Summer’s over, the leaves are turning brown. Time to wrap your blanket closer and start planning your next vacation.

National Geographic has just released its 2026 Best of the World list, 25 must-visit destinations chosen by its international team of editors and explorers. CNN caught up with Nathan Lump, editor-in-chief of the 137-year-old magazine, to find out what made the list and why.

Cities

“Pittsburgh is a favorite city of mine in America,” says Lump. “It’s an easy long weekend.” This postindustrial city in Pennsylvania has a young, creative population and buzzing arts scene thanks to being a university town. Lump recommends its “fantastic” museums and “fun neighborhoods” with lots of quirky, independent shops.

Medellín in Colombia and Rio de Janeiro in Brazil are the publisher’s South American picks. Medellín is a great “comeback story,” says Lump, with thriving art and culture, beautiful gardens and is “a really vibrant destination.” Rio, meanwhile, has new museum openings on the horizon and a new hiking trail up to the Christ the Redeemer statue.

The recommended cities in Europe are Oulu in Finland, Guimarães in Portugal and Hull in England. Oulu has been chosen as a European Capital of Culture for 2026, while Guimarães is the European Green Capital for the year ahead.

“Part of the fun of lists like this is to give people a reason” to reconsider underrated destinations within their own countries, says Lump. Hull is much maligned on a domestic level – “grim,” as his English friend said recently – but Lump says it’s “super-important from a maritime perspective” and has a “great aquarium.”