Lonely Planet Names Chile Top Country to Visit in 2018

10/27/2017


The accolades keep coming for Chile. Last month, the destination was named South America’s Leading Adventure Tourism Destination at the World Travel Awards for a third consecutive year.
 
Now, Lonely Planet has identified Chile as the number one country you need to visit in 2018 as part of their ‘Best in Travel 2018’ list.
 
“Chile is a sinewy sliver of a nation, isolated from the rest of South America (and indeed the world) by the soaring Andes to the east, the vast Pacific Ocean to the west, the bone-dry Atacama Desert up north and the impenetrable wilds of Patagonia down south,” Lonely Planet wrote of Chile in their ‘Best in Travel 2018: Top Ten Countries You Need to Visit Next Year’ list. “From its disparate extremes to the ever-trendier capital of Santiago at its heart, the country’s citizens will unite in 2018 to mark 200 years of independence.”
 
Lonely Planet’s ‘Best in Travel List’ is an annual list of the absolute best places to go to based on consultations with a wide variety of experts across the travel spectrum to determine the best destinations, regions, countries, and cities that travelers must see in 2018.
 
“As a Lonely Planet writer, we travel all over the world looking for the best destinations to bring to travelers,” explains Mark Johanson, a travel, food & culture writer based in South America.
 
“There’s just this incredible diversity of activities on offer,” he says of Chile. “This country is so long and thin, but there are so many experiences to be had. Chile is a country that may not be on everybody’s bucket list, but it really should be.”
 
“If you’re a nature lover, you’ll find that here,” Johanson notes. “If you love culture, you’ll find that in the vibrant cities of middle Chile. If you want adventure, you can find that in Patagonia, and in the north in Atacama. Everything you could want as a traveler you’ll find in Chile."
 
As part of their ‘Best in Travel List 2018,’ Lonely Planet also identified Bahia, Brazil as a ‘Top 10 Region Rising Up Your Bucket List’ for its “natural playground... suddenly more accessible to tourists thanks to the facelift that Salvador underwent after being chosen as a host city for the 2014 FIFA World Cup,” adding that “there’s never been a better time, or an easier time, to explore the birthplace of Afro-Brazilian culture.”