5 Nov 2021 By May Ng

Lonely Planet’s Best Travel Destinations for 2022

Lonely Planet’s Best Travel Destinations for 2022 Revealed Auckland, Australia’s Scenic Rim and the Cook Islands Score Top Spots

With travel back on the agenda, global travel authority Lonely Planet has today unveiled its top 10 countries, cities and regions to visit next year with the release of Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel 2022.

Best in Travel 2022 is Lonely Planet’s 17th annual collection of the world’s hottest destinations and the must-have travel experiences for the year ahead. This edition places particular emphasis on the best sustainable travel experiences — ensuring travellers will have a positive impact wherever they choose to go.

This year, the number-one city has been given to Auckland, New Zealand, recognised for its blossoming cultural scene where the spotlight is on local creativity, while Taipei, Taiwan is second-ranked, with Freiburg, Germany in third place.

Queensland’s Scenic Rim has been named the Number 8 region to visit – an exciting coup for the region and Australia.

Remote and proudly independent The Cook Islands – one of the world’s smallest countries – claims the coveted spot as the number-one country to seek out in 2022, while Norway places second and Mauritius third.

Adding to the 2022 Best in Travel list, Lonely Planet’s number-one region for 2022 is the Westfjords, Iceland, a region of the island nation untouched by mass tourism where communities are working together to protect and promote their spectacular landscapes.

Each year, Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel lists start with nominations from Lonely Planet’s vast community of staff, writers, bloggers, publishing partners and more. The nominations are then whittled down by our panel of travel experts to just 10 countries, 10 regions and 10 cities.   Each is chosen for its topicality, unique experiences, ‘wow’ factor and its ongoing commitment to sustainable tourism practices.

As always Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel delivers new takes on popular destinations such as Norway and Dublin, Ireland, and unearths some lesser-known gems like Shikoku, Japan and arguably Germany’s most sustainable city Freiburg.”