Sonoma County is on a roll as a travel destination and its popularity will only continue to grow next year, according to a venerated New York-based travel magazine.

Travel + Leisure magazine has included Sonoma County on its coveted international list of “The 50 Best Places to Travel in 2024.” The publication’s enthusiastic travel recommendation is the latest in what has been a string of praise for the area from a variety of sources this year. In 2023, Sonoma County played host to a live episode of the Today Show, the region was featured in a New York Times wine column and separate travel story on Geyserville, and “Sonoma” was even unveiled as the name of Apple’s new desktop operating system.

Travel + Leisure just published a story on Guerneville’s Dawn Ranch in August and called Healdsburg “the jewel of California Wine Country” in September, so it perhaps comes as no surprise that the magazine has now included Sonoma County in what the publication describes as its hand-picked list of “destinations that have captured our imaginations.”

Not only is Sonoma County included on the Travel + Leisure list, the region also is one of just over a handful of locations that the magazine highlights in the list’s brief introduction. (Paris—host of next year’s Olympics, Istanbul, Canada’s Métis Crossing, a “remote corner” of Australia and a “Himalayan Hideaway” are the other noteworthy 2024 travel destinations also mentioned in the list’s introduction).

The Travel + Leisure top 50 list is divided into seven categories. Sonoma County is featured in the “For Food and Drinks” section alongside two other 2024 epicurean travel destinations: The Austrian countryside and Merida, Mexico. (The list’s six other travel categories are: For Cultural Immersion, For Big-City Thrills, For Moments on the Water, For Nature Lovers, For Beach Vibes, and For Adventurous Travelers).

Travel + Leisure’s glowing review of Sonoma County begins: “More than double the size of Napa, Sonoma might offer twice as much to do.”

Describing small towns in Sonoma County as places where “new businesses are doing big things,” the magazine says this Northern Californian area is among the world’s travel destinations that are “on the rise.”

Following last year’s addition of the new West Sonoma Coast American Viticultural Area (AVA), Sonoma County now has 19 AVAs producing vintages that include chardonnay, pinot noir and zinfandel by vintners such as Flowers, Scribe and Vérité Wines, writes Travel + Leisure magazine.

But Sonoma County’s allure is “not just about the wine,” according to the magazine, which also spotlights the long, enticing coastline from Bodega Bay to Sea Ranch, the many diversions of the Russian River town of Guerneville, as well as the burgeoning culinary reputation of Healdsburg.

Among its recommended places to stay, the magazine highlights the “dreamy” newly renovated cliff-top Sea Ranch Lodge as well as the recently reopened Dawn Ranch in Guerneville with what Travel + Leisure describes as a 22-acre haven of “tree house-like cabins, creekside glamping tents, and alfresco redwood tubs at the idyllic spa.” In describing Guerneville, the magazine also mentions the town’s thriving LGBTQ+ scene, proximity to the Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve, and Piknik Market (formerly Big Bottom Market), which continues to serve Oprah’s favorite biscuits under its new ownership.

In Healdsburg, Travel + Leisure details the debut of chef Stu Stalker’s plant-based restaurant Second Story (above Little Saint), Michelin three-starred SingleThread, chef Dustin Valette’s The Matheson, and Charlie Palmer’s forthcoming hotel property, Appellation.

Beyond Sonoma County, other international locations on Travel + Leisure’s list of “places that thoughtful, curious travelers should consider in 2024″ include Cartagena, Colombia; Ålborg, Denmark; Rajasthan, India; Douro River, Portugal; Amboseli National Park, Kenya; Hokkaido, Japan; Coastal Campania, Italy; AlUla, Saudi Arabia; Bahia, Brazil; and Sri Lanka.

Click through the above gallery for a peek at the Sonoma County businesses highlighted in the Travel + Leisure piece.

Geyserville was recently featured in The New York Times as a trending yet down to earth travel destination where “farmers and food lovers mingle.”

Author and journalist Amy Tara Koch writes about the noteworthy restaurants, distinctive wineries, vibrant locales and rich history of Geyserville in her Nov. 14 travel article “A Salt-of-the-Earth Town that Sparkles.”

The article profiles chef Douglas Keane’s restaurant Cyrus, which opened last year in a new location 10 years after Keane closed a previous iteration of the restaurant in Healdsburg, which had been awarded two Michelin stars.

The new version of Cyrus is helping to increase interest in Geyserville as travelers discover the “town’s buzzy bar and stylish eateries, the home goods shop that feels like a beefed-up flea market, and intimate, tucked-into-the-landscape wineries,” according to The Times.

Chef Keane has created a “15-course feast” that highlights local agriculture and is inspired by the Japanese culinary experience kaiseki, “the formal multicourse meal that showcases seasonality with dishes served elegantly, but without pretense,” wrote Koch.

Cyrus diners get to move through a variety of locations throughout the 8,000-square-foot space during their meal: from champagne and snacks served in the “leather-accented lounge or outside among the olive trees,” to courses served in a “moodily lit area adjacent to the open kitchen” where diners are invited to interact with the chefs, to a dining room with floor-to-ceiling windows that beautifully frame the landscape, to a “cocoon-like room” where the meal concludes with a “parting gift” of boxed chocolates.

Contrasting Geyserville’s rustic charm with the “supremely 21st-century” design and flavor of its restaurants, The Times also visited the Corner Project, with its craft beers and tacos and sandwiches made from locally sourced meat and produce, the trattoria-style pizzeria Diavola and the third generation Italian restaurant Catelli’s. The bar and live music space The Geyserville Gun Club and coffee house Fermata were also mentioned in the article.

The colorful history of Geyserville’s vineyards (personified by the Pedroncelli and Mazzoni families), the wineries’ intimate tasting ambience and the appellation’s diverse varietals all contribute to the town’s allure. The Times article highlights Pedroncelli Winery, which began selling grapes to households in 1927 and blossomed into a “premium brand with 14 varietals” after Prohibition; Zialena Winery, run by siblings Lisa and Mark Mazzoni; and Locals Tasting Room, the first independent collective tasting room in California, owned by father and daughter Dick Handal and Doralice Handal.

Other facets that imbue Geyserville with its distinctive character, according to The Times, are its downtown “straight out of ‘Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid’” with shopping at cowboy hat and Western wear store and museum Bosworth & Sons, the 45-vendor flea market emporium Gin’gilli’s Vintage Home inside what was once a 1930s Ford dealership, and the town’s sculpture garden located in a formerly derelict lot.

The New York Times previously featured Santa Rosa in its list of “52 Places to Love in 2021.” Last year, it named Healdsburg’s Single Thread restaurant among the top 50 in the US and, in April of this year, the newspaper’s wine critic Eric Asimov revealed six of his favorite places to find an excellent glass of wine with your meal in Sonoma and Napa counties, including Glen Ellen Star, The Matheson in Healdsburg and Valley Bar and Bottle in Sonoma.

Click through the above gallery to see the Geyserville businesses featured in The New York Times article.