By this point most people have made their summer travel plans for the year – but if you’re one of the people for whom advance planning isn’t really in your genetic code, you might still be looking for a place to go this summer.
European travel always reaches its peak during the summer months, for a couple of good reasons – reliably warm weather through most of the continent and reliably long chunks of time off from school and work. Unfortunately, since so many other people flock to Europe during the summer you also run into extra large crowds and higher prices than usual.
Those things aren’t enough to stop people from going to Europe, however, so if Europe is on your radar for this summer – and you’d like to get the most bang for your buck – here are a few locations worth considering for a trip in the summer of 2011.
Whenever we travel it can feel like we’re on a non-stop holiday – but in most cases, life goes on as usual around us and we’re the only ones in a celebratory mood. All of that changes if you plan your trips around a country’s major festivals and events – like these festivals and events in Latin America.
When asked about the big festivals that take place in South America, most of us would be able to name the famous 
Even if you’re not a hard-core soccer fan you’re probably familiar with the World Cup, held every four years to determine which country sits atop the soccer world, but you may not be aware that there’s a similar competition that also happens every four years in South America. The Copa America tournament is contested by the national soccer teams of South America.
For much of the world, the entire week leading up to Easter Sunday is full of celebrations and festivals – including Palm Sunday and Good Friday – and it’s known as Holy Week. Of course, these holidays are particularly meaningful to the religious faithful, but in some places the festivals associated with the holidays are major events on the calendar and are therefore interesting whether you’re religious or not.
Next to Mardi Gras, Jazz Fest is perhaps the second most popular time to be in New Orleans. Although the city’s reputation as a jazz-filled city isn’t without merit, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival (most commonly known simply as Jazz Fest) runs the musical gamut from Dixieland to hip-hop to rock, and lots of stuff in between – not to mention scores of music fans. This is one of the many reasons why a trip to New Orleans Jazz Fest requires a little pre-planning.