FESTIVALS & EVENTS

If you’re looking to party or to get swept up in local celebrations, timing is everything...

THE NETHERLANDS Rail into the European Capital of Culture

Hop on the new Eurostar service from London to Amsterdam (just four hours) to discover one of the Netherlands’ lesser-sung delights on Planet Rail’s Amsterdam & Leeuwarden trip. Lying in the northwestern tip of the country, Leeuwarden is the capital of Friesland and 2018’s European Capital of Culture. Here, a pretty network of bike paths and canals make walking and cycling tours a good way to explore its 17th-century streets and unravel the town that gave birth to the spy Mata Hari. On the return journey, pit-stop at Amsterdam, a city riddled with as much history as it has cycle paths, where the bicycle is king and strolling Vondelpark or (in winter) skating the canals shows another side to the capital. WHO: Planet Rail (01347 825292; www.planetrail.co.uk) WHEN: Year round HOW LONG: 6 nights HOW MUCH: From £825 (incl rail travel)

MONGOLIA Go where eagles dare

£50 Big festivals can often seem divorced OFF from the cultures that inspired them. Not so in Mongolia, where the Eagle Festival is still rooted in the daily lives of the nomadic ger camps of the deep west, who live high in the Altai Mountains. Here, hunting with eagles is a part of life and finds its expression in this remarkable event, which forms the climax of Exodus Travel’s Mongolia Eagle Festival trip. But before flying out west, this deep-mongolia escape grounds you in the lives and history of the Gobi locals, from tracking wild horses on the steppe of Khustrain Nuruu NP to wandering the ruins of monasteries obliterated in the Stalinist purges, and hiking the rouge-coloured ‘Flaming Cliffs’ of Bayanzag. Unforgettable. WHO: Exodus Travels (020 3811 3091; www.exodus.co.uk) WHEN: 30 Jun, 7 & 22 Jul, 12 Aug, 9 & 21 Sept 2018 HOW LONG: 19 days HOW MUCH: From £3,899 (incl intl flights)

INDIA Party with the headhunters

Pair a remote slice of India with one of the planet’s most off-grid communities for a truly remarkable encounter. That’s what Wild Rhino Adventures offers on its Aoling Festival of the Tattooed Headhunting Tribes of Nagaland tour, where you’ll listen to tales woven by the heavily inked Konyak tribe and relive their headhunting glory days through ancient rituals as the festival hits full swing. The surrounding area offers further insight into this oft-hidden land, with glimpses of rural tribal life, landscapes flecked with ancient temples and even a visit to a historic Second World War battleground. WHO: Wild Rhino Adventures (01621 741320; wildrhinoadventures.co.uk) WHEN: 1 Apr 2018 HOW LONG: 10 days HOW MUCH: From £2,810 (incl intl flights)