The world will survive this pandemic, travel bans will be eased and eventually travelers will return to the skies. But some countries will come out of the COVID-19 crisis faster, better and healthier. This means some destinations will be ready and eager to accept visitors earlier than others, and some will be safer. This is our list of destinations which should emerge strong and would be good bets for hesitant travelers with wanderlust.

Denmark

Denmark is a beautiful country with a lot to offer any traveler, but they have also been one of the most effective nations in handling the COVID-19 outbreak. In fact they plan on easing social distancing restrictions on April 15^th in preparation for re-opening.

This beautiful Nordic country was one of the first European nations to go into quarantine mode and their measures have so far been very effective. This makes Denmark a very attractive destination when global travel bans are lifted.

Taiwan

Taiwan is safe, modern, technologically advanced and a really fun place to visit. Side note, we think they have some of the best food in Asia and that’s saying a lot. But they also have deftly managed the Coronavirus outbreak. They spotted the health risk early and dispatched a team to Wuhan in January. At that point Taiwan swung into action, and they have done a great job managing this crisis ever since.

Taiwan will be the perfect Asian destination for your first long haul trip when things open up. Taipei the capital, offers great food, lots of nightlife, culture, excellent hotels and shopping galore. But travel further afield for nature, indigenous culture, the ocean and wonderful seafood.

Iceland

Contrary to what many think, Iceland is not a colony of Denmark, in fact they gained their independence in 1918 and became a republic in 1944. But it does share a Nordic sense of ruggedness and communal spirit. We love Iceland. It has hauntingly beautiful scenery, history, culture and the capital Reykjavik has (or perhaps had) some of the most exciting nightlife anywhere.

 It’s Europe’s most sparsely populated country and exceedingly well managed. This helped Iceland be a global stand out for testing for the Coronavirus and emerge as a safe haven. Good public health policy and decisive action means Iceland has done a great job protecting its people. This also means it’ll be an attractive travel destination when they’re ready to accept visitors again.

Singapore

Small, well run, globally connected and yet uniquely Singaporean, the city state of Singapore approached the COVID-19 pandemic in… well an uniquely Singaporean way. They turned to technology and obsessively tested, tracked and isolated cases during their first outbreak in February. This worked exceedingly well, especially considering Singapore is a global travel and trade hub.

However since then, Singapore has had to drastically cut flights, ban international travelers and recently put into place ‘circuit breakers’ to increase social distancing and slow community spread. They are still fighting the fight but we’re confident that they will win and when they do, and when Singapore re-emerges, it’ll be a great destination to visit for food, culture and luxury. We also hope there may be some bargains as Singapore is traditionally a very expensive city.

Canada

The Great white North has so far done a much better job than their southern neighbors at managing community spread. Smaller populations, less density and a public health system have all helped. And while Canada is not out of the woods yet (to use a very Canadian analogy), signs point to the country having a much easier time than the US. Early social distancing rules, closing the US border, cutting international flights and a unified federal and provincial approach seems to be working.

For many years Canada has been promoting their urban destinations for culinary and culture over their traditional outdoor adventures. But if you visit, our suggestion is use your trip as a chance to get away from the stress of being quarantined at home and head for the country’s mountains, oceans or national parks. Communing with nature is the only type of social distancing we actually like.