Atlanta is only U.S. city on Lonely Planet’s top destinations for 2022

Company’s coming, y’all. Or rather, it will be now that Lonely Planet has included Atlanta on its list of top 30 destinations for 2022.

The guide book publisher divided the top 30 places to visit into three categories: 10 countries, 10 cities and 10 regions. Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel lists were formed by whittling down hundreds of nominations from staff, contributors, bloggers and publishing partners, and then debated and chosen by a panel of travel experts.

If you want to get out of town — or the country — before visitors arrive, consider one of top 10 cities on Lonely Planet’s list. Auckland, New Zealand, was awarded the top spot for cities, followed by Taipei, Taiwan, and Freiburg, Germany, in that order.

Atlanta took the No. 4 spot, and is one of only three U.S. locales of the 30 listed. West Virginia ranked No. 2 and the U.S. territory Puerto Rico No. 5 within the top 10 regions

Continuing the top 10 cities ranking, Georgia’s capital was followed by Lagos, Nigeria; Lefkosia, Cyprus; Dublin, Ireland; Merida, Mexico; Florence, Italy; and Gyeongju, South Korea, in that order.

Lonely Planet picked these 10 countries to visit in 2022:

“The tiny Cook Islands archipelago was crowned the top country to visit in 2022, winning praise for eco-initiatives including the Marae Moana, the world’s largest marine protected area. Lying half way between New Zealand and Hawaii, the country also offers travelers amazing diversity across all 15 of its islands,” Lonely Planet wrote.

Its “diverse landscapes framed by the remote expanses of the world’s biggest ocean promise active adventure, cultural interaction and culinary delights,” it continued.

Lonely Planet picked these top 10 regions for 2022:

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