Most ‘where to go next year’ lists are interchangeable. 2027 is genuinely different, because three fixed events will move large numbers of people to specific places at specific times – and because knowing when not to be there is worth as much as knowing where to go.
The three events that shape the year
- The total solar eclipse of 2 August 2027 is the travel event of the decade. Maximum totality lasts 6 minutes 23 seconds over Egypt – the longest reachable from easily accessible land until 2114 – and Luxor sits essentially on the centre line. The path also crosses southern Spain, Gibraltar, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Somalia. On Spanish territory, Ceuta gets 4 minutes 48 seconds, Cadiz 2 minutes 54 and Malaga 1 minute 48, around 10:45 to 10:50 local. If you want to be on the centre line, treat accommodation as a year-ahead booking.
- The FIFA Women’s World Cup in Brazil, 24 June to 25 July 2027. Sixty-four matches across Belo Horizonte, Brasilia, Fortaleza, Porto Alegre, Recife, Rio, Salvador and Sao Paulo, with the opening game and the final at the Maracana. June and July are Brazil’s dry winter, which is the best weather of the year in the south.
- The Rugby World Cup in Australia, October to November 2027, falling across the Australian spring – a good season to be on the east coast regardless of whether you care about the rugby.
Where the eclipse makes a whole trip
- Egypt is the obvious answer, and Luxor is the best of it. Pairing the eclipse with the Nile temples and the Valley of the Kings turns a six-minute event into a fortnight. August is severe heat, so plan for dawn starts.
- Andalusia is the accessible European option. Cadiz province gets almost three minutes, and the surrounding trip – Seville, Jerez, the white villages – stands on its own if cloud spoils the morning.
- Morocco sits under the path and offers the cheapest way to see it, with Tangier and the north within easy reach of the line.
- A warning worth taking seriously: totality is a few minutes and cloud is binary. Build a trip you would enjoy anyway, and treat the eclipse as the reason to go rather than the whole return.
Value destinations for 2027
- Albania and Montenegro remain the best value on the Mediterranean, with the Albanian Riviera still a fraction of Croatian prices and improving fast.
- Poland and the Baltics give major European cities, excellent food and intact old towns at well below western European cost.
- Uzbekistan has become genuinely straightforward to travel, with a high-speed railway linking Tashkent, Samarkand and Bukhara and some of the best architecture in Asia.
- Colombia and Peru continue to offer strong value in South America, and the Women’s World Cup will pull attention and airlift toward the continent in general.
- Japan stays unusually affordable for visitors by historical standards, though the popular cities are more crowded than they were.
Where to go, season by season
- January to March: Lapland and northern Norway for aurora, Patagonia and New Zealand in their summer, Southeast Asia in its dry season, and the Alps for snow. Lunar New Year on 6 February closes much of East Asia for a week.
- April to June: the Mediterranean before the crowds, Japan for blossom and then early summer, the American South, and Iceland as the roads reopen. With Easter falling on 28 March, April is unusually quiet in Europe.
- July to September: the eclipse in August, northern Europe and the Baltics, the Alps above the snowline, and southern Africa in its dry winter for wildlife. September is the best-value month in the northern hemisphere.
- October to December: Australia for the rugby and the spring, Japan for autumn colour, Morocco, Jordan and Egypt as the heat breaks, and the European Christmas markets from late November.
Where not to be, and when
- China, Vietnam and Korea in the week around 6 February, when Lunar New Year produces the largest annual migration on earth.
- Japan from 29 April to 5 May, for Golden Week, when domestic travel is at its most expensive and most booked.
- Southern Europe in August, which combines peak heat, peak prices and partial closure as residents take their own holiday.
- Brazilian host cities during the World Cup if football is not the point – accommodation prices on scarcity for those four weeks.
- Anywhere on the eclipse centre line on 2 August if you are not going for the eclipse. Prices and crowding will not reflect the ordinary season.
Frequently asked
- What is the biggest travel event of 2027? The total solar eclipse on 2 August, with the longest totality reachable from land this century over Egypt.
- Where is best value in 2027? Albania, Poland and the Baltics in Europe; Uzbekistan in Central Asia; Colombia and Peru in South America.
- When is the cheapest time to travel in 2027? The second half of January, early February outside the Lunar New Year window, and November.
- Do I need new entry permissions for Europe in 2027? The EU’s ETIAS scheme is expected to begin during 2027, but no firm start date had been published as of late 2026. Check the official EU source close to travel rather than relying on any third-party date.
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John Morrison is the founder and lead travel writer at Packzup. Over the past decade he has explored destinations across Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Oceania — always self-funded, never on a press trip.
