Culture capitals, places hosting sporting events and unexplored territories: find out where you should book tickets for in the coming year.
Sports
M inneapolis hosts the Super Bowl on February 4. The city is encouraging visitors to embrace winter with 10 days of “Bold North” events and activities leading up to the big game. On the other side of the world, the snowy mountains of Pyeongchang, South Korea, host the Winter Olympic Games from February 9 to 25. Eleven cities in Russia, including Moscow and Sochi, host the FIFA World Cup from June 14 to July 15. The dates coincide with St. Petersburg’s “white nights,” the summer solstice season when city skies never get completely dark. Host cities include lesser-known gems like Nizhny Novgorod and Kazan, while Yekaterinburg is a good jumping-off point for an adventure in Siberia.
Culture and design capitals
T he island of Malta is on many “where to go” lists for 2018. Its capital, Valletta, is one of Europe’s 2018 capitals of culture and a UNESCO World Heritage Site with 7,000 years of history. Attractions include festivals, nightlife, ancient stone architecture, a rollicking Carnival in February and other festivals, plus World War II history, including scuba diving to wartime wrecks.
The other European capital of culture for 2018 is Leeuwarden in the Netherlands’ province of Friesland. Cultural extravaganzas include an August 31 to September 1 event expanding an annual marathon across 23 villages with music, art, theater and unusual pop-up hotels.
From England to Ethiopia
El sewhere around the world, destinations on the travel industry’s radar for 2018 range from England to Ethiopia.
England is suddenly a pop culture darling. Concerns about terror attacks and unrest have dampened travel to Egypt, Turkey and other destinations in North Africa and the Middle East. But that’s prompted interest in places in the region that are perceived as safe and just as compelling culturally, including Morocco and Jordan. In Africa, Ethiopia also popped up on a couple of where-to-go lists. Its magical attractions include the churches in Lalibela, carved from soft stone and dating to the 12th century.
Asia and Central Asia
Japa n pushes tourism ahead of the 2020 Summer Olympics. Where-to-go lists are highlighting not just Tokyo, but also places like Sapporo and the Kii Peninsula, honoured as a UNESCO World Heritage site for its pilgrimage routes and sacred mountains.
These days, many well-travelled millennials are turning to Asia for spring breaks and backpacking trips with stops in Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, China, India and Singapore. Another area that’s starting to intrigue travellers is Central Asia, which includes the countries of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and others with names ending in “-stan.” The country of Georgia also turns up on several where-to-go-in-2018 lists. Geographically, it’s considered part of Asia but culturally it’s more Eastern European.
AP
