10 Destinations to Put on Your Travel Bucket List in 2025
This year’s destination darlings take travelers around the globe, from ancient empires and HBO series settings, to easy-breezy islands and postcard-perfect parks
“It lists” are not just for the entertainment, fashion, and tech industries. Every year, the travel industry rolls out its own “it lists” of sorts, forecasting which destinations will become the darlings of travelers across the globe. While not all experts agree on what will be hot and what will be not in the coming year, some destinations cannot be denied their due thanks to a number of compelling factors, from milestone anniversaries to pivotal events to cultural phenomena and more.
AAA took a look at its booking trends, AAA Travel Advisor insights, and industry forecasts to curate the following list of 10 destinations that deserve a spot on your travel bucket list in 2025.
Across the US
Alaska
Our 49th state has long been a beloved vacation destination, famous for its stunning scenery, abundant wildlife and adrenaline-pumping adventures (glacier climbing, anyone?). But one momentous occasion in 2025 will put an even bigger spotlight on The Great Land: the 100th anniversary of the Serum Run of 1925, which honors a heroic relay of dog teams that rushed a diphtheria antitoxin to the small city of Nome to save its residents.
Combine the observance of that anniversary with Americans’ growing interest in seeing the northern lights—Alaska, and particularly Fairbanks, is among the world’s top spots for aurora borealis viewing—and a growing number of cruise-tour offerings from leading travel providers, and Alaska continues to have major vacation cred this year—and beyond.
Nashville
For many, music has become more than something to listen to; it’s become something to travel for. To that point, you needn’t look any further than the tourism numbers for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, which brought billions in revenue to the cities the tour visited over the past couple of years—adding up to the economic equivalent of 53 Super Bowls, according to the US Travel Association. (Sorry, Travis.) But if there’s one city that thrives on music and music-centric tourism as a permanent fixture, it’s none other than Nashville, known as Music City.
A ramble down Lower Broadway—aka the Honky Tonk Highway—is a neon-studded showcase of live-music venues, including bars backed by the who’s who of country music today: Miranda Lambert, Luke Bryan, Morgan Wallen, Eric Church, Jason Aldean, and the list goes on. But Nashville’s musical roots go far, wide and deep, with a mix of music genres taking center stage at historic venues like the Ryman Auditorium, built in 1892, and the Grand Ole Opry, established in 1925—plus a slew of iconic attractions such as the Bluebird Café listening room, the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, and the Music Row music district, just to name a few. If any city had a soundtrack, you could hear it playing throughout Nashville.
New Orleans
Music, of course, is also a marquee attraction in NOLA, the birthplace of jazz, the jazz funeral, Mardi Gras, and second line music-infused parades. But in 2025, all eyes will be on the soulful city for Super Bowl LIX, hosted by the city at the Caesars Superdome on February 9. (In the wake of the New Year’s Day terror attack, New Orleans is deploying additional resources to ensure visitors’ safety with several high-profile events occurring this year, even as crime in the city continues to decrease year over year.)
If you can’t score tickets to the big game—or even nab a hotel room anywhere close to game day—don’t sweat it. NOLA is capitalizing on its 15 minutes of game-day fame in February by highlighting year-round reasons to visit the Big Easy, from food tours and architecture strolls to museum exhibit unveilings and theatrical premieres—and many other ways to laissez les bon temps rouler, or let the good times roll.
Orlando
In case you haven’t heard, the Theme Park Capital of the World is doing loop-de-loops over an event of…ahem, epic proportions: Universal Orlando Resort’s long-awaited, much-anticipated Epic Universe theme park will open its doors—or “portals,” as they say over at Universal—to the fun-loving, park-going public on May 22. The news is a big—er, an epic deal as Epic Universe is the first theme park to open in Orlando in the past two decades. Just in time for Memorial Day weekend, the park will unveil five immersive worlds: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Ministry of Magic, SUPER NINTENDO WORLD, How to Train Your Dragon – Isle of Berk, Dark Universe, and Celestial Park.
Along with the theme park debut, Universal Orlando will see three new on-site resorts this year: the Universal Stella Nova Resort (opening January 21), the Universal Terra Luna Resort (opening March 25), and the Universal Helios Grand Hotel (also opening May 22). The shiny-new properties bring the resort’s total to 11 on-site hotels with some 11,000 guest rooms—loads of space to welcome record numbers of visitors and to propel Orlando to be riding high in 2025.
US National Parks
Pulitzer Prize-winning writer and environmentalist Wallace Stegner is often cited for his declaration in a 1983 commentary: “The national parks are the best idea we ever had. Absolutely American, absolutely democratic, they reflect us at our best rather than our worst.” Fast-forward more than four decades later, and it seems that American travelers couldn’t agree more with Stegner’s statement.
During the pandemic, national park attendance soared, fueled by our desire to get outdoors, get active, and connect with nature in beautiful settings without breaking the bank. The secret is out. Today, the 63 national parks that are part of our National Park System continue to enjoy robust visitation. And while each has its own unique appeal (including free admission at many parks), some parks are naturally more popular than others, but this popularity can ebb and flow from year to year.
For example, Utah’s Mighty 5 in 2025—which has a nice ring to it, right?—is poised to be one of the most sought-after park experiences. This bucket-list trip ticks off visits to Zion, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, Arches (note a new timed entry policy beginning in April), and Canyonlands national parks, which brim with otherworldly landscapes punctuated by geological wonders and surrounded by inviting small towns. A good idea, yes. The best idea, indeed.
Around the World
Italy
Ahh, Italy—la dolce vita. The sweet life. Just the mention of Italia brings to mind images of gorgeous winding coastlines, storied ancient cities, and worth-every-calorie cuisine. While Rome is a perennial favorite destination for travelers, 2025 will be the year of years to visit the Eternal City.
That’s because the Pope has declared a Jubilee in 2025, a yearlong holy period of reflection and spiritual renewal. The city has been preparing for years to welcome record numbers of visitors, with a full calendar of religious celebrations, cultural events, museum exhibitions, concerts, and some of the world’s most iconic attractions (the Colosseum, the Pantheon, the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel, the Roman Forum, the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps, and more) ready and waiting to greet them. If you miss this year’s Jubilee, you’ll have to wait another 25 years; the next one won’t occur until 2050.
Japan
Many travelers to the island nation of Japan will beeline to Tokyo, the country’s bustling capital—and for good reason. Picturesque cherry blossoms, historic temples and shrines, a trove of shopping, and Michelin-starred cuisine are among those good reasons. But in 2025, slews of travelers will detour to Osaka, just a short shinkansen (bullet train) ride from Tokyo, for Expo 2025.
Held April through October—well timed to coincide with cherry blossom season in April—the world expo—themed “Designing Future Society for Our Lives”—will feature a bevy of pavilions from more than 150 countries on Yumeshima (translation: Dream Island) on Osaka Bay. If you go, you’ll be among the more than 28 million visitors expected to attend.
Beyond the expo, visitors can tour the towering Osaka Castle (originally built by the “Napoleon of Japan”), eat to their heart’s content in neighborhoods such as Tenma and Ura Namba, take a therapeutic soak in an onsen, and explore the grounds of Expo ’70 Commemorative Park. Yes, this is not the first, nor the second, but the third time that Osaka has hosted a world expo.
Scandinavia
The concept of “coolcations”—vacationing in (literally) cool spots to escape the heat or traveling offseason or during shoulder season to take in more comfortable temps—has been taking the travel world by storm…er, crisp breeze of late, and that trend is projected to surge throughout 2025. That makes the countries of Scandinavia—Norway, Denmark, Sweden, and Finland—a magnet for coolcationers seeking alternative summer vacation destinations.
Of course, higher altitudes aren’t the only draw to these countries—which all consistently rank on The World Happiness Report, with Finland taking the top spot in 2024. Chasing the northern lights, exploring pristine fjords, touring palatial castles, and delving into the history and culture of storybook seaside towns are also part of the appeal. And more good news: Numerous new cruise and tour itineraries and airline routes will make getting to the region to experience it all that much easier.
Thailand
With the third season of HBO’s The White Lotus premiering in February, what’s been dubbed the “White Lotus effect” is putting Thailand on the must-visit map for set-jetting travelers in 2025.
Much of the filming of this season’s dark comedy, which follows a group of tourists to some of the world’s most glamorous locations, takes place at the Four Seasons Resort Koh Samui, with an enviable address that overlooks the Gulf of Siam. Filming was also shot in Phuket, the country’s largest island known for its dreamy beaches, classical architecture, lively nightlife, and yummy street food, as well as in Bangkok, famous for its temples, markets, museums, and palaces.
From the mountains to the beaches to the national parks, from the big cities to the small towns to the rural villages, Thailand is a country of wonder, luxury and drama—the perfect setting for not only fictional tourists but for real-life travelers, too.
The Turks and Caicos Islands
What would a travel bucket list be without an umbrella-in-your-drink, sand-in-your-toes, breeze-on-your-back kind of tropical island making the cut?
Enter the Turks and Caicos, a British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean comprising two groups of islands: the smaller Turks Islands, including Grand Turk and Salt Cay, and the Caicos Islands, including Providenciales (or Provo), North Caicos, Middle Caicos, East Caicos, South Caicos, and West Caicos. In an increasingly connected world, vacationers are looking more and more for places to unplug, unwind, and escape in an island paradise that’s luxurious, yes, but also comfortably low-key.
With cruise lines and airlines adding the Turks and Caicos to more of their itineraries and routings, travelers will find a growing number of opportunities to reach the islands. And with at least one search engine company reporting a more than 500 percent increase in searches for the Turks and Caicos in late 2024, that’s a good thing—one thousand percent.