The world's northernmost permanently inhabited spot and a mere 1300km from the North Pole, its attractions include polar bear spotting there are more bears than people reindeer racing, glacier trekking, watching dawn break on February 14 after the three-month blackout and dog sled rides.
San Andres and Providencia in Colombia also make the list with their combination of commercialism and laidback beach culture, seafood, sunshine, dancing and cheap beer.Ko Tao in Thailand is the latest island to blip on the world travel radar.It's still backpacker heaven – clear water, cheap food and accommodation and "a bumping bar scene that rages on until dawn".
The Basque country of France and Spain makes the list for its mountains, valleys, surf beaches and festivals.Australia's sole mention.
In the Top 10 regions is Tasmania's Bay of Fires, made up of a string of beaches in the island's northeast. The four-day Bay of Fires walk, which follows the coastline to the Bay of Fires Lodge, is considered a highlight.
More difficult to reach are the islands of Chiloe off Chile, a newly inaugurated ecological reserve. Accessible only by ferry, the mist-covered Chiloes with their high rainfall remain the place that time forgot.More mainstream is Hawaii's Big Island of Hawai'i. Less crowded and less expensive than Oahu or Maui, it boasts great beaches, active volcanoes, rainforests and larva wastelands.
Bas Languedoc in southern France with its long, sandy beaches, lagoons and coastal plains and Haut Languedoc with its rugged gorges and plateaus make the list, preferred by the Lonely Planet over Provence and the Cote d'Azur.
In Laos, the Nam Ha Protected Area in Luang Nam Tha, the country's northernmost province and hemmed in by the Mekong River on the west and China to the north, makes the list. The rugged reserve of jungles, mountains and waterfalls is inhabited by some 30 ethnic groups that provide guides for trekkers. Visitor numbers are controlled and some treks are described as "thigh destroying".
China's Yunnan province gets a tick for its cultural and topographical variety that, in spite of large scale development, remains the one province in China that travellers should see.If big cities appeal more, then Lonely Planet's Top 10 cities for 2009 are Antwerp, Belgium; Beirut, Lebanon; Chicago, US; Glasgow, Scotland; Lisbon, Portugal; Mexico City, Mexico; Sao Paulo, Brazil; Shanghai, China; Warsaw, Poland; and Zurich, Switzerland.
Among the Top 10 countries is Algeria, a "largely safe, edgy destination that few people in the world know anything about" with Roman cities, landscapes and oases.Bangladesh is included for its Sundarbans, the largest mangrove forest in the world and home to tigers which, it is said, kill a person every third day.
Canada is recommended for Quebec's winter fishing huts and Laurentian ski slopes, Banff's skiing, British Colombia's kayaking and the cities of Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto.Greenland makes the list with its untamed wilderness as does Kyrgyzstan with its distant links to Genghis Khan and mountainous countryside.
Tourism is growing in Peru and now is the time to visit. Float down the Amazon, visit Machu Picchu, cruise Lake Titicaca or hit the resort beach of Mancora.Rwanda, like many African states, has a brutal past. Famous for its "gorillas in the mist", volcanoes, lush jungles, lakes, wild game and mountains, Lonely Planet rates it as "relatively safe and secure" although civil war is presently raging in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo.
Sierra Leone, made infamous in the movie Blood Diamonds, also has a violent history but is known as well for its primates' sanctuary at Tiwai Island, Outamba-Kilimi National Park and Bunce Island where visitors walk in the footsteps of the slaves once shipped to the Americas.
The best tombs are, not unsurprisingly, the Pyramids of Giza, Egypt, on the outskirts of Cairo and the Taj Mahal, India, built in the 17th-century by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favourite wife, Mumtaz Mahal.
Less known are the remote Dogon Tombs in Mali in West Africa, these being tiny buildings set into cliffs.Best architectural and place combination are the mosques in Istanbul, Turkey. Dubbed the City of Mosques, it is peppered with distinctive Ottoman domes and needle-sharp minarets.The most extreme ancient sites list includes Pompeii in Italy, while sin-purging in the Ganges is one of the planet's best water festivals.
Best cycling adventure is the TransAmerica trail, 6835km from Astoria, Oregon, on the Pacific Ocean, to Yorktown, Virginia, on the Atlantic.Best underground experiences are in the Cappadocian underground cities, the best known being Kaymakli, Derinkuyu and Ozluce.
Best ecotrips are tracing the Andes in South America on the Old Patagonia Express, kayaking the Yukon river in Canada or cross-country skiing in Kamben, Norway.One of the weirdest plants to check out in 2009 is in the Namibian Desert – the welwitschia mirabilis.Tides also provide intriguing travel destinations with an artificial lake near Topeka in the US on the list.