From snowy alpine trails to volcanic islands, medieval villages, dramatic coastlines, and ancient ruins, this year was full of unforgettable moments. As we look back on the best travel experiences of 2025, we’re reminded just how much beauty the world has to offer — whether close to home or across the ocean. If you’re planning your own trips for next year, here’s a look at our top travel experiences of 2025 across winter, spring, summer, and fall. We hope this inspires your own 2026 travels.

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Best Travel Experiences 2025: Winter in the USA

Rocky Mountain Adventures

Kicking off the year in the Rockies set the tone for our travel year. We’re lucky to have Colorado’s mountains nearby, providing us with easy access to Colorado’s top ski towns. Colorado provided some of our best winter travel experiences of 2025, with fresh snow, bluebird skies, and endless trails. This included:

• Rocky Mountain National Park – peaceful snowshoeing and wildlife viewing on Trail Ridge Road and the trails to Ouzel Falls and Dream/Emerald Lake

• Breckenridge, Vail, and Winter Park – While they’re known for downhill skiing, in 2025 we spent more time cross-country skiing

Road Trip: Denver → San Diego (and Back)

Another top travel experience was an epic road trip across the West, filled with national parks, canyons, and coastal sunsets. Why San Diego? We often look for warmer places to visit in winter where we can get out on the water, escaping the cold of Colorado. While it’s a long drive, we’ve always enjoyed our San Diego visits.

Highlights on the Way to San Diego

• Hanging Lake – steep hike to a beautiful, suspended lake

• Rifle Falls State Park – frozen waterfalls and icy caves

• Colorado National Monument – dramatic canyons glowing in winter sunlight

• Zion National Park – peaceful, uncrowded winter hikes

• Snow Canyon State Park – red cliffs, lava fields, and petrified sand dunes

A Sunny Reset in San Diego

Coastal walks, ocean breezes, and warm winter sunshine made San Diego a perfect mid-winter destination.

Return Journey Highlights

• Tempe, Arizona – desert trails and lakeside sunsets

• Petrified Forest National Park – otherworldly landscapes and ancient petrified wood

• Albuquerque, New Mexico – Petroglyph National Monument, mountains, culture, and incredible food.
• Great Sand Dunes National Park – sweeping dunes framed by snowy peaks

For anyone who loves scenic drives, this route ranks among the best road trip experiences of 2025.

Best Travel Experiences 2025: Spring Adventures in Portugal

São Miguel, Azores

This was our first trip to the Azores, and certainly will not be our last. Spring in São Miguel was a dreamy blend of volcanic lakes, hot springs, tea plantations, hydrangea-lined roads, and dramatic coastlines — easily one of the best nature travel experiences of 2025. We based ourselves in Vila Franca do Campo, where we enjoyed beautiful views of the volcanic islet offshore. Kayaking to the islet was one of our favorite adventures.

Setúbal Peninsula, Portugal

Cliffside viewpoints at Cabo Espichel, the Arrábida Nature Park, dolphin-filled bays, and quiet fishing towns made this region a standout spring destination. The city of Sétubal provided a great base for our adventures.

Early Access Tour of Pena Palace

Walking the terraces of Pena Palace in Sintra without the crowds was unforgettable. This early-access experience was one of the best cultural travel moments of 2025. This was our first experience with Walks Tours, but certainly won’t be the last.

Best Travel Experiences 2025: Summer Adventures

We normally stay close to home during the peak summer travel season, but we made an exception this year to go see the Henley Royal Regatta. Picture striped blazers, rowing races, Champagne, and sunshine along the Thames. We added a few additional activities to round out our trip. Overall, we were amazed at how few crowds we encountered during our end of June/early July travels, though we often avoid the main tourist areas.

Hiking the Southwest Coast Path (Mousehole → Coverack)

One of my best solo travel experiences of 2025 was hiking this stunning stretch of the Southwest Coast Path. Imagine cliffs, quaint fishing villages, coves, walking at low tide to St. Michael’s Mount, and the endless rhythm of the Atlantic. My husband had recently had knee surgery, so I hiked this stretch of trail solo.

Quick Stopover in Salisbury

A few days in Salisbury were ideal for exploring this area, filled with so much history. Top highlights were the tower tour at the Salisbury Cathedral, seeing the Magna Carta, visits to Old Sarum, and an early morning stop at Stonehenge.

Exploring Bath & the Cotswolds

While we are frequent visitors to Oxford, this was our first time basing ourselves in Bath. We enjoyed delving into the Roman history, Georgian architecture, botanic gardens, and tearooms. Easy day trips to the Cotswolds, Avebury, and the coast around Clevedon added to the experience.

Crested Butte Wildflower Festival

Back in Colorado for the summer, we enjoyed the Crested Butte Wildflower Festival, which has long been on our travel list. The drive from Denver to Crested Butte is spectacular in and of itself. The peak summer blooms and hands-on photography instruction made this one of our best creative travel experiences of 2025.

Our photography group came across these moose (seemingly posing for us) as we drove over Ohio Pass.

Portugal in September

September and October are often big travel months for us, enjoying shoulder season at many of our destinations. This year was no exception. First stop was Portugal, with 2 main activities, a solo hike and a group bike tour.

Portugal’s Fisherman’s Trail

Since completing a solo hike of the classic Fisherman’s Trail in 2024 (Alentejo section), I’d been planning to hike the Algarve section of this trail (Odeceixe to Sagres). Hiking this stretch solo through the wild western Algarve proved to be a beautiful end to this trail.

Guided Bike Tour in the Alentejo (Trek Travel)

Taking a Trek Travel guided bike tour meant enjoying rolling hills, cork forests, vineyards, quiet villages, and delicious food and wine. We were thankful to be able to join our friends on this adventure after my husband’s recent knee surgery. This was one of our best active group travel experiences of 2025.

Best Travel Experiences 2025: Autumn Adventures

Colorado Fall Colors

Colorado is blessed with so many spectacular fall foliage destinations. While the foliage was beautiful around Boulder this fall, we fit in trips to the mountains to enjoy the golden foliage. Guanella Pass delivered the most breathtaking fall foliage of the year.

Hiking Through Croatia's Foliage

Autumn was the perfect time to explore Croatia's national parks. While we've enjoyed Krka National Park's waterfalls in the past, Plitvice Lakes had long been on our list. A few of the highlights were:

• Plitvice Lakes, based in the nearby charming waterfall town of Rastoke
• Paklenica National Park, with dramatic limestone peaks

Both offered some of the best hiking experiences of 2025.

Fall Foliage in the Alsace & the Black Forest

Based in Straßburg and Freiburg, exploring the Alsace and Black Forest was amazing, with the half-timbered towns, vineyard trails, castle views, and brilliant foliage. Visiting the Rhine Falls en route to see friends in Switzerland was an added bonus.

Exploring Cyprus in Early December

From the divided capital of Nicosia, to the ancient wonders of Nea Paphos, the Tombs of the Kings, and the craft village of Lefkara, Cyprus offered rich history with mild weather. One of the highlights: a hands-on halloumi-making tour.

Holiday Lights & Christmas Markets

Ending the year under twinkling lights made December unforgettable. A few of the highlights:

• Denver (Christkindlmarkt, Blossoms of Light, Chatfield Trail of Lights)
• Frankfurt (one of the oldest Christmas Markets in Germany)
• Lefkara (quaint hillside village in Cyprus with an annual Christmas market)

Looking Back on Our Best Travel Experiences of 2025

Looking back, it’s clear that 2025 was filled with discovery, color, and connection. Things weren't always smooth sailing though. Whether sickness, extreme heat, monsoon-like rains, or getting lost, it's simply part of the adventure. We always learned something from our challenges, and sometimes, these led to some of the best travel experiences of 2025.

Looking Ahead to 2026

Whether you're drawn to snowy peaks, volcanic lakes, medieval towns, coastal trails, or holiday markets, we hope this roundup inspires your own adventures in 2026. We’re still planning the 2nd half of our travels for 2026, and absolutely love gathering ideas from our readers. 

What destinations, trails, festivals, or unique stays should we consider for 2026? Reply in the comments with your suggestions — they truly shape our travel inspiration.

Cheers to new travels, new stories, and new places to fall in love with. 

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