REX Features
Lonely Planet is still one of the definitive voices in the travel world, so when it comes to planning our next year's holidays, we pay close attention to their annual book: Best In Travel.
The guidebook publisher has just released the top cities and regions to visit next year - we're quite pleased to see that Yorkshire has made the cut after a stellar year featuring on various top 10 travel destination lists.
Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel 2014 contributor Tom Hall says: “It’s about time that travellers wake up to the wonder that is Yorkshire. Listing the county as one of the best regions in the world for visitors in the coming year is in recognition of it being a fantastic all-rounder; with some of the most stunning scenery in the country, dynamic cities, friendly people and a burgeoning food scene.”
Lonely Planet have kindly shared 10 extracts from the book with us, revealing the top regions to visit.
Best Travel Destinations 2014
Sikkim, India(01 of11)
Picking up national accolades in 2012 for being India’s cleanest state with the most innovative tourism project, Sikkim has set new benchmarks for responsible travel in the country. Checkbox sightseeing has rapidly made way for sustainable community-based tourism in less developed areas, while ecofriendly policies have lent new vigour to the virginal Himalayan wilderness that drapes the region’s mountains. Clearly, Sikkim is showing the way for what could be the future of India’s tourism industry, and the time to experience it is now. With a new airport scheduled to open near Gangtok in 2014, you can now shave off several hours of transit time and fly in directly from major Indian metros. If that isn’t cool, what is? (credit:Getty)
The Kimberley, Australia(02 of11)
The Kimberly is one of the most sparsely populated regions on the planet and one of the most starkly beautiful, carved by giant gorges, dimpled with deep, cool pools, and home to a coastline that could make Australian eastcoasters weep. There’s more to this outback beauty than just bush camping, billy tea and beer, though. It’s also a region where Aboriginal culture rubs shoulders with exotic Asian influences, traditional landowners negotiate with international resources companies, the rich come to spend their millions on world-class pearls, and celebrities fly in for a luxurious sojourn in the vast open spaces.How long this area will remain below the radar is up for debate. Last year the resources-rich Kimberley narrowly missed out on becoming the site of one of the largest natural-gas projects to be given government approval in Australian history. Explore the area now, before big business encroaches further. (credit:Rex)
Yorkshire, UK(03 of11)
If the good people of Yorkshire were proud of their heritage before, the 2012 London Olympics only served to cement what they have always thought: that their county is better than – and really the best of – all the English counties. As if basking in Yorkshire’s glory, last year a poll revealed the North Yorkshire spa town of Harrogate was the happiest place in Britain. We’re not surprised. Recently this rough-around-the-edges gentleman of the north has kicked away the walking cane. Bradford has become the world’s first Unesco City of Film, fashion-thirsty Leeds has cut the ribbon on an ambitious retail development at a time when malls elsewhere in the UK are stalling, a new state-of-the-art gallery in Wakefield is giving London a run for its money, and Yorkshire now has more Michelin-starred restaurants than any other county outside London. (credit:Getty)
Hokuriku, Japan(04 of11)
Hokuriku, on Honshū’s west coast, bordered by the Sea of Japan and the magnificent Japan Alps, comprises four prefectures aturated with culture, history and striking natural beauty: Fukui, Ishikawa, Toyama and Niigata.The city of Kanazawa is king. Even so, Kanazawa is often overlooked by time-poor visitors who favour the more accessible sights to the east. That’s all about to change. In March 2015, the first of the long-anticipated Hokuriku shinkansen (bullet trains) will roll into town, slashing travel times from Tokyo and giving visitor numbers a meteoric boost. Until they arrive, beds are cheap, cheerful and plentiful. (credit:Alamy)
Texas, USA(05 of11)
Say adiós to your Stetsons and via con dios to your gas-guzzling pick-ups: 2014’s message to y’all is that the two extremes of the Texas image – yahooing cowboy country and oil-rich business districts – aren’t the only things cooking up on the multifaceted menu of Lone Star State diversions. For starters, the long-absent scent of greenery is galvanising Texas’ big cities, with Houston’s Buffalo Bayou Park getting a 9.3-hectare enhancement, bedizened by hiking trails and promenades, and Fort Worth’s historic heart is being shaken up with a major new plaza (bye, bustling traffic). But oh, the food… Celebrity chefs have worked wonders to breathe new life into Texan tucker. Fast food has gone gourmet and authentic Tex-Mex means corn from the Mexican plains for your tortillas and Chiapas beans for your coffee. (credit:Getty)
Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe & Zambia(06 of11)
Providing one of Africa’s most epic sights, this ain’t your ordinary waterfall, as it unleashes itself with unbridled fury in a torrent of water that stretches like a curtain drawn from Zimbabwe to Zambia. Its raw power will not only blow you away visually, but the sound of its steady violent rumble and the spray that you’ll breathe in and taste – and that will leave you soaked – is an all-round sensory encounter with mother nature. Victoria Falls is shared by the tourist towns of Vic Falls (Zimbabwe side) and Livingstone (Zambia side). Leading into 2014, both were on top of their game after multi billion-dollar makeovers for their role as co-hosts of the 2013 General Assembly of the UN World Tourism Organization. Each has its own unique set of charms and points of difference. (credit:DeAgostini/Getty Images)
Mallorca, Spain(07 of11)
Over the past few years Mallorca has been busy reinventing itself as somewhere altogether more genteel than its booze-and-football-chants past. Of course, when an island tries to reinvent itself, it helps if it’s breathtakingly beautiful, amazingly diverse and highly cultured. The energetic capital, Palma de Mallorca, is filled with art galleries and fabulous restaurants. The south and east coasts are the home of crystal white-sand beaches and shimmering blue waters that’ll leave you gasping. But it’s the northwest that most defies the clichés of Mallorca. It offers some of Spain’s best hiking and cycling, with numerous walking trails ranging from short family-friendly strolls to a multiday transisland traverse criss-crossing the range. (credit:Rex)
West Coast, New Zealand(08 of11)
Hemmed in by the Tasman Sea and the Southern Alps, the South Island’s remote and sparsely populated West Coast lays claim to three national parks and large tracts of three more. In 2014, the two major cycling and hiking trails will open as part of the newly established New Zealand Cycle Trail network. The Cape Foulwind seal colony can be visited on a revitalised walkway, as can the mesmerising mirror lake of Matheson and Hokitika Gorge, a hidden jewel. The Heaphy Track, the country’s longest Great Walk, now boasts new huts and bridges. New paths deftly cut through ancient forest link the villages of Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers to their glacier trailheads. Those who think they’ve seen it all should prepare for some enlivening surprises. (credit:Rex)
Hunan, China(09 of11)
Just when it seemed like everything old would have to make room for the new in China, the government points the spotlight on Hunan. The province is a born star – scenically unparalleled and culturally rich, with remote corners still largely unseen. Until recent decades, the northwestern mountains were known only to the minority groups that called them home. A gleaming new network of highspeed trains, superhighways and regular direct flights have put them in easy reach of every major city, domestic and abroad. This comfortable mix of old and new isn’t what you’d expect in China, which is exactly why you should go. (credit:Rex)
Ha’apai, Tonga(10 of11)
It would be pretty hard to be much more remote than these 62 islands in the Kingdom of Tonga, way out in the middle of the South Pacific Ocean. It takes an adventurous sort just to get to Tonga, but to venture to its central island group of Ha’apai, well… What we’re talking about here is lush, reef-fringed islands, swaying palm trees, tropical sunshine, breaching humpback whales, technicolour tropical fish, scintillating sea kayaking, and even a smoking volcano – all amid a sleepy, seductive Tongan outlook on life. These are the South Pacific islands that dreams are made of, and they’re virtually untouched. Sooner or later, the word is going to get out and we reckon the time to go to Ha’apai is now, before the crowds catch on. (credit:Getty)
(11 of11)
SEE ALSO:
Best In Travel 2014, Lonely Planet, £9.99