Where to go in May

Isles of Scilly, England

Tidal, wind-scoured, softly subtropical

13°C in May · 10h 45m from Los Angeles · a week

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Sark, Channel Islands

Quiet, lantern-lit, gloriously old-fashioned

13°C in May · 11h 05m from Los Angeles · 2–3 nights

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Table Mountain, Cape Town, South Africa

High, windswept, city-above-the-sea

11°C in May · 19h 45m from Los Angeles · half a day within a cape town trip

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Ordesa y Monte Perdido, Spain

Vertical, green, properly wild

12°C in May · 11h 50m from Los Angeles · 3–4 nights

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Ben A'an, Trossachs, Scotland

Small hill, enormous view

13°C in May · 10h 25m from Los Angeles · a day trip from glasgow or stirling

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Tatra Mountains, Poland and Slovakia

Sharp, sociable, properly mountainous

13°C in May · 12h 15m from Los Angeles · 4–6 nights

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Trollstigen, Norway

Vertical, dramatic, briskly Norwegian

13°C in May · 10h 25m from Los Angeles · a day, within a longer fjord drive

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Banff, Canada

Alpine, glacial, cinematic

11°C in May · 2h 55m from Los Angeles · 4–6 nights

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Preikestolen, Norway

Granite, vertigo, cold clear air

11°C in May · 10h 40m from Los Angeles · a day trip from stavanger

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Queenstown, New Zealand

Alpine, adrenal, lake-bright

11°C in May · 14h 10m from Los Angeles · 4–5 nights

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The Fairy Pools, Isle of Skye, Scotland

Icy, clear, quietly ferocious

12°C in May · 10h 15m from Los Angeles · a day trip from portree

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Icefields Parkway, Canada

Vast, glacial, gloriously empty

10°C in May · 2h 55m from Los Angeles · 2 days, with a night en route

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Wengen, Switzerland

Slow, alpine, quietly old-fashioned

12°C in May · 11h 55m from Los Angeles · 4–5 nights

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Old Man of Storr, Isle of Skye, Scotland

Bleak, jagged, quietly unsettling

10°C in May · 10h 15m from Los Angeles · 3–4 nights on skye

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Morskie Oko, Tatras, Poland

Alpine, crowd-drawn, quietly grand

10°C in May · 12h 15m from Los Angeles · a day trip from zakopane

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Seefeld, Austria

Sunny, unhurried, quietly comfortable

13°C in May · 12h 05m from Los Angeles · 4–7 nights

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Zermatt, Switzerland

Car-free, high alpine, single-mountain obsessed

11°C in May · 11h 55m from Los Angeles · 4–5 nights

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Durmitor National Park, Montenegro

Rugged, remote, quietly spectacular

10°C in May · 13h 05m from Los Angeles · 3-4 nights

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Oeschinensee, Switzerland

Turquoise, sheer, easily earned

10°C in May · 11h 55m from Los Angeles · a day trip, or 2 nights in kandersteg

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Cairngorms, Scotland

Big, bare, weather-ruled

9°C in May · 10h 25m from Los Angeles · 3–4 nights

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Triglav National Park, Slovenia

Turquoise water, limestone, clean air

9°C in May · 12h 25m from Los Angeles · 5–7 nights

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Maloja Pass, Switzerland

Dramatic, remote, quietly grand

10°C in May · 11h 55m from Los Angeles · a day trip from st moritz or the wider engadine

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Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy

Rose-lit peaks, well-dressed, alpine grandeur

11°C in May · 12h 10m from Los Angeles · a week in winter, 3–4 nights in summer

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Cares Gorge, Picos de Europa, Spain

Vertical, green, bracing, unshowy

8°C in May · 11h 20m from Los Angeles · 3–4 nights

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Picos de Europa, Spain

Green, limestone, weather-beaten

8°C in May · 11h 20m from Los Angeles · 4–5 nights

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Courmayeur, Italy

Alpine, refined, unmistakably Italian

6°C in May · 12h 05m from Los Angeles · 4-5 nights

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Kilimanjaro, Tanzania

Slow, cold, single-minded

9°C in May · 19h 20m from Los Angeles · 7-9 days on the mountain

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Sella Pass, Dolomites, Italy

Pale, jagged, cinematic at dusk

9°C in May · 12h 15m from Los Angeles · a day trip from val gardena or alta badia

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Lac Blanc, Chamonix, France

High, bright, unambiguously alpine

6°C in May · 11h 55m from Los Angeles · a half day from chamonix

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Brienz Rothorn Railway, Switzerland

Nostalgic, steep, thoroughly alpine

6°C in May · 11h 55m from Los Angeles · a day trip from interlaken

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Torres del Paine, Chile

Wind-scoured, granite, exhilarating

5°C in May · 13h 05m from Los Angeles · 5–7 nights

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Vanoise National Park, France

High, clean, companionable, unfussy

5°C in May · 11h 55m from Los Angeles · 5–6 nights

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Passo Giau, Dolomites, Italy

High, sharp-edged, postcard alpine

7°C in May · 12h 20m from Los Angeles · 3–4 nights in the dolomites

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Mount Fuji, Japan

Sacred, punishing, oddly communal

2°C in May · 11h 05m from Los Angeles · 2–3 nights

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Everest Base Camp, Nepal

Demanding, spiritual, spectacular

1°C in May · 15h 40m from Los Angeles · 12-14 days

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Berchtesgaden National Park, Germany

Sheer, green, alpine and quiet

5°C in May · 12h 10m from Los Angeles · 3–5 nights

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