Sevilla and Lanzarote, Lonely Planet top spots for 2018 trips

For most-voted destinations overall – not just cities – the Canarian island of Lanzarote (second picture) comes second in the world in the annual Lonely Planet's Best in Travel list, beaten only by the Estonian capital, Tallinn, and beating the State of Arizona (USA), the city of La Paz (Bolivia) and the central European country Poland.

Spain does not make it into the top 10 countries to visit this year, however – number one is Chile, followed by South Korea, and Spain's neighbour Portugal is voted third; although, depending upon where in Portugal travellers inspired by The Lonely Planet choose to visit, it is perfectly possible to hop over the border into the Spanish regions of Galicia, Castilla y León, Extremadura and Andalucía.

Fourth in the top 10 countries list is the East African nation of Djibouti, near Ethiopia, with New Zealand fifth, Malta sixth, the former Soviet State of Georgia seventh, the West African coastal country of Mauritania – roughly level with the island nation of Cabo Verde – eighth, China ninth, and South Africa completing the top 10.

Neither does anywhere in Spain slip into the top 10 best regions, the favourite of which is Belfast, Northern Ireland, giving the UK its only entry into the lists, followed by the State of Alaska (USA), the Julian Alpes (Slovenia), the département of Languedoc-Roussillon in southern France, and the Kii peninsula in Japan.

But other than the USA, Spain is the only country to feature more than one entry in the lists of where to go in 2018.

Destinations recommended by The Lonely Planet in its travel guide books – and on its TV show in the UK, broadcast 22 years ago – tend to be 'off the beaten track' and non-conventional, steering clear from mass tourism and appealing more to the 'traveller' rather than the 'holidaymaker'.

For this reason, Spain's more world-renowned destinations such as Madrid, Barcelona, the Alhambra Palace (Granada), the south and east coasts and the Balearic Islands are less likely to appear.

And with northern Europeans typically associating Spain with sunshine and beach holidays, Lanzarote and Sevilla (first picture) being included in a Lonely Planet list moves the country into another dimension altogether – one which would appeal to the discerning explorer as well as the package holidaymaker.