Reddit reviews Lonely Planet's Ultimate Travel: Our List of the 500 Best Places to See... Ranked

A few years ago, Lonely Planet put out a ranked “Ultimate Bucket List” of 500 destinations around the world. It’s available as a book, which you could buy or probably find at your local library, and the complete list has been posted online here. It’s a pretty good source of inspiration, as long as you don’t put too much emphasis on the rankings themselves. There are also first-time travel guides like this one which might help.

In my experience, a great trip can be to almost anywhere, and can usually be built around a few—or even just one—“bucket list” destination, sight, and/or event, as long as you keep to a reasonably sized region/area. If you love English soccer, you could easily put that as your centrepiece and then build a U.K.- or Western Europe-based trip, based on your other interests and how fast your money will run out (and it will run out relatively quickly in the U.K./Western Europe). But when your options are anywhere you want, it’s tough for anybody to give you real, solid advice on where that should be. Most people here are simply telling you where they would go, which may or may not align with what you actually like.

Also, I wouldn’t worry to much about finding a “non-touristy” destination, unless you have a pretty clear idea of just what that means. Compelling destinations with “a lot to see and do” don’t tend to be a secret—or to stay a secret for long—so anywhere you go is likely to have other tourists. There’s a continuum between Venice in mid-summer cruise ship season and Nowheresville Minnesota in February, and only experience will tell you where you’re most comfortable on that continuum. Until you get there, don’t over-focus on that.

Other than that, the best advice is something you already seem to be aware of: Don’t try to cram in too much in too short a time period. Many younger travellers wind up planning to visit a new city every day or two, or wanting to start a two-week trip in London and end it in Istanbul. You want to spend the bulk of your time enjoying places, not on planes, trains, and busses getting to them. Remember, your first trip doesn’t have to be your only trip.