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(CNN) — This week in travel news, Time Out and TIME have both announced their annual lists of must-visit destinations, while AirlineRatings.com has named the world’s best airlines for 2022.
Destination inspiration
First, Time Out released its 2022 round-up of the world’s best cities. In a Europe-dominated list, Scotland had two cities in the top five. (You can hear what Anthony Bourdain made of the country when he visited in 2015 on the “Parts Unknown” podcast.)
Edinburgh Castle towers above Princes Street Gardens in the top-rated Scottish city.
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Then TIME unleashed its list of the world’s 50 greatest places: Japanese islands, a South African wine region and a handful of South American cities were among them. Other recommendations from us here at CNN Travel include these spots in Europe — where the dollar is strong against the euro — and the Maldives: I mean, just look at these overwater villas.
Extraordinary wonders
Over in the Middle East, the United Arab Emirates may be just over 50 years old, but there are millennia of history to explore. Abu Dhabi is home to an array of historic treasures, including the 18th-century Hosn Palace and the lush man-made splendor of the Al Ain Oasis. Then there’s Abu Dhabi’s otherworldly fossil dunes: frozen waves of solid sand that have been crafted over tens of thousands of years.
Taste the world
Revered food writer Grace Young is having a moment. She’s just won the Julia Child Award and the 2022 James Beard Humanitarian of the Year Award, and she’s deep on a mission to save America’s Chinatowns. And if Asian food’s your jam, you might also enjoy our story on how “bland” tofu became one of the world’s hottest foods. And if you’re still hungry for more, try this Japanese tea house that lets visitors drink from $25,000 antique bowls.
Be careful out there
It’s wildfire season in California, and firefighters are working hard to protect Yosemite National Park’s giant sequoias — the largest trees on Earth by volume. The Incan ruins of Machu Picchu in Peru were also under threat from wildfire earlier this month. In Kyrgyzstan, a group of tourists trekking in the Tian Shan mountains were lucky to survive a huge avalanche that swept over them on July 8: Watch here.
And travelers not facing bodily harm may still be looking at massive flight delays and cancellations as airlines and airports scramble to meet summer demand.
Aloha, Hawai’i
In case you missed it
A Middle Eastern airline has been named world’s best for the second year in a row.
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