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(CNN) – Come on, 2022, give us your best shot. We are bruised and we fought, but we are waiting for better days.
Here are the greatest stories of CNN Travel this week.
22 places to go in 2022
The past few years have proven that traveling is a privilege, not a right, but we still have so much to be thankful for on our small, well-connected planet. We’ve put together a wishlist of 22 dream destinations all over the world that inspire us, from national parks to remote islands and other less visited places.
There is Ollantaytambo in Peru Sacred Valley, considered a refuge for the Incas the royalty and energetic vibes of burgeoning Naples, the cradle of Italy of pizzas. Or if you want to dive into nature up to your knees, you can try the Congo Basin and Gabon’s national parks – which are all celebrating their 20th anniversary this year – or the Munga-Thirri-Simpson Desert National Park in the Australian outback.
Cancellation chaos
When the Covid Grinch wasn’t busy sentencing us to eat turkey alone in our rooms, it was tearing up airline crews and helping to cancel thousands of vacation flights around the world, especially to the United States. United.
Festive cheering was particularly lacking on a Delta flight to Atlanta on Dec. 23 when a woman allegedly punched another passenger, resulting in a charge of federal assault.
Big ben bang again
New Year’s celebrations in London and New York were canceled or reduced, but at least the iconic attractions of the cities were able to put on their festive shine.
In the British capital, where the public festivities were canceled, Big Ben slipped from his scaffolding and banged again after a much needed four year repair project. Times Square’s New Year’s Eve ball in Manhattan got a makeover Waterford Irish Crystals for the reduced celebration of the city.
Good news for Americans at home and abroad, the US National Park Service is waive entrance fees for five days in 2022 at all national park sites, and the US State Department now allows certain citizens to return to the country with expired passports.
The Times Square ball is 12 feet in diameter and weighs 11,875 pounds.
The travel situation in Europe has not improved
Three new destinations have been added to CDCs highest risk category for travel: a Mediterranean archipelago, an Eastern European country renowned for its vineyards, plus the largest country in Northern Europe.
Operators of Eurotunnel Le Shuttle, the fixed rail link between Britain and mainland Europe, on December 29 warned British citizens living in the EU that they can no longer transit through France by road to reach their continental homes.
Live the Dolce Vita
Renderings of the new Orient Express La Dolce Vita have been revealed and, as you would expect from the world’s most glamorous rail company, they are exquisite.
The Orient Express last crossed Italy in 1977, when the Paris-Istanbul service ended, but from 2023 a luxury package of new 11-car trains will cross 14 of the country’s regions and 131 of its cities, as well as countries beyond.
The journey that inspired Lonely Planet
It was the 1970s and Tony and Maureen Wheeler had a dream: to travel from London to Sydney by land, or at least as much as they could. They embarked on a once-in-a-lifetime journey that forever changed global travel.
It was in the 1970s, and Tony and Maureen Wheeler had a dream: to travel from London to Sydney by land, or at least as much as they could. They embarked on a unique trip that forever changed global travel.
In case you missed it
A Russian and an American had a first date on Christmas Day.
Baby are you alright You barely touched your marzipan pigs.
The island where cats outnumber humans six times.
CNN’s Forrest Brown, Sofia Couceiro, Temujin Doran, Jason Hanna, Tamara Hardingham-Gill, Ben Jones, Lilit Marcus, Barry Neild, Angelica Pursley and Francesca Street contributed to this report.
Top image: Rome, Italy (Alexander Spatari / Moment RF / Getty Images)
