Where to go in July

Death Valley, California, USA

Vast, stark, quietly extreme

47°C in July, and dry · 1h from Los Angeles · 2-3 nights

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The Merzouga dunes, Morocco

Silent, elemental, deep orange

42°C in July, and dry · 12h 25m from Los Angeles · two nights in the desert, inside a week-long loop

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The White Desert, Egypt

Lunar, silent, chalk white

38°C in July, and dry · 15h 10m from Los Angeles · two nights out from cairo

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Pamukkale, Turkey

Chalk-white, steaming, faintly surreal

38°C in July, and dry · 14h 10m from Los Angeles · 1–2 nights

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Wadi Rum, Jordan

Vast, red, silent after dark

34°C in July, and dry · 15h 20m from Los Angeles · 1–2 nights

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Praia da Marinha, Algarve, Portugal

Honeyed cliffs, clear green water

32°C in July, and dry · 11h 40m from Los Angeles · a half day from carvoeiro

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The Thar Desert, Jaisalmer, India

Golden, dusty, storybook Rajasthan

37°C in July · 16h 15m from Los Angeles · 3 nights

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Khongoryn Els, Gobi Desert, Mongolia

Vast, dusty, humbling, off-grid

32°C in July · 12h 55m from Los Angeles · two nights at the dunes, within a week in the gobi

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Procida, Italy

Faded pastel, salt-worn, unhurried

30°C in July, and dry · 12h 55m from Los Angeles · 2–3 nights

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Mulhacén, Spain

High, bare, sun-bleached

31°C in July · 12h from Los Angeles · 3 nights

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Yala, Sri Lanka

Dusty, thorny, adrenal at dawn

32°C in July · sea at 28° · 18h 30m from Los Angeles · 2–3 nights

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Collioure, France

Painterly, Catalan, sun-soaked, small

30°C in July · sea at 23° · 12h from Los Angeles · 3–4 nights

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Bay of Kotor, Montenegro

Stone, mountain, mirror-flat water

32°C in July · 13h 05m from Los Angeles · 3–4 nights

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Sveti Stefan, Montenegro

Postcard-pretty, stony, sun-warmed

29°C in July · sea at 28° · 13h 05m from Los Angeles · 3–4 nights

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Cadaqués, Catalonia, Spain

White, windswept, artily bohemian

28°C in July, and dry · sea at 24° · 12h 05m from Los Angeles · 2–3 nights

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Oia, Santorini, Greece

White, vertical, engineered for sunset

26°C in July, and dry · 14h 05m from Los Angeles · 3–4 nights

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Ponta da Piedade, Algarve, Portugal

Golden, salt-sprayed, camera-ready

26°C in July, and dry · 11h 40m from Los Angeles · a half day from lagos

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Sossusvlei, Namibia

Vast, silent, elemental, sun-bleached

26°C in July, and dry · 19h 05m from Los Angeles · 2–3 nights

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The Masai Mara, Kenya

Golden, wide open, big sky

27°C in July · 19h 05m from Los Angeles · 3–4 nights

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Cinque Terre, Liguria, Italy

Coloured houses, terraced cliffs, salt air

27°C in July · 12h 25m from Los Angeles · 3–4 nights

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Madeira coastal road, Portugal

Dramatic, cliff-hugging, unhurried

25°C in July · 11h 15m from Los Angeles · a day or two, as part of a longer madeira stay

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Stone Town, Zanzibar, Tanzania

Layered, spiced, sea-worn

28°C in July · sea at 27° · 19h 50m from Los Angeles · 2–3 nights

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Praia da Ursa, Sintra, Portugal

Raw, windblown, gloriously empty

23°C in July, and dry · 11h 30m from Los Angeles · a half day from sintra

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Venice, Italy

Watery, theatrical, quietly melancholy

28°C in July · 12h 20m from Los Angeles · 3 nights

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Taketomi, Japan

Slow, sandy, gently traditional

30°C in July · sea at 30° · 13h 25m from Los Angeles · 1–2 nights

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Big Sur, California, USA

Cliff-edge, foggy, monumentally empty

21°C in July, and dry · 1h 05m from Los Angeles · 2–3 nights

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Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Germany

Storybook, walled, quiet after six

24°C in July · 11h 50m from Los Angeles · 2 nights

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Varenna, Lake Como, Italy

Steep, quiet, unhurriedly pretty

27°C in July · 12h 10m from Los Angeles · 2–3 nights

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Annecy, France

Turquoise water, arcades, mountain air

25°C in July · 11h 55m from Los Angeles · 2-3 nights

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Playa de Gulpiyuri, Asturias, Spain

Odd, tiny, quietly remarkable

23°C in July · sea at 21° · 11h 20m from Los Angeles · a half day from llanes

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Bernina Express, Switzerland to Italy

Slow, engineered, absurdly scenic

28°C in July · 11h 55m from Los Angeles · a full day, or 2–3 nights split along the route

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Koh Yao Noi, Thailand

Flat lanes, karst views, quiet

31°C in July · sea at 31° · 17h 10m from Los Angeles · 3-4 nights

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Peak 2 Peak Gondola, Whistler, Canada

High, engineered, jaw-dropping in clear air

22°C in July · 2h 40m from Los Angeles · 2–3 nights in whistler

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Sepilok and the Kinabatangan, Borneo, Malaysia

Humid, green, quietly astonishing

31°C in July · 15h 35m from Los Angeles · 3–4 nights

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Ordesa y Monte Perdido, Spain

Vertical, green, properly wild

20°C in July · 11h 50m from Los Angeles · 3–4 nights

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Anse Source d'Argent, La Digue, Seychelles

Granite, shallow jade, barefoot

26°C in July · sea at 27° · 20h 30m from Los Angeles · 2-3 nights

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