10 Most Intriguing Places to Visit in 2017

Canada

Canada is having a yearlong party in 2017, and we’re all invited. Celebrations on December 31, 2016 kick off not just a new year but 365 days of celebrations for the country’s 150th anniversary of the Confederation. The party starts with celebrations in 19 urban centers around the country. Throughout the year, events will highlight Canada’s history, natural beauty, and people.

Montreal will honor its 375th anniversary and celebrate the country's 150th with festivals and events all year long, many of them free. Montreal AVUDO brings 100 free multimedia performances to the riverfront, Royal de Luxe brings parades of giant robots in May, and hundreds of other events keep the spirit of celebration alive throughout the year. Plus, two new hotels—Hotel Monville and Hotel Boxotel—have openings slated for 2017. Canada’s first countrywide Pride celebration, set to happen every four years in a different city, will take place in Montreal in August.

Ottawa will host Kontinuum, an underground multimedia extravaganza in one of its future subway stations. Throughout 2017, Toronto will be home to Canada Mosaic, a pan-Canadian project celebrating the country’s diverse musical landscape. Vancouver’s Canada Place will be home to major festivals throughout the year celebrating the anniversary. Quebec hosts Rendez-Vous 2017, a naval celebration of the 150th.

SESQUI, a multimedia dome village with live performances by local artists and a 360-degree feature film on Canada will travel throughout Canada. And, Parks Canada is even offering a free pass to all its parks in 2017.

Manchester, England

Manchester, the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution, is reinventing itself yet again. An influx of young residents seeking an affordable alternative to London has created a thriving urban culture of arts, bars, and restaurants. And in 2017, Manchester will celebrate the Year of Food & Drink, promising to make it the tastiest year on record to visit.

Also in 2017, Virgin Atlantic will launch new routes to Manchester from San Francisco, Boston, and New York. With five new hotels slated to open in the coming months, it’s clear that Manchester is ready to welcome the world.

What’s also clear is that Manchester’s quirky spirit remains alive and well: street art tours, junkyard golf, water taxis, and plenty of pop-up dining to supplement the thriving dining scene are all part of the plan in the coming year.

Bhutan

In 2017, the United Nations will turn its attention to the power of sustainable tourism to transform the world for the better. Declaring 2017 the Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development, the UN's mission is to focus on the power of tourism for development, understanding, awareness, and "a better appreciation of the inherent values of different cultures." The year looks to travel as a force for global peace and progress.

Nowhere is there a better example of sustainable tourism in action than Bhutan, a country known for its "high value, low impact" tourism policy that limits the numbers of tourists each year. Visits must be booked through Bhutanese tour operators or an international partner and require a visa, but tour operators across the price and experience spectrum offer trips that dive deep into this unique land—the world’s first carbon-negative country and a place that measures its gross national happiness.

Noteworthy for 2017 is the number of tour companies adding Bhutan to their lineup. In years past, the country has been primarily the terrain of adventure operators, but as more travelers decide to discover this small Himalayan kingdom, the options are increasing and Bhutan is becoming more accessible than ever.

California

California is big, and so is the list of reasons to visit in 2017. Openings and anniversaries offer many new reasons to explore the Golden State.

San Francisco will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Summer of Love with walking tours and app guides exploring the seminal summer of ’67. San Francisco will also be celebrating 39 years of Pier 39, which will mark its namesake birthday with 39 weeks of celebrations. Nearby, Napa Valley welcomes new hotels, restaurants, and wineries while also celebrating its unexpectedly popular brewery scene as well.

Spring in Sacramento brings the opening of the new Downtown Commons, a three-acre plaza with entertainment, shopping, restaurants, and a new Kimpton hotel. After a two-year closure, Yosemite’s beloved Mariposa Grove—home of 500 giant sequoias—will reopen in summer 2017.

Lonely Planet just named California’s Low Desert, which includes perennial favorites like Palm Springs and Joshua Tree National Park, a top destination for 2017. Palm Springs is scheduled to welcome four new hotels in 2017. Farther south, the San Diego Zoo will open a new eight-acre exhibit featuring African plant and animal species.

Los Cabos, Mexico

Los Cabos, the two towns of San Jose del Cabo and Cabo San Lucas, both tucked between the Pacific and the Sea of Cortes at the tip of Mexico’s Baja Peninsula, offers serious natural beauty and leisure activities. And in 2017, Los Cabos will be offering a lot more as well.

This coming year will bring a flurry of new hotel openings, including the Nobu Hotel, Ritz Carlton Reserve, Montage, and Solaz. And new flights from San Diego, Seattle, Baltimore, Houston, Toronto, and Washington, D.C., will make it easier for travelers from the U.S. and Canada to visit.

Dresden, Germany

It’s time to discover Dresden. The capital of Saxony has long been known for its art museums and architecture, but 2017 will bring the city to new heights with the debut of three major performing arts centers and a combined total of seven new stages.

Kraftwerk Mitte Dresden—a former power plant turned creative hub—will be home to opera, children’s theater, and a conservatory. And after nearly four years, the Kulturpalast (Palace of Culture) will reopen as home to the Dresden Philharmonic, the Herkuleskeule cabaret and the Central Municipal Library. Semper Zwei, the new experimental stage of SEMPEROPER, will be the third performing arts space to open in 2017. The new year will also bring new hotels and a new KLM flight connecting major European hub Amsterdam to Dresden.

A trip to Dresden need not be a single-city journey, either: Big events around Germany include the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, the opening of the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, the Documenta contemporary art exhibition in Kassel, and the start of the Tour de France in Dusseldorf. New air service from the U.S. from Air Berlin, Condor, and Delta, plus more than a dozen hotel openings around the country, make Germany an even easier destination for North Americans in 2017.

Pafos, Cyprus

From ancient capital to modern, Cyprus’ Pafos is bringing new life to its rich cultural heritage as a European Capital of Culture for 2017. Focusing on its role as a historical crossroads between East and West, Pafos will present 152 projects and 300 activities from 1,500 creators and artists over the course of the year.

Aarhus, Denmark

Denmark’s Aarhus is teaming up with 18 other municipalities to be 2017’s other European Capital of Culture. With a theme of “Let’s Rethink,” Aarhus 2017 aims to kick off change, innovation, and a progressive way of creating sustainable solutions.

Big events include a rooftop performance of a famous Viking hero story and a 4-kilometer-long art project called "The Garden—End of Times, Beginning of Times."

Minneapolis may still be a year away from its role as host of the 2018 Super Bowl, but 2017 will bring a city putting the finishing touches on its transformation.

Its brand-new stadium, opened in 2016, and a series of openings debuting Minneapolis’ reinvented downtown will happen in the year ahead. A completely reconstructed main street is just the beginning—remodeling at the Walker Art Center is big news, as is the reopening of its beloved Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, set to reopen in summer 2017.

Next summer will also welcome the X Games. Hotels are springing up all over the city, adding 2,000 additional rooms to the market and making it a lot easier to find the right hotel for your visit.

Cuba

Cuba greets the year ahead with a host of new reasons to visit. Heading into 2017, there’s more interest in the wide scope of the 12 categories of authorized travel, which include professional research and humanitarian projects. Still the easiest way to go, people-to-people tours, have gotten more interesting as well—after limits on licenses for tour operators were relaxed last year, tour operators have been able to offer more creative trips.

The new year also brings new uncertainty around how Cuba policy could change with the new administration in the U.S. Even a hint of rolling back progress that has been made in the opening between the two countries would likely spur more travelers to fast-track their travel plans.

More in 2017 and Beyond

• Acapulco will open a new airport terminal in late 2017 or early 2018. The city will also debut the largest over-the-ocean zip line in the world in March 2017.
• Bermuda will host the 35th America’s Cup in June 2017.
• Weather-willing, Oregon will be the first and one of the best places to see the total solar eclipse on August 21, 2017.
• Latvia will celebrate its 100th birthday in 2018.