Portugal is the Country everybody will be visiting in 2017

Chilly Iceland was hot with travelers in 2016, and Thailand had its heyday the year before that.

But next year’s hotspot just may trounce them both with its mix of stunning beaches, historic towns, vibrant cities and lush islands. Yup, one particular country has been cropping up on list after list after list of predictions for the 2017 travel year: It’s Portugal, the destination of your most stunningly beautiful dreams.

Portugal has long been popular with travelers clued into its adventurous nature activities, historic cities and famous wine. But it looks like visitors will be stopping over even more in 2017: Travel + Leisure recently named Portugal its Destination of the Year, calling attention to the fact that U.S. travel to Portugal increased 22 percent in the last 12 months.

The travel experts at Fodor’s put the country’s Minho region on their “Go List” for next year, and Lonely Planet calls the Azores one of the world’s best regions to visit in 2017. Skift reports Portugal’s tourism “boom” shows “no signs of slowing,” as European visitors head there in droves. It’s safe to say we’ll be hearing LOTS about Portugal in 2017.

Some highlights to consider for your forthcoming to-see list:

www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/portugal-travel_us_585c1ab6e4b0d9a594577b5c