TIME Magazine has pieced together one of the most wanderlust-inducing lists of all time: The World’s 100 Great Places of 2018. The list names 100 new destinations that are worth experiencing RIGHT NOW.
To create the list, TIME pooled together nominations from editors and correspondents around the world as well as dozens of industry experts.
Then they evaluated each one based on quality, originality, innovation, sustainability and influence.
The list covers places across six continents and 48 countries. Let’s look at some of the places that made the cut.
Tianjin Binhai Library, China
Image: Getty Images
“Anybody who laments the decline of the public library should look to Tianjin, China, where a gleaming new ziggurat has attracted more than 1.8 million visitors since it opened in October 2017. It helps that the nearly 363,000-sq.-ft. facility, designed by Dutch firm MVRDV, looks like something out of a sci-fi movie”
Cycling Through Water, Belgium
“Walking on water may elude most of us, but this bike trail in northern Belgium offers an experience that’s almost as divine. The 212-m track, dubbed “Cycling Through Water,” slices through a large pond in the De Wijers nature reserve; in the middle, it dips low enough to put riders at eye level with the water.”
Museum MACAN, Indonesia
“Indonesia’s famously vibrant modern-art scene finally has the home it deserves. Museum MACAN, a contraction of Modern and Contemporary Art in Nusantara, a suburb of the Indonesian capital—sprawls over 43,000 sq. ft. and showcases local talent”
Giraffe Manor, Kenya
“Who needs the zoo? At this Kenyan retreat, guests can get up close and personal with a local herd of Rothschild’s giraffes that roam the grounds—140 acres of indigenous forest—and even pop their heads into the main dining room during meals.”
Icehotel 365
Image: Asaf Kliger
“There’s no hotel quite like Sweden’s new Icehotel 365, whose suites—featuring ice sculptures of animals, staircases and more—remain open all year. To prevent melting, the structure relies on solar-powered controls, which keep temperatures at 23°F. ”
Jackalope, Australia
“It’s easy to luxuriate at this boldly remodeled 143-year-old homestead, located on a vineyard in Australia’s Mornington Peninsula. But the hotel’s most memorable feature may well be the art, including a 10,000-bulb chandelier meant to evoke the champagne-fermentation process”
Click here for the full list, it’s well worth a look.
- READ: This amazing bamboo bridge in Cambodia is rebuilt each year
- READ: Lonely Planet maps the world’s coolest constructions