(CNN) — New year equals new outlook. Apply this formula liberally to travel planning in 2023.
After nearly three years of travel disruptions and complications, many countries have dropped most of their pandemic restrictions. People are traveling internationally in large numbers, and there’s plenty of pent-up demand to spread around the world.
International tourism was expected to reach 65% of pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2022, according to the United Nations World Tourism Organization, with some areas recently reaching levels closer to 80% or 90% of their 2019 arrivals. And experts are cautiously optimistic about a continued travel rebound.
Many travelers are charging full steam ahead into the new year — with good reason.
Here are 23 destination ideas from CNN Travel to get you started:
Poland
From the main square in Krakow, pictured, to forests, lakes and mountains, Poland invites exploration.
Sergii Figurnyi/Adobe Stock
We could list new openings in Poland — such as Hotel Verte, the new Autograph Collection property in Warsaw, which threw open its gilded doors (it’s in a humongous Baroque palace) in August. But the reason you should visit Poland in 2023 isn’t for the chance to stay in a place fit for royalty. It’s to show solidarity with a country which has, in turn, shown solidarity to the people of Ukraine. Sharing a 300-plus-mile border with a country under attack has meant that Poland has taken in more Ukrainian refugees than anywhere else. Add to that plummeting tourist numbers (though they’re on the rise again), and you have a tricky situation.
So whether you fancy that Warsaw palace, a city break to the likes of Krakow, Gdansk, Wrocław or Poznań — all hundreds of miles from the Ukrainian border — or to get away from it all in the forests, lakes and mountains of the countryside — now’s your chance to do some good by taking a vacation. — Julia Buckley
Western Australia
A full solar eclipse will be visible in April in Exmouth, Western Australia. The landscape is worth a long look, too.
Sellwell/Moment RF/Getty Images
On April 20, 2023, a total solar eclipse will be visible over the northwestern edge of Australia.
But the state of Western Australia offers much more than some 60 seconds of wonder.
Spanning one-third of the entire continent of Australia, it stretches from the lively, growing state capital of Perth across deserts including the Great Victoria and Great Sandy to the wine country of Margaret River, the dramatic clifftops of the Kimberley and the quokka-covered Rottnest Island. — Lilit Marcus
Liverpool, England
Mersey paradise: Liverpool.
alpegor/Adobe Stock
England’s port city of Liverpool, best known around the world as the birthplace of The Beatles, is adding another chapter to its musical legacy.
In May, it will be the host city of Eurovision 2023, the spangly extravaganza of song that brings an influx of thousands of flag-waving fans from across the continent. It’s an opportunity for the city to bounce back after …….