UK Edition
Telegraph Travel's 20 destinations for 2014
When newspapers compile their must-see travel lists they usually like to throw in a headline-grabbing curve-ball. Birmingham, Margate and Dresden are just a few of those destinations that have made it on to the bucket list in recent years.
No one is saying each does not have its appeal – the regeneration of Birmingham’s city centre, and Margate’s Turner museum deserves plaudits, and the old Saxon town of Dresden has done much to restore its former glories. But the world’s best? Give us a break.
In that sense, this list is different. That is not to say it is without controversy; we have included destinations some may view as edgy or that rarely make it on to the brochures of most mainstream travel operators due to the security situation or our enduring preconceptions.
Alongside these are a handful of new city break destinations that can rival the tried-and-tested, winter-sun beach escapes and wildlife hotspots that can challenge the status quo.
There may also be raised eyebrows over what is not in here – no Brazil, no Somme battlefield locations, no Burma. These are places that we believe all merit a place but not necessarily in 2014 – rising costs, growing crowds, lack of capacity and the desire for something different mean this year is not necessarily the best time to go.
So forget the teetotal January, the weekly gym class, and stopping social smoking. Make a journey to one of Telegraph Travel’s 20 places for 2014 a New Year’s resolution.
The destinations
Can you work out which destinations we have chosen from the clues below?
Alternatively, dive straight into our slideshow of the top 20 destinations here.
Cities
1. This old industrial giant has transformed itself into a hub for art, music and theatre - and will shortly host one of the year's biggest sporting events. Find out where
2. The place to indulge your inner caveman – and see some of Italy's oldest frescoes. Find out where
3. Riverside elegance, neoclassical grandeur – and probably the best wine in the world. Find out where
4. Fought over for millennia, this is perhaps the holiest of holy cities. Find out where
5. The home of old-style Southern charm, now a centre for cutting-edge cuisine and design. Find out where
Nature
6. According to Unesco, this is "the birthplace of many culinary traditions" – it's also the place to cuddle a baby panda. Find out where
7. One of Africa's greatest wildlife reserves, with cheetahs and lions, hundreds of bird species, and a migration to rival the Serengeti's. Find out where
8. Dense jungle, vigilante elephants and damn fine coffee. Find out where
Beach holidays
9. A windsurfers' favourite that combines modern chic with old-style Aegean charm. Find out where
10. This tiny archipelago that will transport you back to la dolce vita, Fifties-style. Find out where
11. White-sand beaches, glorious landscapes and wildlife and, this month, a week-long fiesta of dancing and drumming. Find out where
12. A true tropical island hideaway in the Grenadines, this is where they say the billionaires go to get away from the millionaires. Find out where
New frontiers
13. Rugged, wild and diverse, this island nation is the place for a "sing-sing". Find out where
14. A mountainous area so beautiful that it has been called "the Switzerland of Asia". Find out where
15. Best known for its notorious civil war, this tiny country now deserves to be known for its Pacific beaches, volcanoes, colonial towns and Mayan ruins. Find out where
Journeys
16. Cruise along one of the world's great spiritual waterways. Find out where
17. This year may be the one that this country of exquisite mosques and ancient mud villages starts to open up to Western visitors. Find out where
Long-haul
18. Known to its first inhabitants as Rakiura, the land of the glowing skies, this is fast becoming an ecotourism hot spot. Find out where
19. No longer the wild frontier of old, this is a tropical boom town in Australia that fuses indigenous, Asian and European influences. Find out where
20. A cult resort for rugged powder hounds, with some of the toughest runs anywhere in North America. Find out where
Agree with our choice? Think we've missed anywhere? Let us know what you think below