MEDIA RELEASE
Lonely Planet Reveals Its Best Destinations & Experiences for 2012
Lonely Planet has named Queenstown & Southern Lakes and Darwin in
Australia as two of the world’s top destinations for next year in LONELY PLANET’S
BEST IN TRAVEL 2012, published today.
This is Lonely Planet’s seventh eagerly-awaited annual collection of the best
places to go and things to do around the world for the year ahead.
Queenstown & Southern Lakes is ranked eighth on the book’s list of Top 10
Regions 2012. “Where else can you ski in the morning and golf or water-ski in
the afternoon?” asks Lonely Planet. “Add excellent wineries and superb
restaurants, and what more is there to say?” Coastal Wales (1), La Ruta Maya (2),
Northern Kenya (3), Arunachal Pradesh (4), Hvar (5), Sicily (6), Canada’s Maritime
Provinces (7), Borneo (9) and Poitou-Charentes (10) complete the list.
Darwin is 10th on the list of Top 10 Cities 2012:“Multicultural, freewheeling and
vibrant, it’s now a hip city to visit rather than just the end of the road for lost
souls.” The other cities to make the list are London (1), Muscat (2), Bengaluru
(Bangalore) (3), Cádiz (4), Stockholm (5), Guimarães (6), Santiago (7), Hong Kong
(8) and Orlando (9).
This new edition of BEST IN TRAVEL also reveals why Uganda (1), Myanmar
(Burma) (2), Ukraine (3), Jordan (4), Denmark (5), Bhutan (6), Cuba (7), New
Caledonia (8), Taiwan (9) and Switzerland (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 topicality, excitement, value and that special X-factor.
Other BEST IN TRAVEL 2012 highlights include:
✪ The best travel experiences for the year ahead in the book’s 17 “Top Travel
Lists”. These include the “Best-Value Destinations for 2012” (Northeastern USA
scores the top spot) and “The 10 Best Things to Do in 2012” (“Honour Scott’s
Polar Centenary” is the year’s number one recommendation).
✪ Over 35 events mapped out month-by-month in the 2012 travel planner, from
the Muscat Festival in Oman to Cuba’s Christmas festival, Las Parrandas in
Remedios.
LONELY PLANET’S BEST IN TRAVEL 2012
208pp, full-colour, 180mm x 145mm, paperback
RRP: $30
Available from lonelyplanet.com and all good bookstores
NOTE TO EDITORS
* Embargoed until 02:01 (NZDT), Monday 31 October 2011
* Selected extracts & images available with permission
* Review copies available
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