The Hope Valley is a pretty rural area centred on the village of Hope, Derbyshire in the Peak District in the northern Midlands of England. Photo / Getty Images
The Hope Valley is a pretty rural area centred on the village of Hope, Derbyshire in the Peak District in the northern Midlands of England. Photo / Getty Images
Publisher Lonely Planet has tipped the hottest destinations of 2020 and it certainly inspires wanderlust. At 10 is Uruguay, 9 is Morocco, 8 Liberia, 7 The Netherlands, and 6 Costa Rica.
As always, we all are much more interested in the frontrunners.
5. eSwatini
The newlynamed eSwatini (formerly Swaziland) is one of Southern Africa's most underrated (and least visited) destinations. A new international airport and other new infrastructure are aimed to increase visitor numbers - you heard it here first. Expect wonderful people and wonderful food, zip lining, trekking, whitewater rafting - and of course, thrilling animal encounters.
Bonbini! This Dutch-flavoured island one of the most popular destinations in the Caribbean. Aruba is famed for its flat, white-sand beaches. The wind-bent divi-divi tree is the most recognisable national symbol of Aruba, so the beaches tend to be windy - any windsurfers out there? There are many natural wonders, and plenty of man-made diversions, including clubs, restaurants and a glow in the dark bowling alley.
Tourists swimming in a protected pool, sheltered from the rough North coast of Aruba. Photo / Getty Images
3. North Macedonia
North Macedonia - once known as Macedonia – has emerged with a new name after decades of political debate with Greece. North Macedonia is already renowned for gastronomy, ancient tradition and nature, "but culture junkies and adventurers will find new excuses to visit in 2020 with the addition of flight routes to Unesco-protected Lake Ohrid and the recently launched High Scardus Trail, a 495km trek along the region's most dramatic peaks."
Saint John at Kaneo is a Macedonian Orthodox church situated on the cliff over Kaneo Beach overlooking Lake Ohrid in the city of Ohrid, North Macedonia. Photo / Getty Images
2. England
What's old is new again and although it seems everyone in the UK is gloomy right now, they are doing father nice things with their coast. New sections of the England Coast Path are always opening and once complete it will be "the longest continuous path of its kind in the world, granting access to the country's entire coastline for the first time."
Steps down to Durdle Door, Dorset, England. Photo / Getty Images
1. Bhutan
Bhutan is one of the least visited countries on Earth – and it shows. Nestled deep in the Himalayas, Bhutan keeps a strict control on its tourism levels by imposing a daily fee on visitors and limiting numbers. It's an approach that has helped protect the mountain kingdom's pristine landscapes, extraordinary Dzongs (monasteries) and people. It's the world's only carbon negative country, will become the world's first fully organic nation in 2020 and is the only one that measure its success primarily on the happiness of its inhabitants.
