It’s published! I look forward to the 52 Places list every year. I’ve linked to it on this blog since 2013. A quick Google search links to this article where I learned it started in 2005 as “Places to Go.” Among things I learned, the 52 number first started in 2014. There’s been some controversy in recent years with increasing awareness of carbon-footprint and travel/tourism environmental impact (read: negative).
I also read the NYTimes in the two years (2018, 2019) when they funded a non-travel writer to do a year’s worth of travel to cover the “52 Places.” That was definitely a failed experiment. The first writer seemed to really have some mental health struggles with the constant travel and impermence. It almost felt voyeuristic by the end as she slowly unraveled. Also, she missed deadlines all the time and would combine three places in one article. It was pretty messy. I think because of the 2018 mess, I didn’t engage with the 2019 traveler. Definitely no standout articles from his travels. That was the second, and final, year of the non-travel writer experiment. As someone who wants to travel write (some day? maybe some other life?), it seems like a big cautionary tale! But onto 2026! Let’s look forward!
I like the graphics in this year’s list that allow the reader to mark where they’ve been and where they want to go. It makes me feel a little worldly to have been to an eclectic list of places. But only a little bit since it represents less than a quarter of the list. I’m a little more excited about the places I want to go. I only chose this option if it were really true, rather than just thinking a place was cool. Some of the selections are a little too precious and twee (that’s a throwback word!); aka, very NYTimes feature writer. I want to be more real! (Whatever that means:)
The most likely place SMS and I will go this year is Bentonville, AK. It’s a little late since we missed the total eclipse in 2024, but SMS has gotten back in touch with an old college friend who lives there now. I’ve wanted to see the Crystal Bridges museum with an amazing collection and an adjacent Frank Lloyd Wright house (Bachman-Wilson).
I think the idea of Winnie-the-Pooh’s England sounds so!cute! and sounds like it tours through beautiful places. I love a theme! This may be something I do on my own in the future. I don’t think I need to sign up for a 5 day guided tour but who knows? If I don’t get to it until my 70s, maybe it will be a guided tour for me!
I very much would like to go to Melbourne, but that is a definite someday. There are so many places I’d like to go to (or revisit) before Australia. New Zealand has more appeal to me; I really want to do a figure 8, North-South island road trip over 3-4 weeks. Maybe that will be my next sabbatical (a few years away, at least!).
And, truthfully, tbd on the rest of the “Want to Go” places.
One last snarky comment about this year’s list: the scale is pretty wild as it ranges from a particular neighborhood in Barcelona to an entire country. There are four countries listed: Vietnam, Guyana, Iceland, and Armenia. If you want state-size comparisons: New Mexico, Idaho, Virginia or Colorado, and Maryland. And yes, I effectively poured out a glass of potable water asking perplexity.ai to help me with the country sizes and state comparisons. :[
The Complete List: NYTimes 52 Places to Go
Revolutionary America
Warsaw
Bangkok
Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica
Bandhavgarh, India
Dallas
Oran, Algeria
Route 66
Saba, the Caribbean
Poblenou, Barcelona
Nepal’s Other Mountains
Bayreuth, Germany
Canadian Rockies by Train
Top End, Australia
Penang, Malaysia
Los Angeles
Nagasaki, Japan
Breuil-Cervinia, Italy
Memphis
Armenia
Sorolla’s Spain
Winnie-the-Pooh’s England
Seychelles
Inhotim, Brazil
Iceland
Sanibel and Captiva Islands, Fla.
Hyde Park, Chicago
Traena Islands, Norway
Miches, Dominican Republic
Portland, Ore.
Tien Shan Mountains, Kyrgyzstan
Assisi, Italy
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
Vietnam
Querétaro, Mexico
Medora, N.D.
Camiguin, the Philippines
Messinia, Greece
Guyana
Deer Valley, Utah
Yunnan, China
Bentonville, Ark.
Cape Froward, Chile
Genoa, Italy
Dongseo Trail, South Korea
Okinawa, Japan
RÃo Pastaza Watershed, Ecuador
Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Tanzania
Melbourne, Australia
Virginia Beach
Big Sur, Calif.
Mon, Denmark
The Canadian Rockies are the most beautiful place(s? I’m not really sure how to say it. PLACE) on earth. Is the most beautiful place on earth? I can’t think of the proper grammar. Anyway, as someone who spent most of her life in close proximity and has spent a lot of time actually IN the Rockies, I highly recommend. I’ve never done the train, but I hear it is spectacular. Really, you cannot go wrong. More beautiful vistas you will not find anywhere else! I AM A ROCKIES EVANGELIST.
I have wanted to go to Banff and Lake Louise for several years, which I think is in the Rockies? I love this +1 for the train adventure. One regional train adventure that I’d like to do is take Amtrak to Truckee, maybe a bit beyond.