Bali has been named as one of the best islands for travel in the world…yet again! For the last 20 years, Bali has been topping the charts as one of the world’s leading travel destinations, and in 2025, the momentum is not slowing down.
The prestigious Travel + Leisure World’s Best Awards have just been announced, and Bali has won big again.
The awards are based on feedback and survey answers from real travellers, and in 2025, the destinations listed in the top 25 best islands category span over 18 countries.
In first place in 2025 in the World’s Best Islands category is Páros in Greece, followed closely by Palawan in the Philippines.
Completing the top three for 2025 is Bali. Travel + Leisure Magazine says, “This perennially popular island is known for its unique culture and religion, 10,000-plus temples, and fabulous places to stay, including the new Anantara Ubud Bali Resort, which recently made its way to T+L’s It List.
Though relatively small, Bali has many sides; on one trip, travelers can visit both seaside areas like Uluwatu and Seminyak, and the mountains and rice paddies of the interior.”
The top ten best islands in the world were completed by Ischia in Italy, the Fiji Islands, the Maldives, the Galapagos Islands, Hvar and the Dalmatian Islands in Croatia, Madeira, and Mallorca.
As referenced by T+L, the Anantara Ubud Bali Resort has quickly become one of the island’s most impressive hotels. As described by one T+L travel journalist, “The 85-room resort sits in a valley inside the Payangan rainforest, about a 30-minute drive north of Ubud.”
“The primary building, a glassy hilltop structure, houses Kirana, an all-day Indonesian restaurant, and Amerta, which serves fire-roasted entrées. The resort also has a spa, two pools, a lounge, and a bar that serves cocktails made with arrack, a local cousin of rum.”
It is not only Travel + Leisure who have named Bali amongst the best travel destinations in the world in 2025. TripAdvisor has also honoured Bali in the upper echelons of travel glory in 2025, too.
The TripAdvisor Travellers’ Choice Awards names its winners at the beginning of each year. For 2025, Bali was positioned in second place in the world’s best destinations list for the second year running.
TripAdvisor explains, “The Travellers’ Choice Awards Best of the Best title celebrates the highest level of excellence in travel.” Adding “It’s awarded to those who receive a high volume of above-and-beyond reviews and opinions from the Tripadvisor community over a 12-month period. Out of our 8 million listings, fewer than 1% achieve this milestone.”
The top ten best destinations for travel in 2025 made for inspiring reading. In first place, TripAdvisor named London, followed by Bali, and Dubai was placed in third.
Sicily was ranked fourth, followed by Paris, Rome, and Hanoi; Marrakesh was placed eighth, and Crete in ninth, with Bangkok completing the top ten.
Bali’s popularity is only growing in 2025, and is a trend that is set to continue long into 2026 and beyond. Leaders are now working to promote lesser-visited areas of the island to help reduce the risk of overtourism in areas of the central south.
Tourists will notice more promotion and hype around destinations across the west, north, and east of the island. Destinations like Amed, Lovina, and West Bali National Park are all incredible areas for culture-curious tourists to explore without the stress of large crowds or even traffic congestion.
Nevertheless, Bali’s most popular tourist resorts remain worthy destinations in their own right. From Seminyak to Ubud, Kuta to Uluwatu, from Canggu and Nusa Dua and let’s not forget the Nusa Islands too.
Bali’s well earned places at the most prestigious travel awards are a sure sign that the Island of the Gods must remain a classic bucket list destination for tourists and travellers for a long while to come.
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