Reasons To Travel Now

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No. 1 You can finally see Bangkok’s Temple of Dawn without scaffolding.

To celebrate the completion of a four-year restoration of Wat Arun’s grand tiled façade, the city will host a festival on the banks of the Chao Phraya River (through January 5). About 40 per cent of the tiles on the 19th-century stupa have been replaced, and the rest cleaned to return the building to its original state.

No. 2 In the heart of Nashville, the hits just keep coming.

Music City’s hotel boom, which has already produced spots like Thompson and 21c Museum Hotel, is still going strong. Downtown, just around the corner from the famed Ryman Auditorium, the 1970s-inspired Fairlane Hotel (fairlane hotel.com; doubles from₹ 16,708) opens in January in a mid-century bank building on Union Street. The hotel aims to be a round-the-clock destination for both out-oftowners and locals, with a Stumptownsupplied café, a New York–style delicatessen, and a restaurant with fire pits and a roomy terrace. A few blocks southeast, Holston House Hotel (holstonhousenashville.com; doubles from₹ 16,320) also debuts in the New Year with 191 rooms in an updated Art Deco building, with a rooftop pool and bar that offers some of the best skyline views in the city. The neighbourhood is known for its tourist mainstays—the Ryman,the Country Music Hall of Fame, and the Frist Center for the Visual Arts are all nearby—but for a true taste of modern Nashville, check out the area’s new and notable bars and restaurants. Restaurateur Maneet Chauhan’s Mockingbird (mockingbirdnashville.com; entrées ₹900₹