Lonely Planet First Awards Unveiled

• Cruising the Amazon River
• Driving a 4×4 along the Silk Road from Tashkent, Uzbekistan, to Xian, China
• Island-hopping on a yacht through the Greek Cyclades
• Taking the Glacier Express from Zermatt to St Moritz, Switzerland
• Taking the West Highland Railway from Glasgow, Scotland
• Taking an overland truck from Cairo to Cape Town
• Driving the Pacific Coast Highway from Los Angeles to San Francisco, USA
• Sailing in a traditional felucca down the Egyptian Nile
• Taking the Ghan Railway from Darwin to Adelaide, Australia
• Going by train, via the Trans-Siberian Railway, from London to Beijing
• Other

• Orang-utans high in the jungle canopy in Gunung Leuser National Park, Sumatra, Indonesia
• Koalas by the Great Ocean Road, Victoria, Australia
• Polar bears in Churchill, Manitoba, Canada
• Mountain gorillas in Mgahinga Gorilla National Park, Uganda
• Puffins in Pembrokeshire, Wales
• Dragons on Komodo Island, Indonesia
• Grey whales in Baja California, Mexico
• Giant tortoises on Alcedo Volcano, Isabela, the Galápagos Islands
• The ‘big five’ (lions, rhino, Cape buffalo, African elephants and leopards) in Kenya
• Tigers in the Sundarbans Tiger Reserve, West Bengal, India
• Other

• Chicken biryani in the Taj Palace Hotel, Mumbai
• Sushi at the Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo, Japan
• Grilled sea bass at Ristorante Santa Lucia, Salerno on the Amalfi Coast, Italy
• Cream tea at Otterton Mill, Budleigh Salterton, Devon
• Gumbo at Mr B’s Bistro in New Orleans, USA
• Lobster at Le Jules Verne restaurant on the Eiffel Tower, France
• Pad Thai at Chote Chitr in Bangkok, Thailand
• Steak at La Cabrera in Buenos Aires, Argentina
• A pie floater at Harry’s Cafe de Wheels in Woolloomooloo, Sydney
• Sachertorte at Café Demel in Vienna, Austria
• Other

• Espresso in Sant’Eustachio café in Rome, Italy
• Trappist beer at A la Mort Subite in Brussels, Belgium
• Whisky at Bruichladdich Distillery on Islay, the Western Isles, Scotland
• Wine at Viña De Martino in the Maipo River Valley, Chile
• Mojito in the Bodeguita del Medio bar, Havana, Cuba
• Tea at Glenary’s in Darjeeling, India
• Guinness in the Temple Bar, Dublin, Ireland
• Tequila at El Mirador de Chapultepec in Mexico City
• Champagne at the Royal Champagne Hotel in Epernay, Champagne, France
• Sherry at Bodegas Tradición in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain
• Other

• Oktoberfest, Munich, Germany
• Day of the Dead at Patzcuaro, Mexico
• Chinese New Year in Hong Kong
• Carnival, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• Divali in Mumbai, India
• Venice Carnival, Italy
• New Year’s Eve at Times Square, New York
• Glastonbury Festival
• Mass Games at the Rungrado May Day Stadium, Pyongyang, North Korea
• The Burning Man festival, Nevada, USA
• Other

• A musical in the West End of London, England
• Opera in the Arena di Verona, Italy
• The Admiral Twin drive-in movie theatre just off Route 66 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA
• Romeo and Juliet performed at the open air Minack Theatre, Porthcurno, Cornwall
• Karaoke in the Roppongi district of Tokyo, Japan
• Reggae by the beach on a warm night in Negril, Jamaica
• Salsa dancing at the Casa de la Amistad, Havana, Cuba
• Ballet at the Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg, Russia
• Authentic blues at the B.L.U.E.S. club, Chicago, USA
• Kathakali classical dance-drama in Kerala, India
• Other 

• The Indianapolis 500 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Indiana, USA
• The Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo, Houston, Texas, USA
• Baseball game at Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox, Boston, USA
• The Monaco Grand Prix
• Football match at Wembley Stadium, London
• Australian Rules Football Grand Final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Melbourne, Australia
• The Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, Wimbledon
• Ice hockey at Canada Hockey Place, Vancouver, Canada
• The West Indies playing cricket at Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados
• Football match at FC Barcelona’s Camp Nou, Barcelona, Spain
• Other

• Hot-air ballooning over Cappadocia, Turkey
• Climbing Mount Fuji on a mid-summer’s night with thousands of Japanese people
• Bungee-jumping in New Zealand at the Kawarau Bridge in Queenstown, where it was invented
• Trekking to Everest Base Camp in the Himalayas
• Canoeing in British Columbia, Canada
• Skiing in the Tirol, Austria
• Walking stretches of the South West Coast Path, running from Minehead to Poole
• Husky-sledding in Lapland, Sweden
• Cycling a stage of the Tour de France, France
• Snorkelling the Great Barrier Reef off Lizard Island, Northern Queensland, Australia
• Other

• In a hamam in Istanbul
• In a deckchair on a British beach
• In a treehouse in the Costa Rican jungle
• In a farmhouse villa in Tuscany
• On a beach in Thailand
• Wrapped in a reindeer-fur blanket in a Swedish log cabin
• In my local park with a picnic
• In a holiday cottage in the English countryside
• In the spa of a British country house hotel
• In a hammock on a rooftop of a riad in Morocco
• Other

• Anne Frank’s House, Amsterdam
• Hearing Aboriginal stories round a camp fire in the Outback, Australia
• A tour of the Pyramids at Giza, Egypt
• Imagining gladiatorial combat in Rome’s Coliseum, Italy
• Climbing Mayan temples at Tikal, Guatemala
• The Acropolis and New Acropolis Museum, Athens
• Walking Hadrian’s Wall
• The Civil Rights Museum in the Lorraine Motel where Martin Luther King was killed, Memphis, Tennessee, USA
• Visiting the Taj Mahal, India
• Following the former Iron Curtain border in Germany
• Other

• Rent an apartment in the Dakota Building overlooking Central Park in New York, USA
• Travel into space
• Drive my Ferrari across the Swiss alps
• Hire a private island in the Maldives
• Take the Orient Express to Venice, Italy
• Take a year out, travelling the world in a yacht
• Take a cruise to Antarctica
• Take all my friends for a holiday in a castle in Scotland
• Go on a luxury tented safari in Kenya
• Bet it all at a roulette wheel in Las Vegas, USA
• Other

• Australia
• Bali
• Canada
• France
• India
• Italy
• New Zealand
• Spain
• The Lake District
• USA
• Other

• British
• Chinese
• French
• Indian
• Italian
• Jamaican
• Japanese
• Mexican
• Thai
• Vietnamese
• Other

• 3am on a Saturday night, Bar Street, San Antonio, Ibiza
• Disney World Orlando, USA during the school holidays
• Butlins, Bognor Regis
• Terminal 3, Heathrow airport, at 7pm on a Friday night
• The French autoroute from Paris to the Côte d’Azur in August
• Times Square, New York on New Year’s Eve
• Thai beach during a full-moon party
• Siberia
• All-inclusive resort in Benidorm, Spain in August
• Madame Tussauds on a bank-holiday Monday
• Other

• Coast
• Up in the Air
• The Francincense Trail, with Kate Humble
• River Journeys With Gryff Rhys Jones
• Slumdog Millionaire
• Around The World in 80 days (Comic Relief)
• Last Chance to See, with Stephen Fry and Mark Carwardine
• Life (David Attenborough)
• Rick Stein’s Far Eastern Odyssey
• Gordon’s Great Escape (Gordon Ramsay in India)
• other

• Learning the language of the place I’m travelling to
• Staying in more small local hotels
• Exploring places by foot
• Eating where the locals go
• Dressing like a local
• Using more local guides
• Learning more about the culture of the place I’m travelling to
• Travelling more on public transport
• Learning where the locals love to visit
• Visiting more off-the-beaten-track places
• Other

• Charlie Boorman
• Dan Cruickshank
• Gordon Ramsay
• Joanna Lumley
• Kate Humble
• Michael Palin
• Myleene Klass
• Rick Stein
• Simon Reeve
• Stephen Fry
• Other

• Restaurants were better value
• Train travel were cheaper
• The food were better
• Less traffic on bank holidays
• Fewer crowds at your destination
• It was easy to reach more places by train
• Accommodation were better value
• Every B&B had a boutique makeover
• More attractions to visit were free
• Campsites were more inviting
• Other

• Seal spotting on the Gower Peninsula, Wales
• Fossil foraging on the Jurassic Coast, Dorset
• Cycling in Suffolk
• Exploring our big cities in August, when many workers are away on holiday
• Boating on the Thames
• Taking the walk to Barafundle Bay on the Pembrokeshire Coast
• Swimming in the ponds on Hampstead Heath
• Visiting a gastropub in the Cotswolds
• Walking Scotland’s wild beaches
• Trying out Northumberland’s seaside fish & chip restaurants
• Other

Related News Stories: