Where to go in 2025

By Fiona Kerr

January 28, 2025

The destinations to have on your radar for the coming year

A visitor walking in the Johann Strauss New Dimensions exhibition

Vienna

Last year, the Economist Intelligence Unit named Vienna the world’s most liveable city for the third time in a row. It’s easy to see why, with its grand coffee houses, ornate Imperial architecture and a cultural calendar packed with world-class art and music. This is a city for all seasons and the action kicks off with hundreds of balls, the highlight being the glittering Vienna Opera Ball at the Vienna State Opera on 27 February. However, the waltz isn’t just for the ballroom this year, as Vienna celebrates the 200th birthday of the waltz king, composer Johann Strauss II, with a bumper series of events and performances throughout 2025. There are classical concerts and a musical circus, a rave-reimagining of the maestro's work at the Danube Island Festival and the new multimedia Johann Strauss Museum, which tells his life story in immersive style.

Mandarin Oriental, Vienna is scheduled to open this summer

Inside the V&A museum’s gift shop in London

Mallorca

The tide endlessly ebbs and flows between the Balearic islands, all vying to be this summer’s see-and-be-seen hotspot. But beyond the beach clubs, Mallorca has quietly re-established itself as a serious creative hub in recent years. Painters, glass-blowers, ceramicists and woodworkers have been drawn to the island’s long legacy of craft, setting up their studios in old rural fincas or villages in the foothills of the Tramuntana mountains. It’s part of a collective slowing down, a back-to-the-land ethos that has also spawned sustainably-minded restaurants such as Ca Na Toneta in Caimari and La Farm, 15 minutes outside of Palma. Or get back to the land at your own pace on new hiking route, the GR-226, which opens this year, covering 65 miles from Cales de Mallorca and Manacor to Cala Mesquida on the northeast coast, taking in the peaceful Sa Punta de n’Amer nature reserve and the sand dunes at Cala Agulla. So whether you’re seeking its secluded coves or its artistic soul, Mallorca still has plenty of secrets left to share.

Look out for news of the opening of Mandarin Oriental Punta Negra, Mallorca

Two pictures showing the interior and food at Sufret Maryam restaurant.

Dubai

In this fast-forward city of superlatives, there is always a new reason to visit, whether it’s the world’s biggest observation wheel (Ain Dubai), the time-travelling Museum of the Future (which imagines life in 2071, complete with roaming robots) or the fact that Dubai now has more restaurants per capita than any other city, bar London or Paris. Alongside glitzy global names, there’s also a fresh wave of chefs putting homegrown Emirati and Middle Eastern food in the spotlight. Chefs such as Salam Daqqaq, who whips up silky smooth hummus, slow-cooked marinated lamb shoulder and labneh brulée at Sufret Maryam. Or Solemann Haddad who brings Japanese techniques to local flavours at Moonrise. Upcoming Gerbou is the opening to watch this year: its name means ‘welcome to our humble abode’ in Arabic, but there’s nothing humble about its culinary take on Emirati classic chicken machboos or other elevated farm-to-table dishes. It’s a deliciously authentic alternative taste of Dubai.

Look out for news of the opening of Mandarin Oriental Downtown, Dubai

About the Author

Fiona Kerr

Fiona Kerr is a London-based travel writer and former Condé Nast Traveller features director. Her work has appeared in The Guardian, The Telegraph, FT HTSI and the New York Times T Magazine.