If I should name only one thing I’ve missed since the pandemic began, traveling would be one of the first things to remember. Thankfully, we can still travel locally and look at magnificent travel images from abroad. So if you’d like to take a virtual trip around the world right now, join me on this journey through the winning images of Travel Photography of the Year for 2020.

Just like 2020 was an unusual year (to say the least), so were the entries to the TPOTY contest. Some entrants submitted photos taken close to home during the lockdown. Others submitted photos from countries in which they unexpectedly got stranded as temporary long-term residents. Still, the contest was nothing less successful than in the previous years.  Photographers from 147 countries submitted almost 25,000 images for the 2020 contest. The Travel Photographer of the Year 2020 is Vladimir Alekseev, who is also TPOTY’s first-ever Russian overall winner.

Young Travel Photographer of the Year is 12 years old Indigo Larmour from Ireland. Two more youngsters have been awarded: Ben Skaar from the USA (age 17) is 2020 Young Travel Photographer of the Year 15-18 years, and 11 years old Miguel Sánchez García from Spain is a winner in the “14 years & under” category.

Here are the remaining categories and winners of the 2020 contest:

• Landscapes & Earth Elements – Alessandro Carboni, Italy
• Nature, Sealife, Wildlife – Marco Steiner, Austria
• People of the World – Mouneb Taim, Syria
• Travel Folio – Jordi Cohen, Spain
• Close to Home – Pier Luigi Dodi, Italy
• Colours of Life – Peter Walmsley, UK
• Islands – David Newton, UK
• Solitude – Mark Anthony Agtay, Philippines
• iTravelled: Azim Khan Ronnie, Bangladesh
• People’s Choice – Jorge Bacelar, Portugal
• Travel Shorts (video): Jonathan Stokes, UK

All the winning images will be on display in Coal Drops Yard, King’s Cross, London, and in other TPOTY exhibitions, including Chester Cathedral. The exhibitions will take place from 12 May to 10 June. We bring you a part of the selection below and make sure to visit Winners’ Gallery on tpoty.com for more.