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To avoid a clash with the 2012 Olympics in London (never heard of it, personally), the festival has been brought forward from its usual August schedule. It will now take place, in and around the glorious Hereford Cathedral, from 21-28 July.

For those of you who have never heard of the Three Choirs Festival, you’re in or a treat. Let me enlighten you and perhaps you can comment in reply, introducing me to the various ins and outs of these so-called Olympics (whatever they might be).

The Tree Choirs Festival has been running for nearly 400 years. It began as a two-day gathering to celebrate ecclesiastical music and gather the bordering cathedral counties of Hereford, Worcester and Gloucester.

Since its inception, the festival has developed and expanded, with each of the three cities hosting according annual rotation. The three choirs of the respective cathedrals remain central to the programme; although other core ensembles and distinguished guests have been added, in recent years.

The festival has a long association with distinguished British composers, such as Ralph Vaughan Williams and Edward Elgar. Purcell and Handel were frequently performed across the 18th century, while Mendelssohn and Haydn became firm festival favourites from in the 19th century.

Beethoven, Mozart and Rossini became extremely popular in the 1800s, but the greatest impact was not made by a composer, but by engineers. With the invention of the railway, the festival gained large crowds and revenues.

This new found popularity did not sit easily with The Church and the festival was scaled back, but it wasn’t to last. The festival was reinstated in all its glory as J.S. Bach was played for the first time.

In the 20th century the festival concentrated on British musicians and began a tradition of premiering and commission new work, including that of Finzi, Howell and Parry.

Now, the three cathedral choirs are joined by the Festival Chorus, who perform the majority of the large scale repertoire. Guests are also regularly invited and this year sees the beginning of the Philharmonia Orchestra’s three year-long residency, as well as the first visit of composer Diego Mathuez from Venezuala and a world premier by Dobrina Tabakova.

If you’d like to learn more of the history, then there is an excellent timeline of the Three Choir’s most important events on their website.

Written by Simon for Hotel Shop, offering cheap breaks across the UK and beyond.

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Photo licensed under the Creative Commons, created by Michael Mertens

Every year it holds several big events that remind the story of Dr. Frankenstein and his monster. Castle of Frankenstein lies hidden in the beautiful countryside. You can get here quite easily by a transport from the modern metropolis Frankfurt am Main. Frankenstein’s Castle was built in the mid 13th century by Count Konrad Reiz von Breuberg. Later there was built a hospital but from the late 18th century this wonderful medieval building began decay. The real glory of this place then came with the mentioned novel written by Mary Shelley.

During your visit in the Castle of Frankenstein in Mühltal you will certainly enjoy a big amount of adventure. It will be very interesting for the lovers of nature and historical monuments as the beautiful scenery can be found everywhere around castle.

Regardless of the name and history associated with the Castle of Frankenstein, people still make weddings in the chapel in ruins. But the best time to visit Castle of Frankenstein is probably October, when the castle holds Halloween party.

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The village offers some fascinating 17th and 18th century churches, some of which contain ancient mural paintings and wood carvings. The churches in Arbanasi typically have strong, high walls, small windows and very strong oak doors studded with iron nails.

One of the earliest churches in Arbanasi is the ‘Nativity Church’ or the ‘Cathedral of Nativity’. Extensive studies have found that the church was built in three separate stages which presents some interesting structural characteristics. The main body of the church is divided into male and female sections and the whole building is decorated with murals. The Nativity Church is one of the oldest and best preserved churches not just in Arbanasi but across the whole of Bulgaria.

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Sandy beaches on the southern coast of Cyprus are very popular among tourists already for years. There are lots of young people coming here every summer. Cyprus’ beaches are traditionally evaluated very positively. The coast slowly descends into the warm turquoise water. The crystal clear sea is suitable for the lovers of water sports – here you can try paragliding or riding on water skis, or diving.

Until the late 18th century, the only inhabitants on the island were monks from the local monastery. The monastery was built specifically as a home for sacred icon, which according to legend, should appear to hunters during hunting. Just after almost two centuries, about twenty civilians moved to the area and founded the city, in the middle of which you can find a monastery.

Nature around Ayia Napa is beautiful, there are also many cultural and historical monuments and archaeological sites and beautiful churches.

How to get here
During the summer season you can take a ferry from the Greek island of Rhodes or the city of Piraeus and Turkish Tasuku. It can be reached by air, Ayia Napa is located about 50 kilometers from the airport in Larnaca.

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The area of today’s town was settled by The Livs (Livonians) already in 2000BC. The Livs lived here until the 12th century when they build several wooden forts on the tops of the local hills. At the beginning of the 13th century they were not able to resist against German raids and left. In 1207 the land on the right bank of the river Gauja belonged to the bishop of Riga and the left bank to the Knights of Sword Order. Both sides have built castles Satezele (later destroyed) and Segewald in important places, which should protect them from the opponent. From the name of the second castle – Segewald is probably derived the present name of Sigulda.

In the period from the 16th to 18th century Sigulda underwent a number of wars, but the decline of this medieval city was noticeable already during Livonian Wars. The first one who conquered the castle Segewald was Ivan the Terrible. Sigulda fell to the Swedes in 1601 for a short time, who completely burnt it down during the retreat. Due to constant unrest and fighting Sigulda almost disappeared from the earth’s surface. The life returned back here in 1625 when the whole area fell to the Russians. Great development came up with the construction of the railway Riga – Valka – Pskov in 1889. In 1928 it was registered as a town of Sigulda and increasingly becoming a place where the rich families moved from St. Petersburg and Warsaw.

The recreation potential was not discovered until 1920-1930 – in a time of independent Latvian state. In 1935 there were registered 375 rental vacation homes in Sigulda. During the World War II many monuments and houses were destroyed and burnt. Recovery occurred during the Soviet domination between 1950 and 1962. The city gradually became a regional hub again. Today the town of Sigulda with 11,000 inhabitants is a small spa resort and also an important winter sports center. There is a short ski slopes with ski lifts and groomed trails. The river will satisfy all lovers of water sports, you can try also rafting here.

The main attractions of Sigulda are the ruins of Segewald castle on the northeastern outskirts of the town. From its walls you can enjoy a beautiful view of the other side of the valley, where is located Archbishop’s castle Turaida built of red bricks in 1214.

The nearby Gauja National Park was established in 1973. It covers an area of ​​917 km2 and is divided into five functional zones. Its most valuable parts are the reservations, in which tourists are not allowed. Under high protection is also the Gauja River valley, which together with the valleys of its tributaries, create a very nice landscape feature. Also, from a geological point of view it is a very interesting area.

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The complex consists of the palace with 126 rooms, opera house, Diana’s Temple, the Temple of Venus, the Hermitage, the Chinese pavilion, dance hall, puppet theatre and a large French garden. The castle was a home of the Austrian composer Joseph Haydn for almost thirty years. Even Empress Maria Theresa lived here in 1773.

After the death of Count Esterházy, the family left and the castle remained empty for nearly a whole century. During the Second World War, the chateau served as a hospital and was damaged. In the past few years the castle has been partially renovated and rebuilt into a hotel. Today there are 26 rooms ​​available.

There is a museum and music hall. Every year it hosts International Music Festival and Weeks of music.

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Popradské pleso is also a good starting point for the tours around Mengusovská valley. To Popradské pleso you can get from Štrbské pleso following the marked trail which take approximately two hours of slow walking. Near Popradské pleso there is the symbolic cemetery. In this cemetery there is a monument to victims of the High Tatras. The cemetery is a good idea to show the number of victims who lost their lives in the mountains.

Popradské pleso covers an area of 6.88 hectares and it is 18 meters depth. In the past it was called Rybie pleso (Fish lake), as it was the only mountain-lake in the southern High Tatra Mountains with the natural occurrence of fish. The old name was first used in 1736 by Matej Bel, a prominent Slovak scholar of 18th century.

At the lake you can find Cottage of Popradské pleso where you can buy some refreshments, beer or try Slovak traditional meals (e.g. Bryndzové halušky). You can also book a room here and stay here for few nights. If so, I would recommend you to wake up very early and enjoy the sun-rise.

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Roussillon is considered one of the most beautiful villages of France. Thanks to the nearby ocher mines, which are a major tourist attraction, has the whole village a reddish colour. Also, the local soil has all the shades of red, ranging from beige to dark red. It used to be mined 17 different colors of ocher – purple, red, orange, yellow, and many others. The history of this site dates back to 230 million years ago, when all the area of Provence was under the sea. The sand at the bottom contained iron, which later oxidized, and such created the ocher.

Already the ancient Romans used it to produce glazes on pottery. In 18th century the local residents found out how to adjust the pigment to be resistant to water. With this discovery, a new industry of colors began. Such colors could be used not only for surface treatment of ceramic products, but also in painting houses. The production of colours decreased in 50′s of 20th century. Nowadays, the ocher is not mining any more and this pigment is produced artificially. The village, however, maintain the original color, and together with its surrounding it is a protected area.

In the village you can walk through the narrow and steep streets that are lined with houses with beautiful red-colored facades, houses the souvenir shops. The beautiful village of Roussillon is unfortunately flooded with crowds in the summer, so if you want to enjoy its unique atmosphere, it is good to visit in a spring or autumn.

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Gothic bridge with baroque statues achieves a length of 109.75 m and the width of 6.25 m. It stands on the six pillars of granite blocks and has seven arches – six circular (from the original Gothic structure) and one segment. There were originally two bridge towers, but unfortunately, none of them has been preserved.

The bridge is decorated with sandstone sculptures from 18th century.

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The main local attraction is the Turku Castle built in the 18th century, where you can visit a historical museum since 1881. Other important buildings are Turku Cathedral or Tuomiokirkko from the 13th century, open-air museum Luostarinmäki, located in Mount Vartiovuori – it is a part of the city which has survived from the 18th century.

There is also Orthodox Church, Brinkhall Manor, Kakskerta church, an old mill in Samppalinna, Church of Archangel Michael from 1905, Martin church from 1921, Turku Art Museum, Museum of pharmacy and museum Ett hem or home to a typical Finnish houses from the 18th century. In Turku, there are several festivals – the most famous is music festival Turku and Ruisrock Festival. There are 176,000 inhabitants living in Turku.

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