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Tim Pile

Sports fans have a busy summer ahead.
1. Euro 2024
The opening match of the Uefa Euro 2024 football tournament, between Germany and Scotland, kicks off at the Allianz Arena, in Munich, on June 14. The game is a sell-out but fear not, entry to the Olympiapark fan zone is free for each of the six matches to be played at the stadium.
All games, including the final, which will be held in Berlin on July 14, will be shown on three giant screens. The fan zone will also feature live music, open-air cinema, football coaching sessions, a zip line and food trucks.
Bearing in mind that Munich is home to the world’s most famous beer festival, the liquid refreshment is sure to be top notch.
If you are not a lover of the beautiful game, the German state of Bavaria rewards visitors with forests, fairy-tale castles and fresh air – the foothills of the Alps are a 90-minute drive away.

2. Paris Olympics
If you are unable to score tickets for the football, make a beeline for Paris instead. For the first time in history, the Summer Olympic Games opening ceremony will not be taking place in a stadium.
On July 26, boats from each competing nation will sail 6km (3.7 miles) down the River Seine in the biggest event of its kind. The vessels making up the flotilla will be equipped with television cameras that will beam images of the 10,500 athletes set against the spectacular Parisian skyline.
The parade will be free for up to half a million people who will be able to watch from the banks of the river.

3. Monsoon dodges
While much of Southeast Asia is deluged from May to October, a few destinations buck the bad-weather trend.
The east coast of Peninsular Malaysia enjoys cloudless skies, while hotel staff in Thailand, Myanmar, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and the Philippines are sandbagging doorways to keep the monsoon rains out.
If you are seeking sunshine and the traveller’s holy trinity of frosty white sands, turquoise seas and swaying palms in the coming months, consider a trip to the Perhentian Islands.
Choose from bustling beaches or quiet coves minus the crowds, although if it is silence you are after, venture south to Pulau Kapas, a blink-and-you-miss-it speck of an island where the drone of jet skis and the thump of music from bars are notably absent.

You do not have to settle for skies the colour of concrete on the Indian subcontinent either. Try Trincomalee, on the east coast of Sri Lanka – the beach town and port experiences its dry season when other parts of the teardrop-shaped country are under water.
“Trinco” boasts an illustrious history as a military stronghold and trading centre. Marco Polo (1254-1324) stopped by, as did British sailor Horatio Nelson (1758-1805), who described the harbour as the finest in the world.

4. Head for the hills
It can get pretty hot, though, so to keep your cool, head into the mountains. Book a heritage hotel overlooking a golf course in Nuwara Eliya (altitude 1,890 metres/6,200ft) or a tea plantation in Haputale.
Here you’ll find Lipton’s Seat, named after Scottish tea tycoon Thomas Lipton (1848-1931). The viewpoint offers sweeping vistas of the surrounding hills and is a great place for watching sunsets.
Staying with high-altitude “cooltourism”, Gulmarg was established as a ski resort by two British Army officers in 1927. In summer, sightseers rent mountain cottages surrounded by apple and cherry orchards, and snap selfies in meadows carpeted with primulas and poppies, daffodils and daisies (gulmarg means “meadow of flowers” in Persian).
The Indian holiday hideaway is also a popular trekking spot and attracts golfers who love its lofty location in the foothills of the Western Himalayas.
Not a golfer? Wander among sheep grazing in grassy pastures, hike through forests of fir and pine and see if you can spot any Bollywood locations. Many films have been shot here.

5. Wet wet wet
Have you ever schlepped to a distant waterfall that looked Niagara-esque on Instagram only to discover that after four rainless months, the cascades are reduced to a pathetic trickle.
Waterfalls break the low-season travel rule and, it goes without saying, should be visited at the wettest time of year if you want to see them at their most impressive. To fully appreciate Huangguoshu Waterfall, China’s largest, plan your visit to Anshun, Guizhou province, for between May and October, when the flow of water is at its thunderous best.
Sightseers who visit at other times are likely to be disappointed.

6. Midnight sun
Travel to Norway’s dramatic Lofoten Islands in winter and you have a good chance of seeing the northern lights. Visit in the summer and, besides being able to actually feel your toes, you’ll get to experience the midnight sun, Norway’s other dazzling display of natural beauty.
Proximity to the Arctic Circle means that for about six weeks, the sun does not set. Instead, it lies low on the horizon for an age before recommencing its upwards trajectory. The sky is a canvas of colour for hours on end, which is great for photography – as are the picturesque fishing villages and spiky mountains framed by the deep blue of the Arctic Ocean.

7. Angkor attractions
A new walking trail providing tourists with an alternative route between Angkor Botanical Garden and Angkor Archaeological Park is due to open this summer.
The footpath, which leads visitors through dense Cambodian forest, is part of the Visit Siem Reap 2024 campaign aimed at showcasing the tourism potential and natural biodiversity of the province.
Talking of new tourism infrastructure, the Apsara National Authority recently constructed a bridge aimed at diverting regular traffic away from bicycle paths. The government body, which is responsible for the protection and management of Angkor Wat, has built 23km of dedicated cycle lanes and bridges since 2020.

8. Theme park expands
An expansion to Tokyo DisneySea theme park at Tokyo Disneyland is due to open on June 6. The most expensive extension to any existing theme park anywhere, Fantasy Springs is a US$2.3 billion upgrade featuring rides, restaurants, and retail areas based on three of Disney’s much loved films: Frozen (2013), Tangled (2010) and Peter Pan (2003).
Also due for completion is a 475-room Disney-themed hotel located within the park.


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Tourism

Summer holiday ideas 2024: Malaysia, Sri Lanka for sun and sea, Euro 2024, Olympic Games in Paris, escapes from the heat

Trincomalee Beach in Sri Lanka. Photo: Shutterstock

An illustration of the planned opening ceremony at the Paris Summer Olympics, which will take place on the city’s River Seine. It’s one of our eight summer holiday ideas for 2024. Photo AFP

Uefa Euro 2024 Mascot Albärt with the Uefa Euro 2024 trophy at the Arena Frankfurt, in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Photo: Getty Images

Kapas Island, off the east coast of Malaysia, isn’t affected by monsoons that hit much of Southeast Asia. Photo: Shutterstock

Trincomalee Beach, in Sri Lanka, is another Asian destination without too much summer rain. Photo: Shutterstock

Gulmarg, in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, offers welcome relief from India’s summer heat. Photo: Shutterstock

Huangguoshu Waterfall, in Anshun, Guizhou province, is the largest in China, and is best visited between May and October. Photo: Shutterstock

You can experience the midnight sun in the Lofoten Islands, in the northwest of Norway. Above: Reine village in Lofoten. Photo: Shutterstock

A new trail between Angkor Botanical Garden and Angkor Archaeological Park opens this summer, near Angkor Wat in Siem Reap, Cambodia. Photo: Shutterstock

Tokyo DisneySea at Tokyo Disneyland, in Japan, has undergone a US$2.3 billion expansion. Photo: Getty Images

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Euro 2024 and the Olympic Games in Paris are the big sports events of summer. Not a sports fan? See the midnight sun in Norway or sunbathe in tropical Asia
Experience the majesty of China’s biggest waterfall, check out the expanded Tokyo DisneySea, or escape the summer heat in the hills of Sri Lanka and India


From the summer Olympics in Paris and the Euro 2024 football tournament, to natural wonders such as China’s largest waterfall and Norway’s midnight sun, eight things to do and see in summer 2024.


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