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This week’s travel news roundup features the world’s top 100 cities for 2025, the world’s best hotels, the world’s tallest hotels, the world’s longest and deepest undersea rail tunnel, and two record-setting bridges in China and Kashmir.
Forget Miss Universe, Paris was crowned queen of the travel world pageant this week, being named the most glamorous city on Earth for the fifth year in a row.
The Top 100 Cities Destinations Index by data analytics firm Euromonitor International examines major cities around the world and ranks them based on criteria such as tourism, sustainability, economic performance, and health and safety.
However, its popularity comes at a price, at least for visitors outside Europe. Starting in the new year, the Louvre Museum in Paris will increase admission prices by 45% for art lovers from outside the European Economic Area.
The Euromonitor report has once again declared Bangkok to be the world’s most visited city, with an estimated 30.3 million foreign tourists visiting in 2025.
The Asia-Pacific region is experiencing a massive travel boom, with international arrivals up an unprecedented 10% year-on-year, but misbehaving tourists are causing problems at the region’s travel hotspots.
“It’s like the genie has come out of the bottle,” one travel analyst told CNN. “How do I get it back?”
Incidentally, Tokyo just took over as the world’s largest city by population, a title it has held since 2018. In this video, CNN Travel’s Lilit Marcus explains how Southeast Asia’s capital achieved that distinction.
Oops, they’ve done it again. The world’s tallest hotel has opened in Dubai, adding another record-breaking building to the most exclusive city, but its developers told CNN it was never intended to be that expensive.
At 377 meters high, the Ciel Dubai Marina Hotel is built on a site smaller than a soccer field, so architect Yahya Jan had to be smart with his design. An old dance hit is “The Only Way Is Up.” Look here.
The Rosewood Hong Kong, a skyscraper on Kowloon’s waterfront, was recently named the world’s best hotel for 2025 by hospitality brand 50 Best. Another waterfront property, the mid-rise Four Seasons Bangkok on the Chao Phraya River, took second place.
Norway is working on its own record-breaking project: the world’s longest and deepest undersea rail tunnel. The 17-mile corridor, called Logfast, is designed to shorten travel times between cities and create a highway that doesn’t have to rely on ferry crossings. Here’s how they do it.
China is also part of the bridge and tunnel crowd. The world’s tallest bridge opened in Guizhou province in September. The Huai-zhuang Grand Canyon Bridge rises 651 feet above the clouds above the river in the southwestern part of the country. See the rugged route in this video.
The world’s tallest railway bridge opened in June in Indian-administered Kashmir. The 1,180-foot-tall Chenab Bridge is an arch spanning the river of the same name and was the first railway to connect Kashmir with the rest of India.
Inside months of hand-washing windows at one of the world’s tallest towers
Veteran window cleaner Jang Woo-seok uses the skills he has cultivated since childhood to expertly clean the 125th floor of Lotte World Tower in Seoul. CNN’s Mike Valerio joins him to learn more.
One of Istanbul’s most extraordinary buildings has been left to rot for decades.
Now it has come to life.
He declared himself the world’s youngest “president.”
He was then deported.
Bananas don’t grow in Tokyo.
But that didn’t stop them from becoming symbols of the city.
A violent storm. special election. This is a rare collectible.
What do you remember about that week?
