It's that magical time of year where basically every news and travel site announces their top destinations for the next turn around the Sun. Honestly, there's no real science to it as almost every reasonable destination on the the planet has something to offer visitors. Plus, few websites are going to recommend traveling to places currently in the middle of any kind of armed conflict, that have unstable governments, or are Kentucky. Just jokes, Kentuckians.
US News has released its list of the 30 Best Places to Visit in 2025 and, if you'll excuse the pun, it's all over the map. Recommendations range from the Galapagos Islands to Tokyo to Banff. It's actually quite an interesting list as it includes cities, countries, regions, national parks, and even a couple of major cultural landmarks. This list is basically a greatest hits package for tourism ideas covering the entire planet, which makes it a fun list to read.
It is worth noting that nothing on this list is really a surprise. They're all fairly safe options. And most of them have been incredibly popular for many years, not just in 2025. At the same time, it never hurts to be reminded that some of these destinations are out there and are still more than worth visiting. This may be a list of the usual suspects, but it's still a solid list of destinations to start from.
Barcelona is an interesting entry on the list considering the locals have become increasingly hostile to tourists. It's obviously still a beautiful city but that antagonism is something anyone planning a trip there needs to take into account. Bali falls under a similar category due to over tourism. Both Barcelona and Bali actually appeared on Fodor's No-List for 2025.