The New York Times 52 Places to Go in 2026 – Visit 11 With Us

Each January the New York Times puts out their ’52 Places To Go’ list. I have always enjoyed reading it. It’s a thoughtful list of the expected (Italy, California, Scandinavia) and unexpected (Armenia, Guyana, Algeria), destinations that inspire us to travel and explore our planet.

It’s very interesting to see which of those 52 are part of the cycling adventures that we run. You might have seen that we offer “tours in over 80 countries” (and we are getting closer to updating that to 90!) and just like the New York Times’ list, we have tours in both expected and unexpected places. The one thing we have always tried to do is take cyclists to destinations that are not your typical locations for bike travel and so we were excited to see that this year’s list highlights some of these unique and amazing destinations.

Here are 11 places where our tours intersect the New York Times list.

Warsaw, Poland

TDA’s tour: The Amber Route, starting July, 2027 in Tallinn, passes through Warsaw as the tour makes its way to Venice.

What the New York Times has to say:  “For decades, the Polish capital has been seen as pragmatic rather than magnetic. In 2026, it demands to be seen anew.”

We have a rest day in this historic city which carries special meaning for our Office Manger, Olha, who wrote about it last year. Her advice for your visit… “As you explore this remarkable city, take a moment to connect with the people who call it home. Walk the streets, bike the lanes and listen to their stories.”

Bangkok, Thailand

TDA’s tour: The Bamboo Road has a rest day in Bangkok in November of this year at the mid-point between Hanoi and Singapore.

What the New York Times has to say: “In the city centre, it’s now possible to walk between two central parks, Benjakitti and Lumphini, along a 20-acre green corridor featuring an array of sculptures.”

Many years ago, our founder, Henry Gold, did a photo walking tour of Bangkok and came up with some pretty interesting shots. Check it out.

Oran, Algeria

TDA’s tour: Road of Empires will arrive at the Port of Oran in March of 2027.

What the New York Times has to say: “As Algeria emerges as a tourist destination, Oran, a breezy Mediterranean port city, is experiencing a cultural revival that blends its layered past with a bold new energy. Known as the birthplace of rai, a genre of Algerian folk music from the 1920s, Oran is reclaiming its position as a hub for creativity and nightlife.”

While our time in Oran is brief (we have a lovely meal after disembarking from the ferry from Spain and are then are transported to Mostagenem where we begin pedalling along the coastline), we are so happy to see Algeria getting some well-deserved attention. We are always striving to find new destinations for cycling adventures and Algeria is certainly the one we are most excited about. We are the only bike tour company operating tours there as far as we know and to hear the New York Times declaring that Algeria is emerging as a tourist destination only validates what we already knew. Algeria is safe, the cycling is great, the Mediterranean views and green rolling hills are unexpected, the ruins of ancient empires are not to be missed, and the people are warm and welcoming.

Penang, Malaysia

TDA’s tour: The Bamboo Road reaches Penang in December of this year.

What the New York Times has to say: “A multicultural city rich in history celebrates its storied past…Its narrow streets are lined with Buddhist temples and mosques, British colonial mansions and the city’s famous shophouses — local businesses whose migrant Chinese and Indian proprietors lived upstairs.”

Just like Algeria, we suspect that Malaysia is a cycling destination soon to be on more people’s radar. We have been cycling there for over a decade and back in 2013, this is how Henry Gold described Georgetown (the main city on Penang Island) – “Georgetown is known as a place where the people that make up Malaysia; the Malay, Chinese, Indians, Tamils, expats and others, live, rub against each other and create a wonderful local mélange of culture and food.” Read more of Henry’s impressions here.

Nagasaki, Japan

TDA’s tour: The Journey to the East will begin the Japanese portion of the tour in this city in May of this year.

What the New York Times has to say: “Visit an 800-year-old camphor tree. Around the corner is Fukusaya, a confectionery that has sold cakes since 1624. Try a “milk seiki,” a frozen dessert drink, at Fujio. For nearly 40 years, Hideyuki Natsume — the soft-spoken son of atomic bomb survivors — has been running Milestone, a jazz bar.”

When Henry (he has written a lot about the destinations we visit if you haven’t already noticed!) visited the city, he stopped in to the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum and then practiced some shinrin-yoku in the forests around Nagasaki. Read his musings here.

Tien Shan Mountains, Kyrgyzstan

TDA’s tour: The aptly named ‘Mountains and Meadows‘ section of our Silk Route tour takes us through parts of the Tien Shan mountains. The next Silk Route adventure is scheduled for 2027.

What the New York Times has to say: “The 1,243-mile Kyrgyz Nomad Trail crosses Kyrgyzstan in an east-west direction, winding through the rugged Tien Shan Mountains and along small villages and seasonal yurt camps. Attractions include glaciers; Kel Suu, a turquoise lake ringed by jagged cliffs; Tash Rabat, a preserved 15th-century caravansary; and Saimaluu Tash, a remote alpine valley featuring a large collection of petroglyphs.”

This region is truly stunning and if I could be transported to one spot on earth to go for a bike ride, it would probably be somewhere up there in those beautiful mountains. Wild horses, semi-nomadic families in their seasonal yurts, turquoise lakes under snowcapped mountains and creeks trickling and rivers rushing. We pedal some truly incredible and remote roads that are challenging but most definitely worth the effort.

Vietnam

TDA’s tour: The Bamboo Road begins in Vietnam’s capital, Hanoi, later this year.

What the New York Times has to say:  “Vietnam, a growing tourism powerhouse in Southeast Asia, beckons to millions of vacationers annually with its famous food culture, staggering natural scenery — ranging from mountains to rainforests — and a storied history that dates to the seventh century B.C.”

We have developed a tried and true route through Vietnam that gives cyclists a good sense of the country – both on quiet backroads in the countryside, but also among the scooter and motorbike traffic in its towns and cities. Former Bamboo Road medic, Jill, wrote this comedic piece on learning to swim with the traffic flow.

Yunnan, China

TDA’s tour: We are very excited to add the Road to Shangri-La to our tour catalogue. The inaugural trip will start in January, 2027 and reach China’s Yunnan province in February of that year.

What the New York Times has to say:  “For well over a millennium, until the mid-20th century, a series of paths called the Tea Horse Road was used to export tea leaves to Tibet from China’s southern provinces. Many of these routes traced across the biodiverse region of Yunnan, which is considered tea’s birthplace and is still the main producer of China’s coveted pu-er variety. The network no longer exists as it once did, but many of the villages that were once its waypoints do.”

After many years of planning and waiting (thanks, COVID), we are ready to finally launch this tour, visiting legendary towns like Dali and Lijiang, that were once part of the Tea Horse Road.

Okinawa, Japan

TDA’s tour: Island Hopping Japan sets off in October, 2027 and will reach the finish line in Okinawa in late November of that year.

What the New York Times has to say:  “For centuries, Okinawa’s dazzling Shuri Castle was the seat of the Ryukyu Kingdom, whose territory included this 463-square-mile island about halfway between Taiwan and the rest of Japan. Distinct from other such buildings because of its vibrant red color, the hilltop citadel, a UNESCO World Heritage site originally dating to the 13th century, is set to reopen in the fall after years of painstaking reconstruction using traditional methods, after a catastrophic fire in 2019.”

Here is how one rider described the tour on its inaugural voyage in 2025 – “The Island Hopping Japan Tour is a fabulous new tour – the variety of landscapes, challenging and remote cycling, wildlife and a great introduction to Japanese culture off the beaten track are just a few of the highlights. The ferry travel added another fun and interesting dimension.”

Rio Pastaza Watershed, Ecuador

TDA’s tour: The South American Epic that starts this June, passes through Ecuador in August.

What the New York Times has to say:  “Baños de Agua Santa, a town known as the “gateway to the Ecuadorean Amazon,” is surrounded by mountains that shed water into the Pastaza River. On those slopes, Dracula orchids, whose flowers resemble monkey faces, bloom in tropical forests swathed in clouds, living alongside spectacled bears and vibrantly patterned frogs.”

Arguably our most ambitious expedition, the South American Epic will again take cyclists across the entire continent and dip down from the Andes into the Amazon in places like Baños alongside Rio Pastaza. Pictured above, one of the 2024 participants, Neil, cycles out of Baños.

Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Tanzania

TDA’s tour: The 2026 Tour d’Afrique is already underway but there is still time to join the 2027 edition.

What the New York Times has to say:  “The Ngorongoro Conservation Area, a UNESCO World Heritage site in northeastern Tanzania spanning highland plains,​​ savanna landscapes, woodlands and forests, has long drawn travelers to its spectacular crater, the world’s largest unbroken caldera, born from an ancient volcanic collapse. In March 2025, 17 southern white rhinos arrived from South Africa, part of efforts to expand the species’ range. For now, the rhinos remain in a temporary enclosure visible from the crater’s rim as they adjust to their new home, though they’ll eventually roam free in the crater, joining the black rhinos — as well as the lions, elephants, hippos, buffalo and flamingos.”

On their rest days in Arusha, Tanzania, participants on the Tour d’Afrique typically set out for safaris into Ngorongoro Crater and the Serengeti. There is nothing quite like seeing a hippo or a giraffe or elephant up close!

We’d love to hear from you. Leave a comment and tell us what destinations the NYT list missed and what destinations should TDA visit next?