Look what I found on Yahoo Travel:
When our editors got into a room to hash out our top travel picks for 2009, we realized just how much the economic, social, and political changes of 2008 have sculpted the travel landscape for the coming year.
The rising cost of air travel, the global economic crisis, and the fluctuating dollar made once-popular destinations in Europe out of reach for many of us. New hotspots, like South America, emerged, as their exchange rates offered visitors more bang for their buck. Heightened interest in “going green” meant more focus on eco-friendly tourism and great-outdoors vacations than ever before. And let’s not forget the historic presidential election of Barack Obama, which has sparked Washington, D.C.,’s massive resurgence as a tourism destination.
Underpinning all of this, however, is a renewed emphasis on great-value vacations — something we at ShermansTravel know all about. Our editors brought their dollar-savvy expertise and collective travel mileage to the office globe to cast a wide net of places to go in 2009, nearly all of which offer a good degree of affordability in addition to unique, memorable travel experiences. So get out and explore these 29 places before the crowds do . . . in 2010.
The rising cost of air travel, the global economic crisis, and the fluctuating dollar made once-popular destinations in Europe out of reach for many of us. New hotspots, like South America, emerged, as their exchange rates offered visitors more bang for their buck. Heightened interest in “going green” meant more focus on eco-friendly tourism and great-outdoors vacations than ever before. And let’s not forget the historic presidential election of Barack Obama, which has sparked Washington, D.C.,’s massive resurgence as a tourism destination.
Underpinning all of this, however, is a renewed emphasis on great-value vacations — something we at ShermansTravel know all about. Our editors brought their dollar-savvy expertise and collective travel mileage to the office globe to cast a wide net of places to go in 2009, nearly all of which offer a good degree of affordability in addition to unique, memorable travel experiences. So get out and explore these 29 places before the crowds do . . . in 2010.
3. Cappadocia, Turkey
Located in the center of Turkey, approximately 450 miles from Istanbul, Cappadocia is a Salvador Dali painting come to life. This bizarre, lunar-like landscape is dotted with extraordinary “fairy chimney” rock formations, dramatic gorges, troglodyte houses, subterranean chapels, underground cities that once sheltered early Christians, and exquisite hotels carved out of the area’s abundant soft stone. Make pottery in Avanos, go wine-tasting in Urgup, and rise with the lark and take to the skies in a hot-air balloon for a bird's eye view of Goreme National Park’s dramatic valleys and conical rock formations.
Why Go In 2009: Most American tourists are still reluctant to venture beyond Istanbul and Turkey’s Mediterranean coast, so go now before word spreads that Cappadocia has reached beyond backpackers and archeology buffs to appeal to a more luxury-minded set. The Serinn House, a boutique design hotel in Urgup with just five rooms (when was the last time you stayed in a WiFi-equipped cave?), opened in early 2007. Also, due to the favorable exchange rate (though Turkey aspires to adopt the euro and join the European Union, the Turkish lira will remain in circulation through 2009), Turkey is both exotic and affordable.
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