52 Places to Go, the Travel section’s annual list of recommended destinations, lands every January. Each short entry is a snapshot into a different possible adventure.
Some Travel editors were intrigued enough to design their own personal vacations around the list: Amy Virshup described staying in the inns atop Italy’s Dolomite Mountains known as rifugios as “otherworldly,” while Stephen Hiltner fondly recalls “ducking into a crowded izakaya during a torrential rain” in Osaka, Japan.
In 2025, a number of our writers and photographers also headed to destinations on this year’s list to dig even deeper into what makes them worth visiting.
Aix-en-Provence, France
The southern French city made our list because it designated 2025 the year to celebrate all things Paul Cézanne, the artist who called Aix-en-Provence home and painted many of his masterpieces there. Alexis Steinman visited to get a taste of the medieval city. Perhaps a whole year is necessary to fully appreciate the Post-Impressionist painter who was derided in his time for his bold colors and geometric forms. As Bruno Ely, director of the Musée Granet, which presented the largest collection of the artists work to date as part of Cézanne 2025, said: “It takes time to like Cézanne because he is more complex than you realize.”
Lofoten Islands, Norway
A peak in the sun’s 11-year activity cycle meant that 2025 was prime time to see the northern lights in places like Lofoten, an archipelago of five main islands off Norway’s west coast. As our writer Caroline Van Hemert put it: “It isn’t on the way to anything, except a high-latitude version of paradise.” She, like the Vikings, arrived by boat, and even sampled their ancient cuisine: cod, air-dried outdoors for months, until it is hard enough to be broken with a hammer before eating.
East London
“There is no better time to visit East London than in the summer,” writes Desiree Ibekwe, who was born and raised in the area and has witnessed its “cultural makeover” over the last decade or so. Some of these most recent changes secured East London’s spot on our 52 Places list for 2025: The V&A East Storehouse debuted, and set to follow are the V&A East Museum and BBC Music Studios. In June, Desiree wrote a guide to exploring the neighborhoods that make up the eastern borough of Hackney, including Dalston, Shoreditch and Hoxton, full of excellent local tips.
Greenland
Greenland was thrust into the spotlight in 2025 — and not for reasons it would have hoped for. The island made this year’s list for two main reasons: Nuuk, the capital, was opening a new international airport, and United Airlines started offering seasonal nonstop flights there from Newark Liberty Airport. Lisa Abend visited in April to take the temperature of the capital’s residents, who eyed the impending tourist influx with both excitement and worry.
Detroit
The renaissance of Detroit, a city long associated with urban decline, is undeniable. At the center is the reopening of the 1913 Beaux-Arts Michigan Central train station as a tech start-up hub, thanks to a $950 million restoration project by Ford Motor Company — fitting for Detroit’s comeback tale. Amy S. Eckert, a Detroit native, this year wrote a guide to spending 36 Hours in that city, with some of her key picks including the Detroit Institute of Arts; Belle Isle, with nearly 1,000 acres of green space; and the Guardian Building, an Art Deco gem.
Thailand
If you couldn’t see the word “Thailand” this year without hearing the trilling theme song of HBO’s “The White Lotus” in your head, you weren’t the only one. Of course, there’s so much more to Thailand than the confines of the resort that most of the show’s guests barely left. Finn-Olaf Jones shone a spotlight on the island of Koh Lan, an authentic and affordable alternative to the five-star resorts and thong-thronged beaches of Koh Samui, where the TV show was filmed. And Patrick Scott put together a 36 Hours guide for the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai, which offers fiery, fresh cuisine; an Old City rich with ancient temples; and, perhaps surprisingly, a prolific jazz scene.
Follow New York Times Travel on Instagram and sign up for our Travel Dispatch newsletter to get expert tips on traveling smarter and inspiration for your next vacation. Dreaming up a future getaway or just armchair traveling? Check out our 52 Places to Go in 2025.
Tacey Rychter is a staff editor for the Travel section of The Times.
The post 52 Places to Go, So Little Time: Where We Went in 2025 appeared first on New York Times.
