Best Travel Experiences for 2026

In January, I wrote “A Monthly Guide to the Best Travel Experiences for 2026” on Foratravel.com. Below is a preview, and you can read the full article here.

From the Winter Olympics to a total solar eclipse, discover the world’s most extraordinary destinations and events worth booking now for each month of 2026.

When it comes to travel, 2026 is shaping up to be a banner year. Each month offers a new reason to get away, from the Winter Olympics and World Cup to music festivals and cultural events. Plus, 2026 will see a host of exciting hotel, cruise, and train launches. 

If all we could do is travel (isn’t that everyone’s dream?), these are the places we would go for every month of the year.  

Quick Rundown:

• January:
  • Spain – wellness reset at SHA Wellness
  • Antarctica – bucket-list splurge with White Desert
• February:
  • Dolomites, Italy – post-Winter Olympics at the new Aman Rosa Alpina
  • Doha, Qatar – Art Basel’s Middle East debut at Rosewood Doha
• March:
  • Seychelles – cruise from Zanzibar on the new super yacht Aqua Lares
  • Bolivia – experience the otherworldly mirror effect of Salar de Uyuni
• April:
  • Japan – come for the cherry blossoms, but avoid the crowds in off-the-beaten path locations that have late blooms, such as Nagano, Tohoku, and Yoshino
• May:
  • Botswana – water safari in the Okavango Delta
  • Austria – post-Eurovision Song Contest, stay at a fairytale castle from the 15th century: Rosewood Schloss Fuschl
• June:
  • British Columbia, Canada – post FIFA World Cup, explore wilderness retreats like Clayoquot
  • Indonesia – explore the Komodo Islands with Rascal Voyages
• July:
  • Mongolia – Naadam Festival, but head to satellite festivals in the Gobi Desert
  • Lapland – enjoy the outdoors all day and night with the Midnight Sun
• August:
  • Mallorca, Spain & Iceland – witness totality for up to two minutes
• September:
  • Egypt – see the newly opened Grand Egyptian Museum and cruise the Nile on new luxury river boats
• October:
  • Munich, Germany – celebrate the tail-end of Oktoberfest
  • New Zealand – mild spring weather and a landscape in bloom
• November:
  • Chile – shoulder season travel to the Atacama Desert and Patagonia
  • Saudi Arabia – the launch of Dream of the Desert, the height of luxury train travel traversing the Arabian desert
• December:
  • Japan (again) – peak fall foliage on an ancient walking pilgrimage, the Kumano Kodo
  • Thailand – debut of Tomorrowland Asia, the popular electronic music festival, followed by a reset at a wellness resort like Kamalaya