What is Lonely Planet's Best in Travel? North Wales Listed

(Source: Visit Wales)

Every year, expert travellers from Lonely Planet tour the world to find 10 of the best countries, cities and regions to visit for the year ahead. From charismatic old quarters to modern masterpieces of architecture, they take it all in to come up with a list of 30 places that travellers need to check out and publish it online and in paperback.

The Best in Travel list is a high-profile, agenda-setting selection of destinations, offering tourists something new that they possibly haven’t thought about before. All of the places included have something extra special about them, be it beautiful scenery, amazing adventuring opportunities or exquisite cuisine. To make the list means you're quite a big deal.

Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel 2017 was released today, and it features our very own North Wales, which as been named on the list of the Top 10 Regions for 2017. North Wales is the only place in the UK included in Best in Travel 2017, and according to Lonely Planet ‘earned its place as a must-see destination for 2017 thanks to the region’s reinvention‘. This particularly refers to the way an old aluminium works in Dolgarrog has been redeveloped and is now Surf Snowdonia, Penrhyn Quarry is the amazing setting for Zip World Velocity, and if you visit Bounce Below you’ll be bouncing around in what was once a Victorian slate mine.

It’s not the first time that Wales has received this coveted accolade; back in 2012, the first entry of the 10 best regions was 'Coastal Wales', thanks to our country becoming the only one in the world where you can walk the entire length of its coastline. Nods were specifically given to the spectacular Pembrokeshire coast, Rhossili and Anglesey.

It's a great accolade to be part of Lonely Planet's annual selection. The odds of being chosen are pretty low, seeing as they choose destinations from across the entire world. If you are chosen, though, it puts you proudly on the map as one of the world's must-visit treasures, something that any country would be proud of. We reckon Wales should be on the list every year, but then we are a bit biased...!