THE WORLD'S NEW TRAVEL HOTSPOTS

Looking to escape Cheshire for sun, sea or exciting discovery? Cheshire Life Food & Travel Editor, Helen Warwick, reveals the hottest places to head in 2020

- Helen Warwick

CAIRO EGYPT

After a tumultuous few years, Egypt is bouncing back. And 2020 is all about the long-awaited, much delayed Grand Egyptian Museum that’s finally set to open. Unless you’ve had your head in the sand, ancient Egyptian hysteria has been skyrocketing in recent months: in 2022, it’ll be 100 years since British Egyptologist, Howard Carter, first gazed into the clandestine chamber of the boy king, Tutankhamun. And to mark the impending centenary, the globe-trotting Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh exhibition has been showcasing items found strung around King Tut’s royal tomb as part of a sell-out 10-city tour – including at London’s Saatchi Gallery – before going full circle and landing back in Cairo and the new museum in Giza. Expect mass fanfare and excitement when it finally flings its doors open: the £1 billion marble temple – opening to killer views of the Great Pyramids of Giza – will house a vast collection of excavated objects and national treasures including those of the boy king, who began his reign aged nine, perished at 18, and lay hidden in a golden coffin for thousands of years. Book it: Abercrombie and Kent’s eight-day Cairo and cruising the Nile tour starts from £3,995 per person, including flights and exclusive access to the Grand Egyptian Museum. abercrombiekent.co.uk

COSTA RICA