The most exciting new openings in travel, from the fresh-faced hotels we’d plan a trip around to boundary-pushing dining, museums, and more.

Maine

Momentum has been building around Maine for some time, but 2021 was its year. That’s thanks in part to a slew of nature-minded projects and comfortable places to spend the night that weren’t confined to the coast. New trails like the Great Circle Trail and the Bold Coast Scenic Bikeway made the rugged 100-Mile Wilderness and Downeast areas more accessible. Up north, glamping favorite Under Canvas’s first East Coast outpost and reimagined indie boutique The Claremont opened up Acadia National Park’s 26 peaks to a larger travel set, while fresh-opening Captains Collection kept classic Kennebunkport more relevant than ever. 

Piedmont, Italy

This proud, polished northern Italian region is giving Tuscany and Puglia a run for their money, thanks to a boom in its southern Langhe, Roero, and Monferrato areas. Two game-changing openings are making these wine-centric areas more accessible to travelers. Sophisticated Nordelaia is a stylish 12-room conversion of a 19th-century villa, with a persuasive fresh-and-local restaurant. Farther west, surrounded by its own sweep of vineyards and truffle-rich woods, 39-room Casa di Langa is a terracotta-red riff on the traditional Piedmontese farm estate, with a contemporary-art collection including works by Ai Weiwei, Sean Scully, and Carla Accardi

Qatar

With one eye on the traditions of the past and the other firmly on the future, compact Qatar feels different from its Gulf neighbors. The country’s hosting of the 2022 FIFA World Cup has brought in a wealth of new stadiums, infrastructure projects, and hotels, including the Middle East’s first Banyan Tree, a testament to Qatar’s confidence that the world will keep coming when the games are done. Because there’s so much more to the Gulf nation than sports. In the past year, Doha’s museums and galleries have hosted exhibitions by Jeff Koons and Virgil Abloh, and Msheireb Downtown is now home to M7, a hub for Qatari design. (The I. M. Pei–designed Museum of Islamic Art reopens in late 2022 after a year of enhancements.) Those in need of a reset are heading to the north coast to Zulal Wellness Resort by Chiva-Som, where traditional Arabic and Islamic medicine meet well-being philosophies. And outside Doha, the unexpectedly verdant Heenat Salma Farm reconnects people with nature through field-to-table dining, craft workshops, and cozy tents for overnight stays. It’s desert life, but not as you know it.