Where to Go in 2021

Arctic Bath, a tiny new destination hotel in remote northern Sweden, has a negligible environmental footprint, in part because it barely touches the ground. Inspired by old timber-transporting practices, architects Bertil Harström and Johan Kaupp designed the property to float on the Lule River in the heart of icy, gorgeous Lapland, a veritable winter wonderland with reindeer herds and vast pine forests.
 
The circular main structure resembles a woodland giant’s crown; nearby, a dozen cabins made from Baltic limestone and sustainable pine seem to poke playfully from the water or perch on stilts ashore. In winter the whole thing freezes in place, affording gorgeous views from the private decks. The restaurant serves local game and aquavit and is heavily influenced by indigenous Sámi cuisine.
 
Despite the bracing temperatures—it’s below freezing half the year—most of the action is outdoors, whether snow biking, moose watching, or dog sledding under the northern lights. There’s also a plunge pool at the hotel’s center, but don’t use it to warm up: It’s cut right into the ice.
 
Outsource the planning: Black Tomato.
 
For more Sweden-specific Covid-19 information from the WHO, click here.

When Costa Rica began its Certification for Sustainable Tourism (CST) program in 1998, it was a world’s first. Today its Earth-friendly hotels have rippled into something of a global standard. And now they’re raising the bar higher. A massive overhaul of CST criteria planned for 2021 will inspire hoteliers to raise the bar higher and acknowledge those who already have.
 
Take your pick of these new five-star openings: Origins Lodge, a jungle hideaway with treetop villas; Nayara Tented Camp, a glamorous, safari-style resort surrounded by a sloth sanctuary; or Kasiiya Papagayo, which holds just seven suites on 123 beachfront acres. All have been built with low- or no-impact construction methods.
 
Meanwhile, the government released a carbon footprint calculator last November to encourage tourism offsets. It’s also moving to protect 30% of its land under official conservation programs and encouraging other countries to do the same.
 
Outsource the planning: Origen Escapes.
 
For more Costa Rica-specific Covid-19 information from the WHO, click here.

The fine needlecraft of chikankari was introduced to India from Persia during the Mughal Empire in the 18th century. Now centered in Uttar Pradesh’s capital of Lucknow, 200 miles east of Agra, this exquisite textile art consists of tiny ivory swirls of hand-stitched flowers and leaves, usually spread over pure white khadi (cotton).
 
Qilasaaz is considered one of the most skilled embroidery collectives, founded by Maharani Vijaya Khan of Mahmudabad as an empowerment project for rural women lacking other employment opportunities. India Beat arranges private appointments with her for serious collectors on a two-day Awadhi culture immersion in the City of Nawabs.
 
Stay at the stately Taj Mahal Lucknow, tour the Bara Imambara mosque, explore local markets, and join an evening street food walk—the city is famous for a warm-spiced, slow-roasted stew called Khaas Nihari, prepared in large pots and sealed with a veil of dough.
 
Outsource the planning: India Beat.
 
For more India-specific Covid-19 information from the WHO, click here.

Add some context to the contemporary social justice movement by heading to its birthplace. In Montgomery, the state’s capital, the Freedom Rides Museum will mark the 60th anniversary of the similarly named campaign against Jim Crow laws. Housed in a decommissioned 1951 Greyhound station, the institution is welcoming an exhibit featuring archival audio footage inside a newly restored bus from that time period.
 
Nearby, the poignant National Memorial for Peace and Justice is another essential stop that features more than 800 suspended steel slabs commemorating Black lynching victims. In Birmingham, where the smartly designed Valley Hotel opens this month, the facade of the A.G. Gaston Motel—another key site in the fight against segregation—will be restored by summer. See it on a stroll of the city’s Civil Rights District before digging into a “Saw’s Soul Pie,” a pizza topped with barbecue pork and Alabama white sauce. It’s a specialty of Post Office Pies, run by Per Se alum John Hall.
 
Outsource the planning: American Excursionist.
 
For more Alabama-specific Covid-19 information from the CDC, click here.

In the Whadjuk Noongar language, boola bardip means “many stories.” And sharing diverse Aboriginal narratives—through song, painting, sculpture, ceramics, or geology—is just what Perth’s new $316 million WA Museum Boola Bardip aspires to do. Sitting on Whadjuk Noongar land, it’s one in a growing list of attractions that celebrate the oldest continuous culture on Earth.
 
In 2019 the government pledged $10 million to open road access to another: Murujuga National Park, which is located along the Timor Sea, holds the greatest concentration of rock art in the world. It also increased the number of sites for the homestay-like Camping with Custodians program, which allows visitors to immerse themselves in Aboriginal communities, from two to five.
 
Then there’s the new Kalbarri Skywalk, a pair of hairpin-shaped walkways elevated 330 feet above the Murchison River Gorge—Australia’s Grand Canyon—where several First People are among the tour guides. It’s all part of an effort to expand Aboriginal participation in the tourism economy—only 339 of them had full-time jobs in the industry in 2019—and bring their culture into the spotlight.
 
Outsource the planning: Southern Crossings.
 
For more Australia-specific Covid-19 information from the WHO, click here.

A total solar eclipse in December will bring every ice-breaking ship as far south as possible, to witness a phenomenon that only comes every decade or two. While the event itself will last only minutes, several expedition outfitters are creating hands-on opportunities to fill the rest of your days.
 
Throughout the polar travel season (austral summer), passengers aboard Ponant’s hybrid-electric, natural-gas-powered Le Commandant Charcot can get an immersive scientific experience, retrieving instruments from glacial waters or assisting researchers with data collection. Or choose your own adventure when you charter one of Pelorus’s expedition-grade megayachts. In concert with its eponymous foundation, the British outfitter can send ornithologists or marine biologists on your expedition, so you’ll come home with not just incredible photos but also the satisfaction of helping contribute to the scientific record.
 
Outsource the planning: Adventure Life.

Few Caribbean nations are as dependent on tourism as the British Virgin Islands. The territory credits 57% of its gross domestic product and a third of its jobs to the hospitality sector. That’s made the punch of Covid‑19 especially profound—it froze visitation just weeks after the islands’ best hotels wrapped up yearslong efforts to rebuild from Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017.
 
The wait will be worth it. On Virgin Gorda, Rosewood Little Dix Bay has reintroduced treehouse suites with outdoor showers and wraparound beach views; these secluded cottages, built on stilts to protect the fragile coastline, hark back to Laurance Rockefeller’s original 1964 designs for the property. On the opposite side of the island, the ritzy Oil Nut Bay has added a “marina village” with an overwater restaurant, floating hammocks, and a suspended pool.
 
Perhaps most thrilling to a certain set of luxury seekers, Richard Branson’s exclusive Necker Island no longer requires an $80,000-per-night buyout. For the first time in the property’s 40-year history, its 11 suites can be booked individually at a relative all-inclusive bargain of $5,000. Take comfort in knowing that Branson is one of the region’s largest philanthropic players and that your travel splurge is just what the country needs to get back on its indefatigable feet.
 
Outsource the planning: Perspectives Travel.
 
For more BVI-specific Covid-19 information from the WHO, click here.

Almost 1.4 million travelers came to Dakar in 2019, more than in any year before, mostly to visit the Unesco-protected Ile de Gorée, Africa’s largest slave trading outpost from the 15th century to the 19th century. The site’s preserved pastel-hued homes have dungeonlike basements that served as holding cells for slaves awaiting passage.
 
Whether you’re planning to trace your roots or learn more about race relations, you’ll also experience one of the world’s most exciting centers of art, fashion, and music. Besides traditional souks packed to the rafters with lavish textiles and colorful wicker ware, there are also contemporary titans of African creativity. They include Sarah Diouf, whose Tongoro label of 100% made-in-Africa womenswear is beloved by Beyoncé; Kine Aw, whose cubist paintings can be seen at the West African-centric OH Gallery; and swimwear designer Yodit Eklund, who recently opened Dakar’s first boutique hotel, Seku Bi.
 
Outsource the planning: Steppes Travel
 
For more Senegal-specific Covid-19 information from the WHO, click here.

Italy is eternally magnetic, a place so universally beloved that its early devastation from the pandemic was mourned around the world. Now, with borders slowly reopening to international tourism, it’s time to return.
 
Head first to the island of Ischia, which sits opposite Capri in the Gulf of Naples. Italians favor its rugged landscape, millennia-old thermal baths, enchanting beaches, and literary pedigree. (Homer mentioned Ischia in “the Iliad.” It also had a star turn in Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan novels.)
 
The destination holds special appeal for walkers: Some of the best spots to eat and drink are accessible only by cliff paths. That proclivity for all things natural inspired hotels such as Mezzatorre to band together. Their sustainability-oriented version of “build back better” includes plans to develop electric-car-sharing programs for visitors and reduce carbon footprints through an updated set of best practices.
 
Outsource the planning: IC Bellagio.
 
For more Italy-specific Covid-19 information from the WHO, click here.

Rather than add to the crowds at the Jemmaa el-Fna, the bustling main market square in Marrakesh, this is the year to visit far-flung desert locales traditionally accessed with a caravan of camels and where the economic benefits of tourism have yet to spread.
 
Overland Travel charts driving trips that begin just outside the Red City and cut through the vertiginous High Atlas before arriving in the rugged beach town of Plage Blanche. With Bliss Mobil luxury expedition vehicles, which are capable of fording rivers and climbing sand dunes as well as any dromedary, guests can reach sites such as the isolated fortress village of Ksar Aït Ben-Haddou, to which Daenerys Targaryen laid siege in Game of Thrones. The routes can be customized to make stops at stunning campsites in unnamed desert towns and spend tea time with nomadic communities.
 
Outsource the planning: Overland Travel.
 
For more Morocco-specific Covid-19 information from the WHO, click here.

In 2021, China will finish the last link of rail tracks meant to connect Kunming with Singapore. Its missing portion runs through 400km (249 miles) of Laos’s jungle-clad valleys, considered one of the sacred cradles of Buddhism, so travelers looking to find inner peace should do so now before the crowds arrive.
 
The spiritual experiences here can be profound: Join novice monks for an overnight at the rambling Wat Pha O temple in Luang Prabang, or go on a solemn early morning tak bat (alms-giving) boat ride up the Mekong to less visited but no less devout villages. You can also pay a visit to the sanctified Tham Ting and Tham Theung caverns, filled with thousands of images of the Buddha, on excursions arranged by the Indochine-rich Rosewood Luang Prabang. The hotel’s staff includes a former monk who leads chanting rituals and Vipassana silent meditations in the on-property sala.
 
Outsource the planning: Smiling Albino.
 
For more Laos-specific Covid-19 information from the WHO, click here.

Wedged high in the Pyrenees between Spain and France is the Catalan-speaking enclave of Andorra, a patchwork of jagged, tree-topped peaks whose perimeter is just 77.67 miles. Its diminutive proportions mean you can see it all (on foot!) in five days with luxury outfitter Epic Andorra, whose new Travessa Andorra circuit is like a Camino de Santiago for nature worshipers.
 
Hikers tackle roughly a dozen miles of mountain trails each day, winding up and down rugged paths, and staying at traditional stone-and-wood bordas—centuries-old shepherding stations that have been reimagined as stylish chalets. (On some nights, you can opt to sleep in geodesic glamping tents with sweeping views of the starry alpine skies.)
 
Each evening, generous apats—charcuterie boards of local meats and cheeses—await trekkers, to compensate for some of the calorie burn. And by the end, there are serious bragging rights for circumnavigating a country. It’s a physical feat—with 19,980 feet of total ascent—even if the actual distance is similar to circling the (very flat) District of Columbia.
 
Outsource the planning: Epic Andorra.
 
For more Andorra-specific Covid-19 information from the WHO, click here.

Rising temperatures have made coral bleaching a pervasive and ongoing threat, ever since more than 90% of Maldivian reefs died out during the 1998 El Niño event. The trailblazing effort known as Marine Savers has been a critical lifeline for this ecosystem and inspired similar projects across the archipelago.
 
Staffed by 10 marine biologists at the Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru, the group lets guests help build and install “frames” on which new coral can grow. The hotel’s bungalows are perched over the water and have sea-gazing lofts, large-screen TVs, deep soaking tubs, and outdoor showers—leaving you in better shape than when you arrived. Return the favor by pitching in.
 
Outsource the planning: Linara Travel.
 
For more Maldives-specific Covid-19 information from the WHO, click here.

At the start of 2020, growth in Canada’s Indigenous travel sector was outpacing the country’s overall tourism activity, with 1 in 3 international visitors interested in such experiences. Though that progress was badly stunted by the pandemic, a new online booking platform called Destination Indigenous makes it easier than ever to meet that demand and funnel money back to these communities. It catalogs more than 200 First Nations-owned enterprises from coast to coast, with a concentration of fit-for-the-times, outdoorsy adventures in Alberta and British Columbia.
 
At Painted Warriors Ranch in the Rockies, guests stay in glamping tents, learn to identify elk and coyote tracks, and navigate using the shadows of spruce branches. In Banff National Park, Brenda Holder, a Cree guide, leads medicine walk workshops through her company, Mahikan Trails. Even the region’s most luxurious lodges are joining with First Nations groups to showcase their stunning ancestral lands. The wilderness survivor program at Siwash Lake Lodge, for example, trains guests on Indigenous methods of collecting food and water. Later this year, Nimmo Bay will introduce a set of activities led by native guides at its brand-new lodge in the Great Bear Rainforest.
 
Outsource the planning: Indigeno Travel.
 
For more Canada-specific Covid-19 information from the WHO, click here.

The city that never sleeps took a good nap in 2020. Now she’s waking up slowly, showing a side even the locals rarely see. Midtown is uncrowded, as are the museums—so have them to yourself while you can. Outdoor dining has energized every sidewalk and street corner; open-air theater and concerts will follow this spring. Although many fled to the burbs, the die-hards remain, doling out hot dogs, slicing lox, toiling in corner offices, and speed-walking in their masks through Central Park.
 
Hibernation has been lovely, but a big, bold new chapter is on the horizon. By May, Daniel Boulud will open a seafood-centric dining room with soaring 57-foot ceilings in the $3.14 billion One Vanderbilt supertall skyscraper across from Grand Central Terminal. The Frick Collection’s superb anthology of old masters will take up residence at the Met Breuer while its Fifth Avenue mansion undergoes a two-year, $160 million renovation.
 
And there will be more pampering hotels than ever: see Six Senses’ first-of-its-kind wellness resort on the High Line in Chelsea and Aman’s $1.25 billion takeover of the Crown Building near MoMA, complete with 83 rooms, a jazz club, and a three-story spa.
 
Outsource the planning: Embark Beyond.
 
For more New York-specific Covid-19 information from the CDC, click here.

The Amazon, the Andes, the Galapagos: It’s hard to believe they’re all represented in one tiny, multifaceted country that’s roughly the size of Nevada. Start your exploration inland at the new Cotopaxi Sanctuary Lodge, named for the world’s tallest and most active volcano. Its eight lavishly appointed suites and bubble tents are the gateway to 7,500 acres of privately owned and protected grasslands filled with Andean pumas, wild horses, and speckled bears.
 
To the east, Intrepid Travel is offering four-day Amazonian jungle trips guided by Indigenous families who know where to find caimans, sloths, and anacondas.
 
Tack that onto the country’s most iconic bucket-list item: a Galapagos cruise. Even those are getting greener (and more luxurious) thanks to Quasar Expeditions’ forthcoming M/Y Conservation, an entirely carbon-neutral, 10-cabin vessel with a first-of-its-kind silent engine. It means those on board will be able to appreciate the area’s wonders without disturbing its natural order.
 
Outsource the planning: Plan South America.
 
For more Ecuador-specific Covid-19 information from the WHO, click here.

It’s one thing to view animals from the safe confines of a safari Jeep—and yet another to venture out and get hands-on with conservation efforts. This type of close-up encounter is normally a five-figure proposition but is becoming more accessible throughout South Africa.
 
Marataba Conservation Camps recently opened with two intimate tented accommodations in a privately managed part of Marakele National Park. Guests can pay $3,500 extra to spend three days notching rhinos and patrolling for snares with an anti-poaching unit that protects those giants as well as elephants, lions, and cheetahs.
 
In the eastern province of KwaZulu-Natal at AndBeyond Phinda Private Game Reserve, there’s no upcharge to tag and monitor the elusive pangolin, whose status as the world’s most trafficked animal may have made it an intermediate host of the virus that causes Covid-19.
 
And in the Kalahari Desert, Tswalu lets guests accompany resident scientists to track and collect data on Cape cobras or pangolins, sometimes in the middle of the night. It’s a (complimentary) way to contribute to the understanding of these creatures and how their protection as a species is directly linked to ours.
 
Outsource the planning: Mango African Safaris.
 
For more South Africa-specific Covid-19 information from the WHO, click here.

An afternoon at the day spa isn’t going to restore your inner tranquility after 2020, but a trip to a wellness-focused tropical resort just might.
 
On Sumba island, about 100 miles south of Komodo National Park, Alamayah has just six rooms and an approach that’s indulgent and healthful. The fine-dining restaurant serves plant-based cuisine; the “medicinal mixology” program believes as much in roots and tinctures as it does in a good stiff drink. Of course, much of the healing will be done all on your own in Alamayah’s suites, which have freestanding bathtubs and private terraces with soothing ocean and jungle views.
 
Meanwhile, Bawah Reserve, a private six-island archipelago northeast of Singapore, has opened its owner’s compound to guests. Called Elang, it has six cliffside bamboo villas and a spa that’s set in a restored joglo, or traditional Javanese house. If being on your own island with private butler service isn’t enough to ease your stress, a daily spa treatment is included for each of 10 guests in the $15,000 nightly rate. 
 
Outsource the planning: Jacada Travel.
 
For more Indonesia-specific Covid-19 information from the WHO, click here.

Maternal leopards with cubs, huge elephant herds, millions of migrating wildebeests: Kenya’s Greater Mara Ecosystem is everything an animal devotee could ask for. And because local Maasai families manage the Maasai Mara National Reserve and lease the adjacent private conservancies to luxury camps, its approach to visitors is the gold standard for community-owned tourism in East Africa. A custom-designed trip with Nairobi-based Micato Safaris might include the five-suite, treehouse- inspired Mara Nyika camp, which has exclusive access to 50,000 giraffe-filled acres, or the Asilia Rekero camp, where you can fall asleep to the grunts of river hippos and the contact calls of lions.
 
These trips are not only ideal for socially distanced times but also critical for ensuring the future success of the area’s stewardship. Last year a $5 million fund created by the Maasai Mara Wildlife Conservancies Association and Conservation International helped keep their operations up during the halt in tourism. But returning travelers will be the true linchpin for the area’s long-term security.
 
Outsource the planning: Micato Safaris.
 
For more Kenya-specific Covid-19 information from the WHO, click here.

Four years of devastating fires haven’t dimmed Napa and Sonoma’s luster as one of the plushest, lushest—and greenest—wine regions around. Sonoma became the most sustainable viticultural area in the world in late 2019 after 99% of its vineyards were certified as such by third-party auditors, and Montage brought the town of Healdsburg a new level of luxury stay when it opened in December. Its 130 bungalows are partially solar-powered, most with ample terraces and outdoor showers.
 
Get in on the spirit with a zero-emissions vacation: Restrictions in Burgundy and Tuscany mean that bike trip operators including VBT, DuVine, and Backroads are doubling down on high-end Golden State adventures. When the Four Seasons Resort Napa Valley makes its debut early this year in Calistoga, guests not only can roll up their sleeves and help harvest the property’s organically farmed vineyards, they’ll have front-door access to bike the 47-mile Vine Trail, which will eventually link the valley from the Vallejo ferry terminal to Calistoga.
 
Outsource the planning: Azurine Travel.
 
For more California-specific Covid-19 information from the CDC, click here.

Covid-19 delivered an untimely blow for Sherpas, who make most of their annual income during the short mountain climbing season in April and May. But it also inspired the community—whose name refers to the entire Indigenous ethnic population—to diversify its tourism economy.
 
When hikers return to the Himalayas, they’ll find a kingdom ready to show off more than its world-class peaks. Up in the Tibetan Plateau, the arid Mustang region will become more accessible thanks to a network of new roads—previously, it could be traversed only on horseback—making it easier to visit Yeti Mountain Home and other Sherpa-owned luxury lodges. In the 9,000-foot-high village of Jomsom, the 29-room Moksha has opened with a hot-springs-fed pool and floor-to-ceiling windows that face Nilgiri, one of Nepal’s tallest massifs. Following in the same community-minded footsteps is Lost Horizons Resort, coming in 2021 to the lake-filled Pokhara Valley. Its 7,000-square-foot spa, with a zero-edge pool that juts out over a tangle of lush wetlands, is set to rival Asia’s most pampering retreats. 
 
Outsource the planning: Remote Lands.
 
For more Nepal-specific Covid-19 information from the WHO, click here.

Last summer, Latvian hotelier Aleksis Karlsons decided to temporarily shutter his acclaimed property, Hotel Bergs, in the capital of Riga and turn his family’s countryside estate into a socially distanced getaway. It was a resounding success. With five oversize suites in the baroque mansion, another five apartments in the elegantly converted stables, and a lakeside sauna, Rumene Manor lured contented guests from all over the region who would normally spend their summer on the French Riviera.
 
Expect this trend of architectural preservation to grow, as Latvian estate owners—whose languishing second homes are mostly relics of centuries of German feudalism—recognize the untapped international appeal. (Many are set on sprawling lakeside acreages and surrounded by towering pines.) 
 
For now, book into Villa Santa or Kuksu Muiza, two relais-style inns that give many French châteaux a run for their money.
 
Outsource the planning: Exeter International.
 
For more Latvia-specific Covid-19 information from the WHO, click here.

If the conversation around climate change usually focuses on curbing damage, an elite gang of eco-warriors with extremely good taste is going one step further: returning their land to its former glory. All across the U.K., aristocrats and wealthy landowners are using their estates for rewilding, focusing less on hunting parties and more on reintroducing native flora and fauna.
 
Financing the efforts isn’t easy, but tourism has emerged as the way forward. At Alladale Wilderness Reserve in Scotland, recognized by the Boutique Hotel Awards in 2019 as Europe’s most eco-friendly hotel, that means fishing for trout in 10 pristine lochs; at Fritton Lake in East Anglia, it’s learning about regenerative farming before tea at the adjacent Downton Abbey-like manor house. At other cinematic locations such as the sumptuous new Falcon Hotel at Castle Ashby, you can take hikes through sheep-filled meadows.
 
Nowhere else in the world is Old World luxury and cutting-edge land conservation so tightly intertwined—though that may change as the European Union looks to ratify similar rewilding-inspired policies across the continent in 2021 and beyond.
 
Outsource the planning: Noteworthy.
 
For more UK-specific Covid-19 information from the WHO, click here.

Transformative travel is the ultimate industry buzzword, but despite its overuse, only rare trips can spark an existential U-turn. Two resorts on the western coast of Mexico’s Baja Peninsula, however, aim to do just that.
 
In sleepy Pescadero, near the surf town of Todos Santos, Modern Elder Academy is a 19-room beachfront campus founded by ex-Airbnb executive Chip Conley that promotes itself as a midlife wisdom school. Its new series of two-week-long Sabbatical Sessions includes courses on crafting an encore career, mindset management, Spanish, and Shamanic cleansings—with a few mountain bike rides thrown in for good measure.
 
A few miles north, the 35-suite Paradero resort offers all-inclusive workshops on organic gardening and sound therapy in hopes of instilling skills that guests can take back home. Personal enrichment has never been more playful. 
 
Outsource the planning: Journey Mexico.
 
For more Mexico-specific Covid-19 information from the WHO, click here.