🦜Wildlife & nature

Best Ecotourism Destinations in 2026

By WanderTourScore EditorialPublished 21 March 2026Last updated 21 March 2026

We scored 20 countries for eco-tourism potential using a blend of natural landscape quality, wildlife diversity, UNDP Planetary Pressures-adjusted HDI, and safety. These destinations combine immersive natural experiences with lower environmental footprints.

#	Country	Score	🛡️ Safety	💰 Affordability
1	🇧🇳BruneiSouth-Eastern Asia	78	64	76
2	🇸🇮SloveniaCentral Europe	76	81	54
3	🇧🇹BhutanSouthern Asia	76	65	89
4	🇯🇵JapanEastern Asia	75	87	51
5	🇭🇰Hong KongEastern Asia	75	81	42
6	🇭🇷CroatiaSoutheast Europe	73	78	64
7	🇰🇭CambodiaSouth-Eastern Asia	73	60	80
8	🇧🇬BulgariaSoutheast Europe	72	71	71
9	🇲🇾MalaysiaSouth-Eastern Asia	72	77	82
10	🇬🇷GreeceSouthern Europe	71	73	57
11	🇿🇲ZambiaEastern Africa	71	61	84
12	🇰🇷South KoreaEastern Asia	70	79	54
13	🇱🇰Sri LankaSouthern Asia	70	50	84
14	🇵🇹PortugalSouthern Europe	70	79	57
15	🇮🇩IndonesiaSouth-Eastern Asia	70	77	83
16	🇸🇰SlovakiaCentral Europe	70	73	59
17	🇱🇦LaosSouth-Eastern Asia	70	68	90
18	🇨🇬Republic of the CongoMiddle Africa	69	56	77
19	🇪🇸SpainSouthern Europe	69	76	53
20	🇹🇼TaiwanEastern Asia	69	74	63

Methodology

Rankings are computed from real-world open data sources including the Global Peace Index, World Bank (intentional homicides as a civilian-safety signal, WGI political stability, PPP-based price level affordability, protected areas, forest cover, international tourism receipts, and IUCN threatened species counts), US State Department travel advisory levels, UNDP (Human Development Index, Gender Development Index, Gender Inequality Index, and Planetary Pressures-adjusted HDI), ILGA-style legal protections plus TGEU/Transrespect anti-violence reporting for LGBTQ+ traveler scoring, Open-Meteo (climate normals), UNESCO (heritage sites and gastronomy-city recognitions), Wikidata (distinguished restaurant counts and winter-sports results), and OpenStreetMap (restaurant density, cuisine diversity, and luxury hotel counts). Countries with a Level 3+ US State Department travel advisory are excluded. Learn more about our methodology on the About page.

Data current as of May 2026 and may change. Rankings are generated algorithmically from publicly available datasets and are not a substitute for independent research. Do not rely solely on this information when making travel decisions. Always verify conditions with official government sources. Terms of Use · About our data