the most popular locations to go to in 2026 – The Irish Times

A brand new yr, a brand new run of holidays to relish. As we discover the world with gusto – stats level to a unbroken rise in abroad journey out of Ireland in 2025 – all 4 corners really feel tantalisingly shut.

In the yr forward, some locations turn into higher related than ever, with new direct flights. Others see new world-class sights, can’t-miss occasions or budget-busting choices to lure us over. It provides as much as a wealth of locations to spend our hard-earned vacation fund.

For inspiration or aspiration, listed here are The Irish Times’ prime locations for the yr forward.

Cancún, Mexico

There’s a purpose Cancún was purpose-built as Mexico’s essential vacationer space within the Nineteen Sixties: its tropical local weather, huge stretches of golden seashores resulting in gin-clear waters, historical Mayan sights and accessibility to Europe and North America make it good for sun-seekers.

Over 60 years later and the funding has paid off – it’s vacation heaven, with the biggest focus of all-inclusive resorts within the Americas plus boutique lodging and modest visitor homes to go well with all budgets. Aer Lingus’ new direct flights from Dublin to Cancún is one other mark of its reputation – the provider flies 3 times per week from January to April.

[ 2026 travel inspiration: top worldwide destinations awaiting discoveryOpens in new window ]

The solely actual blight is that Cancún’s shoreline is turning into ever extra seaweedy, however top-end resorts dredge each day, and it nonetheless proves difficult to peel your self away from the seashores. It’s price it, although, to discover the Cancún–Riviera Maya hall the place well-preserved Mayan ruins in Tulum and Chichen-Itza, a selection of cenotes (vibrantly turquoise pure swimming swimming pools), and Mexico’s culinary attracts are fairly a reward.

• Get there: Aer Lingus fly from Dublin to Cancún 3 times per week (Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday) from January to April, from €594 return.

Kōchi, Japan

With the euro at just lately report highs in opposition to the yen, cost-conscious travellers will discover their budgets carrying them additional in Japan, opening the door to richer experiences and slower journey.

The island prefecture of Kōchi is buzz-worthy: on-line searches have doubled previously yr in accordance with Skyscanner, because of its status as a slice of genuine Japan.

In tune with its location on the Pacific, its small fishing trade, undeveloped shoreline and tight-knit communities play a big half in Kōchi’s make-up – guests will discover each day routines unfolding right here as they’ve for hundreds of years.

Language and cultural variations could also be a problem, however spending time navigating them will show immeasurably rewarding.

• Get there: Multiple airways fly oblique from Dublin to Osaka from €534 return. Kōchi is a five-hour prepare journey away from Osaka.

Saint-Gervais-les-Bains, France

Positioned on the foot of Mont Blanc, Saint-Gervais-les-Bains is a standard Alpine and spa city that’s reinventing itself for the longer term with a powerful sequence of upgrades.

In 2026, the century-old Mont Blanc Express introduces energy-efficient trains to attach passengers from Geneva to Chamonix by way of Saint-Gervais.

From right here, a recently-opened gondola system scoops up passengers from Saint-Gervais’s prepare station to the slopes in simply quarter-hour – so there’s no want to rent a automobile and draw straws about who’ll do the driving.

• Get there: Aer Lingus fly from Dublin or Cork to Geneva from €88 return. Saint-Gervais-les-Bains is an hour’s prepare journey away.

Suchitoto, El Salvador

El Salvador is the smallest nation in Central America, however it’s full of attracts like towering volcanoes, mystical lakes, famend surf breaks and a wealthy tradition.

Decades of gang warfare stored El Salvador off the primary vacationer path, however a nationwide clean-up in 2022 means it’s now one of many most secure nations within the area. Now is the time to go to: sufficient facilities have sprung as much as facilitate a seamless vacation, whereas its authenticity stays in tact.

Suchitoto, a city revered for its good white colonial structure and indigo manufacturing, is the primary cease in a Salvadoran journey.

Try Casa 1800 for a cushty keep and up to date delicacies like PuPizza (a hybrid of pupusas, the standard stuffed tortilla, and pizza), served with sweeping views throughout Lake Suchitlán.

• Get there: Multiple airways fly oblique from Dublin to San Salvador from €774 return. Suchitoto is an hour’s drive away.

Port de Sóller, Mallorca

It’s virtually a burden that when the photo voltaic eclipse occurs on twelfth August 2026, Mallorca is alongside the centreline and set to draw a slew of stargazers, who’ll jostle for house with vacationers and second owners within the top of summer time.

Expect lodging and flights to this ever-popular Balearic island to peak round this time, however arguably, it’s well worth the scrum to expertise a complete photo voltaic eclipse in idyllic circumstances.

The occasion occurs at sundown, including one other a layer of romance to the event. Tour operators are laying on additional sundown boat journeys to supply unobstructed views out at sea, but Port de Sóller, on the western facet of the island, is already set as much as profit from sundown. It gained’t be too early to guide an out of doors desk on the Cap Roig Restaurant within the Jumeirah Mallorca to marvel at this phenomenon with a glass of one thing scrumptious.

For a extra casual watch, the perspective of Mirador de Santa Catarina is a 10-minute stroll from Port de Sóller’s essential drag – simply don’t count on it to be abandoned.

• Get there: Aer Lingus and Ryanair fly direct from Dublin to Mallorca, from €80 return.

Tampere, Finland

A 90-minute prepare journey from the capital of Helsinki, Tampere is the European Capital of Smart Tourism in 2026, together with Dubrovnik in Croatia. It means the town, akin to Cork in inhabitants, is a breeze for guests in some ways.

Rich with nature and lakes that they wish to showcase, the town has just lately launched a summer time shuttle service to its close by nationwide parks, Seitseminen, Helvetinjärvi and Isojärvi, so travellers could make a day-trip by way of public transport. Lake Pyhäjärvi homes its first accessible seashore, with spacious unisex altering rooms, Braille signage, and modifications to make the seashore secure for folks with disabilities.

Prefer to sightsee within the metropolis? That’s a doddle too: an app highlights 4 tradition routes based mostly on themes like its rock music custom and its structure.

• Get there: Multiple airways fly oblique to Tampere, from €187 return.

Antalya, Turkey

A heady mixture of year-round solar, a aggressive forex, beachside glitz and bargain-friendly stays means Turkey’s reputation simply retains rising. Corkians are set to be the latest inflow, as SolarExpress introduces a brand new Cork to Antalya route twice weekly ranging from May 2026.

It appeals to a wide range of vacation sorts: whereas a cultural and historic hub in its personal proper, Antalya can be a touchdown pad for the Turkish Riviera, the stretch of glittering coast that’s dotted with huge yachts and luxe seashore golf equipment as a lot as archaeological wonders and rustic allure.

Its family-friendly attraction is ready to get a lift in 2026: TUI Blue Maviss and Corendon Hydros Club Kemer open within the area, bringing one other two main resorts to select from.

• Get there: SolarExpress flies from Cork to Antalya twice per week (Tuesdays and Saturdays), beginning on May sixteenth 2026, from €220 return.

Bazaruto, Mozambique

The idea of a hidden gem is all relative, however it’s a marvel the Bazaruto Archipelago is much less in style than its counterparts of the Maldives and Seychelles. As the variety of lodges rises within the coming yr, chances are high that it gained’t keep that approach for lengthy.

While much less commercialised, count on the complete suite of paradise island actions: snorkel the coral-filled Two Mile Reef to see faculties of brightly colored fish, sea turtles and eels, or take a ship journey out to catch dolphins and whales that flow into across the heat Indian Ocean. It’s simply as bustling on land: a wildlife stroll will uncover Samango monkeys, bushbuck, and flamingos, or get an adrenaline repair by sandboarding down the island’s towering dunes.

It requires stamina to achieve Bazaruto – count on a full day in transit every approach – however the second you bury your ft within the powder-soft sand searching to the aquamarine horizon, you’ll understand it was price it.

• Get there: Multiple airways fly to Vilankulos from €1,004. Bazaruto is an hour-long boat switch away.

Shanghai, China

Shanghai has lengthy been a worldwide powerhouse, however it’s aiming to broaden its standing on the world stage by turning into a family-friendly leisure vacation spot too. So when the town’s neon-lit metropolis, imperial temples or east-meets-west stone-gated shíkùmén lanes turn into too uninteresting for youths, it’s time to go to both Disneyland Shanghai or the newly opened Legoland, made out of eight sections, 85 million Lego bricks, 75 rides and a Lego-themed resort – fairly a building.

As Legoland’s flagship characteristic, Miniland is all the pieces you’d count on. It’s the place to seek out Chinese cityscapes recreated in Lego type. The largest draw is the 10m (32ft) excessive mannequin of the Shanghai Tower constituted of over 344,000 bricks.

Language gained’t be a barrier: all main indicators and security briefings are in Chinese and English, most employees converse fundamental English, and stay reveals usually have English subtitles or narration, so it’s the last word vacation spot to construct recollections … and 3D fashions.

• Get there: Etihad Airways fly oblique from Dublin to Shanghai, from €365 return.

Seligman, Arizona, US

The dreamiest highway journey vacation spot, Route 66, turns 100 this yr – a advantageous excuse to hop right into a Chevvy and take to the dusty freeway that spans 3,900km (2,423 miles) from Chicago to Santa Monica. For the nostalgic Americana vibe, the Arizona leg is a basic.

Seligman is especially notable because the birthplace of Route 66 – it’s the place the townsfolk campaigned to maintain the historic route alive when bypasses have been constructed within the Seventies. To pay homage, take a pit cease on the all-American Snow Cap Drive-In, a retro diner from 1953, and nonetheless well-known for his or her burgers and milkshakes.

If you’re staying in a single day, there’s a wealth of neon-lit motels – strive Supai Motel, an archetypal Route 66 stop-off that’s wonderful worth at round €70 per room. For the freeway’s centenary, a Route 66 monument shall be unveiled right here on April 30, however that’s a uncommon new contact to this time capsule city.

• Get there: Aer Lingus fly direct from Dublin to Las Vegas from €495.87 return. Seligman is a two-and-a-half-hour drive away.

Southport, England

Within waving distance of Dublin, the Victorian seaside city of Southport is limbering up for its first Year of Culture: a 12-month volley of reveals, festivals and gatherings designed to indicate off its up to date facet. Equidistant from Blackpool and Liverpool, the celebration opens with Lightport, a large-scale mild and sound set up from Lucid Creates that turns the city into an immersive paintings of color and rhythm.

Next, Cristal Palace sees French street-theatre collective Transe Express droop a 50ft flying chandelier above Lord Street, the city’s historic thoroughfare, as a focus for aerial acrobatics, avenue efficiency and stay music.

Layer on a summer time of festivals devoted to theatre, musical fireworks, meals and flowers – all complementing Southport’s perennial attracts, from its extra-long pier and genteel gardens to the dune-laced nature reserves of Formby and the Sefton Coast – and it provides as much as an formidable city-scale programme that’s already a spotlight of the UK’s cultural calendar.

• Get there: Irish Ferries and Stena Line run a ferry from Dublin to Holyhead from €99 return. Southport is a two-and-a-half hour drive away.

Cairo, Egypt

Bolstering Cairo’s draw as a vacation spot the place historical past involves life, the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) opened its doorways on the finish of 2025, and it’s set to return a spotlight to this ever-popular winter solar vacation spot. The scale is spectacular: designed by Dublin architects Heneghan Peng and the dimensions of 70 soccer pitches, GEM price €1,000 million to construct. Thankfully, it’s divided into three sections – Society, Kingship and Beliefs – then subdivided in accordance with time interval, making it straightforward to navigate.

The star attraction is Tutankhamun’s tomb. All of its contents are on public show for the primary time, together with the well-known gold masks that’s synonymous with the nation. You may spend a complete day ambling round the remainder of the museum, however the Giza pyramids are strolling distance away, providing one other perspective to this marvellous historical civilisation.

• Get there: EgyptAir flies direct from Dublin to Cairo, from €345 return

Vancouver, Canada

If the 2026 Fifa World Cup is asking your title however the US isn’t, you’re in luck – Canada and Mexico are sharing internet hosting duties too. On the continent’s west coast, Vancouver is a selected draw. The metropolis involves life in June and July, properly timed for when its seven matches of the match happen.

Known for balancing a dynamic city vitality with easy accessibility to the outside, Vancouver is a choose-your-adventure vacation spot. Off the coast, it’s prime whale-watching season. On the tip of downtown Vancouver, the expansive Stanley Park shifts into excessive gear for summer time, drawing crowds to its seashores, lakes, gardens and miles of trails.

Elsewhere, cyclists have a brand new headline attraction: Grouse Bike Park. The chairlift-accessed mountain bike park gives 13 trails for each talent degree, a lot of which minimize by means of dense forest for sweeping views of Vancouver’s skyline.

• Get there: Air Canada fly direct to Dublin 3 times per week in the summertime season, from €375 return.

Dubai, UAE

If Dubai, a notable ‘Marmite’ vacation spot, is in your bucket record, right here’s another excuse to go: it’s set to trial flying taxis for the primary time within the subsequent few months, turning The Jetsons-esque futurism into actuality. Demonstrated at Dubai Airshow 2025, {the electrical} vertical take-off and touchdown (catchily shortened to eVTOL) flight noticed its crew velocity throughout Dubai in a 17-minute journey.

Over the following few months, 4 preliminary “vertiports” will join the emirate in minutes – for instance the journey from Dubai Airport to the posh resort Palm Jumeirah is an 11-minute air taxi journey, versus the 45-minute drive it’s now. If you’ll be able to shell out the rumoured €95 fare, it’s definitely one thing to write down dwelling about.

• Get there: Emirates fly direct from Dublin to Dubai from €500 return.