I’ve shared various Places to Go lists for 2016 from a variety of sites recently and I’ve been anxiously waiting for the granddaddy of these lists to finally come out.
Earlier today the New York Times released their 52 Places to Go in 2016 list.
The list features some interesting as well as some surprising choices.
Let’s take a look at some 2016 lists that I’ve written about:
- AAA’s Most Popular Destinations for International Travel 2016
- Lonely Planet Best in Travel 2016
- Frommer’s Best Places To Go 2016
- Fodor’s Places To Go 2016
- Travel Channel Picks 11 Great Destinations for 2016
Here are the 52 places which were selected by the New York Times:
- Mexico City, Mexico
- Bordeaux, France
- Malta (Check out my trip recap here.)
- Coral bay, St. John
- Theodore Roosevelt State Park, North Dakota
- Mozambique
- Toronto, Canada
- Abu Dhabi, UAE
- Skane, Sweden
- Vinales, Cuba
- Guadeloupe
- Park City, Utah
- Aarhus, Denmark
- Cesme, Turkey
- Road of the Seven Lakes, Argentina
- Hangzhou, China
- Korcula Island, Croatia
- San Sebastian, Spain
- Virunga National Park- Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Grand Rapids, Michigan
- Garzon, Uruguay
- Dublin, Ireland
- Todos Santos, Mexico
- Tamil Nadu, India
- Vaud, Switzerland
- Washington, D.C.
- Brno, Czech Republic
- Saint Helena
- Barcelona, Spain
- Dalat, Vietnam
- Turin, Italy
- Isla Holbox, Mexico
- Providence, Rhode Island
- Mosel wine country, Germany
- Pyeongchang, South Korea
- Tyrol, Austria
- Colmar, France
- Kansai, Japan
- East Bay, California
- Ile de Re, France
- East Coast, Sri Lanka
- Rosine, Kentucky
- Malaga, Spain
- Guizhou, China
- Phnom Penh, Cambodia
- St Louis, Missouri
- Salonika, Greece
- Marfa, Texas
- Ubud, Indonesia
- The Southern Gulf Islands, British Columbia
- Sydney, Australia
- Beaufort, South Carolina
While going over the list I figured that I would’ve visited a good amount of the selections. However, while I have been to many of the countries (and states) represented, I haven’t been to many of the specific cities singled out by the Times.
Overall, I’ve been to 9 of the 52 places! (It could’ve been 10 if we had enough time to visit Vinales during our trip to Cuba. That was the plan but travel can be slow…)
Thoughts on the picks:
From the places which made the cut, I’ve been talking about visiting a few of them for some time now.
I’d like to visit Mexico City soon and take a day trip to see the Teotihuacan pyramids. I’ve also mentioned getting to North Dakota one of these days to visit Roosevelt State Park. Kim and I almost visited Mozambique a while back and I’d still like to get there. Ireland has also long been a destination that we’ve wanted to check out.
I thought it was nice of the Times to pick some smaller towns in the US but the picks seemed a bit odd to be added when only 52 places made the cut. (Here’s looking at you Rosine, KY, Marfa, TX & Beaufort, SC.)
Where would you most like to go from the New York Times Places to Go 2016 list?
Find out about each of the destinations which made the list here.
Evan- Bariloche does sound/ look really nice and I’d love to visit on of these days!
Brian Cohen- That sounds cool. Is there anything else special about Colmar? Guessing you didn’t like Mozambique? When I’ve looked into it in the past, I thought it looked interesting…
Evan- Been wanting to go to Argentina! Glad to hear the steaks are as good as I’ve read. We went to Chile around 5-6 years ago and didn’t care much for Santiago but loved Patagonia and Easter Island. We also found Valparaiso to be ok- cool funiculars, good street art- didn’t find much else of interest.
I would agree entirely with your assessment of chile..: Valparaiso was okay, didn’t care for Santiago.
Anyway in case anyone reading this makes it to bariloche, check out “alto el fuego”
Here are two articles pertaining to my time in Mozambique, Michael:
http://thegate.boardingarea.com/review-mozguest-residence-in-maputo-mozambique/
http://thegate.boardingarea.com/entering-mozambique-as-an-american-6-things-about-which-you-should-know/
As for Colmar, I did not notice anything else that was special about it — and I have a friend who lives near there and drove me to Colmar; so I doubt I was missing anything else…
Appreciate your review. I’ve read from other travelers that the highlights of Mozambique (as with many African countries) lie outside the capital city. Did you get the chance to visit any other parts of the country?
I did not, Evan, as I did not have enough time to explore Mozambique outside of Maputo. It is a long country where it would have taken at least six hours to drive to places which seemed to pique my interest; and I was unsure as to the condition of the roads.
As of now, there is nothing in Mozambique which I missed that would compel me to return to that country at this time…
I cannot recommend Argentina’s lake district (#15) highly enough… Bariloche is stunning. (I’ve only been in the summer (new years 2015) but I’ve heard winter is fantastic as well). Had the best steak of my life and it was dirt cheap. Had a few full meals of Michellin quality restaurants + wine for ~$20 a head, but now that they’ve abandoned the currency peg earlier this month, its even cheaper.
Also recommend Mendoza – think Napa or Tuscany but less touristy. Took a bus ride over the Alps to Santiago, Chile and I was pleasantly surprised… it was similar comfort level to business class on a plane (huge leather seats, food) and not sketchy at all. If only bus travel in the US was like that.
I saw a replica of the Statue of Liberty in a traffic circle in Colmar, which is the birthplace of of Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, who created the original Statue of Liberty.
I cannot believe Mozambique is on that list…