Americans heading abroad for Thanksgiving are mostly pointing themselves at sun. Allianz Partners' 2026 Top Thanksgiving Destinations report has Cancun in first place, with Mexico and the Caribbean claiming eight of the ten spots on the international list.
The rankings come from an analysis of just over 145,000 insured round-trip itineraries flying out of US airports between November 21 and 26, with returns between November 27 and December 1 — the classic pre-Thanksgiving departure and post-feast return window.
Cancun tops the list ahead of Mexico's San José del Cabo in second and the Dominican Republic's Punta Cana in third, the highest finish of any Caribbean island. Aruba's Oranjestad takes fifth, Jamaica's Montego Bay sixth, and Nassau ninth. That gives the Caribbean basin five entries in the top ten. Mexico itself puts four destinations on the list: Cancun, San José del Cabo, Puerto Vallarta in eighth and Mexico City in tenth, spanning the Caribbean coast, the Pacific resorts and the capital. The only non-sun intruders are London and Paris.
One caveat worth knowing: the rankings reflect destinations within Allianz's analysed itineraries, not a full count of Americans travelling for the holiday, and the report doesn't publish passenger totals or year-over-year comparisons. So Cancun's number one spot shows it leads this sample, not that demand has spiked.
There's also a hint that Thanksgiving is stretching beyond a long weekend. In a separate Allianz survey of 1,524 travel insurance customers, 32.4 percent said they were adding vacation days to their holiday trip — or considering it. A fifth had already committed, planning a median stay of eight days versus six for those sticking to the holiday alone.
For travellers, the takeaway is simple: the beach getaway is the default international Thanksgiving play this year, and booking windows are already active. If you're eyeing Cancun, Punta Cana or Aruba for late November, expect company — and consider that eight-day model. Tacking a few extra days onto either side of Thanksgiving Day (which falls on November 26 this year) can soften the impact of peak-season airfares and give you time beyond the resort pool. It also lines up neatly with the start of Caribbean high season, when the weather is dry and the worst of hurricane season has passed.
The full top ten, in order: Cancun, San José del Cabo, Punta Cana, London, Oranjestad, Montego Bay, Paris, Puerto Vallarta, Nassau and Mexico City. Whether you want white sand, a Pacific sunset or a European city break, this year's list suggests plenty of Americans have already decided where they're eating their turkey.
