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Lonely Planet has been running the travel guide show for nearly 50 years now – an established travel guide empire for sure.

So when they release their Best in Travel 2022 list, one trusts that the chosen places are indeed carefully selected and worth checking out.

In my defence.

Well, Simon Parker over at The Telegraph cannot disagree more.

And we have had to change our tune, too, after he chose Cape Town as the best city to visit for the next year.

Parker says Lonely Planet’s (LP’s) selection appears to have been “hastily scrawled on the back of an old guidebook” rather than “carefully selected”.

He goes on to say the list is stuck in a “pre-COVID-19 time warp, an unmasked predawn”, especially since LP’s ‘top city’ to visit is Auckland:

Have you been living in caves? New Zealand’s biggest city has been locked behind Jacinda Ardern’s Iron Curtain for the best part of two years.

There are currently more than 30,000 New Zealanders waiting to return. Kiwis might fly before tourists are welcomed back.

Cape Town, on the other hand, would have been a better choice, fulfilling the criteria of needing to be a place with “topicality, unique experiences, ‘wow’ factor, and sustainability”.

All of that, while being a place travellers can actually visit.

Yeah, honestly, our economy needs you.

You might question the sustainability aspect, but remember that President Ramaphosa just secured around R130 billion in a bid to transition from coal and Eskom’s grid towards green energy.

Parker sees the potential, noting how, now that we are off the UK’s travel red list, the “Mother City is ramping up for a bumper summer”.

He punts our upcoming festivals, concerts, and sports events happening at the beloved Newlands Stadium.

Better still, Virgin Atlantic now flies direct from London Heathrow, for not much more than the alternatives through Amsterdam, Dubai and Addis Ababa.

I’ve put my own money where my mouth is – my flights are booked for just after Christmas.

Lekker.

The second city he reckons is worth visiting is Austin, Texas, instead of Taipei in Taiwan, while the third best is Birmingham in the UK instead of Freiburg, Germany.

Those are neither here nor there, really, just as long as Cape Town is at the top.

Most of the focus of Parker’s list was actually on the best countries to visit, though, so let’s see what he thinks are the better options.

Instead of the Cook Islands as the number one best destination, Parker proposes Thailand:

Image: Getty

After 18 months of Covid restrictions, this tourism powerhouse is back open again. Thailand’s International Balloon Festival will take to the skies again in February after a yearlong hiatus and the Thai New Year will begin on April 13.

To criticise the critic, most people who like to travel have probably already visited Thailand, so perhaps the Cook Islands are actually more enticing.

The second destination on the list, instead of Norway, is Uzbekistan:

Image: see.new

A new airport will open in Samarkand in December, meaning that tourists can fly direct to this Silk Road city of mosques and mausoleums without having to reroute through the capital, Tashkent. In Bukhara, meanwhile, Hyatt Regency is opening the country’s first five-star hotel outside the capital.

There are also cool events to look forward to, such as the International Handicrafts Festival in Kokand (September) and the Sharq Taronlari music festival in Samarkand (August).

Most notable, though, is apparently the new high-speed rail, which will allow tourists to cover quite a lot of ground at a decent pace.

Third on the list, instead of Mauritius, is Portugal:

Image: masterstudies.com

It is a somewhat safer bet as it is currently Europe’s most vaccinated country.

It would also provide an opportunity to check out how Portugal’s Golden Visa Programme works.

Moldova was then listed as the fourth-best option, instead of Belize:

Image: Getty

As one of Europe’s cheapest countries, travellers can get a good meal with local wine for less than £15 per head [just over R300] in Moldova. The centre of the capital Chisinau is best explored on foot and the city is surrounded by unpretentious vineyards where tastings cost just a few pounds.

You are also encouraged to check out Old Orhei (seen above), which is a natural limestone “fortress” dating back to the 14th century.

As for the top regions, Parker listed Antarctica, Shetland (UK), and Patagonia (South America) as the top three best, instead of Westfjords (Iceland), West Virginia (USA), and Xishuangbanna (China).

You can check out more from The Telegraph and compare those with Lonely Planet, too, if you like.

Again: travel safe, folk.

[source:telegraph]