Middle East

From the Summer Olympic Games to cultural extravaganzas and hot hotel openings, there are dozens of reasons to plan a holiday for 2020. Here are the cities and countries to add to your travel itinerary in the New Year. 

We know how much you love Middle Eastern food and the Lebanese have got some of the best. Thanks to Ottoman influences back in the day, French influence more recently and it’s proximity to Europe, The Middle East and Africa, they’ve been able to get their hands on the best spices and recipes for centuries and they’ve worked some magic. From veg-friendly dishes like hummus and falafel to meaty shawarma, there’s no foodie who wouldn’t have a field day in Beirut, or anywhere in Lebanon for that matter. 

Turkish food is up there as one of our favourite cuisines of all time, so when one famous foodie city in Anatolia made the UNESCO Creative Cities of Gastronomy lists, we thought we’d better pay attention. Gaziantep has been said to be the food capital of the world and after a few food-fueled days spent eating our way around the city, we’d happily agree. 

This desert metropolis pairs tradition with a futuristic vision, and following an oil boom in 1966, Dubai quickly developed to rival popular tourist destinations around the world. On their quest to be the biggest and most extravagant, Dubai built more skyscrapers than any city except for New York and Hong Kong, boasts the second-largest mall, the world’s tallest building and the only palm tree-shaped island (with two more in the works).