Welcome to 2026 and Goway’s Best in Travel for the year ahead. As the leader in tailor-made travel, we pay attention to the ever-changing conditions in the world of travel in order to help globetrotters follow their passions in exploring the world. We also want to inspire people to plan intentionally, tap into emerging trends, and experience corners of the world they’ve never thought about before.
This year, we gathered insights from our regional VPs as well as the over 170 Destination Specialists who have practical travel experience and deep professional knowledge of the destinations they sell. We have delved into the factors that are impacting travel right now, including overtourism, AI, sustainability, and safety, and addressed trends gleaned from our travellers, travel advisor partners, and local suppliers from over 115 countries on all seven continents. We’ve leveraged over 55 years of travel planning experience and dug deep into the data. The result is a thorough look at the year in travel for 2026.
Get empowered and discover Goway’s hottest trends, travel styles, and destinations for 2026.
Travel Trends to Define 2026
The Great Escape
Overtourism continues to affect the world of travel, and influencers on social media continue to drive their followers to the same over-crowded landmarks in the same over-touristed cities. Travellers are bucking the trends (which is a trend, ironically) and venturing off the beaten path to enjoy authentic, private experiences in far-flung locales.
Recommended Goway Travel Style: Private-Guided Experiences
Say goodbye to the coach with these private-guided experiences that help people be more intentional and individual in their travels. Private guides help showcase the wonder of a destination, dig into the historical and cultural specificity in ways that connect with the individual traveller, and provide a more exclusive experience in destinations on and off the beaten path.
Luxe Liberation
Newly child-free, high-income travellers want to put their money to good use and explore the world in style. However, these travellers are not just interested in luxury for luxury’s sake. They want to have emotional travel experiences across multiple destinations that create memories they cherish more than possessions. These trips prioritize freedom, leisure, wellbeing, and local immersion.
Recommended Goway Travel Style: Idyllic Retreats
Idyllic Retreats offer the premium, splurge-worthy comforts of the world’s best resorts, while blending in unforgettable cultural and natural experiences that take travellers beyond their accommodations.
Slow & Meaningful Travel
Travellers are increasingly overwhelmed by the pace of their lives back home, so they’re seeking out travel experiences that let them slow down and connect more authentically and deliberately with their environments. Thus, slower-paced journeys continue to hold sway over the traveller’s imagination, with longer itineraries, more leisure time, and more intentional interactions with local cultural rhythms.
Recommended Goway Travel Style: Rail Journeys
Rail Journeys are the ultimate way to slow down the pace in beautiful destinations, where the smooth and refined journey by train helps you to stay in the moment and experience the world slowly pass you by.
Return to the Roots
Not content to settle with a family tree in an old photo album, more travellers than ever are seeking out their heritage on vacations tailored around their ancestry. In particular, Goway has noticed that women over 55 as well as empty nesters are taking advantage of travel opportunities to explore their lineage, tracing their maternal and paternal origins in far-flung destinations. These journeys often go deeper than typical trips and incorporate introspective experiences that include cultural immersion and wellness.
Recommended Goway Travel Styles: Solo Women Travel and Custom Groups of 10+
Women travellers can join with their fellow seekers to trace their lineage and go deeper into cultures that help them learn more about themselves. Solo Women Travel experiences are full of women-focused experiences and put safety front of mind when exploring great destinations. If you want to explore with a larger group, Goway GroupsOnly are the experts to help craft a journey into your heritage for custom groups of 10+.
Warm Welcomes
Stuck on their phones back home, travellers are seeking real-world connections when exploring abroad. Enter the Global Happiness Index, which ranks a country’s overall happiness. Travellers are flocking to these happiness hotspots to enjoy positive vibes, communal experiences, and genuine hospitality.
Recommended Goway Countries: Bhutan, Denmark, Finland, Costa Rica
These countries rate highly on the Global Happiness Index. Finland and Denmark are No. 1 and No. 2., respectively, Costa Rica ranks the highest in the Americas, and Bhutan famously bases its political decision-making not on Gross Domestic Product (GDP) but Gross National Happiness (GNH).
The Active Era
Inspired by major sporting events and fuelled by a dedication to personal well-being, many travellers are seeking out active escapes that keep them healthy and active or engage with their favourite sports. Travellers are combining wellness with community as they bond with fellow travellers over shared passions and the feeling of being alive and free in beautiful parts of the world.
Recommended Goway Travel Styles: Active & Adventure and Festivals & Special Events
Travellers are inspired to explore the great outdoors and embrace healthy lifestyles on the road with Active & Adventure vacations, while Festivals & Special Events help them secure tickets for some of the world’s most popular time-sensitive events, including football matches and races.
Top Destinations for 2026
Kyushu, Japan
Ancient cedar forests. World-famous ramen. Deep gorges and coastal views that take your breath away. Hot springs everywhere and anywhere. Oh, and a fraction of the crowds that greet you in Kyoto and Tokyo. The southern island of Kyushu is ready for its close-up. Beat others to the punch and be the first of your friends to slurp down Hakata ramen in Fukuoka, soak in the onsen (hot spring) baths of Beppu, row through picturesque Takachiho Gorge, or bask in the fields of Miyazaki.
Lyon, France
We all love Paris, but so does everyone and their mother. If you want to avoid the crowds that swell in much of France (and enjoy a better price point), venture south to Lyon, where you’ll be amazed by a walkable city full of culinary and architectural splendour. Stroll through Vieux Lyon to discover unpretentious open-air restaurants and bars that’ll help you quickly realize why it’s the gastronomic capital of France. The accessible Amphithéâtre romain des Trois Gaules and the gorgeous Basilique Notre Dame de Fourvière will make you realize you aren’t missing anything when it comes to architectural beauty. Book a guided walking tour through the traboules, covered passageways that have been essential to everything from the 19th-century silk trade through to French Resistance movements during World War II. You’ll learn all about the fascinating history of these walkways (and even have the chance to purchase some gorgeous scarves at prices that won’t make you blush).
Garden Route, South Africa
South Africa’s Garden Route stretches 370km (229mi) from Mossel Bay in the Western Cape to Storms River in the Eastern Cape. This is the perfect route for an iconic South African road trip as you pass alongside pristine beaches, vibrant holiday towns, and gorgeous natural environments. In a world where people find it challenging to slow down the pace, the Garden Route is the ultimate antidote as you’ll find it impossible not to slow down to gaze upon the sandstone cliffs of the Knysna Heads, visit an ostrich farm in Oudtshoorn, or hike the coastal trails of Robberg Nature Reserve. The Garden Route offers slow travel at its best.
Alexandria & Giza, Egypt
Egypt is always in style, but there are two new museums that make it a must-visit in 2026. In Giza, the brand new Grand Egyptian Museum displays the wonders of the ancient past like no museum ever before. The building is the world’s largest archaeological museum and a marvel, stretching 500,000-sq-m across the Giza Plateau. Inside, over 20,000 ancient artifacts are on display for travellers, including the entire collection of King Tutankhamun as well as the Khufu Solar Boat, which dates back 4,600 years. In Alexandria on the Mediterranean coast, the Graeco-Roman Museum has reopened after 18 years of renovation, displaying treasures of Egypt’s Greek and Roman periods, including many treasures newly recovered from the Mediterranean Sea. Even if you’re not a museumgoer, these are two museums worth making exceptions for.
Guilin, China
In the late 1980s, every traveller to Japan would return to the West marvelling that they witnessed a glimpse into the future. The same is happening right now with China, which is innovating so rapidly that exploring it feels like stepping 10 years into the future. North American travellers can currently stay in China visa-free for 10 days according to the Chinese Embassy, which is enough time to take advantage of the world’s longest high-speed rail network to connect to the natural marvels of Guilin in southern China. Touring Guilin is like stepping into a watercolour painting. Float on a boat down the Li River and gaze upon karst hills rising on either side of you. Explore massive caves during the day before you return to town to feast on Guilin rice noodles with an ample portion of chili oil and lipu taro (taro root) with braised pork belly. It’s less-touristed than Shanghai or Beijing, and offers that combination of natural majesty, traditional culture, and futuristic convenience that epitomizes China in the 21st century.
Whitsundays, Australia
In a world where everything is always changing, the Whitsundays are wonderful, beautifully predictable. It's always warm in this tropical island chain in the state of Queensland, and the bounties of the ocean are always just a few metres away. Walk barefoot across the pure silica sands of Whitehaven Beach, sail between islets and romantic hideaways, including Heart Reef, and dive into the vibrant underwater world of the nearby Great Barrier Reef. The Whitsundays are a slice of predictable paradise in a world that needs more beauty and stability.
Valencia, Spain
As Barcelona, Madrid, and Seville get ever busier, Valencia provides a refreshing and accessible alternative with smaller crowds and a wonderful blend of historical, cultural, and culinary attractions. Explore historic buildings such as the Gothic La Lonja de la Seda, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, gaze upon visions of the future at the City of Arts and Science, and feast on paella in the city that invented it. Lounge on the sands of Malvarrosa Beach in the summer months or feast on pintxos in the bars and restaurants of El Carmen in the winter months.
Colorado & Utah, United States
Two unmatched natural playgrounds right in your own backyard. Colorado is a land of towering mountain peaks abounding with natural hot springs. Utah is an otherworldly garden of red rock arches, hoodoos, and deep canyons. If you need to disconnect and explore the bounty of the earth, these two western states fit the bill perfectly, with excellent infrastructure and manageable crowds. Now, you can seamlessly pair them thanks to the new Canyon Spirit Train, which connects travellers from Denver to Salt Lake City in glass-domed coaches offering luxury service and unforgettable views. This sister company to Rocky Mountaineer Rail is bound to take off in the coming years ahead, as more travellers seek slow travel by train and transformative outdoor experiences without venturing too far from home. Why wait to experience it for yourself?
Tromsø, Norway
Majestic fjords cutting through green mountains. Medieval port cities and sustainable urban centres. Norway is made for the 2026 traveller who puts sustainability first while satisfying the desire to venture off the beaten path and avoid the mass market crowds that descend on Europe each year. The fjord route from Oslo to Bergen is evergreen and iconic, but this year, we’re drawn to Tromsø in the far north. In this Lapland hub, noctourism collides with Arctic adventures and cultural encounters with the Indigenous Sami people. Summer brings the Midnight Sun and endless days of hiking through the tundra and taking in music festivals like Bukta. Winter brings the Northern Lights, whale watching, and dogsledding and reindeer herding with Sami guides. If you’re seeking authentic encounters in an otherworldly locale, set your sights north.
The Pantanal, Brazil
Maybe watching Wagner Moura in The Secret Agent has whet your appetite to explore Brazil or you’ve always dreamed of strutting the Copacabana Beach for yourself. Regardless of the reason, we think this is the year people flock to Brazil to finally experience the largest country in South America for themselves. The impossible swagger and style of Rio de Janeiro will always delight travellers, but we want to shed a light on the Pantanal, the world’s largest wetlands. Improved connectivity and accommodation options have made it easier for travellers to venture to west central Brazil for unparalleled game viewing in the Pantanal. Slice through waterways in search of jaguars and giant anteaters. Spot hyacinth macaws in the canopy and capybaras wading into the reeds. Visit in the dry season from June to September to experience peak animal numbers as they chase the shrinking waters.
You might say that Aren was destined to become a globetrotter after his family took him to Germany two times before he was four. If that wasn’t enough, a term spent in Sweden as a young teenager and a trek across Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand confirmed that destiny. An independent writer, director, and film critic, Aren has travelled across Africa, Asia, Central America, Europe, the Middle East, and South America. His favourite travel experience was visiting the major cities of Japan’s largest island, Honshu, but his love for food, drink, and film will take him anywhere that boasts great art and culture.
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