If your travel experience has been lacking so far on your 2025 bucket list, it’s time to start planning some incredible trips around the globe. Whether you’re retired or still inching toward it, now can be a great time to visit destinations you’ve always wanted to experience.
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Doni Belau, founder of Girls’ Guide to the World, a women-only travel company, and Kendra Guild, vice president of North America at Solos, a travel company that arranges group trips for solo vacationers, shared some of their top picks for baby boomers to travel outside the United States to in 2025. So, whether you are doing some independent luxury travel, are planning a girls-only trip or just want some money-saving guidance, they’ve got you covered.
Here’s what they had to say, along with some travel tips to save money on your trip.
Puglia, Italy
“The heel of the boot of Italy is a remarkable destination with fabulous food, charming seaside towns, 1000-year-old olive groves and white-washed hillside villages,” Belau said. “If you go in the shoulder season — March to May and October to November — you won’t see the crowds you do in Venice, Rome or Tuscany.”
Opting to stay in a vacation rental can help you save money, she said.
“You can cook in on fresh market finds every other night,” she said. “You will, however, want a car to travel easily to the far corners of this region.”
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Thailand
Visiting Thailand can offer a lot of bang for your buck, Belau said. For example, she said you can stay in a four- or five-star hotel for a fraction of the price of a similar accommodation in the U.S. or Europe, allowing you to stay longer and see more on your trip.
“If you start in Bangkok, but then head off the beaten path — i.e., not to Phuket or other popular islands — you’ll get a lot more for your money,” she said. “Sukhothai in Central Thailand is the ideal place to soak in the history of Thailand.”
Belau said her travel company, Girls’ Guide, is excited to travel to the River Kwai region for an in-depth nature encounter and to stay in floating hotel rooms.
“The Float House has rates around $300 a night, which is not cheap, but it’s a far cry from what you’d pay in the Caribbean or the Maldives to stay on the water,” she added.
Albania
“Albania is an increasingly popular travel destination for a variety of compelling reasons across both affordability and stunning natural scenery,” Guild said. “The country boasts diverse landscapes, from beautiful beaches along the Ionian and Adriatic Seas to the rugged mountains of the Albanian Alps.”
She added that the country’s affordability can allow you to enjoy the best of the Adriatic Sea at a significantly lower price than neighboring Greece. Additionally, she said walking and/or soft active travel has become an upward trend for boomers since the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Right after the pandemic, there was a significant rise in hiking clubs and other outdoor activities in the boomer demo, combined with an increasing desire overall to get away from crowds,” she said. “This really gave way to the off-the-beaten-path walking tours like Albania and a few other European walking destinations that we include in our portfolio.”
Norway, Iceland or Finland
If you enjoy stargazing, Guild suggested embarking on a trip that will allow you to view the night sky in its finest glory.
“2025 is set to be one of the last prime years in the current solar cycle to witness the Northern Lights at their most vibrant,” she said. “
With solar activity reaching its peak, auroras will be brighter and more frequent, offering a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see this natural spectacle in destinations like Norway, Iceland or Finland.”
Egypt and the Grand Egyptian Museum
“The highly anticipated Grand Egyptian Museum finally opened on Oct. 16, 2024,” Guild said. “The museum took over 20 years to build and is now home to some of the world’s greatest ancient treasures.”
A treasure trove for history buffs, she said it’s the largest archaeological museum complex in the world, home to more than 100,000 artifacts.
“For the first time ever, King Tut’s entire treasure collection will be on display,” according to Guild. “Egypt is on many baby boomers’ bucket lists, and now is an ideal time to visit.”
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The bottom line is that you can make any average trip into a once-in-a-lifetime adventure. Whether it’s exploring foreign lands or sailing on a working vessel, you can make the most of your retirement and newfound life of leisure.
“Something I’ve personally always wanted to do is to sail across the Atlantic or Pacific on a working vessel,” Belau said. “This is the ultimate anti-cruise, and it’s far more affordable. You’ll get to hang out with the crew, learn how the ship works and get a feel for what life on the high seas is really like,” she noted. “A number of companies offer this.”
If you’re an AARP member, you can enjoy a host of travel benefits. This includes car rentals, cruises, flights and vacation packages, hotels and resorts, rails and tours, and travel planning. For example, AARP members can get up to 35% off base rental car rates at Budget. You can also get up to 10% off the best available rate and late checkout until 2 p.m. — when available — at Hilton hotels.
Caitlyn Moorhead contributed to the reporting for this article.
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: I’m a Travel Expert: 5 Top Destinations for Boomers Worth the Money
