Think of Aruba and images of powder-white sands and 8,000 shades of blue spring to mind.
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2026
Too good to miss: In The Spotlight
Words by the Wanderlust Team
Aruba
But this is just one side of a Caribbean nation that celebrates the 40th anniversary of its autonomy on this year’s National Anthem and Flag Day (18 March). While celebrations are being finalised, it’s a good excuse to explore an island whose cultural history dates back much further – 3,500 years in fact. You’ll find some incredible rock-art sites, left behind by Aruba’s first inhabitants, the Caquetío, who paddled here from Venezuela. Arikok National Park is home to some of the clearest examples, with images of shamans and rituals lining the walls of the Fontein and Quadirikiri caves. Or make for the twisting, hollowed-out monoliths of Ayo Rock, where the Caquetío used to come to listen for oncoming storms, leaving behind painted memories of their time here.
Tunisia
On 20 March, Tunisia celebrates 70 years of independence. It’s a fascinating time in the history of a region shaped by invaders and traders.
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Capital Tunis is still pocked with great hefts of French Neoclassical and Art Deco design in its Ville Nouveau area, as well as gleaming Ottoman-style domes, while in the ruins of Phoenician Carthage and towns like El Djem, home to one of the largest Roman amphitheatres in the world, the legacies of past empires still linger. For visitors, these are incredible sights, but it’s among the country’s Indigenous Amazigh (formerly Berber) peoples that you’ll find the deeper roots of modern Tunisia, in the earthen ksars of Takrouna or the rock-cut village of Chenini, far from the fireworks in capital Tunis.
Valencia, Spain
While Pride has long since passed into mainstream culture in many cities, less well known is the Gay Games, which has been offering a safe space for LGBTQ+ athletes every four years since 1982.
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This edition, held in Valencia (27 Jun–4 Jul), takes place over ten days, across 39 sports, ranging from chess to dragonboat racing, although it’s as much a celebration of inclusion as a competition. Exhibitions, fireworks, a marching band festival and a choral event at the Palace of Arts add to the fun. It’s also nearly four decades since founder Tom Waddell died of complications from AIDS, and in an era when some nations no longer recognise World Aids Day, the International Rainbow Memorial Run (open to all) takes on added poignancy.
