10 Trending Holiday Destinations
for 2026: Where Everyone is Going

Japan tops the trending list for the second year running, and the reason is simple: the yen is at its most favourable level against the pound in a generation. At current rates, UK travellers are getting roughly 25–30% more for their money compared to five years ago. A destination that was once considered expensive is suddenly remarkable value.

Beyond currency, Japan delivers an experience unlike anywhere else — bullet trains, cherry blossom season, extraordinary food at every price point, ancient temples alongside cutting-edge technology, and a culture of hospitality that consistently leaves visitors stunned. Tokyo alone could absorb a week of exploring without repetition. Kyoto's temples and Arashiyama bamboo groves in autumn are genuinely among the finest travel experiences on earth.

We've put together a complete Japan travel guide for UK visitors in 2026 — covering the best time to visit, getting around by bullet train, our top destinations, and a full budget breakdown.

Georgia has been building quietly on every serious traveller's radar for years, and 2026 feels like the year it goes mainstream. The capital Tbilisi is one of the most architecturally fascinating cities in the world — a chaotic, beautiful collision of medieval fortresses, Byzantine churches, Art Nouveau facades and Soviet modernism, all crammed into a gorge carved by the Kura River. The old town, Abanotubani, is unlike anything in Western Europe.

Then there's the wine. Georgia is arguably the birthplace of wine — winemakers here have been fermenting grapes in clay amphorae (qvevri) for 8,000 years. The amber wines produced by this method are unlike anything you'll find in a European supermarket and drinking them in a Tbilisi wine bar with a spread of Georgian bread, cheese and walnut dishes is one of the great culinary experiences in the world.

Prices are extraordinarily low by UK standards. A mid-range restaurant meal with wine costs £8–12 per person. A taxi across the city is £1.50. A night in a well-reviewed boutique hotel in the old town costs £50–80. Georgia is also visa-free for UK passport holders and accessible on direct flights from Gatwick.

Vietnam has been one of Southeast Asia's great travel stories for a decade, but the country showing up on feeds in 2026 looks different from the backpacker trail of ten years ago. Hanoi's Old Quarter at dawn, with its street food stalls, lake-side pagodas and centuries-old merchant houses, remains extraordinary. Ho Chi Minh City has evolved into one of Asia's most dynamic food cities — the banh mi, pho and bun bo hue here are in a different category from anything you'll find outside Vietnam.

The specific images driving the 2026 trend are from Ha Giang Province in the far north — rice terraces carved into dramatic mountain switchbacks, loop roads through minority villages, and a remoteness that still feels genuinely off-grid. Ha Giang has gone from unknown to overexposed surprisingly fast, but if you go mid-week in May or October, it's still remarkable. Closer to the tourist trail, Hoi An's lantern-lit ancient town is among the most Instagrammed places in Asia — and deserves to be.

Albania is the destination travel writers have been recommending for years while everyone smiled politely and booked Croatia instead. In 2026, the bookings are finally following. The Albanian Riviera — a stretch of rugged, forested coastline running south from Vlorë to the Greek border — offers beaches and villages that look like Croatia or Montenegro did fifteen years ago, at roughly one third of the price.

The beaches at Dhërmi and Ksamil (near Saranda, opposite the Greek island of Corfu) are genuinely extraordinary — turquoise Adriatic water, white pebble coves, backed by limestone mountains. Accommodation, food and transport are all dramatically cheaper than anywhere else on the Mediterranean. The capital Tirana has reinvented itself as one of the most colourful and energetic small capitals in Europe, with a surprisingly vibrant café, gallery and restaurant scene.

Saudi Arabia's tourism programme is one of the most dramatic openings in modern travel history, and AlUla is its centrepiece. Carved into a vast sandstone valley in the Hejaz mountains of northwest Saudi Arabia, AlUla contains Hegra — an ancient Nabataean city of monumental rock-carved tombs that rivals Petra in Jordan, and which most of the world's travellers have never heard of. Saudi Arabia is actively investing billions in making AlUla accessible, and the results are remarkable.

The landscape alone is worth the trip: enormous weathered sandstone formations, ancient petroglyphs, a 200-kilometre oasis valley lined with date palms, and clear desert skies that make for extraordinary stargazing. A UK tourist visa is straightforward to obtain online. This is a destination where going now, before it becomes as well-known as Petra, is genuinely the right call.

Cartagena's walled colonial old city — candy-coloured buildings, bougainvillea-draped balconies, horse-drawn carriages on cobbled streets — is genuinely one of the most beautiful urban scenes in the Americas. But Colombia's appeal has broadened well beyond Cartagena. Medellín has transformed itself from one of the world's most dangerous cities to one of its most innovative — a remarkable story of reinvention, now celebrated for its metro system, street art, and thriving café culture. The Coffee Region (Eje Cafetero), with its Andean cloud forest, bamboo houses and spectacular hiking, completes one of South America's most diverse country itineraries.

Iceland never really falls out of fashion — it just cycles through trending years. 2026 is a strong one, driven partly by increased solar activity producing some of the best Northern Lights displays in over a decade, and partly by a new wave of interest in the country's volcanic interior following the spectacular eruptions near Reykjanes. The Golden Circle (Þingvellir, Geysir, Gullfoss), the South Coast glacier lagoons and black sand beaches, and the extraordinary hot springs remain as spectacular as ever. Winter trips for the Northern Lights and summer trips for the midnight sun both have their own magic.

Montenegro punches well above its weight for a country you could drive across in three hours. The Bay of Kotor — a fjord-like inlet ringed by medieval walled towns and dramatic limestone peaks — is one of the most visually arresting coastal landscapes in Europe. The walled old town of Kotor itself is beautifully preserved. The beach village of Sveti Stefan, a tiny island connected to the mainland by a causeway, is one of the most photographed images on the Adriatic. All of this at prices roughly 40% below Croatia's comparable destinations — making Montenegro one of the best Adriatic alternatives for 2026. We've covered it in detail in our 10 best beaches in Europe guide.

Morocco has always been extraordinary — the souks of Marrakech, the blue-painted streets of Chefchaouen, the Saharan dunes of Merzouga, the imperial grandeur of Fès. What's changed in 2026 is the flight pricing. Budget airlines have significantly expanded routes from UK regional airports, and return fares to Marrakech from Manchester or Birmingham can be found for £75–100. That, combined with an exceptionally favourable dirham rate and the relatively low cost of accommodation and food in Morocco, makes this one of the best-value travel experiences available to UK travellers this year.

The classic route — Marrakech, Atlas Mountains day trip, Imperial cities — remains as rewarding as ever. For something different, the Atlantic coast towns of Essaouira and Agadir offer a very different, more relaxed Morocco: long beaches, fresh seafood, and a slower pace.

Mexico City has been on a decade-long trajectory from "risky capital" to "must-visit megacity" — and in 2026 it's arrived. The city's food scene, anchored by the extraordinary diversity of Mexican cuisine, is now widely considered the finest in the world: from Michelin-starred tasting menus in Roma Norte to century-old taco stalls in La Merced market, the depth and quality are staggering. The Condesa, Roma and Polanco neighbourhoods are urbanist dreams — tree-lined boulevards, Art Deco architecture, galleries and independent bookshops. A day trip to the ancient city of Teotihuacán (pyramids visible from 30 miles away) or Xochimilco's floating gardens adds essential historical context.