An influential travel guide has revealed its top recommendations for places to visit during every season of the year in its new Where To Go When guide – and it's recommended Shetland’s Up Helly Aa as one of the world's best events. Answering the perennial traveller question the book from Lonely Planet highlights 25 destinations for each month, detailing not just where to go, but why and how, creating the ultimate trip planner for the year.
The guide includes a handy infographic flowchart, to help filter the recommendations according to interests, from beaches to adventures or food and drink, and diagrams that depict the climate and value for money. It also includes a calendar of iconic and less well-known events, which people will love.
READ MORE: 'Plan for more time, not less' - Insider tips for travelling Scotland from Lonely Planet
The annual Up Helly Aa celebrations in Lerwick were one of the only British entries in the guide. The fire festival takes place on the last Tuesday of January each year, celebrates Shetland's Norse heritage with torchbearers dressing in costumes including those of traditional Vikings.
The event also features a torchlight procession culminating in a spectacular Viking Galley ship being set on fire as well as an exciting firework display.
Marking the end of the pagan Yule season, this year's festival was postponed for the second year running due to coronavirus worries but is set to go ahead once again next year.
Speaking about the new guide, the LP team said: "From adventures outdoors to lazy beach holidays to street food odysseys, the carefully curated menu of 300 destinations, split into 12 monthly chapters outlines what makes each country, region, island or city so wonderful to visit at that moment."
“This is the second edition of this hugely popular book, with new locations and updated information. It’s as much about the best time to travel as it is about the why and the how.
"A great way to help start planning your next trip and learn more about the destination.”
A selection of the annual events taken from the new guide:
January
- Lerwick Up Helly Aa, Shetland, Scotland - A torchlight procession of Vikings carrying a ship through the streets before setting it aflame
February
- Lemon Festival, France - 140 tonnes of versatile citrus adorn sculptures, floats and gardens during this two-week fruit-fest on the Cote d’Azur
March
- Waffle Day, Gothenburg, Sweden - Tuck into a heart-shaped våffa (waffle) with cloudberry sylt (jam) and ispgrädde (whipped cream) on the sweetest day of the year
April
- Walpurgisnacht, Thale, Germany - On the night when witches gather in the Harz Mountains, join the throngs on the Hexentanzplatz (Witches’ Dance Square) for music and merriment
May
- Rose Festival, El-Kelaa M'Gouna, Morocco - The harvest of roses in the High Atlas Mountains is celebrated with feasting, dancing, markets and a chariot procession
June
- Festa de São João do Porto Portugal - Thousands flock to the centre of Portugal’s second city for a midsummer festival with music, dancing, sardine-snacking and fireworks
July
- Sonkajärvi, Finland - Wife-carrying World Championships - Men lug spouses over an obstacle course in a hilarious and surprisingly nail-biting competition
August
- La Tomatina, Bunol, Spain – Grab as many tomatoes as you can, cram yourself among tens of thousands of fruit-wielding combatants, hurl and repeat
September
- Galway’s International Oyster & Seafood festival, Ireland – Slurp and savour at this gourmet event featuring cooking demos, music, a gala dinner and more
October
- Exmoor Dark Skies Festival, Exmoor National Park, England - Discover the cosmos with astrophotography workshops, virtual reality exhibitions and guided night hikes during this two-day astronomy extravaganza
November
- Iceland Airwaves, Reykjavík, Iceland – Catch a diverse range of cutting-edge Icelandic and international music at this now-famous four-day festival
December
- Monarch Butterflies, Michoacán, Mexico – The oyamel fir trees of central Mexico are cloaked in orange as millions of monarch butterflies roost over winter – an extraordinary spectacle
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