Lonely Planet's top 10 regions 2011

Lonely Planet has named Australia’s Newcastle and the Great Barrier Reef, and New Zealand’s Wellington, as three of the world’s top destinations for next year in LONELY PLANET’S BEST IN TRAVEL 2011, published today. This is Lonely Planet’s sixth eagerly-awaited annual collection of the best places to go and things to do around the world for the year ahead. Sinai (1), Istria (2), Marquesas Islands (3), Cappadocia (4), Westfjords (5), Shetland Islands (6), West Coast USA (8), Chilean Patagonia (9) and Gili Islands (10) complete the list.

Lonely Planet has named Australia’s Newcastle and the Great Barrier Reef, and New Zealand’s Wellington, as three of the world’s top destinations for next year in LONELY PLANET’S BEST IN TRAVEL 2011, published today.

This is Lonely Planet’s sixth eagerly-awaited annual collection of the best places to go and things to do around the world for the year ahead.

Ranked ninth on the book’s list of Top 10 Cities 2011, Newcastle is “a unique blend of imagination, sophistication and laid-back surf culture,” Lonely Planet says. In fourth position on the same list, Wellington “might just be the ‘Best Little Capital in the World’,” according to the book. Other cities to make the list are New York City (1), Tangier (2), Tel Aviv (3), Valencia (5), Iquitos (6), Ghent (7), Delhi (8) and Chiang Mai (10).

The Great Barrier Reef is seventh on the list of „Lonely Planet's top 10 regions 2011“ does pose the question, “Will the reef survive? In the short term, yes, but it’s uncertain for how long.” However, “It’s not all bad news,” the book says.

“Responsible snorkelling and scuba diving around the reefs have very little to no damaging effect, and your tourist dollars can contribute to the Barrier Reef’s survival.”

Sinai (1), Istria (2), Marquesas Islands (3), Cappadocia (4), Westfjords (5), Shetland Islands (6), West Coast USA (8), Chilean Patagonia (9) and Gili Islands (10) complete the list.

This new edition of BEST IN TRAVEL also reveals why Albania (1), Brazil (2), Cape Verde (3), Panama (4), Bulgaria (5), Vanuatu (6), Italy (7), Tanzania (8), Syria (9) and Japan (10) have been selected as the Top 10 Countries for next year.

BEST IN TRAVEL’s recommendations are drawn from hundreds of ideas submitted by Lonely Planet’s staff, authors and community of travellers, bloggers and tweeters. Their suggestions are then refined by a panel of in-house travel experts, based on scores for topicality, excitement, value for money and that special X-factor.


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