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Arrivals<br />
TRAVEL<br />
FESTIVAL FRENZY<br />
Europe offers a regular menu of<br />
photogenic festivals but July claims<br />
a gold star for its historical pageants,<br />
great music and adrenaline-fuelled<br />
celebrations. In Italy, you can catch<br />
galloping hooves and waving flags at<br />
Siena’s Il Palio (2nd), in Switzerland<br />
you’ll find Montreux’s lakeside<br />
jazz festival (1-16), plus opera and<br />
classical concerts in Salzburg,<br />
Austria (starting 22nd). On 17 July,<br />
Venice’s Festa del Redentore sees<br />
pyrotechnics above a lagoon dotted<br />
with boats, while Germany’s Rhine<br />
In Flames (2nd) is a fireworks<br />
spectacular. The Germans are also<br />
hosting Wagner’s Bayreuth Festival<br />
operas from 25 July, while Finland<br />
sticks its tenors and sopranos in St<br />
Olaf’s Castle in Savonlinna from<br />
8-16 July. The Basel military tattoo<br />
(21-30) attracts 500,000 visitors,<br />
while P<strong>amp</strong>lona’s running of the<br />
bulls (6-14) will test, but hopefully<br />
not puncture, your cojoñes.<br />
<strong>Travel</strong>news<br />
Tillers AND TRACKS<br />
The Trans-Siberian Railway has been on all<br />
of our bucket lists at some point and given<br />
that it’s celebrating its 100th birthday this<br />
year, there’s never been a better time to<br />
climb aboard. In honour of the centenary,<br />
Abercrombie & Kent’s Golden Eagle Trans-<br />
Siberian Express tour on 26 July includes<br />
an extra night in the mountains at Lake<br />
Baikal. The deepest lake in the world, it is<br />
best enjoyed on a private cruise, followed<br />
by a traditional sauna overlooking the water.<br />
$14,565pp. abercrombiekent.co.uk<br />
ON THE MOVE<br />
Africa’s wildebeest migration is known as the<br />
greatest journey on Earth and the hair-raising<br />
dash across the great Mara River as they<br />
dodge the jaws of crocodiles is the most epic<br />
part. Late July is the best time to see it, and<br />
with Exsus’s 13-night Masai Mara Migration<br />
tour, you’ll be in the thick of it. The adventure<br />
also includes camel trekking with Masai<br />
warriors and six nights at Diani, where you<br />
can rinse off your dusty trousers in the Indian<br />
Ocean. $7,630pp, including flights. exsus.<strong>com</strong><br />
FREE WHEELING<br />
Things that begin with B seems to be the theme at World Expeditions this<br />
summer. The brand-new Bordeaux Bike and Barge tour ($1,740) is a leisurely<br />
amble through this fabulous wine region that includes a visit to the new La Cité<br />
du Vin museum, which opened in June, and plenty of opportunities for a tipple<br />
or two. Further afield, Québec’s Blueberry Bicycle Route bounds merrily around<br />
beautiful Saint-Jean Lake. The shady forests are flecked with wild blueberries<br />
and they make their way into everything from chocolate, bread and pastries to<br />
game stews. $930pp. worldexpeditions.co.uk<br />
8<br />
FOOD & TRAVEL ARABIA
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