Where to Go in 2019 - Madhya Pradesh India

By Nikki Ekstien - 2nd January 2019

The destinations that will be especially hot this year—and the data you need to plan your trip. This year, treat your travel bucket list like your office to-do list and tackle the timeliest items first.

That means sailing through Brazil’s jaguar-filled (and newly luxurious) Pantanal while everyone else heads down the Amazon, and skipping overdeveloped Bali in favor of Bodrum, where a five-star-resort renaissance is under way.

Those are just two of twenty-plus destinations to prioritize in 2019, all chosen by our trend-spotting editors and global correspondents for their so-hot-right-now status. Among their draws: skyrocketing cultural cachet, major hotel openings, and new restaurants worth traveling for. To help you get the most bang for your buck, we’ve accompanied each recommendation with exclusive data from Google and tips from our favorite travel specialists. As we’ve learned before, the ideal time to travel isn’t always related to cost.

Start packing: it's going to be an exciting year ahead.

MADHYA PRADESH, INDIA

India is making great strides in conservation. The subcontinent is home to the largest population of wild tigers, whose worldwide numbers dipped to just over 1,400 in 2006. But with new reserves and better education, those numbers are expected to top 3,000 when the next Bengal census is released later this month.

For travelers, that means sightings have gone from being unreliable to almost guaranteed — particularly in Madhya Pradesh, an 80-minute flight from Mumbai. Not only does the state have more protected parks than neighboring Rajasthan, but it’s also less crowded. And new mobile camp experiences promise to take guests deep into the wild: Kaafila Camps sets up plush outposts in underexplored swaths such as Kuno-Palpur in the northwest and Kalinjar in the northeast, so you can track real-life Shere Khans in areas that look untouched by human hands.

When to go: If you have to pick a single month, make it February, when both wildlife sightings and cultural events abound. (Otherwise, any time between November and March will do.)

When not to go: It starts getting warm in mid-April, and the national parks are closed during monsoon season, from June to October.

Whom to call:  Chinmay Vasavada of the Explorations Company