For 2025, a trend travel guide from the “Lonely Planet” brand is again recommending dozens of destinations. This time, these include a German federal state, a Swiss canton and a favorite travel destination for Germans.
Bavaria is one of the ten best travel regions for the coming year according to the world-famous travel guide “Lonely Planet”. In the new book “Lonely Planets Best in Travel 2025”, the southern German state is presented in the “Top 10 Regions” category alongside Valais in Switzerland, Terai in Nepal and the eastern English region of East Anglia as a travel destination that you should definitely visit.
The top ten cities include Toulouse (“Paris in miniature”), Genoa (“could lose its powerful charisma if it becomes too well known”) and Palma de Mallorca. West African Cameroon made it to the top of the country list (“pristine beaches, little-visited national parks and an exciting urban nightlife”).
In the general category of “travel trends,” the book, published in New York, lists cities with spectacular drag shows. Among the cities mentioned, in addition to Bangkok and Sydney, there is also Berlin: “Unconformist kings, queens and in-between performers in Berlin’s queer nightlife: In November they will compete in the Mx. Kotti competition, a cross-border version of the beauty competition. “
Beer gardens and fairytale castle
“Lonely Planet” writes about Bavaria, which ranks seventh among the regions: “Hip modernity and upheld traditions, mathematical perfection and beer tent feasts – the Free State has a distinctive but often contradictory character.”
Highlights include the fairytale Neuschwanstein Castle of King Ludwig II (1845-1886) and the beer gardens (“Spend an evening in a beer garden, for example at the Chinese Tower in Munich”). Bavaria can rely on one thing: “that its beer (not only) will continue to be counted among the best in the world in 2025 (even if the Czechs and Belgians may see it differently).”
Of course, Oktoberfest and the Munich Allianz Arena are also mentioned, which is planned to host the Champions League final on May 31, 2025 (“The stadium whose facade – football fans know this of course – can change color, depending on who plays in the arena is considered one of the most spectacular in the world”).
Berchtesgaden and organic meat
The book also says: “Take an electric boat across Lake Königssee in Berchtesgadener Land, Bavaria’s most beautiful corner of the Alps (with a dark Nazi past).” One of the important locations for mountain adventurers is Garmisch-Partenkirchen, with Germany’s highest mountain Zugspitze and the impressively narrow Partnachklamm.
A Munich tour guide is quoted as recommending a white sausage breakfast and Bavaria, the whole of Germany, is praised for its efforts to become more sustainable (“In Bavarian agriculture, for example, the number of organic farms is constantly increasing”).
Another highly praised region in 2025 is the (partly German-speaking) Valais. In the Swiss canton with the glamorous towns of Verbier and Zermatt and of course the Matterhorn, the aim is to “electrify in the truest sense of the word even in 2025”. At the Cycling World Championships – the UCI World Championships in the region – e-mountain biking will be added as a new, seventh discipline. “No wonder, after all, mountain cycling with electric drives is the fastest-growing market (not only) in the Alps.”
Palma’s new waterfront promenade
The Spanish Mediterranean island of Mallorca, which is already popular with Germans, is praised for its capital: “With its thriving gastronomic scene, its bubbling creative energy and first-class art collections, Palma is redefining the Balearic holiday – as a stylish, culturally diverse travel destination for the whole year. For In 2025, the capital of Mallorca, nestled on the Mediterranean, promises the opening of the long-awaited, traffic-reduced waterfront promenade, which you can explore on foot or by bike.”
The trend travel guide “Best in Travel 2025” is published by MairDumont, the largest German travel publishing group based in Ostfildern near Stuttgart. Germany has appeared several times in previous editions of the “Best in Travel” series. Dresden, for example, was listed for 2023. In 2019, Germany came in second place among the states primarily because of the Bauhaus anniversary; Germany also came in second place in 2010. Bavaria was already listed as a top region in 2016.
The Lonely Planet brand, which was founded in 1973, says it has printed more than 150 million travel guides in the last few decades. The brand can also be found on Instagram, Tiktok, Facebook and X – and in 14 languages, as they say.
Lonely Planet’s “Best in Travel 2025” at a glance
Top 10 countries: Cameroon, Lithuania, Fiji, Laos, Kazakhstan, Paraguay, Trinidad & Tobago, Vanuatu, Slovakia and Armenia.
Top 10 cities: Toulouse (France), Puducherry (India), Bansko (Bulgaria), Chiang Mai (Thailand), Genoa (Italy), Pittsburgh (USA), Osaka (Japan), Curitiba (Brazil), Palma (Spain) and Edmonton (Canada).
Top 10 Regions: South Carolina Lowcountry & Georgia Coast, USA; the Terai, Nepal; Chiriquí, Panama; Launceston & the Tamar Valley, Australia; Valais, Switzerland; Giresun & Ordu, Türkiye; Bavaria, Germany; East Anglia, England; Jordan Trail, Jordan; Mount Hood & Columbia River Gorge, USA.
Source: Stern
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
