JANUARY

Liverpool's reign is over. Linz in Austria and Vilnius in Lithuania are the European Cities of Culture for 2009 - see www.linz09.at and www.culturelive.lt for details. Ryanair flies to Austria's third largest city from Stansted, and Air Baltic serves Vilnius from Gatwick.

The Paris-Dakar rally goes geographically skew-whiff this year. Because of the perceived risk of terrorist activity in West Africa the event has shifted to Argentina and Chile, and covers about 9,000km (5,600 miles). Motors rev in Buenos Aires on January 3.

No sooner have we finished singing Auld Lang Syne than a year of celebrations for the 250th anniversary of Robert Burns's birth (on January 25) kicks off two days earlier with a weekend of events across Scotland. There will be a 12-hour Burns Concert at Glasgow Royal Concert Hall and a Burns Light torchlit procession in Dumfries where he lived and died.

The 36 best travel ideas for 2009

Next year is jam-packed with wild and exotic events, but don’t freak out - we've picked the best

• Lonely Planet's top 20 big trips

• The 10 best destinations for 2009

The 10 best destinations for 2009

Lonely Planet’s annual list of hip and emerging destinations is released this week - we’ve got a sneak preview

• Best of the Americas, month-by-month

Fabulous 50: travel 2008, the best so far

The finest, freshest hotels, websites, gadgets, bars, luggage and... in-flight pyjamas in the world

• The 50 little luxuries of travel

FEBRUARY

The 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth is on February 12. You could hare off to the Galapagos Islands, inspiration for On the Origin of Species, or you could go to Shrewsbury, his birthplace, walk the new Darwin Trail and join in a festival of bicentenary events.

Details: 01743 281200, www.discoverdarwin.co.uk.

In an increasingly homogenised world, Cuba holds out as one of the last bastions of communism. Fans, supporters and the merely curious may wish to be in Havana for February 16, the 50th anniversary of Fidel Castro's revolutionary government. Virgin Holidays offers a long weekend there with flights from Gatwick, room-only accommodation at the Hotel Saratoga and transfers from £829pp departing on February 15.

MARCH

Join in the fun on the Return of the Sun Festival on March 8 at the annual event on Spitsbergen, Norway, where locals celebrate emerging from months of round-the-clock darkness and twilight to welcome the first rays. Enjoy the week of concerts, exhibitions and outdoor events in the capital Longyearbyen on a four-night trip departing on March 5 with Hurtigruten. From £1,160pp, including hotel on B&B, ice grotto visit, flights and transfers.

The Savannah Music Festival starts on March 19. The Georgian city is one of southern America's finest, and the festival features a staggering breadth of styles, from string quartets to bluegrass via gospel, fado, cajun, jazz and more. America As You Like It can organise flights from Gatwick, car hire and one week's room-only accommodation (but not festival tickets) from £1,169pp (two sharing).

Mahouts! It's the annual Elephant Festival in Jaipur, India, on March 10, coinciding with Holi, the festival of colours. Elephants decorated from tusks to tail take part in a parade, races, polo matches, and a tug-of-war against men. Be there with TransIndus on a nine-day independent tour that includes three days in Jaipur during the festival from £1,740pp, including B&B, some meals, flights Heathrow-Delhi and local travel.

APRIL

The city of Tel Aviv is 100 years old this year. The main festivities kick off on April 4 with a gala opening in Rabin Square when Zubin Mehta conducts the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Israel Opera will also perform. See www.tlv100.co.il for other events.

The seventh Hull International Short Film Festival begins on April 21. Or if you prefer a more out-of-the-world experience, then Sci-Fi London - “the film festival for people who don't think they like sci-fi” - starts on April 29. Elsewhere in April you could catch film festivals in Belfast, Singapore or Vail.

MAY

A new train service travelling through the tropical floodplains of the Pantanal in Brazil. First built in 1914 and completed in 1950, the line fell into disrepair. Carrying about 400 passengers over 220km (137 miles) it will link Campo Grande, Aquidauana and Miranda and can be booked as part of a package through Journey Latin America.

Start planning your costume - the briefer and spanglier the better. The opening ceremony of EuroPride 2009 takes place in the host city Zurich on May 2, kicking off a month-long festival of events that include a colourful parade on June 6 (www.europride09.eu ; www.zuerich.com)

JUNE

The British and Irish Lions tour South Africa this month - the first international is in Durban on June 20. As well as some thrilling matches, there is always a great atmosphere among the fans. Gullivers Travel offers various options including international flights and match ticket (but not accommodation) for all three internationals from £1,999pp.

Next year is Haydn Year in Austria, to commemorate the death of the composer in Vienna 200 years ago - check www.haydn2009.net. Martin Randall Travel is organising a Haydn at the Castle programme, a series of concerts at the Castle hotel in Taunton that start on April 3.

JULY

The longest total eclipse of the sun this century will take place on July 22, lasting 5 minutes 40 seconds, and the best place to experience it is China on the banks of the Qiantang river. Wendy Wu Tours has an eight-day Eclipse and Shanghai tour leaving on July 20, accompanied by the BBC astronomer Stuart Clark.

The Just for Laughs comedy festival in Montreal runs from July 16 for ten days. Quebec's largest city comes alive during summer, so make the most of the outdoor cafés and have a chortle into the bargain. Trailfinders can organise a week, including BA flights and room-only accommodation from £969pp.

AUGUST

Get your tomatoes out for La Tomatina. On the last Wednesday of August around 40,000 people from all over the world come to throw tomatoes in the Spanish town of Buñol. Why? In theory to honour the town's patron saint, in practice for the shreer thrill of lobbing several hundred tonnes of squishy fruit at complete strangers. The nearest airport is Valencia - both Ryanair and easyJet fly there.

The spectacular migration of two million wildebeest (with half a million zebras for company) passes through the northern Serengeti National Park in Tanzania to the Mara river, and to Loliondo, just outside the park. Expert Africa offers a nine-day safari from £3,403pp, with three nights at Suyan Camp in Loliondo. The package includes flights, six nights' full board and safari activities.

SEPTEMBER

Sixty years after the release of classic comedy Whisky Galore filmed on Barra in the Outer Hebrides, the beautiful little island is hosting the first Whisky Galore Festival, from September 18-20. Expect music, whisky tastings, whisky hunts, and screenings of the film in which wily locals attempt to get away with 50,000 cases of whisky, washed ashore from a stranded ship.

The Moctezuma blockbuster exhibition on the life and times of Montezuma II, the last great Aztec emperor, opens on September 24 (until January 24, 2010) at the British Museum. See the legacy of the 16th-century ruler on the spot during a tour of Mexico. Exsus can tailor-make a ten-day tour taking in Aztec, Zapotec and Mayan sites from £3,260pp, including return flights, domestic flights, B&B, transfers and visits the sites with private specialist guides.

OCTOBER

The Slow Food festival takes place in Turin, and with such a plethora of delicious local ingredients on hand, why hurry? Hit the pause button over a small glass of bicerin - layers of coffee, hot chocolate and cream that mix in your mouth as you sip, ideally inside the Caffè Al Bicerin or Caffè Fiorio in the city centre. Check www.slowfood.it and www.salonedelgusto.com.

NOVEMBER

Twenty years ago the Berlin Wall came crashing down. The chipping away of a million pieces of souvenir concrete heralded a death knell for communism in Eastern Europe. Although celebrations in Germany are planned all year, the main commemoration will be on November 9. A two-night B&B stay in the NH Berlin Mitte hotel starts from £359pp (two sharing) including BA flights from Heathrow, through DERTour.

Many Cook Islanders believe that the great Maori migration to New Zealand started at Ngatangiia on the eastern side of their main island. The same type of canoes that made the journey are still used for fishing, and to celebrate these craft the annual Vaka Eiva regatta is now held every November when around 600 paddlers come from as far afield as Australia and Hawaii. Bridge & Wickers can organise two-week round the world trips, which include a stop in the Cook Islands, from £2,530pp.

DECEMBER

Ah, nothing says Christmas like a bunch of grown men running through the sub-zero streets of a metropolis dressed only in red Speedos, Father Christmas hats and trainers. But good news, chaps - women run too. The annual Toronto Santa Speedo Run in Canada is a charity event.

Meanwhile, it's mid-summer in the Falkland Islands. December 8 is Battle Day, when the islanders remember those lost - on the British and German sides - in the South Atlantic at the Battles of Coronel and the Falkland Islands in 1914 and the Battle of the River Plate in 1939.

Cox & Kings offers a seven-night trip from £2,295pp, including flights, full board accommodation, transfers and excursions.

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