Frommer’s has taken a new direction in travel guidance, possibly one especially suited to our current times: A list of the safest places to travel.
Most travel writing focuses on the most spectacular, biggest, most famous, tastiest, etc., because we want to know all that, but in pandemic travel times other things become important, too—and Frommer’s has years of experience thinking through what we want.
The listings were constructed by Frommer’s editors and writers based on sources such as the World Health Organization and the Global Peace Index from the Institute for Economics and Peace. Frommer’s says “the list is desiigned to spark discussion and inspire travel in our era of increased caution.”
At Frommers.com there’s a full explanation of each selection, with photographs. The list includes
Best Health Care: Norway
Cleanest Air: Southern Ocean
Cleanest Water: Puerto Williams, Southern Chile
Most Peaceful (Global): Iceland
Least Self-Harm: The Caribbean
Most Peaceful (Latin America): Costa Rica
Safest U.S. State for Pedestrians: Vermont
Safest U.S. State for Cycling: Washington
Longest Life Expectancy: Japan
The coming year, by the way, marks the 65th anniversary of the book that started a new era of American travel to Europe, Arthur Frommer’s original Europe on $5 a Day. That’s about $50 a day now, and still possible (barely) in some parts of Europe.
