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A historical destination in Georgia with important ties to the area's past was recognized as one of the best places in the world to travel in 2024. Travel + Leisure released its list of the 50 best places to travel next year, breaking down the destinations into categories like cultural immersion, beach vibes, big-city thrills and adventurous travelers.
The Ocmulgee Mounds National Historical Park in Macon is among the best places in the world to travel, with the site specifically calling out the destination for being a great place for cultural immersion as it was occupied by several Native American cultures for thousands of years. Travel + Leisure suggests visiting in September during Macon's annual Indigenous film festival.
Here's what the site had to say:
"It's not every day the U.S. gets a new national park, but 2024 could see this central Georgia destination enter the fold. Presently managed as a national historical park, Ocmulgee is home to large earthen mounds, including temple complexes, created by numerous Native American peoples over thousands of years. Should Congress approve the new designation in 2024, Ocmulgee will become the first national park in the state and the fist in the U.S. to be co-managed by a nation whose ancestors wer removed from the area: the Muscogee (Creek) were forcibly relocated from central Georgia as a result of the Indian Removal Act of 1830. 'We now have an opportunity to come back and not feel like we are visiting, but to feel like we are coming home,' said Tracie Revis, a member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and the director of advocacy for the Ocmulgee National Park & Preserve Initiative, a community group."
Check out Travel + Leisure's full list to see more of the best places to travel in the new year.