How We Chose the 2018 World’s Greatest Places

It’s easy to find guides to famous attractions. But which new and newly relevant destinations are worth experiencing right now?

To assemble our first annual list of the World’s Greatest Places, TIME solicited nominations across a variety of categories—such as museums, parks, bars, restaurants, theme parks, cruises and hotels—from our editors and correspondents around the world as well as dozens of industry experts. Then we evaluated each one based on key factors, including quality, originality, innovation, sustainability and influence.

The result is a list as diverse as the world it reflects, with 100 entries spanning six continents and 48 countries—highlighting everything from a Texas water park that empowers kids with disabilities to a Maldives resort that’s building an undersea abode to a library in Tianjin, China, that’s almost as wondrous as reading itself.

To see the full list, click here.