Canada was just voted one of the best countries by Americans — and the feeling isn't mutual
If you're looking for the best countries in the world to travel to, you might want to just stick around for a staycation right here in Canada.
A new global ranking by Condé Nast Traveler just placed Canada among the top 10 best countries to travel to in 2025 — and it's American travellers who helped put us there. Yep, while Canadian travellers are cutting back on trips to the U.S., we're climbing higher than ever on a list of places Americans love to visit.
The annual Readers' Choice Awards were released on Tuesday and are based on votes from the publication's largely U.S.-based audience. The 2025 edition of the ranking placed Canada as No. 10 out of 20 countries readers voted as their favourite travel destinations — the country's strongest showing yet.
With a score of 90.94 out of 100, it's Canada's best placement in this ranking in at least seven years. It's a four-spot jump from last year, when we ranked 14th, and a massive leap from 2022, when we barely cracked the top 50.
The full list puts Canada in good company, just behind France and ahead of Switzerland and Mexico. Meanwhile, Japan took the top spot for the third year in a row with a nearly unbeatable score of 95.36 out of 100.
Canada's surge in popularity among U.S. travellers comes at an interesting time. Canadian travel to the U.S. has been plummeting throughout 2025 amid a growing boycott movement brought on by recent political tensions between the neighbouring countries.
According to Statistics Canada, the number of Canadians returning from the U.S. by car has been falling steadily since January, with a whopping 34% drop in August compared to the same time last year.
Air travel to the U.S. also dropped by 25% in August, and Canadian airlines have been cutting entire routes to American cities all summer as demand has weakened.
Many travellers have been opting to skip the States entirely this year, following months of trade tensions and inflammatory comments from U.S. President Donald Trump about making Canada the 51st state. So while Canadians are saying "no thanks" to Vegas and Miami, Americans are turning their attention north — and giving Canada its highest rating yet as a travel destination.
According to CN Traveler, the rankings are based on ratings submitted by hundreds of thousands of readers between April and June 2025. Respondents rated countries they've visited on a scale from poor to excellent across a range of travel-related categories, for a final score out of 100. Only countries that hit a minimum number of responses and overall rating qualified for the final list.
Here's the full ranking of the top countries in the world for 2025, according to Condé Nast Traveler readers:
- Japan — 95.36
- Greece — 92.31
- Portugal — 92.08
- Italy — 92.02
- Spain — 91.96
- Türkiye — 91.91
- Ireland — 91.59
- Croatia — 91.56
- France — 91.24
- Canada — 90.94
- Switzerland — 90.82
- Mexico — 89.52
- Germany — 89.40
- India — 88.95
- Thailand — 88.06
- Morocco — 87.66
- Austria — 86.86
- Dominica — 86.62
- Bhutan — 86.31
- South Africa — 85.08
So whether you're into west coast rainforests, mountain towns in Alberta or remote Atlantic islands, it looks like Canada's becoming more and more of a go-to spot — even if our neighbours to the south might not be our first choice for vacation anymore.
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