The 10 best things to do in 2011

Punctuate this year with meaningful experiences. Choose from options that girdle the globe - from cricket bats and birthday parties to sobering memorials or a copy of Led Zeppelin IV. Here’s our pick of the 10 best things to do next year, fresh from Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel 2011.

1. Hug a tree in the Amazon

The UN is declaring 2011 the International Year of the Forest, with events planned from El Salvador to Bulgaria to help promote and preserve the globe’s forests. Sounds like a good time for the ultimate forest, the Amazon. The region, which is about as broad as the continental USA, is filled with opportunities, even in the wake of deforestation. Brazil’s main hub for the Amazon is Manaus, reached by plane or a five-day boat ride inland from Belém, where you can book tours to hike in the jungle, spot dolphins, toucans and monkeys, fish for piranha, and opt for luxury cabins on stilts. Try going in June and July when high tide means ‘hikes’ are done by canoe. Trips can also be arranged from places like Leticia, Colombia or Iquitos, Peru.

Brazil’s Mamirauá Reserve, the nation’s oldest sustainable reserve, really gets ‘eco’ right – stay in the floating Pousada Uacari or in cabins on stilts.

2. Cricket in India and Sri Lanka

You can break the ice with locals in India by talking Bollywood or curry, but why let the real national pastime take the backseat? Cricket reigns here above all else, and in 2011 (the 290th anniversary of the first recorded match in India) it’s no contest. In February and March, India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh host the Cricket World Cup (India’s third time). India has never won at home – only winning in England in 1983 – and all eyes will be on three-peat champions Australia. Wherever you are, get some makeshift lessons and connect with locals. And see if you can’t get a seat at Mumbai’s newly renovated Wankhede Stadium for the final.

To get some pre-trip tingle in your wicket, check out India’s cricketing pulse at www.cricinfo.com or www.cricbuzz.com. Sri Lanka’s turning the occasion into a broad Visit Sri Lanka Year.

3. Visit the new 9/11 memorial

New York’s World Trade Center site has been closed to the public since 9/11, but on the 10th anniversary of the attacks this September, the National September 11 Memorial opens the site for public viewing for the first time. Construction of nearby towers (including the Freedom Tower) and the memorial’s museum will be ongoing, but in the 6-acre plaza, one can view waterfalls lined with the names of all 9/11 victims and get a sneak preview of two recovered ‘tridents’ (steel columns) from the former WTC that will fill the museum atrium in 2012.

The not-for-profit organisation running the memorial plans to open the museum by 11 September 2012. Get more information at www.national911memorial.org.

4. DIY Wonders of the World list

We do like lists, don’t we? The overlap of Ancient Wonders of the World, Wonders of the Underwater World and Wonders of the Industrial World grows in 2011 with the New Wonders of the World’s 2nd edition, this time focusing on nature. It’s all decided by public vote, with many good candidates including Venezuela’s Angel Falls, Argentina/Brazil’s Iguazu Falls and Vietnam’s Halong Bay. Spend 2011 trying to visit all seven or create your own dang list. Seven Wonders of the Sports World, or maybe Top Seven Smug Politician Failures or Top Seven Places that Stink?

The New Seven Wonders of the World Foundation unveils the results of the new list on 11 November 2011.

5. Pan American Games, Guadalajara, Mexico

The birthplace of tequila, mariachis and the Mexican broad-rimmed sombrero, Guadalajara is without a doubt a memorable spot to party. It’s a nice alternate gateway to Mexico City for accessing nearby colonial towns like San Miguel de Allende and Guanajuato. And it’s set to really let loose from 13 to 30 October when the Western Hemisphere’s Olympics – aka Pan American Games – comes knocking. The games, held every four years since 1951, feature 5000 athletes representing 42 countries.

For information on events and tickets, check the official website of the games, Guadalajara 2011.

6. FIS Nordic World Ski Championships, Oslo, Norway

Nothing beats the flag-waving frenzy of Norwegians cheering on their skiers at any winter event and that only escalates when the event is local. Oslo hosts the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships from 24 February to 6 March, a serious skiing affair of 21 events including the famed Holmenkollen Ski Jump, site of the world’s oldest ski jump. At its museum you can learn about the delicate art of ski jumping and skiing’s 4000-year history, as well as take a simulated ski jump for a laugh (a queasy laugh anyway).

You can visit Holmenkollen’s Ski Museum all year; for more on the event check its website www.oslo2011.no.

7. Climb a 'stairway to heaven'

Robert Plant swears the lyrics to the Led Zeppelin’s rock anthem ‘Stairway to Heaven’ (turning 40 on 8 November; long live rock!) were written off the cuff, and that there really aren’t Satanic messages in that wonderful ‘a bustle in your hedgerow’ part when you play it backwards. But with a little imagination you can place the ‘stairway’ near Bron-Yr-Aur, the Welsh cottage where Jimmy Page first put together the immortal chords. In the south of Snowdonia National Park, the 892m Cader Idris is the big climb here, reached in five hours along the rocky Ty Nant Path or Dolgellau Path – or with stronger thighs via the Minffordd Path. Views up there can make you wonder.

Page’s old cottage is near Wales’ ‘green capital’ Centre for Alternative Technology, incidentally home to one of the world’s steepest funicular trains. You can arrange tours and stay in ecocabins.

8. Isle of Man motorbike race

A haven for tax dodgers and outdoorsy types most of the year, the remote oddball Isle of Man transforms in May and June for the Tourist Trophy, an engine-revving motorbike race that attracts 50,000 people every year – and 2011 is its 100th birthday. You can reach it by plane, or boat from Liverpool, and you can see much of the island by rental bike or on foot; the 95-mile Raad ny Foillan is a complete circuit of the island. Peek at past TT winners at the Manx Museum in the island’s main town of Douglas.

Keep up to date with contestants and past TT glory at the race’s website.

9. Indy 500, Indianapolis, USA

On the subject of engines and 100th birthdays, the USA’s premier motor race also turns 100 in 2011. Indianapolis Motor Speedway hosts the event over the Memorial Day weekend in late May, but celebrates the race all month. You can take a bus tour of the 2.5-mile oval track any time – at a snail-like 60km/h.

Plan way ahead if you want to join up to 450,000 fans at the actual race. See https://www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com/buy-tickets for ticket information.

10. Write a postcard

E-books, mobile phone apps, augmented reality – we live and travel in a world of instant information and sore thumbs. This year is a good time to pause and revisit that ol’ travel chestnut: the postcard. What started a century ago as a craze of keepsakes (recipients cherished them as much as travellers sending them cherished their actual experiences) has lost out to wi-fi , text messaging and Flickr images. A shame. Sending a postcard leads to all sorts of local life commonly missed – stationery shops, post offi ces, funny stamps – as well as the art of actually writing with a pen.

Of course you can also send a physical postcard digitally. Upload a shot from a mobile phone to HazelMail, which will print and send it for you.

Plan next year's travel with Lonely Planet's Best in Travel 2011