Over the years I’ve been particularly blasé about holidays. And when I say blasé, I mean more often than not I’ll have left the planning to friends and family and patiently waited to be told what time I need to be at the airport and how much money I need to hand over. For all the places I’ve listed on my travel bucket list, I’ve historically taken what I now realise to be a rather counterproductive approach to actually visiting them. But this year, my view has changed a little bit and I’d like to blame Instagram.
I don’t know if it’s because I’ve suddenly started paying more attention or because I haven’t had a ‘proper’ holiday this year, but I’ve been really aware of the frequency with which the people I follow have been tagging themselves the same places. Who decided that Lisbon was super cool this year? Who sent the memo about Croatia, South Africa and Ibiza being #travelgoals and why did I miss it?
To prevent next year’s edition of Instagram fuelled travel FOMO, we did a bit of research and asked the clever people over at Booking.com to fill us in on their predictions for where all the cool kids will be going in 2018. Research says priorities are culture, food and beaches, here are the locations that fit the bill.
WATCH: How To Do Post-Pool Hair
1. Hannover, Germany
If you’re over the Berlin thing, that’s totally okay because there’s way more to a country than it’s beloved capital city. Hannover’s a shout if you’re an aspiring culture vulture. People who visited through Booking.com rate it for shopping and walking which could possibly have something to do with Hannover being home to Europe’s largest urban forest, the Eilenriede.
2. Sapporo, Japan
If long hauls your game, Japan might be the next place to add to your hit list. I’m guilty of being one of the many people who forget that there’s a hell of a lot more going on in Japan than the bright lights of Tokyo. If you’re one of those crazy active people Sapporo is apparently a good place to base yourself before trekking through Hokkaido’s mountains and hot springs.
3. Bucharest, Romania
Word on the street is that 41 percent of travellers are planning to take a city break next year, which admittedly isn’t much of a shocker (because, lol, dollar) but might we tempt you with the lesser taken paths in Bucharest. It’s one of the places your cool friends who went inter-railing through Europe in the summer of your second year at university went to. Nothing stopping you visiting as a grown up.
4. Matera, Italy
The guys over at Lonely Planet are touting Matera as a hot spot next year and we can see why. It’s going to be the European City of Culture for 2019 which is kind of a big deal, so you might want to get ahead of the game so you can be one of those ‘been there, Instagrammed that’ people by the time everyone else gets around to going.
5. Lima, Peru
A destination for the undecided, if you will. There’s always a buzz around South America and that’s not set to change anytime soon. Lima, in particular, is becoming increasingly popular and whether you’re passing through or staying put, there’s as much to do for those with itchy feet as there is for the beach bums among us. Paragliding and surfing is meant to be good down that way too if you’re that way inclined.
6. Lisbon, Portugal
Yes, I know I mentioned Lisbon earlier as one of the places that everyone’s been to this year, but there’s something telling me that the trend will trickle over into early 2018 too. It’s both budget-friendly and super pretty and even if it’s not on the hot list in a few months’ time, it’s been a firm favourite for a reason.
Like this? You might also be interested in…
Follow Jazmin on Instagram @JazKopotsha
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.