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National Geographic reveals its top destinations for 2025 CNN
The hottest revival trend in travel for 2025? That would be “fun,” according to National Geographic editor-in-chief Nathan Lump, who spoke exclusively to CNN ahead of the Tuesday reveal of Best of the World 2025, the brand’s annual list of the most thrilling and purposeful travel experiences for the year ahead.“This year, understanding the complexity of the times that we live in and some of the challenges that are present in so many places on the planet, we wanted to lean into things that we felt like were just really fun, that really kind of tapped into the joy of travel, the excitement of discovery,” says Lump.
Guadalajara, Mexico, got a spot on the list thanks to its mariachi festival held for two weeks every August and September, when some 500 bands perform in the Teatro Degollado and public squares. “The streets come alive with music,” says Lump. “That’s going to bring a lot of joy.”
Another culture-filled party destination is Boise, Idaho, home to the highest concentration of Basque people in the United States. After a 10-year hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic, its Jaialdi festival returns in 2025, with the city’s Basque Block hosting daily street parties, dancing and music performances, as well as a Sports Night with wood-chopping and wagon-lifting competitions.
At the other end of the scale, for what Lump calls “a very Zen kind of fun,” there are Italy’s 200 or so Cenobitic monasteries, which date back to the Middle Ages. All visitors are welcome here for a monastic stay, regardless of religious affiliation. It’s a chance, says Lump, for visitors to connect with themselves or with others “in a way that could be really soulful and meaningful.”
Source: CNN
