(CNN) — Where will you be expanding your horizons in 2020?
If you take National Geographic’s advice you’ll be seal-watching in Quebec, hiking in Hungary or braving the world’s tallest bridge in Guizhou, China.
“Best Trips is our annual list of where to go, what to know and how to see the world in the year ahead,” says George Stone, executive editor of travel at National Geographic.
“To build the list we worked with National Geographic editors around the world as well as photographers, writers, explorers and, of course, passionate travelers to report on the essential sites to see and places to be in 2020.”
The picks are divided into four categories: Culture, City, Nature and Adventure.
Culture picks for 2020
The Asturias native believes in respecting the land, not just taking from it but also giving back to it.
– Asturias, Spain
– Guizhou Province, China
– Gobekli Tepe, Turkey
– Maya, Guatemala
– Mendoza Province, Argentina
– Abu Simbel, Egypt
City picks for 2020
– Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
– Telč, Czech Republic
– Fort Kochi, Kerala, India
– Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina
– Parma, Italy
– Puebla, Mexico
Nature picks for 2020
Hundreds of sea turtles get caught in abandoned “ghost” nets and lose their flippers. The Four Seasons Resort Maldives Landaa Giraavaru helps some recover with help from its guests.
But if you have a craving for bison which cannot be quenched, then your destination absolutely has to be Bialowieza Forest, home to the world’s largest population of free-roaming European bison.
– Magdalen Islands, Quebec, Canada
– Kalahari Desert, Botswana
– Bialowieza Forest, Belarus/Poland
– National Blue Trail, Hungary
– Canary Islands, Spain
– Maldives
– Grand Canyon, Arizona
Top adventure picks for 2020
Come winter, Japan’s Tohoku region transforms into a snowy wonderland. We visit Ginzan Onsen, one of the area’s most beautiful destinations.
For a little country, Wales packs quite a punch. It has an abundance of castles, gorgeous windswept beaches and some very impressive mountains.
And now to capitalize on this, the tourism board has launched The Wales Way, a family of three touring routes that takes in all this mighty UK destination has to offer.
Elsewhere, the National Geographic list highlights the lesser-visited regions of Tohoku in Japan and Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia, home to lots of pristine snow and not very many people.
– Tasmania, Australia
– Grossglockner High Alpine Road, Austria
– Wales Way, UK
– Tohoku, Japan
– Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia
– Zakouma National Park, Chad