Tripadvisor has just shared the ‘Best of the Best Destinations’ in its 2025 Travelers’ Choice Awards, collating the locations with the highest ratings and reviews across seven categories. And the top two destinations are perennial faves for Aussie travellers.
Celebrating its Travelers’ Choice Awards 25th anniversary this year, Tripadvisor has also recognised the ‘Top Destinations of the Last 25 Years’ based on all-time reviews.
London calling

The top five Best of the Best Destinations in the world for 2025 are London, Bali, Dubai, Sicily and Paris, followed by Rome, Hanoi, Marrakesh, Crete and Bangkok.
London took the top spot from last year’s winner Dubai, ending the emirate’s three-year streak, while Bali remains in second place.
The UK capital city also nabbed second place for Food Destinations and third in Culture Destinations, cementing its culinary scene status and arts and heritage offering.
London also topped the 25th Anniversary Destinations based on all-time reviews since Tripadvisor launched, followed by New York City, Rome, Paris, Bali, Barcelona, Dubai, Crete, Lisbon and Bangkok.
Sicily’s ranking could stem from its popularity as The White Lotus season 2 filming location, while Thailand, as the season 3 destination, could see Bangkok rise higher in 2025.
Emerging destinations to note


Meanwhile, the top trending destinations are the places that have experienced the biggest year-on-year increase in popularity – ones to note for 2025 travel inspo.
Trending destinations for 2025 are Osaka, Japan; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Manama, Bahrain; and Lima, Peru.
Rounding out the top 10 destinations that should be on your radar this year are Medellin, Colombia; Auckland, NZ; Kyoto, Japan; Seoul, South Korea; and Casablanca; Morocco.
Japan and South Korea continue to rise in popularity with even more seasonal flights and direct routes now available.
New solo traveller sub-category


New for 2025, Tripadvisor has also curated the top solo traveller destinations as this nascent sector increases in interest.
Asia dominated this new sub-category. K-pop and K-beauty fave Seoul topped the list with Kathmandu, Cusco, Bangkok and Osaka rounding out the top five – some of these destinations highlighting the adventurous nature of solo travellers.
Dubai, Kyoto, Chiang Mai, Reykjavik and Melbourne were also highly rated and reviewed by solo travellers last year.
The 2025 Travelers’ Choice Best of the Best Destinations are calculated based on the quality and quantity of reviews between 1 October 2023 to 30 September 2024.
Read the full list here.