January 7, 2026, 2:01 pm | Read time: 3 minutes
New year, new travel destinations recommended by The New York Times. To kick off 2026, the renowned daily newspaper has published its annual list of “52 Places to Go,” as usual. A German city is also among them. Learn more about it at TRAVELBOOK.
In January, travel enthusiasts traditionally receive curated inspiration from experts. For the 21st time, The New York Times has released its “52 Places to Go” list. This year, the German representative is the city of Bayreuth, as reported by Stern.de, citing the list behind a paywall here.
The New York Times Recommends Bayreuth as a Travel Destination
The choice did not fall randomly on the second-largest city in Upper Franconia. This summer, the world-famous Bayreuth Festival celebrates its 150th anniversary—naturally with a special “anniversary season,” as stated on the organizer’s website. This year, the “Ring of the Nibelung” will be staged with AI support. Additionally, the Richard Wagner opera “Rienzi” will be performed on the famous stage for the first time.
“Getting the highly coveted tickets for the annual festival, held in a hall designed by Wagner specifically for the requirements of his works, is not easy,” Stern.de quotes The New York Times. In fact, all available tickets for the 2026 anniversary season were sold out by early December, according to the festival’s website.
51 Other Destinations on the List
Overall, the selected “52 Places to Go in 2026” are characterized by notable cultural institutions and events. As you might have guessed, the number is not chosen randomly. The list was originally intended as a source of inspiration for each week of the calendar year. It is not a ranking but a collection of recommended travel destinations.
According to Stern.de, other places recommended by The New York Times for 2026 include Warsaw with the recently opened new building of the Museum of Modern Art, the former industrial district of Poblenou in Barcelona, the old town of Assisi in Italy, the cliffs on the Danish Baltic Sea island of Møn, the green side of the Thai city of Bangkok with the Benjakitti and Lumphini parks, the Mediterranean port city of Oran in Algeria, and Bandhavgarh National Park in India. You can find the entire list with explanations here.
Incidentally, it is not the first time a German city has been recommended in the prestigious New York Times list. In 2025, Hamburg was among the 52 places, Dresden in 2024, and Leipzig in 2020.