‘Cool List’ – two Irish entries make National Geographic's 2024 travel hotlist

The 2,500km touring route is named as one of 30 “most exciting destinations" for 2024 on National Geographic Traveller’s annual ‘Cool List’.

In a major tourism boost for the island, Belfast also features on the list – with “a super-bloom" forecast thanks to the city’s forthcoming year of culture.

National Geographic's Cool List is an agenda-setting round-up of tourism temptations for the year ahead. Selected by its editors, picks for 2024 range from Norway to Nova Scotia.

"The Wild Atlantic Way has become one of Europe’s most exciting road trips,” it says – “not least because it ticks off some of Ireland’s most memorable experiences: the edge-of-the-world lighthouse at Fanad Head; Galway’s legendary oysters; the lunar-like landscape of the Burren; and the paintbox-palette town of Kinsale”.

A string of new experiences “means there’s more to enjoy than ever,” it adds – name-checking the new National Surf Centre at Strandhill, Co Sligo and the reopened Dursey Island cable car.

Belfast's year of culture will see Belfast City Council invest £5.9m/€6.8m to deliver “the city’s biggest ever creative and cultural celebration”, it says.

National Geographic describes it as “years in the making”, following major tourism draws like Titanic Belfast and Northern Ireland's use as a Game of Thrones filming location, together with “a chance to look back on turbulent history with some peaceful distance".

The celebration will include over 200 events, including a City of Music splash in autumn, a collaboration with Cornwall’s Eden Project and a “mass boat-building project” on the River Lagan.

“Accolades like this give Tourism Ireland another great hook to continue to promote Belfast, the Wild Atlantic Way and the island of Ireland around the world as a ‘must see’ destination,” said Alice Mansergh, Tourism Ireland’s Chief Executive Designate, welcoming the news.

“Next year, we’ll be promoting Belfast 2024,” she added. "And 2024 marks the 10th anniversary of the Wild Atlantic Way. Of course, the heritage and scenery of the Wild Atlantic Way span millennia, but it’s certainly nice to take a moment to celebrate this iconic route, which came together into one 10 years ago next year."

National Geographic’s Cool List follows Lonely Planet’s recent inclusion of Co Donegal on its Best in Travel round-up for 2024.

It also lists Lima’s culinary scene, Dominica's Waitukubuli Sea Trail, the small Indian state of Sikkum and the chance to see a solar eclipse in Texas among its inclusions.

“Whether it’s culinary excellence, solar eclipses, night trains, new national parks, rewilding initiatives, ancient wonders revisited or cultural landmarks, we’ve curated some of the best travel destinations for the next 12 months,” said Pat Riddell, editor of National Geographic Traveller (UK).

The full list is online here.