25 must-visit destinations for 2027, according to National Geographic

By Maureen O’Hare, CNN

(CNN) — It’s too easy to kick the can down the road when planning dream trips: Push it to next month, next year, after the new kitchen is done, or never.

To help banish the endless procrastination, National Geographic’s 2027 list of 25 must-visit destinations for the year ahead is one of its most timely and experience-driven recommendations yet.

There are new openings, such as the Cape Froward National Park in Chile, and landmark anniversaries, like a Beethoven festival in Leipzig, Germany, to mark the 200th anniversary of the composer’s death.

There are cultural celebrations, including an arts festival in Japan’s “Snow Country,” and once-remote locations with improved accessibility, such as Mexico’s Maya Ka’an, now linked to Cancún and Tulum by train.

National Geographic’s editor-in-chief, Nathan Lump, talked to CNN about some of the destinations he’s most excited about.

Pacific Coast Highway, California

California’s Pacific Coast Highway is “probably the most iconic road trip you could take in America, outside of Route 66,” says Lump, and with the beloved Big Sur section now open again after a three-year closure, it’s possible for travelers to enjoy it in its entirety.

Lump recommends people explore the thriving creative communities in the towns en route, such as Mendocino and Laguna Beach. California has for a long time attracted “artists inspired by the landscape, by the ocean, and so you really can see that and experience that on display as you make this drive.”

Baltimore, Maryland

America’s first commercial railroad opened in Baltimore, Maryland, 200 years ago in 1827. To celebrate, the city’s National Museum of Railroad History & Innovation has undergone a $38 million upgrade, culminating in the opening of its future-minded Innovation Hall early next year.

“Baltimore is often thought of as a maritime city”, says Lump, but there’s a lot more to Charm City than people often realize. It’s “dynamic and thriving” and “continues to undergo revitalization and change in really positive ways.”

Puerto Rico

Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl LX halftime performance put Puerto Rico in the international spotlight and, says Lump, “people got a bit more of a taste of its culture.”

Much more than just a beach destination, the island’s music, dance and culinary traditions reflect its distinct “blend of African and Indigenous and, of course, Spanish Influences.”

Puerto Rico’s Indigenous heritage can be traced along the Taíno Route with its historic settlements, sacred caves and centuries-old rock carvings.

Grenada

The new year marks the 150th anniversary of Spicemas, the annual August carnival in Grenada, which is known as the Spice Island due to its cultivation of nutmeg, cloves and other scented delights.

“It’s a beautiful island, lush and green,” says Lump, and Spicemas is “a great time to go: music, parades, street parties, super fun.”

Grenada also offers a wealth of wellness activities, such as volcanic mud bathing at River Sallee and guided yoga sessions at Royal Mount Carmel Falls, one of the island’s tallest waterfalls.

Santander, Spain

Two world-class art museums are debuting in Santander, on Spain’s northern coast, bringing fresh international attention to this ancient port city.

Faro Santander opened last month to display the extensive art collection of Banco Santander, including works by Titian, Velázquez, and Goya. Next year, Madrid’s prestigious Museo Reina Sofía will open an outpost in the city, with a collection of 138,000 paintings, sculptures and manuscripts. “And then they’ve got this great archaeology museum,” says Lump, Santander’s Museum of Prehistory and Archaeology, which is moving to a brand-new, $56 million home designed by prize-winning Barcelona-based architects Mendoza Partida.

Kuélap, Chachapoyas, Peru

“You’d definitely be the first of your friends to go there if you went,” says Lump of Kuélap, an ancient citadel in northern Peru built by the Chachapoya people around 500 C.E.

A new trail set to open in June reaches part of the Malcapampa ruins, a formerly inaccessible archaeological site.

Visitors “can observe a live archaeological site as well, and the archeologists that work there, which I think is quite fun and different,” says Lump.

Venture beyond Kuélap and hikers can reach sites where one can spot the Chachapoya people’s “human-shaped sarcophagi that contain mummies that are perched on the cliff side,” he says. “It’s very weird and cool.”

Luxor, Egypt

Luxor, in southern Egypt, will enjoy the longest duration of totality during the solar eclipse that will blot out the sun in parts of Europe, the Middle East and Africa on August 2.

“The sun was such an important part of cosmology to the ancient Egyptians” and “of all the places you can go in Egypt and experience” the ancient world, says Lump, Luxor “has probably the densest collection of riches.”

The historic Winter Palace hotel, where Howard Carter announced the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb in 1922, is due to reopen in July as the Mandarin Oriental Winter Palace.

Nile cruises, such as the legendary Steam Ship Sudan which inspired Agatha Christie’s “Death on the Nile,” are a “wonderful” way to see the region, but in 2027 travelers will also have the option of riding on Egypt’s first luxury tourist sleeper train, the Guardian of the Nile.

It will link Cairo and Aswan with a stop in Luxor.

National Geographic Best of the World 2027

• Baltimore, Maryland
• Pacific Coast Highway, California
• Halifax, Nova Scotia
• Southern Ozarks, Missouri and Arkansas
• Puerto Rico
• Grenada
• Cape Froward, Chile
• Kuélap, Chachapoyas, Peru
• Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland
• Leipzig, Germany
• Normandy, France
• Santander, Spain
• The Transcaucasian Trail, Armenia
• Tricity, Poland
• Vestland, Norway
• Luxor, Egypt
• Malawi
• Chengdu, China
• Niigata, Japan
• Jaipur, India
• Melbourne, Australia
• Madison, Wisconsin
• Maya Ka’an, Mexico
• Salvador, Bahia, Brazil
• Penang, Malaysia

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