According to Lonely Planet’s analysis of 2019 travel hotspots, Copenhagen is the top city to visit this year with Sri Lanka the top country. Condé Naste Traveler, meanwhile, has called it for the Peloponnese islands of Greece.
If you ask 100 so-called travel experts for their 2019 travel trends, you will probably get 100 different answers.
So, when I made my 2019 travel wish list, I just asked myself. I thought about where I wanted to go and what I wanted to see and do.
Here are the top 10 (the full list is much longer) 2019 travel destinations and experiences on my wish list. I know I probably won’t tick them all off the list, but I’m going to give it a good crack.
1. The Matterhorn
The Matterhorn owes me. I went to visit Switzerland’s most iconic mountain in the summer of 2008. Switzerland’s most iconic mountain failed to show up. That’s not technically true. It did poke its head out for a fleeting moment.
On the train into Zermatt I wagered a chocolate (Toblerone of course) with my partner on who could spot the Matterhorn first. He won the chocolate and we caught a glimpse of the famous peak. Tired and running late to check in to our hotel, we decided to wait until the following day to take photos. Bad move. Very bad move.
It rained three days straight – our whole time in Zermatt. The Matterhorn was shrouded in low dark cloud the whole time. I have a photo of my partner standing on the roof garden of the hotel with his arms above his head, forlornly improvising the Matterhorn’s peak. That’s all we’ve got.
So our 2019 travel plans include a new visit to the Matterhorn, this time in the European winter. We’ll have five days in Zermatt, plenty of time for Switzerland’s most iconic mountain to reveal itself. And when it does, my camera will be at the ready.
2. Uluru
Photo: Bigstock.
I’ve been lucky enough to travel to places as far away as Scandinavia, Alaska, Patagonia and southern Africa. So, I’m a little ashamed to admit that I still haven’t seen Uluru. Uluru is arguably the most famous landmark in Australia. And I haven’t been there.
I’ve always figured I should first travel to places I want to see that are far away while I was young and fit and see the things closer to home when I’m older. Well I’m getting older. But that’s not the only reason to go.
I was rapt with my first visit to the outback in 2018 when I visited Longreach. I now plan to make a bucket list point of visiting a place in Australia I’ve not seen before each year. In my 2019 travel plans I hope to start with Uluru.
3. Japan’s snow monkeys
I love a wildlife encounter. Visiting wildlife in their natural habitat is always special. The Japanese macaque – known around the world as the snow monkey – has been on my list since I saw a doco about them on television a few years ago.
The snow monkeys are known for their habit of soaking in Japan’s natural hot springs to help stay warm in the winter.
I’ll be heading to Japan for the first time in February 2019 and am looking forward to my chance to finally meet the snow monkeys of Japan.
4. Stay in a luxury grand hotel
Youth hostels are dead to me. And it’s not because I’m too old to still be considered ‘youth’. It’s because I’ve become a hotel snob.
I never thought I’d become a hotel snob. I’m usually a frugal person. When I first started travelling I’d look for the cheapest possible accommodation everywhere I went. Not any more.
Now I search for the best bargain rate I can find that will get me into the best hotel in town. My favourites are the historic grand hotels; the ones where the floors creak, the beds squeak and you half expect Hercules Poirot to pop up and solve a murder in the middle of breakfast.
My 2019 travel plans definitely include a stay (or two or three) in a grand, unique hotel. So far I’ve locked in the Grand Hotel Zermatterhof in Zermatt and the incredible looking 3100 Kulmhotel Gornergrat above the village.
This hotel looks like it should be the villain’s lair in a James Bond movie.
And I intend to be taking in stunning views of the Matterhorn from both of these awesome hotels (see item 1 above).
In Zurich I’ve locked in a stay at the Small Luxury Hotel Ambassador, part of the impressive Small Luxury Hotels group.
5. Dunedin
I’ve been in love with the South Island of New Zealand since I first saw it close to 20 years ago. The scenery can take your breath away.
New Zealand is also peaceful, uncrowded and close.
Dunedin is next on my New Zealand list. I’ve had my eye on it for a few years and hope to add it my 2019 travel destinations.
Dunedin is known as one of the Southern Hemisphere’s best persevered Edwardian and Victorian cities, packed with heritage architecture, including Lanarch Castle, the only castle in New Zealand.
There’s also the opportunity for some luxury accommodation in the castle grounds (see item 4 above).
Dunedin is also a gateway for exploring the wider Otago region, also on my ‘one day’ list.
6. Drink a Singapore Sling at Raffles Long Bar
I know some people say it tastes like cough syrup but I like the Singapore Sling. I especially like knocking back a Singapore Sling in the Long Bar at Raffles Hotel.
I don’t have to worry about getting drunk on the cocktail of gin, cherry brandy/liqueur, Benedictine, and lime juice because it’s too bloody expensive to drink more than one.
At least you get complimentary peanuts and you’re even allowed to throw the shells on the floor.
While Raffles Hotel is still closed for refurbishments, its famous Long Bar reopened to the public in 2018, in perfect time for putting it on my 2019 travel wish list.
So popular is taking a Singapore Sling at Raffles Long Bar that there is a bar tender constantly making them in anticipation of orders. Last time I was there I asked the waiter how many they make in a day. The answer was well over a thousand.
I have added an overnight stop in Singapore on the way home from Switzerland – just so we can squeeze in a mercy dash to the Long Bar for a drink.
7. Hobart and the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA)
For quite a while now, everyone’s been talking about the Museum of Old and New Art in Hobart. It annoys me when people talk to me about something I don’t know about. I’m like, “oh that sound so interesting,” while I look for a cunning way to change the subject.
So, my 2019 travel plans include a visit to Hobart to see MONA for myself. I may very well not like it. I don’t usually care for modern art, but at least I will know what people are on about when they bring it up in conversation.
There are plenty of other reasons to visit Hobart too including the Salamanca markets and having a leisurely wander through the old streets. I haven’t been there for more than 10 years. It’s time to go back.
8. London
London is calling me back. London was the first place I ever wanted to go.
I blame (or credit depending how you look at it) Peter Pan, Paddington and Christopher Robin.
Thanks to my favourite childhood stories, London appeared in my imagination as a wondrous city where children could fly, teddy bears could talk and go on adventures, and soldiers wearing big furry hats guarded a Queen in her palace. That part at least turned out to be true.
Everything in London also appeared to be in a jolly shade of red. That might explain why I’ve always considered red to be my travelling colour.
I’ve been fortunate to visit this wondrous city a few times. Each time though I’ve been passing through on my way somewhere else or breaking up a trip for a day or two. I’ve always been rushing around to jam in as many things as I could in the short time available and ending up pooped.
I’ve always wanted to stay in London for a couple of weeks and just slowly work my way through the zoo, museums, parks and shops.
In my 2019 travel dreams, London is once again a place I’m longing to go.
9. Anywhere involving Paul McCartney’s Freshen Up tour
I know it would be the ultimate decadence to fly overseas just to see a rock concert. But I’ve got to put it on my 2019 travel wish list.
After waiting close to a quarter-century to see Paul McCartney return to Melbourne in late 2017, and seeing him twice, I’m not waiting another quarter-century.
After all the man is 76-years-old. Even he might struggle to be on tour when he’s 100. Wouldn’t put it past him but I can’t take the risk.
In 2019 I’ll be keeping a close eye on the Freshen Up tour schedule. I’m crossing my fingers for a show within reach. Come back Paul!
I couldn’t quite manage the annual leave and the finances needed to get me to Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles next July, so I’m hoping for something relatively close to home.
10. Melbourne
And speaking of close to home, Melbourne is on my 2019 travel wish list too. Yes I know live here. In fact I have never lived anywhere else. This is my home. And as Dorothy said in the Wizard of Oz, there’s no place like home.
There’s still so much about Melbourne that I haven’t discovered. That’s partly because Melbourne is growing and changing so rapidly I can hardly keep up.
But it’s also because the things that are closest to us and easiest to reach are the things we tend to ignore. We can do that any time, right?
In 2019 I’m setting myself a target to experience something new about Melbourne each month. I’ll visit museums I’ve never been to before and go beyond the clichés to seek out new buildings, walking trails, shops and eateries. This will surely take more than one year but I’ll be making a start.