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It's never too early to start planning your 2023 travel plans! Travel + Leisure compiled a list of 50 of the most beautiful, interesting and unique places around the world to travel to in the new year. While the list features notable destinations like the sun-soaked beaches of Maui and the stunning expanse of Tanzania, one city in North Carolina managed to make the cut.
So which North Carolina city was highlighted as one of the best places to travel to next year?
Asheville
This eclectic mountain town was named one of the best places to go for fresh air and nature, joining other destinations like Andorra; Aysén, Chile; The Hudson Valley in New York; Zambia's Lower Zambezi National Park; Prince Edward Island, Canada; Tanzania; and Uttar Pradesh, India.
Here's what Travel + Leisure had to say:
"This flannel-clad city in the Blue Ridge Mountains checks all the boxes, with year-round outdoor activities, sophisticated dining, and easy access, whether you're driving or flying. ... But the year ahead offers more reasons to visit, starting with some cool new places to stay: Wrong Way River Lodge has a collection of A-frame cabins along the French Broad River that are perfect for white-water rafters. AutoCamp Asheville, another glamping-esque abode with Airstream campers, is slated to open by mid-2023. Downtown, the new Restoration Hotel promises a properly plush stay; its sister property in Charleston consistently ranks in T+L's World's Best Awards.
Asheville's food scene has fresh energy from S&W Market, Asheville's first food hall and the brainchild of award-winning chef Meherwan Irani. For all that's new, visitors shouldn't skip the old standbys: French Broad Chocolates is a local fave that's since gone national, and Battery Park Book Exchange is the prime spot for a late-night glass of Champagne amid dusty bookshelves."
Check out Travel + Leisure's full report to see all the best places around the world to travel to in the next year.