Enjoy all the fun of Luna Park, an amusement park on the edge of Sydney Harbour. It was originally built in the 1930s and rides include the fabulous Ferris Wheel, the Tango Train, the Giant Slide, the Space Shuttle and the Big Dipper rollercoaster. There are side shows — the Laughing Clowns, Crazy Crooners and Goin’ Fishin’ — complete with classic carnival prizes. Treat yourself with hot dogs, fairy floss and fish 'n chips. This iconic landmark is on the State Heritage Register, and has been a family favourite for generations of Australians.

County Kildare is home to the windswept Bog of Allen, and to a leisurely section of the restored Royal Canal. There’s a masterpiece of an 8th-century High Cross in Moone. Maynooth Castle anchors the leafy university town of the same name. Kildare is also home to one of Ireland’s great driving routes. Following the course of the Gordon Bennett Cup, which saw racing daredevils whizz through Kildare, Carlow and Laois in 1903, the 104-mile circuit recalls a time when Ireland’s speed limit was just 12mph. The county is a marvellous mix of old and new, of natural landscapes and precisely manicured gardens, of horseracing competitions and stylish fashion events.

Día de la Comunidad Valenciana, which commemorates the liberation of the city from the Moors, brings along one of the most peculiar and charming Valencian traditions. In a kind of “alternative Valentine’s day”, men give their loved ones a special gift of marzipan figurines of fruits and vegetables wrapped in a silk scarf known as the mocadora.