16 for 2016

Where are trendy travelers heading this year? We inventoried 14 ideal vacation lists from publications and websites in the United States, Britain and Australia to get a handle on the 10 coolest destinations by number of mentions. And to sweeten the pot, we’ve also circled six on the master list that are closest to Charlotte.

1. (tie) Brazil

The 2016 Summer Olympics will run Aug. 5-21 at four areas in Rio de Janeiro. That puts the games amid South America’s winter, when the average high temperature is an easy-to-handle 77.9 degrees and the rainfall and humidity are customarily at their annual lows. Rio and Sao Paulo, 250 miles south, co-hosted the World Cup competition in 2014, so Brazil is expected to have a handle on how to deal with a massive influx of international tourists. Also, any kinks at hotels built for the World Cup should be ironed out by now.

Several lists surveyed pointed to Costa Verde (“Green Coast”), a seaside town southwest of Rio that has the look of colonial/pastoral Brazil (it’s a UNESCO site). Life moves at a slower pace, and the islands offshore are government-protected conservation areas.

1. (tie) Hawaii

Competition among airlines may take some of the financial sting out of going to the islands (discounter Virgin America, for instance, now flies there). The deals site www.beatofhawaii.com suggests booking at least one season out, and checking prices on smaller carriers (Hawaiian, Alaska, Virgin America, Allegiant) as well as the larger ones. If you have time and money, consider taking a cruise.

None of the lists mentioned Honolulu, which is on Oahu and is Hawaii’s major air hub; several lists pointed directly at Kauai and Maui, which are popular but not quite as overrun with tourists.

1. (tie) Cuba

Havana – the capital and largest city – and several beaches also on the island’s northern coast have been drawing Europeans, Canadians and Mexicans for years; they came for climate, scenery, culture – and a look at the economically dysfunctional Soviet-style Castro regime. The U.S. and Cuba now are working toward normalizing relations, though the Freedom to Travel to Cuba Act is still cooling its heels in Congress; a flood of incoming American tourists is still in the future.

Obstacles for those going there now include an infrastructure lacking ATMs, hard currency, Internet and adequate lodgings. Still, many say they prefer to visit as-is, before Cuba gets glitzed.

Several lists singled out Valle de Vinales – a mountain valley in far western Cuba that attracts hikers, climbers and a lush climate makes possible a Garden of Eden-like variety of plants and animals.

4. Australia

Still expensive? You bet. From here (CLT) to Sydney (SYD) and back can run you something in the neighborhood of $3,000. (On travel-booking sites, punch in various departures and you may find discounts. Early last month, www.pricelinecom.com had a Dec. 27-Jan. 17 roundtrip for $2,173). Regardless of cost, the flight takes two days each way.

Australia-based Traveller magazine had Margaret River on their list – ranked No. 4, between Antarctica and Hong Kong – and Margaret River was No. 15 in the best-places list of Travel + Leisure. Never heard of the place? It’s one of the places in Australia’s “other” wine country, three hours south of Perth in southwest Australia, where a relatively cool and humid Mediterranean climate – weather arrives from the Indian Ocean – allows the valley to produce more than 20 percent of Australia’s premium wine market, both reds and whites.

Fremantle – the Perth area’s port city – was No. 7 in Lonely Planet’s Best Cities list, ahead of every capital in Europe. It has five beaches but Fremantle rings a bell in America for hosting the 1987 America’s Cup. “Fro” is known for its Victorian/Edwardian architecture and college-town ambiance.

Though Perth is on the other side of the continent from Sydney, the cost of going there instead of Sydney is just a tad more. But instead of heading across the Pacific, flights from the U.S. East Coast fly over the Atlantic, with layovers at Hamad International (DOH), in Qatar.

5. (tie) Mexico

Mexico has long been a popular destination for Americans, who made 20.9 million trips there in 2014, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. Cancun and nearby Tulum and other beach communities are affordable, easy to reach by air, and continue to roll out more sophisticated resorts plus sports, dining and cultural activities. Eco-tourism in southern Mexico is also on the rise.

2016 lists specifically pointed to Pacific destinations, notably Riviera Nayarit and Puerto Vallarta, both on Bandaras Bay and accessible via two international airports; the considerably busier Puerto Vallarta (PVR), is serviced by such major carriers as American, Delta, United and Southwest.

Puerto Vallarta has attracted artsy and/or well-heeled Americans since the 1960s and major resorts/hotels arrived a decade later. December through May, daily high temperatures are in the 80s; there are more than a dozen beaches on the bay, where migratory humpback whales reside (and attract eco-tourists) December through March. Inland are new-age spas/centers and nature reserves.

5. (tie) Transylvania

Yes, the title character of “Dracula” is a vampire from Transylvania – but Bram Stoker, who wrote the 1897 novel, never went there: He picked the location after reading a non-fiction snoozefest penned 70 years earlier. No matter: Transylvania has always been an exotic backwater of Eastern Europe, with the Carpathian Mountains and Transylvania Alps walling its forest-heavy hills from less-rustic outsiders.

Dracula tourism is still big – Bran Castle has staked that out, based on Stoker’s description of the vampire’s gothic citadel. But the unspoiled wild areas of this corner of Romania now draw hikers, hunters, skiers and other outdoor types. The region’s natural beauty remains, and the spa-and-wellness resort culture is thriving. A healthy folk culture remains, and Cluj-Napoca – Transylvania’s historic capital – is a university town that has kept its medieval look while earning quite a reputation for art. (Note: One of its sister cities is Columbia, S.C.!)

Romania has been in the EU since 2007; euro-savvy tourists can more easily navigate price tags.

7. (tie) Bavaria

Raise a glass to this former kingdom in southeastern Germany: 2016 is the 500th anniversary of the Beer Purity Law, which set the standard for European suds. (Stateside, Gordon Biersch breweries/restaurants – Myrtle Beach has one, Atlanta two – say they strictly adhere to the 1516 statute.)

Bavaria’s center for beer, beer culture and just plain culture is Munich – and MUC is a one-stop from CLT. Oktoberfest will be Sept. 17-Oct. 3, and beer is plentiful throughout the year: Famed local brews are Löwenbräu, Hofbräuhaus, Augustinerbräu, Paulaner, Hacker-Pschorr and Spaten.

7. (tie) New Zealand

Like Australia, this is a distant, once-in-a-lifetime destination for many of us. Tourism has been on an upswing since the “Lord of the Rings” and subsequent “Hobbit” movies were filmed there. Hobbiton, the Middle-Earth village in the films, was recreated and opened as an attraction in response to ongoing Tolkein-focused tourism. Both North Island and South Island as well as the considerably smaller Stewart Island are famed for national parks aimed squarely at hikers.

But 36-square-mile Waiheke Island, near Auckland, tucked into North Island’s Hauraki Gulf, was singled out on several lists for 2016. It’s loaded with vineyards famous for Syrah and ringed by beaches. The upshot is a popular and well-heeled destination for New Zealanders, who get there by ferry or plane. There’s an April wine and food festival, an April jazz festival and an every-other-year outdoor sculpture exhibition – Headland: Sculpture on the Gulf – that will return in 2017.

9. Italy

Expo Milano, May 1 through Halloween in 2014, made Milan a top-shelf destination. Less international but truly Italian festivals cover the country’s calendar this year, from Venice’s Carnevale (Jan. 23-Feb. 9) to the Florence Dance Festival (July 9-30) to the Christmas market at Rome’s Piazza Navona.

Tour groups flock to Italy year after year; educational package trips, too. You can bike or ski in the north; bask in warm weather in the south; enjoy regional cuisine most anywhere.

And then there’s wine, which prompted several lists to put the Friuli region on their lists for this year. It’s in northeast Italy, not far from Venice, and has a mix of lowland/hill/alpine climates ideal for raising grapes for making wines – both reds and whites. More than 30 varieties of wine are made here.

Italian food-and-wine mag Gambero Rossa punches out an annual Vini d’Italia wine guide so definitive you can get an Android app for it on Google Play. Its 2015 rankings gave its highest accolades (“three bottles”) to 27 in Friuli Venezia Giulia, on the region’s frontier. The respected Wine Economist and other journals picked up on this trend, which has been gaining currency for several years.

10. Botswana

OK, it’s a flat, landlocked and semi-arid place just north of the Republic of South Africa. Botswana’s population of 2.2 million is slightly smaller than the Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia metro area, and its blue-black national flag could easily work at a Panthers rally.

So why is Botswana so compelling this year? There was international outrage last July when a Minnesota dentist vacationing in Zimbabwe had a crew lure a lion from a game reserve so the animal could be killed. The death of Cecil the lion helped popularize conservation-oriented safari vacations where cameras – not rifles – do the shooting.

Zimbabwe is an economic and political basket case, but Botswana – immediately to its west – is pretty stable and largely undiscovered. Much of the landscape is desert, but grasslands, marshlands and savannas are filled with wildlife, and the inland Okavango delta attracts nature lovers. The delta is a UNESCO World Heritage site, one of the Seven Natural Wonders of Africa and the location of the Moremi Game Reserve. Botswana’s Chobe National Park is nearby. Rhinos, elephants, warthogs, antelope, buffalo and other animals are among the seasonal residents.

This story was originally published January 1, 2016 at 2:00 AM with the headline "16 for 2016."