2026's Hottest Travel Destinations Revealed by Global Experts
For months, travel industry experts have been sharing their predictions about the destinations people will visit in 2026, with art high on the list. Here are their insights.
Forbes Names 20 Top Destinations For 2026
Abu Dhabi tops the Forbes Travel Guide's Top Destinations For 2026-assembled from A to Z. The report notes the city's Louvre Abu Dhabi and the Zayed National Museum, with a planned 2026 opening of the Frank Gehry-designed Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.
Zanzibar, Tanzania, rounds out the Forbes list, as Stone Town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, helped lure nearly 1 million international visitors in 2025. Stone Town is renowned for its intricate carved wooden doors found among its narrow, winding streets. Many are covered with Arabic styling and others have elaborate Indian details with floral motifs and peacocks.
Altogether, the Forbes list highlights 20 locations, including Rajasthan, India; Peloponnese, Greece; Nikko, Japan; Mallorca, Spain; Croatia; Hudson Valley, New York and Los Angeles. The allure of new museums in Los Angeles is a draw: the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art and the new David Geffen Galleries at the Los Angeles County of Museum of Art.
A Literary Celebration of Milne's Character, Winnie-the-Pooh
The New York Times'52 Places to Go in 2026 list features numerous art and culture events tied to the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence; many will be held in Philadelphia. There's also an Independence Day World Cup match, battle re-enactments in New York and New Jersey, and various concerts and themed balls.
The report names "Winnie-the-Pooh's England" as a 2026 favorite, given that author A.A. Milne introduced the character a century ago. Events will be held throughout England, with the main action around Milne's 16th-century farmhouse home in East Sussex.
Among the U.S. sites on the list: Medora, North Dakota where the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library is set to open on July 4, 2026.
Fora's 2026 'Hot List' Includes A Quieter Japan
On Tuesday, Fora, a New York City-based tech-focused travel agency, released its 2026 "Hot List." A partial wrap-up based on increased bookings in 2025:
- The Nordics-Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Greenland, Faroe Islands.
- South American beach towns, including hideaways in Brazil (Santa Catarina, Trancoso) and Uruguay's coastal enclaves (Carmelo, Punta del Este, José Ignacio). Fora terms the sites "stylishly remote and deeply authentic." Santa Catarina is known for its street art, along with the Museu de Arte de Santa Catarina where you'll find contemporary works.
In José Ignacio, artist James Turrell has an installation on view: "Ta Khut"-a white dome with a circular oculus that frames the sky creating stellar light shows at sunrise and sunset.
- Mexico City. The capital draws numerous art travel connoisseurs given its array of 150-plus museums that include the National Museum of Anthropology, Palacio de Bellas Artes and Casa Azul, the home of Frida Kahlo.
- Lesser-known Japan. Increasingly, travelers are skipping Tokyo and Kyoto for quieter enclaves, including Karuizawa, a small hot-springs resort town, and Hakone, also with hot springs and prime views of Mount Fuji.
"Kyoto is dealing with over-tourism arguably more than anywhere else in Japan right now," said Henley Vazquez, Fora's co-founder, in a written response to questions. "The good news is that Japan has one of the best transportation systems in the world."
Vazquez cites Kanazawa for its preserved districts, gardens and cuisine. Karuizawa is set in the countryside with hot springs. The town, 70 minutes from Tokyo by bullet train, has a major art draw: the Hiroshi Senju Museum with scores of works by Hiroshi Senju, famed for his large waterfall series. Other museums: the Karuizawa New Art Museum and the Sezon Museum of Modern Art.
Also on Fora's list: the Carolinas and railway journeys traveling through Scotland, Italy and Canada.
National Geographic Weighs In With Art-Centric Choices
National Geographic's 2026 travel trend report includes a "Latin fever" section, highlighting El Salvador, Guatemala and Panama, all with substantial visitor increases in recent years.
In Ataco, El Salvador, tourists favor the town for its street murals that cover walls. The murals are more than decorative; they illustrate the area's Mayan heritage and the difficult times experienced during the country's civil war. Guatemala is also sought after for insights into its Mayan heritage, as well as its superb textile art. Guatemala City's Museo Ixchel del Traje Indigena has thousands of intricate textile patterns on display; some are garments. Altogether, the art represents more than 180 communities.
Panama also celebrates textile art, found at the Mola Museum in Panama City. The Frank Gehry-designed Biomuseo is worth a look, located on the Amador Causeway. The museum tells a geological story about how the Isthmus of Panama rose to connect continents. Panama's role as a biological corridor is also detailed.
The Midwest Is Trending In The USA
Priceline's Where to Next? report leads with a top ten list:
- Düsseldorf, Germany
- Rio Grande, Puerto Rico
- Santiago de Querétaro, Mexico
- Williamsburg, Michigan
- Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
- Greenville, South Carolina
- Hanoi, Vietnam
- McCall, Idaho
- Antwerp, Belgium
- St. Helena, California
Its "Midwest Quests" round-up includes Bloomington, Illinois (along Route 66 and the Constitution Trail); Saint Charles, Missouri (cobblestone streets and a quaint historic district); Cedar Falls, Iowa (Hearst Sculpture Garden and vivid downtown murals); Grand Rapids, Michigan (a downtown market, Frederik Meijer Gardens, and the Beer City Ale Trail) and Columbus, Ohio (botanical gardens, a world class zoo and the Columbus Museum of Art and Wexner Center for the Arts).
Priceline was on point to name the Midwest as a key 2026 destination. "The U.S. remains the world's largest travel market at $506.8 billion in 2025," notes Phocuswright's report, Travel Forward: Data, Insights and Trends for 2026, sponsored by Travel Guard. Phocuswright is a New Jersey-based tourism market research firm; Travel Guard sells travel insurance plans.
