Lonely Planet's Best in Travel 2025: the lists
Cities
• Toulouse, France
• Pondicherry, India
• Bansko, Bulgaria
• Chiang Mai, Thailand
• Genoa, Italy
• Pittsburgh, USA
• Osaka, Japan
• Curitiba, Brazil
• Palma de Mallorca, Spain
• Edmonton, Canada
Countries
• Cameroon
• Lithuania
• Fiji
• Laos Kazakhstan
• Paraguay
• Trinidad & Tobago
• Vanuatu
• Slovakia
• Armenia
Regions
• Low Country and Coastal Georgia
• The Terai, Nepal
• Chiriqui, Panama
• Launceston & the Tamar Valley, Australia
• Valais, Switzerland
• Giresun & Ordu, Turkiye
• Bavaria, Germany
• East Anglia, England
• Mount Hood and the Columbia River
• Gorge region, Oregon, USA
The book
Lonely Planet’s Best In Travel 2025 Guide, RRP $34.99 NZ
TRAIN HOPPING: The top 5 best train trips
1 Shonan Monorail, Japan
This short but mighty danglebahn (a train suspended from the rail above it) offers a thrilling 6.5km route for Tokyo and Yokohama residents (and visitors) heading for the beaches, baths and parks around Enoshima.
2 The Skeena (Prince Rupert to Jasper), Canada
In a country of stunning rail journeys, this is the tip of the moose’s antler. An unbeatable scenic two-day adventure through the Rockies, with a Prince George stopover to maximise daylight sightseeing.
3 The Sunset Limited, US
A true American epic, the Sunset Limited makes a thrice-weekly pilgrimage from New Orleans to Los Angeles via San Antonio, Tucson and Phoenix. Itcrosses five states in 48 hours, brushes the Mexican border and, once beyond the Southwest and into California, its terminus is just a taxi ride from the Pacific.
4 Septemvri-Dobrinishte, Bulgaria
Amble off the main line between Sofia and Plovdiv to tackle this venerable narrow-gauge route: part tourist service, part local lifeline. Expect spiralling ascents and dizzying views climbing up as high as Avramovo Station (1267m).
5 Cuba’s changing railways
New rolling stock has sped up services and improved reliability and comfort on the main Havana Santiago de Cuba line. On other stretches, the unpredictably old-school experience is all part of the fun.
Marvellous markets: The world’s top 10 best
1 Tha Kha Floating Market, Bangkok, Thailand
Tha Kha may not be the most famous, but it is a local favourite, known for home-made cooking, sellers showcasing produce grown in their own gardens and the requisite row boats. Arrive early in the morning or visit at night when the fireflies come out and light up the trees.
2 March Atwater, Montreal, Canada
Housed in a 1933 brick hall off the Canal de Lachine, this market really has it all: fresh produce from many local farms, excellent wines, crusty bread and more, these are all best devoured picnic-style on the grassy banks near the water.
3 Pike Place, Seattle, USA
You haven’t lived until you’ve witnessed the fish fly at this Seattle hot spot. If taking a whole salmon home isn’t an option, pick up treats from any of its specialty food stores, offering everything from momos (Nepalese dumplings) to doughnuts.
4 Queens Night Market, New York City, USA
The scene at this seasonal night market is an olfactory bonanza, befitting an NYC venue that celebrates innovation.
Here, young up-and-coming cooks all work energetically to ply their trade, turning out a plethora of cuisines and infusions, which are all at a mercifully low price.
5 March des Lices, Rennes, France
Every Saturday, France’s second-largest market comes alive. For 400 years, shoppers have been procuring Brittany’s best fish, meat, produce, cheese from an array of indoor and outdoor stalls and food trucks.
6 Neighbourgoods Market, Cape Town, South Africa
On weekends, locals and visitors congregate to see and taste the region’s freshest produce, oysters, wine and coffee, along with global dishes made with locally sourced ingredients.
7 Nishiki-ko ji Ichiba, Kyoto, Japan
Nishiki Market is a wonder for anyone with a passion for cooking and eating. Known locally as Kyoto’s kitchen, it is patronised by high-end restaurateurs.
8 Farm Gate Market, Hobart/Nipaluna, Tasmania
9 Mercado San Pedro, Cuzco, Peru
The food on offer at vibrant San Pedro Market runs the gamut from fresh fruit and smoothies to fall-off-the-bone beef ribs and river fish.
10 Khari Baoli, Old Delhi, India
This famous labyrinth of spice and colour feels frozen in time. There’s a throat-tickling pungency hanging in the air and mountains of lentils and rice, enormous jars of chutneys, nuts and teas at every turn.
Local flavours: Top 10 best food experiences
1 Dolsot Bibimbap, South Korea
This Korean culinary staple of rice with a crusty bottom is served in a hot stone pot layered with veges, egg and occasionally meat.
Top it off with red gochujang (chilli paste) and give it a stir to best savour the layered flavours and textures.
2 Cozido das Furnas, the Azores, Portugal
You’ll find this singular stew only in the Furnas region of Sao Miguel in the Azores archipelago.
It cooks in fumaroles underground for five to seven hours, its vegetables and meat infused with a smoky touch of sulphur from the volcanic soil.
3 Jerk, Jamaica
Jamaica’s spicy jerk marinade is doused on meats and fish, then smoked slowly outdoors over a pimento-wood fire. Scotch bonnet chillies bring the heat, and allspice rounds out the piquant flavour — always order the jerk!
4 Asado, Argentina
Argentina is known for the quality and preparation of its beef: salting the meat then slowcooking it on a grill with slanted runners that funnel the fat to the sides while an adjustable height system directs the perfect amount of heat to the meat.
5 Jollof rice, West Africa
The origins of this vibrant, celebratory dish are the subject of some debate: a jollof-off, so to speak, among West African nations.
But whether you sample jollof in Nigeria or Senegal, Gambia or Ghana, expect to find similar foundational ingredients: tomatoes, peppers, onions and herbs.
6 Pho, Vietnam
Ubiquitous throughout the country, this comforting noodle soup is inextricably linked with Vietnamese culture.
Slurp as much as you can, as often as you can, be it on a street corner in Hanoi or at Michelin-starred Anan Saigon in Ho Chi Minh City.
7 Biryani, India
Hyderabad is commonly thought to be the epicentre of biryani, the flavourful rice-based dish one might find at Indian restaurants the world over.
However, the variations found in other parts of the country, from the more vegetable-forward Assamese biryanis to Kerala’s prawn, beef and fish varieties, showcase subtler, more complex flavours than their well-known counterparts.
8 Hoppers, Sri Lanka
Made with a fermented batter of rice flour and coconut milk, hoppers — also known as appa or appam — are bowl-shaped pancakes with crispy edges and fluffy middles.
Plain hoppers usually come with the chilli and salt condiment lunu miris.
9 Momos, Nepal
Wander the streets of capital Kathmandu, or any town in Nepal, and you’ll see these delicious dumplings everywhere; steamed or fried and filled with sweet or savoury ingredients — apples, chocolate, vegetables, fish, water buffalo.
10 Lamingtons, Australia
While Australia and New Zealand like to duke it out over ownership of the pavlova (the meringue and fruit dessert), Australia is indisputably the home of the lamington: a sponge cake coated in chocolate before being rolled in coconut.
It might sound simple, but it’s unbelievably good.
