Top 10 Travel Destinations in 2010

2010 marks the start of a new decade. As always, avid travelers like to ring in the New Year with high hopes for opportunities to visit more exotic destinations and experience cultures totally the opposite from one's own. With so many choices, the problem really is deciding where to go

Fortunately, there is no shortage of publications and websites eager to help you decide, thus the proliferation of "Top 10 Destinations for 2010", or something similarly named. I personally like to scan these lists for fun but don't put much stock in their opinion - after all, everyone travels for different purposes and appreciates different things.

However, if you''re the sort who loves Top 10 lists or are in severe need of travel destination ideas, they might prove helpful in that regard. Here are a couple of Top 10 Travel Destinations lists that I've found online.

Lonely Planet - Top 10 Hottest Countries for 2010

The leading purveyor of travel guidebooks has published their list of the "hottest countries" (somehow I know they're not referring to celcius) for 2010 in this article. I've made it easy and listed the countries below:

1> El Salvador
2> Germany
3> Greece
4> Malaysia
5> Morocco
6> Nepal
7> New Zealand
8> Portugal
9> Suriname
10> USA

Quite an eclectic list, I must say. The article outlines the rationale for each Top 10 Country selection, in case you're interested. I'm pleased to see El Salvador, long an underappreciated country in Central America bypassed by travelers in favor of Guatemala or Costa Rica, make the cut and have fond memories of my trip there a year ago. This makes a nice segue into a shameless plug for "Five Reasons to visit El Salvador", which I wrote afterwards.


Lonely Planet - Top 10 Best Value Destinations for 2010

Confusingly, LP also has a separate list for cheapskates, er...travelers on a tight budget. Below are the ten destinations that made the cut:

1> Iceland
2> Thailand
3> London
4> South Africa
5> Malaysia
6> Mexico
7> India
8> Bulgaria
9> Kenya
10> Las Vegas

A pretty eclectic mix, I thought, with mainstays Thailand, India, and Mexico joined by somewhat unconventional choices Iceland and London. It's takes some suspension of disbelief to consider these two places as value destinations, but I suppose each global economic crisis has a silver lining. On a recent visit, I did find that prices in Iceland are still on the high side, though not outrageously so, as the case was before that country's economy went down the drain.


Budget Travel - Top Budget Travel Destinations for 2010

This highly respected website, magazine and guidebook publisher founded by the legendary Arthur Frommer has a Top 10 list that focuses on the "new best- value destinations", as befits its mission to promote "Real vacations for real people". Suitable indeed for the rest of us who neither stay in fancy five-star hotels nor dine in Michelin-rated restaurants yet are unwilling to endure another lame "staycation".

1> Portland, Oregon
2> Las Vegas
3> Glacier National park, Montana
4> Baja California, Mexico
5> Samana Peninsula, Dominican Republic
6> Rio de Janeiro
7> Buenos Aires
8> Vienna
9> Sydney
10> Hanoi, Vietnam

Some appealing options, really. I've always wanted to experience Carnival in Rio and have heard lots about the cheap cuts of steak waiting to be devoured in Buenos Aires. Oh wait, I forgot I'm on a diet. LOL.

I'm sure a simple Google search will uncover about a million different Top 10 travel destinations for 2010 lists. Hopefully the ones enumerated above got you thinking about your own travel plans.