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It’s a few weeks into the year and, already, we’re planning everywhere we want to go next. Lale chats with her well-traveled colleagues Megan Spurrell and Arati Menon about the best places to go in 2025—everywhere from Greenland and Alaska to India and Uganda—and gets tips on how to pull some of those ambitious (and more attainable) trips off.
Lale Arikoglu: Hi there, I’m Lale Arikoglu, and today on Women Who Travel, I’m in the studio with two editors and writers from Condé Nast Traveler who I know very, very well.
Megan Spurrell: I think when we talk about this big, beautiful world, it represents what we’re all interested in.
LA: It’s Megan Spurrell, Associate Articles Director, who’s been on the show many times. She most recently talked to us about reporting in Tahiti on Olympic surfers, where you shared your love of raw fish, among other things.
MS: I’m so glad I’m getting known for that, over here with the audience,
LA: It is arguably your brand. And also with me today is Arati Menon, our Global Digital Director.
Arati Menon: Thrilled to be here in this warm, cozy studio.
LA: It is very warm and cozy, I will say.
We do best places to go every year. It runs on our US website and across multiple editions of Condé Nast Traveler. This is a list that’s for everyone who’s curious about the world, which is I imagine everyone who’s listening to this podcast right now. This is a list for dreaming as much as it is a list for planning. There are places that probably feel like you’re never going to make it to, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t entertain the idea. And I will caveat that while some of the hotels and experiences are of a higher price point, there’s plenty that are affordable and much more wallet-friendly. And I’d also say that this is just inspiration for a place. This is to say, “Go and experience it.” You don’t have to do everything newsworthy on this list. Treat it as a guide.
Last year was 24 places to go in 2024. This year is 25 in 2025. That’s self-explanatory, but how is this year different?
MS: I think what’s cool is every year we put out this list, but we’ve kind of been growing it, so we now have our main list of the 25 best places to go in 2025, but we also do a list for every continent later on. We have some new stuff this year. Arati, maybe you want to share about that?
AM: Yeah, like we say, I mean more is more, so it’s always more lists, more places to go to, but the world is a big old, beautiful place, so you can’t blame us. Yes, we have something new actually this year. So given that food has become such a beautiful prism through which we all, you, me, Megan, explore destinations and understand cultures and people, we decided-