It's that wonderful time of year when Lonely Planet names their top 10 regions of the year ahead and, after missing out last year, Australia has made it back on to the list thanks to our (literal) hot spot, The Red Centre. Oh and we didn't just make it into the top 10, we are sitting at a very respectable number four.
If you're not really sure exactly what makes up The Red Centre, let us break it down for you. Obviously, it includes the entire Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, but it also includes Alice Springs, the MacDonnell Ranges, Finke Gorge National Park, Rainbow Valley and the Watarrka National Park, so there's a heck of a lot to explore and if you haven't been yet, we'd suggest booking a trip immediately if not sooner.
Now that you've got that holiday locked and loaded, you probably want to know what made it to the number one spot. Drumroll please... Piedmont in Italy took out the number one spot, and we're not all that surprised after all the pics from Italy popping up on our Insta feeds this past winter. Home to the stunning city of Turin, Piedmont is in the north-west of Italy and is bordered on three sides by the Alps, so yeah—it's not bad to look at. It's also home to 56 national parks and a lot of delicious wine and plenty of good eats.
If you've got the willpower to hear about any more hot spots without blowing all your savings and annual leave in one go, here's the full list of Lonely Planet's Top 10 Regions for 2019 for you.
Piedmont, Italy The Catskills, USA Northern Peru The Red Centre, Australia Scotland’s Highlands and Islands Russian Far East Gujarat, India Manitoba, Canada Normandy, France Elqui Valley, ChileThey've also named the top 10 countries, cities and the best value spots for 2019, and you can check them all out here.
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Image credit: Mark Kolbe