“Over recent years Singapore has been nurturing an emerging local fashion scene, artisan coffee has taken off like wild fire and brunch has become a ‘thing’.” I am so proud of the little red dot that I call home but given that it is Asia’s smallest state, it was still quite a surprise that it (my home) has been chosen by Lonely Planet as the world’s number one country to visit next year, according to their book Best in Travel 2015 which has just been released. It ranked well ahead of St Lucia, Ireland and even Morocco.

Singapore’s Golden Jubilee, (SG50 – i.e. 50 years of Independence) happening next National Day, is a big contributing factor in the Singapore success story for 2015.  There are also a lot of new projects being ushered in to coincide with the anniversary, like the unveiling of the new National Art Gallery that, as a someone with a BA in history of art and architecture, I can hardly wait for.

Best in Travel is actually a rather lovely guide book that I haven’t come across before, although it’s been around for about ten years. It is a round up of places, trends and experiences for the year ahead.  They also list their top ten regions, as well as top ten cities (both nothing to do with the top ten countries). They also do a very handy travel planner which maps out 35 events – some deliciously random – month by month, from January’s African Cup of Nations in Morocco to December’s Reba ceremony in Indonesia.

Bravo SG.

Chinatown lantern photo courtesy of Deviant Art