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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Aquaventure, Dubai, UAE

Loud, engineered, relentlessly wet

42°C in July, and dry · 16h 30m from Los Angeles · one or two days within a dubai trip

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Dubai, UAE

Glossy, ambitious, larger than life

42°C in July, and dry · 16h 30m from Los Angeles · 3-5 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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Marrakech, Morocco

Sensory, labyrinthine, warmly chaotic

38°C in July · 12h 10m from Los Angeles · a long weekend, 3-4 nights

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Plaza de España and its canal in Seville

Seville, Spain

Warm, tiled, theatrical after dark

36°C in July, and dry · 11h 50m from Los Angeles · 3–4 nights

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The Wahiba Sands, Oman

Silent, amber, star-heavy

37°C in July, and dry · 16h 45m from Los Angeles · one or two nights, inside a week in oman

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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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Athens, Greece

Ancient, gritty, sociable, sun-bleached

34°C in July, and dry · sea at 27° · 13h 50m from Los Angeles · 3–4 nights

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Madrid, Spain

Late-night, grand, unpretentious

34°C in July, and dry · 11h 45m from Los Angeles · 3-4 nights

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Porquerolles, France

Car-free, pine-shaded, softly Provençal

32°C in July, and dry · 12h 15m from Los Angeles · 2–3 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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Tel Aviv, Israel

Loud, sun-bleached, permanently outdoors

32°C in July, and dry · sea at 30° · 15h 05m from Los Angeles · 3–4 nights

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WaterWorld, Ayia Napa, Cyprus

Sunny, silly, thoroughly organised

32°C in July, and dry · 14h 40m from Los Angeles · a day from an ayia napa or protaras base

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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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Deià, Mallorca, Spain

Artistic, slow, quietly glamorous

32°C in July, and dry · 12h 20m from Los Angeles · 3-4 nights

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Palermo, Sicily

Raw, baroque, deliciously disorderly

32°C in July, and dry · 13h 10m from Los Angeles · 3 nights

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Playa de los Muertos, Almería, Spain

Arid, empty, glass-clear

31°C in July, and dry · sea at 27° · 12h 10m from Los Angeles · 2–3 nights in cabo de gata

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Austin, Texas

Laid-back, musical, sweaty, unpretentious

35°C in July · 2h 55m from Los Angeles · 3–4 nights

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Thessaloniki, Greece

Late-night, food-obsessed, unpolished

33°C in July · 13h 30m from Los Angeles · 3 nights

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Taormina, Sicily, Italy

Cliff-perched, romantic, volcano-shadowed

31°C in July, and dry · 13h 20m 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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Saturnia hot springs, Tuscany, Italy

Steamy, rural, faintly pagan

32°C in July · 12h 30m from Los Angeles · 2–3 nights

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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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Florence, Italy

Compact, golden, relentlessly beautiful

31°C in July · 12h 30m from Los Angeles · 3–4 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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Tirana, Albania

Loud, colourful, cheerfully chaotic

31°C in July · 13h 15m from Los Angeles · 2–3 nights

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Cefalù, Sicily, Italy

Golden stone, warm sea, easy rhythm

30°C in July, and dry · sea at 28° · 13h 10m from Los Angeles · 3–4 nights

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Hydra, Greece

Car-free, stone-built, artfully quiet

29°C in July, and dry · 13h 50m from Los Angeles · 2–3 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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Douro Valley, Portugal

Terraced, romantic, wine-soaked

30°C in July · 11h 20m from Los Angeles · 3-4 nights

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Mount Toubkal, Morocco

Steep, dusty, quietly hospitable

30°C in July · 12h 10m from Los Angeles · 3–4 nights

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Amed, Bali, Indonesia

Black sand, early nights, volcano views

30°C in July · sea at 29° · 17h 05m from Los Angeles · 3-4 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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