At the end of September, when summer is over, one of Europe's biggest festivals takes place in Munich. We're talking about Oktoberfest, the most important festival in Germany, which every year gathers millions of people who have one thing in common: a love of beer!

Why is it so popular? What should you do there? Here are a few of the most important aspects of this busy event, just to make your mouth water...

Malta is an island packed with beautiful enclaves and a thousand surprises waiting to be discovered. Beaches, nature, water sports, architecture and much more: Malta is the perfect combination for a spring or summer getaway.

If you visit Croatia, there is a way to go across the country, from south to north (or the other way around), in less than two weeks and visiting its three most interesting cities:

Dubrovnik (south), Zagreb (north) y Split (in the middle).

Dubrovnik

To get downtown from the airport, take a taxi (30-40€) or the buses from ATLAS company which drive regularly through the 20 km. from the airport to the city centre.

In the old town, do not miss the wall, the Franciscan Monastery with a pharmacy from 14th century, Lovrijencac Fountaine, Onofrio Fountain or Luza Square, and its surroundings. If you need more information or maps, the nearest Tourism Office is on Brsalje Street.

From the city, go and visit the Korcula island, the National Park of Mjle island or the Elafit islansi. The city of Ston and its Chinese wall or the medieval city Cavtat are other destinations near Dubrovnik. You can get to all these islands and cities by ferries or bus.

To get to the next destination, Split, there are buses mostly every hour, doing 223km. between both cities.

Split

Walking around the old town or the Palace of Diocletian, UNESCO heritage, is the first thing you should do when you arrive to the city. After the palace, take a walk in the seafront by the Adriatic sea. From Split you can visit Brac islands, Hvar or Vis, accesible by ferry, sailboat or fast boats.

Roman ruins from old Salona (Solin nowadays) are only 10 km. away from Split and are one of the most important archaeological sites in the country. Trogir, 28 km north, is also UNESCO heritage. To get there, there are buses and boats from the seafront. Finally, by the end of Cetina river, you can find a pinturesque village, Omis, 24 km. south and connected by bus to the city.

Before the final destination, Zagreb, Sibenik is 88 km. away and you can get there by bus or train. Do not miss its streets and the Santiago Cathedral, a UNESCO heritage. The Plitvice National Park is also near and the most known in Croatia. 16 lakes connected by waterfalls, you can sped from 3 to 8 hors walking around the spot. In the park there are hotels and two camping areas. It’s convenient to book previously.

Zagreb

Just arrived to Zagreb, a city with more than 40 museums, including Broken relationships Museum, Mimara Museumor Naif Art Museum.

“Uptown” you can visit Ban Josip Jelacic Square, Dolac Market, Katarina square or the J.J. Strossmayer Avenue.”Downtown” there are squares dedicated to Nikola Subic Zrinski, to the king Tomislav, or to Mariscal Tito. Finally, in the city centre, there are Contemporary Art Museum, el Bundek park, Jarun lake, Mirogoj cementery or Maksimir Park.

To get to Zagreb airport, 17 km. from the city centre, take the bus for 4,10€ or taxi for 30-40€.

Photos by Stewart Morris, Elena and Delaina Haslam. Thanks to the Croatian Tourism Office for the information.

A place well worth discovering! Check out our flights here.

What do cities like Cannes, Berlin,Venice, San Sebastián or Locarno have in common? Well, they all host long-standing film festivals and, for a number of days and at different spots in town, all feature both screenings and parallel events as a tribute to the seventh art. Visiting these cities during a festival reveals a different side to them. Instead of the conventional tourist escapade, it involves experiencing the city from a cultural viewpoint like any of its residents. To the above-mentioned cities we should add Rotterdam, famous for having one of the largest maritime harbours in the world. It is also an industrial centre and a capital of football, with three teams in the Dutch top-flight Eredivisie – Feyenoord, Sparta and Excelsior. Over and above that, however, Rotterdam is privileged to host a highly potent film festival which turns the city into one of the leading world cinema hubs for a period of twelve days.

This time around, the International Film Festival Rotterdam (its official name) will take place from 25 January to 5 February 2017, and the programme is dedicated to art house films, both European and international, and the leading figures of independent cinema. This year is dedicated to a retrospective of Jan Němec, one of the paramount filmmakers in Czech cinema, who died a few months ago. A tribute to his figure will involve screening his best known films, as well as a posthumous film, The Wolf from Royal Vineyard Street. The official festival lineup will feature the latest movies by Jim Jarmusch, Paterson and Gimme Danger, in addition to the long-awaited film, Jackie, by Pablo Larraín, starring Natalie Portman.

The focal point of the festival will be De Doelen, a venue with an eventful history in downtown Rotterdam. Its location gives you plenty of time to stroll around and discover the city between screenings. De Doelen was built in 1966 and is both a convention centre and the primary venue of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra. The other cinemas providing screenings are also in the city centre, in such charming theatres as Oude Luxor and the Pathé Schouwburgplein. They are relatively near some museums which are well worth visiting, including the Maritime Museum, devoted to the importance of maritime culture and various aspects of sailing. Apart from the exhibition space, it features a canal in the surrounding area offering all types of parallel activities. The Boijmans Van Beuningen Museum is Rotterdam’s stellar art museum with an amazing collection, a dream come true for any painting enthusiast. Its exhibits include works by Salvador Dalí, Tintoretto, Hubert van Eyck, Willem Heda and Pieter Bruegel, among others, but it doesn’t stop there – the museum also covers other art disciplines (industrial design, installations, graffiti) and itinerant exhibitions that are refreshed each month. By the way – the Boijmans Van Beuningen Museum is just a stone’s throw away from Museumpark, one of the city’s lungs and most beautiful parks.

Apart from the aforementioned films and cycles, the International Film Festival Rotterdam also hosts a number of out-of-the-ordinary special screenings. One of the most prominent is a whole, day-long session dedicated to children. This year it falls on Sunday 29 January and features a selection of films which the little ones can enjoy in the company of their parents. Other events worth mentioning include two short marathons to be hosted on 4 February. Lasting six hours each, they will be held in the Kino Rotterdam, a cinema where you can also have dinner or a drink, if you wish. Check out the rest of the festival events here.

Be sure to discover Rotterdam through the prism of its cinema festival – book your Vueling here.

Text by Xavi Sánchez for Los Viajes de ISABELYLUIS