Come back to a place a year later

Coming back to a place a year later means returning on purpose to somewhere you loved, and noticing what has changed: the season, the café on the corner, and you. It turns a holiday into a tradition, and a tradition is best kept with the same person.

Where to do it

Kyoto, Japan

Come for the cherry blossoms, usually late March to early April, and return for the red maples in November: it feels like two different cities. Both are the busiest seasons in Japan's old capital, so book a year ahead, which is easy when you're planning a return.

Lisbon, Portugal

In June, the Festas de Lisboa fill Alfama with grilled sardines, paper garlands and street parties, peaking around the feast of Santo António on 12 to 13 June. Come back in winter and the same lanes of Portugal's capital are quiet and soft-lit.

Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Every August the city hosts its festivals, the Fringe the largest of them, and every street has a show. Return in a quiet month and you'll finally see the city itself. Many Fringe fans in the United Kingdom and beyond come back every year.

Munich, Germany

Oktoberfest starts in the second half of September and runs into early October. Groups of friends go back year after year, often booking the same tent table for the next one. Outside the festival, the beer gardens of Germany's south are calmer and just as good.

Oaxaca, Mexico

Around 1 and 2 November, families build altars and fill the cemeteries with candles and marigolds for Día de Muertos, a tradition on UNESCO's intangible heritage list. Rooms in this corner of Mexico fill months ahead, so many visitors book next year's before they leave.

Chiang Mai, Thailand

Two festivals, two moods: Songkran, the Thai New Year water festival, from 13 to 15 April, and Yi Peng, when lanterns rise into the sky, usually in November. The old city in Thailand's north is a different place for each.

Rovaniemi, Finland

In winter: snow, reindeer and, on clear nights, northern lights. In summer: nights when the sun barely sets. Coming back to Finland's Lapland in the other season feels like visiting a new place. Rovaniemi sits just south of the Arctic Circle.

How to make it happen

• Write down the date you were there, and set a reminder for ten months later to plan the return.
• Book as you leave. For festivals, the same guesthouse is often cheapest and easiest to book a year ahead.
• Recreate a photo from the same spot. A then-and-now pair is the best souvenir of a return.
• Do one old thing and one new thing: the café you loved, and a neighborhood you missed.
• Bring the same person, or bring someone new and show them your places.
• Choose a place you don't see every week. A return only feels like one if you've been away.

Make it a festival you return to, or a new year abroad in the same city each winter.