picks, news hooks or anniversaries.
Read each publisher's methodology note before leaning on a list. A news-driven pick tells you more about the year it was published than about a lasting trip.
Use the lists to generate ideas, then test each against your dates, budget and tolerance for crowds. Fortrip's AI trip planner can turn a shortlist into a day-by-day plan.
An unusual or exotic destination passes three tests: it is difficult to reach, it is culturally or ecologically distinct from your home region, and its visitor infrastructure is limited.
The words 'exotic', 'unique' and 'unusual' have no agreed meaning, and they are relative to where you live. A place can also be unusual without being remote: a small art island can pass the culture test and fail the access test.
| Place | Why it qualifies | Access and what to check |
|---|---|---|
| Galápagos Islands | Wildlife that has little fear of people, in a protected national park | Reached by flight from mainland Ecuador; many sites require a licensed guide, so check the park directorate's visitor rules |
| Raja Ampat | Coral reefs and marine life in a remote Indonesian archipelago | Fly to Sorong in West Papua, then continue by boat; stays are mostly homestays and liveaboards, so plan transfers first |
| Greenland | Arctic landscape, fjords and Inuit settlements; named on both the BBC Travel and Condé Nast Traveler lists | Flights connect through Denmark; summer suits hiking and boat trips, winter suits northern lights and dog sledding |
| Dominica | Rainforest, volcanic hot springs and a long hiking trail rather than resort beaches | Most travellers connect through a Caribbean hub; the drier months fall in the northern winter |
| Naoshima | A small Seto Inland Sea island built around contemporary art museums | Reached by ferry from the Japanese mainland; check museum opening days before you cross |
The common thread is that each place asks you to plan the getting-there first.
A road trip is a region, not a destination, so pick the landscape first and the route second.
| Region | Why drive it | Season and what to check |
|---|---|---|
| The Dolomites, Italy | High mountain passes linking villages where Italian, German and Ladin cultures meet | Summer and early autumn suit the passes; winter is ski season and some high roads close, so check pass status |
| Queensland Tropical Coast, Australia | A coastal road where rainforest meets the sea between Cairns and Port Douglas, with the Great Barrier Reef offshore | The cooler, drier months suit driving and swimming; the wet season brings cyclone risk and marine stingers |
| Antigua Guatemala and its surroundings | A colonial town ringed by volcanoes, with highland roads towards Lake Atitlán | The dry season is easier on mountain roads; check road conditions in the rainy season |
Compare the daily driving load, road conditions, seasonal closures and the number of places to stay along the way.
A road trip suits someone who wants to change scenery daily. A single base suits someone who wants to unpack once.
If you have a draft route, the itinerary validator can check whether the days are realistic.
A popular country does not rule out a quiet trip, because high-arrival countries contain both crowded sites and quiet regions.
BBC Travel has framed its recent coverage around overtourism and sustainability, which is a useful anchor for the arrivals data above.
Oia on Santorini is the crowd case because it is a small cliffside village built around one view.
The village sits on the caldera rim, and its famous viewpoints gather visitors around sunset. The question applies to any famous viewpoint: does the place depend on one hour, and is there a second village or coast nearby with a similar setting?
Visit Greece covers other Cycladic islands worth comparing.
Use a method rather than a list, because the answer depends on where you live.
Albania, Colombia, Morocco, Saudi Arabia and the quieter neighbourhoods of Ho Chi Minh City are the leads worth checking.
| Place | Why consider it | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Albania | Adriatic and Ionian coast and mountain villages, in a country less crowded than its Mediterranean neighbours | Coastal transport and ferry links |
| Colombia | Coffee country, Andean cities and a Caribbean coast in one country | Regional travel advice from your foreign ministry |
| Morocco | Atlas Mountain villages and desert edges beyond the big imperial cities | Seasonal heat in the south |
| Saudi Arabia | Desert, heritage sites and Red Sea coast | Current visa and entry rules |
| Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam | Neighbourhood markets and cafés away from the central landmarks | The rainy season and e-visa rules |
These are leads rather than rankings.
The Middle East was the strongest-performing region in 2024, with international arrivals 32% above 2019 levels.
| Region | 2024 arrivals versus 2019 | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Middle East | +32% | UN Tourism Barometer |
| Africa | +7% | UN Tourism Barometer |
| Europe | +1% | UN Tourism Barometer |
| Americas | -3% | UN Tourism Barometer |
| Asia and the Pacific | -13% | UN Tourism Barometer |
Put another way, the Americas recovered 97% of pre-pandemic arrivals in 2024 and Asia and the Pacific recovered 87%. By subregion, North Africa (+22%) and Central America (+17%) had the strongest 2024 performance relative to 2019.
The outlook in that edition was a forecast, not an outcome: UN Tourism expected international arrivals to grow 3% to 5% in 2025 and flagged economic and geopolitical challenges as significant risks. For the actual outcome, check the latest barometer on the UN Tourism site.
Recovery pace says where tourism is rebuilding. It does not say where a trip will be better.
Pick by what you want from the days: rest, density of things to do, or movement.
A beach suits a trip whose aim is to do little.
The Queensland coast and the reefs of Raja Ampat suit swimmers and snorkellers, and Greek islands such as Santorini suit travellers who want a dramatic coastline. The good months differ by coast, so check the destination's tourism board before you book: Queensland, Indonesia or Visit Greece.
A city suits short stays and variety, and the most popular cities draw the largest crowds.
Bangkok and Ho Chi Minh City reward travellers who want food, markets and neighbourhoods beyond the central landmarks. The trade is more to do against more people doing it.
A road trip suits landscape and flexibility, and it needs the most planning around driving time and accommodation.
The Dolomites, the Queensland Tropical Coast and the Antigua Guatemala highlands, described above, are the three regions worth building a route around.
Check entry rules with your own foreign ministry, and seasons with the destination's national tourism board, before you commit to dates.
For entry rules and safety advice, use your government's travel pages, such as the U.S. State Department's travel site or the UK's foreign travel advice. For peak and shoulder months, use the national tourism sites linked above.
This page publishes no prices, because they change often. If you find a price range, note the source and its date before you rely on it.
Figures come only from the UN Tourism World Tourism Barometer; every destination description comes from an official tourism source or a named editorial list.
The fast-rising country figures and country-level rankings that circulate online are left out, because they could not be confirmed against a primary source. Editorial lists are treated as opinion, not data. Where a place appears on only one list, treat it as a prompt and look for a second source before you plan around it.
France, Spain, the United States, Türkiye, Italy and Mexico recur in secondary rankings, though the rankings disagree on order. High arrivals measure popularity, not quality, so they are a signal about infrastructure and name recognition, not about your trip.
Look beyond the headline attraction of a popular country, travel on weekdays and in shoulder months, and read local press. Quiet regions often sit a short drive from the busiest sites.
Use three tests: it is difficult to reach, it is culturally or ecologically distinct from your home region, and its visitor infrastructure is limited. The answer changes with where you live.
The overlap is thin. Greenland appears on both the BBC Travel and Condé Nast Traveler lists, but most picks do not repeat, and each publisher uses its own editorial criteria.
Check regional and national park agency sites, then look at towns a short drive beyond the main attraction. Travel on weekdays and in shoulder months, and read local press.
Sketch a brief. We come back with an itinerary that reads like a recommendation, not a checklist — and tell you what we’d change about it.
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