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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Cape Sounion, Greece

Marble, wind, open sea, ceremony

33°C in July, and dry · 13h 50m from Los Angeles · a half-day trip from athens

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Elafonissi, Crete, Greece

Protected, pink-tinged, wild-edged

32°C in July, and dry · sea at 26° · 14h 05m from Los Angeles · a day trip

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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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Sa Calobra, Mallorca, Spain

Vertiginous, engineered, rock and sea

32°C in July, and dry · 12h 20m from Los Angeles · a day trip from soller or palma

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The Blue Eye, Albania

Cold, luminous, briefly astonishing

33°C in July · 13h 15m from Los Angeles · a day trip from sarande

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The Pantanal, Brazil

Hot, teeming, wide-open wetland

31°C in July, and dry · 10h 50m from Los Angeles · 4–5 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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Gordes, Provence, France

Sun-bleached stone, lavender, long lunches

31°C in July · 12h 05m from Los Angeles · 4–7 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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Amalfi Coast, Italy

Vertical, lemon scented, gloriously busy

30°C in July, and dry · 12h 55m from Los Angeles · 4-5 nights

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Cala Goloritzé, Sardinia, Italy

Bright, austere, hard-won

29°C in July, and dry · sea at 27° · 12h 40m from Los Angeles · a day trip from cala gonone

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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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Myrtos, Kefalonia, Greece

Blinding white, deep blue, cinematic

28°C in July, and dry · sea at 27° · 13h 35m from Los Angeles · a week on kefalonia

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Navagio Beach, Zakynthos, Greece

Vertiginous, photogenic, strictly look-only

28°C in July, and dry · sea at 26° · 13h 40m from Los Angeles · a week on zakynthos

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Pacific Coast Highway, California, USA

Cliff-edge, cinematic, unhurried

28°C in July, and dry · 0h 35m from Los Angeles · 4–5 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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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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Havana, Cuba

Musical, peeling, improvised, alive

33°C in July · 5h from Los Angeles · 4 nights

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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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Lanikai Beach, Oahu, Hawaii

Calm, residential, quietly perfect

28°C in July · sea at 26° · 5h 30m from Los Angeles · a morning, from a base in kailua or waikiki

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Ngong Ping 360, Hong Kong

Airy, panoramic, mildly theatrical

31°C in July · 14h 30m from Los Angeles · a day trip from hong kong

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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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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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