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Canada has one lonely entry on Lonely Planet’s 2012 top 10 travel lists

Canada has only one mention on this year's Lonely Planet top 10 countries, regions and cities to visit in 2012.

The Maritime provinces - Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island - ranked No. 7 on the list of best regions for tourists to visit next year.

The Maritimes, say Lonely Planet, "have always exuded the quintessential briny vibe of clapboard fishing villages, clifftop lighthouses and townhall lobster suppers.

"But there's new action brewing. From distilleries popping up that turn PEI potatoes into silky vodka to organic farm wineries that crush Nova Scotia grapes into sweet vino, gastronomes are drinking up the rustic region. Stir in the wharfside oyster cafes, mushroom foraging tours and farmstead cheese-making classes, and you have a scene of plenty between sips, too.

"The tide is pulling especially strongly in 2012, when the Maritimes mark the 100th anniversary of the Titanic disaster."

Coastal Wales was rated the No. 1 regional destination, largely because by next year travellers will be able to hike the All Wales Coastal Path.

"What a wonderful thing: to walk the entire length of a country's coastline, to trace its every nook, cranny, cliff-face, indent and estuary. How better to truly appreciate the shape — and soul — of a nation?"

The other top-10 finishers were La Ruta Maya, which goes through Mexico, Belize, Guatemala and Honduras, Northern Kenya, Arunachal Pradesh, India, Hvar, Croatia, Sicily, Queenstown and Southern Lakes, New Zealand, Borneo and Poitou-Charentes, France.

No Canadian cities made Lonely Planet's top 10 list, which was led by London thanks to next year's Olympic Summer Games, followed by Muscat, Oman, Bengaluru (Bangalore), India, Cadiz, Spain, Stockholm, Guimaraes, Portugal, Santiago, Chile, Hong Kong, Orlando, Florida and Darwin, Australia.

And the No. 1 country to visit, according to Lonely Planet? It's Uganda.

"It's taken nasty dictatorships and a brutal civil war to keep Uganda off the tourist radar, but stability is returning and it won't be long before visitors come flocking back," Lonely Planet said.

The listing includes a warning, though, that homosexuality is illegal in Uganda and there is "very little social tolerance" for it. It also recommends against travelling in the still strife-torn northeastern region of the country.

The No. 2 country is Myanmar (Burma), which has been the subject of widespread economic sanctions and boycotts because of its oppressive military dictatorship. The country now has a civilian government after what many saw as a sham election last year. Lonely Planet notes the opposition National League for Democracy is urging tourists to return.

"As a result, Myanmar is set to be a hot new destination for independent travellers."

The other countries on the list: Ukraine, Jordan, Denmark, Bhutan, Cuba, New Caledonia, Taiwan and Switzerland.