North Wales is tops

Lonely Planet has declared North Wales in Britain as one of the world's top regions for 2017. The region receives the accolade in Lonely Planet's Best in Travel 2017, the highly anticipated collection of the world's hottest trends, destinations and experiences for the year ahead.

North Wales earned its place as a must-see destination for 2017 thanks to the region's reinvention. As the book highlights, Surf Snowdonia, based on the site of an aluminium factory in the Conwy Valley, is perhaps the most headline-stealing example of this reinvention, while Zip World at Penrhyn Quarry (top) boasts the world's fastest (and Europe's longest) zip line.

Bounce Below (above) offers the chance to enjoy giant trampolines strung in the caverns beneath Blaenau Ffestiniog, one-time capital of Wales' slate-mining industry. If that wasn't enough, Snowdonia National Park - Wales' largest - has been designated a dark-sky reserve, thanks to its lack of light pollution.

North Wales featured fourth on the list of top regions for 2017, coming in ahead of South Australia, Aysén in Chile, the Tuamotus in French Polynesia and Coastal Georgia in the USA.

(Picture credits: Lonely Planet & VisitWales)

Lonely Planet's writers and experts spend time on the road in almost every destination on the planet, and each year they report which destinations are set to take off, offering travellers the best experience available. The destinations selected for Lonely Planet's Best in Travel meet specific criteria; it could be that something special is going on in the year ahead or there's been recent development and a lot of buzz about the place, that it offers travellers new things to see or do, or that the Lonely Planet team of experts thinks it's been overlooked and underrated and suggests travellers visit before the crowds do.â€¨

Top 10 Regions in Lonely Planet's Best in Travel 2017:

1. Choquequirao, Peru

2. Taranaki, New Zealand

3. The Azores, Portugal

4. North Wales, UK

5. South Australia

6. Aysén, Chile

7. The Tuamotus, French Polynesia

8. Coastal Georgia, USA

9. Perak, Malaysia

10. The Skellig Ring, Ireland

More about North Wales....