Dunedin and the Waitaki district have been named in Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel 2027, the only New Zealand entry among the 50 destinations and experiences on this year’s list.
Released today, the list is divided into places and experiences across six regions. Dunedin and the Waitaki sit in the Oceania places category alongside the Tweed in northern New South Wales and New Caledonia. The Oceania experiences category features art in Australia’s Red Centre, Faʻa Samoa cultural experiences in Samoa and ocean adventures in French Polynesia. Five of the six Oceania selections are in Australia and the Pacific Islands, markets New Zealand agents already sell.
According to Lonely Planet, the 2027 selections were made by its writers and editors and reflect traveller demand for slower travel, fewer crowds and experiences beyond the obvious.
Elsewhere, the places list includes Quebec, California’s Coastal Redwoods, Maryland, Prince Edward Island and New Mexico in North America; the Veneto, Dessau, the Swedish Riviera, Šibenik and León in Europe; and Okinawa, Chengdu, Gujarat, Danang and Fulidhoo in the Maldives across Asia. Oman, Rabat and Kenya’s Tsavo East and West National Parks represent Africa and the Middle East, while Montserrat, Bariloche, Granada in Nicaragua and Bocas del Toro in Panama cover the Caribbean and Latin America.
Among the experiences are riding the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway in India, walking Japan’s Michinoku Trail, a food trail through Taiwan, travelling by longboat into orangutan territory in Sarawak, a Galápagos expedition cruise, a polar plunge in Antarctica, the Route Napoléon in France and St Cuthbert’s Way to Lindisfarne across Scotland and England.
Lonely Planet says travellers can book selected trips through its own booking platform, Lonely Planet Journeys, with itineraries currently available for Okinawa, Prince Edward Island, New Mexico and León. The release does not list a Journeys itinerary for Dunedin and the Waitaki. The full list is published on the Lonely Planet website and in a Best in Travel 2027 book.