One-Off, Bucket-List Travel Adventures For 2024

17.01.2024 - 17:43 / forbes.com

If 2024 is the year to complete a bucket-list trip to discover a destination that's a little different, or to travel to a one-off event, then here are a few ideas—new long-haul flight routes from the U.S., unmissable one-off global events, 'new' European places to discover and new cruise lines venturing into dramatic waters in Australia. Here's what's waiting to be ticked off on your 2024 travel bucket list.

Condé Nast Traveler reports on new exciting long-haul flights to take from the U.S., opening up new destinations with direct flights. For example, since October it has been possible to fly nonstop from the U.S. to the Philippines, with United Airlines, from San Francisco to Manila.

On May 24, 2024, United will also become the first carrier to fly direct from the U.S. to the Algarve in Portugal—one of Europe's sunniest places. It will operate between Newark and Faro, four times a week.

A completely new route is opening up in another part of Europe too. Twice a week, the Italian airline, Neos Air, will run a service between JFK and Palermo in Italy—a perfect opportunity to explore everything Sicily has to offer.

Lonely Planet reports on epic bucket-list events that are happening across the world in 2024. For example, Afrika Burn is a six-day extension of Burning Man in the U.S. that takes place in early May in the desert of Quaggafontein in South Africa.

The upbeat Croatian island of Hvar on the Mediterranean coast is always a delight but in July it celebrates lavender, where the island's fields turn purple and it can be tasted and smelt in everything from its pastries to its perfumes.

And if Tasmania's music Festival of Voices in July seems a little far to go, who can forget the biggest one-off party that will happen in Paris at the same time? The Paris summer Olympic Games will kick off with an opening ceremony along the Seine past the majestically re-built cathedral of Notre-Dame. If that isn't enough, the surfing competitions are taking place in Teahupo’o in Tahiti, French Polynesia—the perfect place to start your exploration of the other 118 islands in the archipelago.

CNN reports on places to visit that might have been previously overlooked but are coming into their own this year. Tartu, in southern Estonia is the 2024 European Capital of Culture with a special emphasis on kissing and Albania should be on everyone's lips before prices rocket, as they inevitably will once everyone visits. Situated between Greece and Montenegro in Europe, Albania's been a well-kept secret locally for years, with warm beaches, historical villages, impressive mountains and since 2023, Europe’s first wild river national park. Its huge increase in tourism is one of the main reasons that Albania's passport has