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Readers’ Choice Awards 2015

International Traveller

The good readers of International Traveller have spoken.
After sorting through thousands of entries, here are the results: the very best destinations, experiences, hotels and airlines of 2015, as voted by you. Enjoy!
Compiled by Megan Arkinstall

– DESTINATIONS –

Best country for travel:
USA

Runners-up:

2. Italy
3. France
4. New Zealand
5. Great Britain
6. Japan
7. Canada
8. Thailand
9. Spain
10. Vietnam

Best destination for a city break:
Paris

Runners-up:

2. Singapore
3. New York
4. Hong Kong
5. London
6. San Francisco

Best beach getaway:
Fiji

Runners-up:

2. Thailand
3. Hawai`i
4. Maldives
5. Bali
6. Tahiti

Best place for a ski holiday:
New Zealand

Runners-up:

2. Canada
3. Japan
4. USA
5. Switzerland

Best place for a family holiday:
Fiji

Runners-up:

2. Disneyland
3. Bali
4. Hawai`i
5. Thailand

Best place to spot wildlife:
Africa

Runners-up:

2. Canada
3. Galapagos
4. Alaska
5. Borneo

Best destination to head off the beaten track:
New Zealand

Runners-up:

2. Peru
3. Nepal
4. South Africa
5. Borneo

Best destination to indulge:
France

Runners-up:

2. Italy
3. New Zealand
4. USA
5. Spain

– ACCOMMODATION –

Best hotel for luxury:
The Peninsula Hong Kong

Runners-up:

2. Marina Bay Sands, Singapore
3. Raffles, Singapore
4. Emirates Palace, Abu Dhabi
5. Bellagio, Las Vegas/Burj Al Arab, Dubai

Best budget hotel brand:
Ibis

Runners-up:

2. Best Western
3. Novotel
4. Mantra Hotels
5. Holiday Inn

Best hotel room service:
Hilton Hotels & Resorts

Runners-up:

2. Shangri-La
3. Langham Hotels
4. Sofitel
5. Westin

Best bathroom goodies:
Hilton Hotels & Resorts

Runners-up:

2. Hyatt Hotels/InterContinental
3. Sofitel
4. Langham Hotels
5. The Ritz/Shangri-La

Best family hotel:
Disneyland Resorts

Runners-up:

2. Club Med, worldwide
3. Jean-Michel Cousteau Resort, Fiji
4. Atlantis The
Palm, Dubai
5. Hilton Hawaiian Village, Oahu, Hawai`i

Best hotel pool:
Marina Bay Sands, Singapore

Runners-up:

2. Atlantis The Palm, Dubai
3. Hanging Gardens Resort, Ubud, Bali
4. Hard Rock Hotel, Kuta, Bali
5. Hotel Caruso, Amalfi Coast, Italy

Best resort:
Jean-Michel Cousteau Resort, Fiji

Runners-up:

2. Disneyland Resorts
3. Aman Resorts
4. Hilton Hawaiian Village, Oahu, Hawai`i
5. Atlantis The Palm, Dubai

Best lodge:
Huka Lodge, Taupo, NZ

Runners-up:

2. Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge, Canada
3. Kauri Cliffs, Matauri Bay, New Zealand
4. Matakauri Lodge, Queenstown, NZ
5. Serengeti Serena Safari Lodge, Tanzania

– AIR TRAVEL –

Best airline for service:
Qantas

Runners-up:

2. Emirates
3. Singapore Airlines
4. Virgin Australia
5. Cathay Pacific
6. Air New Zealand
7. Thai Airways
8. Etihad Airways
9. Qatar Airways
10. Garuda Indonesia

Best airline for food:
Qantas

Runners-up:

2. Emirates
3. Singapore Airlines
4. Virgin Australia
5. Air New Zealand

Weekly travel news, experiences
insider tips, offers, and more.

Best airline lounge:
Qantas

Runners-up:

2. Emirates
3. Singapore Airlines
4. Virgin Australia
5. Cathay Pacific

Best airline for entertainment:
Qantas

Runners-up:

2. Emirates
3. Singapore Airlines
4. Virgin Australia
5. Air New Zealand

Best stopover city:
Singapore

Runners-up:

2. Hong Kong
3. Dubai
4. Kuala Lumpur
5. Bangkok

Best airport:
Changi Singapore

Runners-up:

2. Dubai International 3. Hong Kong International
4. London Heathrow
5. Suvarnabhumi Bangkok International

– JOURNEYS –

Best rail journey:
Rocky Mountaineer, Canada

Runners-up:

2. Venice–Simplon Orient Express
3. Trans Siberian
4. Glacier Express
5. Trans Alpine

Best destination for cruising:
Alaska

Runners-up:

2. Caribbean
3. South Pacific
4. European River Cruising
5. Antarctica/Mediterranean

Best road trip:
Route 66, USA

Runners-up:

2. California Highway 1
3. Amalfi Coast, Italy
4. South Island, NZ
5. Canadian Rockies

Ultimate dream destination:
Maldives

Runners-up:

2. Italy
3. Tahiti
4. France
5. South Africa

Ultimate dream travel experience:
Grand tour of Europe

Runners-up:

2. African safari
3. Seeing the Northern Lights
4. Booking a round-the-world flight
5. Staying in an overwater bungalow

 

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These are officially the 5 best train journeys in the world right now

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    Travel + Leisure just crowned the world’s best trains for 2026, and the results might reroute your next holiday.

    Forget the airport security queue. Forget the middle seat. Forget the bloke in 14C who reclines the second the seatbelt sign turns off. Travel + Leisure just dropped its 2026 World’s Best Awards, and the train category is basically a love letter to slow, scenic, ridiculously plush travel – voted on by roughly 661,000 readers who have very strong opinions about onboard spas and pisco sours. Here’s who made the cut.

    1. Andean Explorer, a Belmond Train – 96.84

    Peru takes the crown, with the Andean Explorer, South America’s first luxury overnight train, running a three-day, two-night route between Arequipa and Cusco that has zero direct competition on the continent – which might explain why it’s clearing 96 points.

    Launched in 2017, the train threads through the Peruvian highlands with stops at Lake Titicaca, all while passengers tuck into signature Andean cuisine, get treatments in an onboard spa carriage, and take in scenery that will blow you away. This isn’t a quick transfer – it’s an immersive, multi-day journey for people who want the trip to be the destination.

    2. Hiram Bingham, a Belmond Train – 96.46

    Peru pulls off the rare feat of taking out the top two spots. Named after the American explorer credited with bringing Machu Picchu to international attention in 1911, the Hiram Bingham is the glossy, dark-wood, live-band, welcome-cocktail version of getting to Machu Picchu. Think traditional dancers on the platform, a five-course dinner on the way there, and a bar carriage full of live music and pisco sours on the way back. It’s shorter and livelier than the Andean Explorer, more group celebration than private hideaway – but it delivers one of the most theatrical arrivals in world travel.

    3. Royal Canadian Pacific – 90.93

    The Royal Canadian Pacific runs vintage rail carriages out of Calgary through the Canadian Rockies, and unlike everything else here, you can’t just book it off a website – it operates mostly through private charters and limited special departures, with no standing public timetable. That scarcity is basically the point: this is old-money rail travel, heavy on restored heritage carriages and light on crowds.

    4. Rocky Mountaineer – 90.80

    The people’s champion of luxury rail, the Rocky Mountaineer, runs daytime routes with glass-domed carriages through British Columbia, Alberta, and down into Colorado and Utah, turning the Canadian and American Rockies into a rolling widescreen movie. It’s more accessible than most trains on this list – no overnight cabins, no need for a private charter – which is probably exactly why so many readers have actually ridden it and voted accordingly.

    5. Venice Simplon-Orient-Express, a Belmond Train – 90.78

    The name that started the whole luxury train fantasy. The Venice Simplon-Orient-Express (VSOE)’s 1920s-vintage Art Deco carriages – navy-and-gold livery, polished wood, white roof – have been the definitive symbol of golden-age rail travel since 1883, running routes between Paris, Venice and other storied European cities. It might land at number five on points, but in terms of pure name recognition, it’s still the train every other train on this list is being measured against.