Each year, leading travel guidance platform Tripadvisor releases its annual Travellers’ Choice Awards, showcasing the trending travel spots for the year.
Dozens of publications produce yearly ‘where to travel to’ lists. But where these are collated by industry experts, Tripadvisor’s are based on 12 months of review data from its global travel community, providing an illuminating insight into what’s really exciting travellers.
The 2026 awards honour 270 destinations across 60 countries worldwide. They span seven sub-categories: Trending Destinations, Top Destinations, Culture & History Destinations, Food Destinations, Honeymoon Destinations and Solo Travel Destinations.
This Portuguese island is the top trending destination in the world
This year, the number one trending destination in the world, according to Tripadvisor, is the Portuguese island of Madeira.
Madeira has long been a holiday favourite for travellers looking for sunshine, seaside resorts and stunning natural surroundings.
But it also has a burgeoning reputation as one of the adventure capitals of Europe and an ideal shoulder-season destination.
“In the morning, you can be scaling a 1,800-metre peak in the clouds, and in the afternoon, you could be canyoning in its lush inlands surrounded by waterfalls and natural pools,” Stella Kamba, founder of active travel company More Life Adventures, tells Euronews Travel.
“It’s one of the few destinations in Europe where you can have so many activities in such close proximity.”
On the Pico to Pico trail, travellers summit two of the island’s highest peaks along narrow paths carved into the rock, while taking a canyoning tour is a way to immerse yourself in the island’s lush forests, misty waterfalls, and volcanic rock formations.
The world’s trending travel destinations for 2026
Other destinations to watch, which Tripadvisor refers to as ones travellers think are “worth the hype”, include Tbilisi in second place.
As the travel platform says, the Georgian capital feels electric right now. New cultural spaces are popping up across the city – from the new Art Foundation Anagi to the expanded Shalva Amiranashvili Museum of Fine Arts – and historic buildings are transforming into stylish boutique stays, like the Telegraph Hotel.
Georgia has also been luring digital nomads. Last year, website Nomad Capitalist named it one of the best countries for remote working, “thanks to its business-friendly environment, tax-friendly regime and liberal immigration policies”.
Tbilisi is particularly popular for its “charismatic vibe boasting a unique mix of modern and ancient architecture, aesthetically built coworking spaces and a thriving expat community”, according to Nomad Capitalist.
Milan is the next highest ranking European destination on the list, coming in sixth place. The Italian city is in the spotlight this winter as it co-hosts the Winter Olympics.
There are also new hotels opening, including a Six Senses and a Rosewood, plus neighbourhoods like Porta Romana and Porta Nuova have been revitalised.
Coming in at number seven, Glasgow stands out for its bold contemporary culture, as the UK’s first UNESCO City of Music. It’s also the perfect starting point to visit some of Scotland’s most dramatic landscapes, with day trips to Oban, Glencoe and the Highlands.
Best destinations for solo travellers in 2026
The awards are also useful for discovering destinations vetted by solo travellers themselves.
Half of those in the top 10 are in Europe, including the number one destination. Dublin took the top spot, recommended as a compact, walkable city with a friendly feel, where solo travellers can take in historic attractions like St. Patrick’s Cathedral and Dublin Castle or visit celebrated distilleries.
Travellers on the forum website Reddit highlight that Dublin is a city where eating and drinking by yourself is very normal, and the centre is generally safe to explore alone, including for women.
Berlin came in second, a progressive city where the old buildings of Mitte gracefully coexist with the modern Reichstag. London and Edinburgh also made the top five, at number three and number five respectively, and Madrid came in eighth.
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