Best of the world 2023

From epic landscapes and cultural reawakenings to conservation initiatives and family favourites, National Geographic Traveller's Best of the World list is back with 35 destinations that should be on your radar for 2023. Across five categories - adventure, culture, nature, family and community - our list highlights some of the most exciting and exceptional experiences on the planet. With 25 selected by the global editors of National Geographic Traveller, and an additional 10 from the UK edition

- Andrew Nelson, Karen Carmichael, Pól Ó Conghaile & Justin Meneguzzi

CULTURE

Busan – South korea

From craft breweries to Asia's top film festival, South Korea’s second largest city is fuelling a cultural boom

With K-pop and Korean film making waves in global culture, the country’s creative flair is firmly in the spotlight. Cinema is acommunal experience in Busan, South Korea’s second largest city, which has hosted one of Asia’s most prestigious annual film festivals for nearly three decades. In 2022, the Busan International Film Festival held screenings in 14 neighbourhood venues across this seaport of 3.4 million people.

Before performances, movie lovers can grab a craft beer Busan is celebrated for its artisan brewers or stroll through Citizens Park, a redeveloped US military base. Opened in 2014, the park is a 133-acre retreat in the middle of downtown, planted with more than one million trees and shrubs, comprising 97 species in all. Famed for its mountains and beaches, Busan is also home to the Nakdong River Estuary. South Korea’s longest river runs through the city and shelters the whooper swan and other endangered waterfowl.

ADVENTURE

Choquequirao – Peru

An adventurous trek to the remote sister site of Machu Picchu is becoming more accessible

One of the most isolated Inca sites in the Peruvian Andes, the ruins of Choquequirao are reserved for the hardy few who put in the effort to reach it. Those who make the trek to the sprawling complex in the south of the country can do so only on foot, zigzagging up and down steep paths for 18 miles to reach its 10,000ft elevation, suspended between the high Andes and the jungles below.