Leave it to an obscure archipelago between Norway and Iceland to take on Google. Last year, camera-strapped livestock began streaming a “Sheep View 360” to let potential tourists see what they couldn’t on Google Street View.
1. Faeroe Islands
While windy and remote, the 18 islands are not all woolly sorts and switchbacks. Of note for adventurous sophisticates: the native knitwear label Gudrun & Gudrun, the Ostrom design store and the Michelin-starred tasting menus at KOKS. SAS recently launched two-hour direct flights from Copenhagen.
2. Puebla, Mexico
A two-hour drive from Mexico City, this Spanish colonial city is finally emerging from the capital’s shadow. The splashy new International Museum of the Baroque serves as one magnet. The city’s church- and palace-packed historic center—under furious repair after September’s earthquake—is another. And two new high-end hotels, Rosewood Puebla, and the Hotel Cartesiano are helping to reel in the luxury-minded.
3. Kuelap, Peru
Think of Kuelap’s ruins as the Machu Picchu of the north. Ten thousand feet up in the Andes, not far from the Amazon, the 6th-century site was built by the Chachapoyas, known as the warriors of the clouds. Once an arduous journey, it can now be reached in 20 minutes, thanks to a new 2½-mile-long cable-car ride that zips you through the staggering landscape. Tickets run about $6, and the hotel Libertador Trujillo can serve as base camp.
4. Minneapolis
The twin city that gave the world Prince and Bob Dylan is now luring curious foodies. In 2017, Minneapolis claimed 13 James Beard Award semifinalists. When Gavin Kaysen, chef/owner of the wildly popular Spoon & Stable opened his modern bistro Bellecour last spring, he booked 1,000 reservations in the first 24 hours. Other notable names to drop: Thomas Kim, who left Los Angeles to establish the Rabbit Hole, and Erik Anderson, who sharpened his knives at the Catbird Seat in Nashville and took over Minneapolis’s Grande Cafe earlier this year.
5. Dundee, Scotland
A coastal college town, Dundee has emerged as Scotland’s coolest city (see the old public library turned underground club). In 2018, the V&A Museum of Design will debut as the centerpiece of a $1.5 billion transformation of the faded riverfront. Designed by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma, the new V&A will celebrate the country’s unsung design heritage—from jute to Minecraft.
6. Grenada
On the southern edge of the Caribbean hurricane belt—hit by only three storms in 50 years—it’s flourishing while many of its neighbors rebuild. In the spring, Silversands resort will bring minimalist luxury to the island’s southwestern tip, with 43 suites, nine villas and the region’s longest pool.
7. Madagascar
Plants and wildlife that are found nowhere else thrive in this African island nation, but discerning visitors have typically found the accommodations a bit of a bummer. Tour operator Abercrombie & Kent advised travelers to pack patience. For big spenders, the wait is over. In June, one of the investors behind North Island, a kingly retreat in the Seychelles, opened Time + Tide Miavana on Madagascar’s private island of Nosy Ankao: 14 solar-powered villas, each with a pool and butler. Potential visitors should be aware, however, of a recent outbreak of plague pneumonia in the country’s two main cities and other areas; check cdc.gov for updates.
8. Montenegro
In June, this tiny country bordering Croatia became the 29th member state of NATO. Other changes afoot: One & Only will open Portonovi, its first resort in Europe overlooking the unreasonably beautiful Boka Bay, in early 2019. Before then you can drop anchor at the Regent Porto Montenegro in a posh marina a 20-minute drive from the medieval town of Kotor, with its steep alleyways and Unesco World Heritage status.
9. Shanghai
Paris of the East now has a dedicated Michelin guide—30 starred restaurants—and is about to get its own Pompidou Center at the end of 2018. A hotel boom also seems to be upping the aesthetic ante in China’s biggest city (pop. 24 million). You can stay at Waterhouse, the highly stylized renovation of an abandoned industrial building in the heart of South Bund or flee the city’s tizzy at the new Amanyangyun, a forest retreat formed out of 13 relocated Ming dynasty villas and 24 newly built suites, a 45-minute drive from the city.
10. La Rioja, Spain
In Spain’s foremost wine region, medieval hilltop villages play foil to modern architectural designs by Calatrava, Gehry and Hadid. Meanwhile, unexpected Scandinavian flair has infiltrated the gastro-bars of the capital, Logrono, and the guest rooms in newly opened places like Hotel Viura.
Source: The Wall Street Journal