Trending Detour Destinations for 2025
Next year’s travelers aren’t just taking that dream vacation, they’re adding a savvy side-trip into the bargain. Introducing our ultimate guide to the rising-star locations to know
Traveling in 2025 is about making our trips work a little harder, by lingering a little longer and adding a smart side-trip within easy reach of our gateway city. We’ve all got big-hitter destinations like Cancun, Barcelona or Paris on our wish lists, but a well-chosen detour from your original destination enriches any classic itinerary.
Whether you’re hoping to immerse yourself in a thrilling food and wine scene (Reims for champagne, anyone?), soak up artistic inspiration (marvel at the historic architecture of Girona, perhaps) or simply get off the beaten path (on, say, a dune safari in Abu Dhabi), these on-the-rise destinations make for trip-boosting detours from the popular spots we all know and love. Prepare to add to itinerary…
Cozumel: Mexico’s scuba paradise
30-minute flight from Cancun
Cancun and Playa del Carmen are much-loved mainland Yucatàn Peninsula resort towns, but this serene and spectacularly gorgeous island set in the Caribbean is a dream for nature lovers who want to get under the water and meet the marine life. At Arrecifes de Cozumel National Park, there’s wonderful scuba diving and snorkeling in the Mesoamerican Reef, and submerged sculptures at Chankanaab adventure park.
Abu Dhabi: The UAE’s art and adventure epicenter
90-minute drive from DubaiQuieter than its neighbor Dubai, Abu Dhabi focuses on U.A.E. heritage and big-hitter cultural institutions. Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque (shown in video above) is the size of nearly four football fields and adorned with gilded spires, chandeliers, and jewel-encrusted columns. The island museum Louvre Abu Dhabi houses 700 works, while the highly anticipated, museum-packed Saadiyat Cultural District is set to open sometime in 2025. For close encounters with nature, wander the Corniche waterfront esplanade and take a desert safari to see the soaring dunes of Rub‘ al Khali (the “Empty Quarter”).
Palm Springs: California’s desert oasis for culture lovers
3 hours from Los Angeles by train, or 1 hour 45-minute driveOnce the playground of Hollywood stars, Palm Springs has evolved into a thrilling cultural and culinary oasis. Hike the canyons and Mount San Jacinto’s trails, immerse yourself in modern art and architecture (don’t miss Palm Springs Art Museum), and explore Greater Palm Springs’ buzzy restaurant scene—all before luxuriating in the natural mineral pools of spa hotels in Palm Desert and Desert Springs. Mark your calendar for April’s Coachella Festival and Palm Springs Modernism Week in February, celebrating its legendary mid-century architecture, design and art.
Greater Palm Springs: The detour that does it all
Wonderful wellness
Long before it gained a reputation as a Hollywood hangout, Palm Springs was a wellness retreat, with early 20th-century sanatoriums preaching the benefits of its dry climate and mineral-rich spa pools. Today, world-class spa hotels such as Two Bunch Palms and The Ritz-Carlton, Rancho Mirage continue this legacy, blending ancient traditions and modern treatments. Book in for a restorative massage at boutique, bungalow-lined The Colony Palms (pictured)—an ideal landing pad after adventurous days of hiking, biking or rock-climbing in Mount Jacinto State Park or Indian Canyon and Tahquitz Canyon Waterfalls.
Creative cuisine
Greater Palm Springs’ cuisine is a diverse offering designed to delight—from kitsch-cool diners like King’s Highway (known for its chilaquiles, pictured) to the smart establishments run by Turkish sushi superstar Engin Onural. His restaurants The Venue in Palm Desert and Sandfish in uptown Palm Springs, pair sushi and spirits to dazzling effect. To tap into the region’s agricultural soul, visit the much-loved Shields Date Garden down in Indio, a 17-acre farm, restaurant and botanical garden dating back to the 1920s.
Hot-ticket culture
Thanks to unique buildings designed by the likes of Richard Neutra, Albert Frey and William Krisel (such as the home pictured here), Greater Palm Springs is synonymous with mid-century architecture. But it has played a power move by investing heavily in cultural institutions—Coachella Festival and Palm Springs Modernism Week are two huge draws. The permanent collection of Palm Springs Art Museum houses works by Henry Moore, Ed Ruscha, Louise Bourgeois, Pablo Picasso and more; while monthly art walks highlight the indie-gallery scene at Backstreet Arts District.
Reims: France’s unofficial champagne capital
45 minutes from Paris by TGV (high-speed train)After the velocity of Paris, Reims makes a refined, relaxed and refreshingly walkable base for wider vineyard explorations. Reims was the original French capital, and it has the champagne houses, Gothic cathedral and Gallic grandeur to prove it. UNESCO-designated Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Reims is the city’s crowning glory, where 28 French kings were coronated over the past millennium; the Marc Chagall stained-glass windows are a highlight.
Brescia: Italy’s historic mountain hideaway
40 minutes from Milan by trainHistory-rich and geographically blessed Brescia sits in the Alpine foothills between Lake Garda and Lake Iseo in Lombardy. Brescia boasts the most significant Roman ruins in all of northern Italy, a hilltop medieval castle, the beautiful 15th-century Chiesa del Santissimo Corpo di Cristo, and galleries that have been primped up since the city secured Italian Capital of Culture status in 2023 alongside nearby Bergamo. Aside from art and architecture, days are spent hiking, lake-cruising or vineyard-visiting before cocktails in a Renaissance piazza and dining out on the area’s famed, hearty Alpine fare.
Santa Barbara: California’s sophisticated surf town
2-hour drive from Los AngelesWith an iconic Spanish Mission church, a fabulous farm-to-table culinary scene, and countless barrel rooms and microbreweries all set against the dramatic backdrop of the Santa Ynez Mountains, this surf town is a cherished getaway for city-worn Angelenos—and the perfect add-on for LA visitors. Don’t miss the Funk Zone, where converted warehouses decorated with street art house independent galleries, shops and urban wineries.
Waikato: New Zealand’s lesser-known natural beauty
1 hour 40-minute drive from AucklandThe wildly varied Waikato region and Coromandel Peninsula are where adventurous Aucklanders escape to in search of black-sand beaches, world-class surf breaks, river-rafting escapades, and rolling pastures. Other must-do adventures include an underground caving excursion, particularly in the amazing glowworm-populated Waitomo Caves, while Raglan, a world-famous surf spot, is about an hour away.
Fukuoka: Japan’s friendliest city
5 hours from Tokyo by bullet trainKnown as Japan’s smiley city, Fukuoka is famed for gorgeous spring cherry blossoms, fantastic seafood, ancient temples, legendary Hakata ramen, colorful cultural festivals, and, of course, beautiful beaches and nearby mountains. It’s perched on the northern shore of Kyushu Island and formed of two distinct towns: the castle town of Fukuoka on the west bank of the Naka-gawa, and the commercial town of Hakata on the east bank. If you go, be sure to wander the ornamental gardens, dip into tea houses, visit art museums, and take a breather after the intensity of Tokyo or Osaka.
Krabi: Thailand’s treasure island
1–2 hours from Phuket by speedboatPopular Phuket has plenty of draw, but for adventurous holidaymakers, it’s Krabi that secures their love of the Andaman coastline. Adorned by rugged, tower-like karst formations just begging to be kayaked and snorkeled, world-class rock climbing at Railay, and an abundance of island-hopping opportunities between Ko Lanta and Ko Phi-Phi, this is coastal Thailand at its most seductive.
Canmore: Canada’s under-the-radar rural gateway
75-minute drive from CalgaryThis charming community in the heart of Alberta’s Rocky Mountains sits west of Calgary, 15 miles southeast of the eternally popular resort town of Banff. The under-the-radar mountain town offers outdoorsy visitors a more relaxed base for exploring waterfalls and blue lakes, fishing and boating, reaching the summits of Three Sisters Village and Ha Ling Peak, and cross-country skiing and mountain biking. Come August, the Canmore Folk Music Festival takes center stage.
Girona: Spain’s unsung architectural hero
40 minutes from Barcelona by Avlo trainNorthern Catalonia’s largest city, Girona has an intoxicating mishmash of architectural styles, including the walled medieval Barri Vell (old quarter), the Roman Força Vella fortress ruins, and spectacular Modernista (Catalan art nouveau) villas. From the Eiffel-designed Pont de les Peixateries Velles, you’ll get the best views of the colorful buildings flanking the river Onyar. Cinephiles mustn’t miss Museu del Cinema, a tiny charmer of a specialist museum dedicated to cult movies.
Anna Hart
Writer
Anna Hart is a culture writer specializing in adventure travel and positive-impact tourism. Her work has appeared in Vogue, The Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times, and she is the author of the travel memoir Departures.
Third-party research was conducted by market research firm OnePoll on behalf of Expedia Group from August 5–September 2 2024, counting 25,000 respondents across 19 countries among adults who have traveled for leisure or plan to in the next three years.
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