Share Your Dream Destination and Win a Japan Adventure! (Submissions Closed)

As the year comes to a close, it’s time to think about resolutions, goals, maybe dreams. At Atlas Obscura, that means thinking about where we want to go in 2024: road trips to plan, meandering walks through cities across the globe, mountains to climb, oceans to dip our toes in. Next month, we’ll be sharing our list of 24 places to go in 2024—a collection of destinations recommended by our staff and contributors around the world that fill us with wonder. We’re calling it the Where to Wander, and we want your input.

Because you, our readers, are always recommending and writing about new places for our global database of wondrous destinations, well, we trust you! So we want your ideas and suggestions for our Where to Wander Readers’ Choice Award. It can be a place you’ve been, somewhere you’re dying to go, the place that all your friends keep recommending—but we have some guidelines.

First, we’re looking regions, cities, neighborhoods, even countries where travelers can have a satisfying experience on a single trip. We want these to be places where tourism benefits local communities. Maybe this happens through ecological preservation, locally owned tour companies, or a commitment to preserving and sharing Indigenous cultures. Second, we’re looking for places that are off the beaten path. While we love the inherent weirdness of Times Square and appreciate the wonders of Paris, we want to help our readers escape the crowds. This could mean less-touristed cities and regions, but also an overlooked neighborhood in a bustling city. And lastly, we’re looking for places full of wonder and delight, whether that’s through a bevy of strange museums, gobsmacking natural wonder, or a rich history hidden within walls, ancient or modern.

To enter, tell us where we should consider going next year—maybe it’s the best food city nobody’s talking about, or the world’s most majestic but unheralded national park, or a place just bursting with surprising museums—and why it belongs on our list.

When we debut the 2024 Where to Wander, we will share five readers’ choice picks from the ones you offer us. Then, one chosen grand prize winner will receive a 2024 Atlas Obscura adventure tour in Japan for— that may feature bullet trains, ghost villages, taiko drummers, and much more—while the other four finalists will get some fun Atlas Obscura swag. So go ahead, tell us where to go!

Submissions for the 2024 Where to Wander Readers’ Choice contest closed on December 20, 2023.

One (1) Grand Prize Winner will receive:

• Write up featured on Atlas Obscura’s website
• One (1) spot on an upcoming Atlas Obscura adventure tour in Japan (not including airfare)
• One (1) Atlas Obscura tote bag
• One (1) Atlas Obscura pin
• One (1) copy of The Explorer’s Library boxed set

Four (4) Winners will each receive:

• Write up featured on Atlas Obscura’s website
• One (1) Atlas Obscura tote bag
• One (1) Atlas Obscura pin
• One (1) copy of The Explorer’s Library boxed set

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. A purchase will not increase your chances of winning. Contest begins 12/11/23 at 12:00 a.m. ET and ends 12/20/23 at 11:59 pm ET. Must be a permanent legal resident of the 50 U.S. or D.C., 18+ to enter. Void where prohibited. Grand prize is only a Sponsor adventure tour of Japan on select dates (must be booked by 12/31/24), subject to availability and does NOT include airfare to/from Japan (or other items excluded as listed in the Official Rules). Contest subject to full Official Rules and its terms & conditions available here.

This story originally ran in 2023; it has been updated for 2023.