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Festivals & Village Fetes. In 1960 there will be more than 100 festivals to choose from in addition to those devoted to music (TIME, June 6). Spain's explosive Pamplona San Fermin bullfighting festival begins at sunrise on July 6 as a herd of bulls thunder through the streets on their way to the ring. At the Palio of Siena (July 2 and Aug. 16), daredevil jockeys race bareback around the medieval city square. Venice's Feast of the Redeemer (July 16) features a nightlong procession of lantern-filled gondolas in the Grand Canal. The walled village of Marostica (two hours' drive from Venice) puts on a live and lively chess match, with people dressed as chess pieces, in the town square (Sept. 3 and 4).
Germany's most famous festival is Munich's Oktoberfest (Sept. 24-Oct. 9), which concentrates on beer swilling. The Dublin Horse Show runs from Aug. 2 to 6. Czechoslovakia will feature the Straznice Folk Festival (July 16 and 17), where 2,000 dancers will compete in the courtyards of the Straznice Castle, near the Austrian border. Greece's best is the festival of Epidaurus, where classic tragedies and comedies are being performed in an ancient open-air theater 100 miles south of Athens during June and July. New this year: the Floriade in Rotterdam (through Sept. 25), the world's largest flower show.
Sightseeing by Water. River travel, in addition to the traditional trips down the Rhine ($6 from Cologne to Wiesbaden) and the 13-hour trip along the Danube from Passau in Germany to Vienna, is one way to beat the crowded highways. Best way to make the Danube run is to board the night before (deck cabin, plus one-way fare for two: $16), awaken as the trip begins. British waterway cruises now include boat trips up the Thames to Oxford as well as chartered cruises (from $37 per week for boats with two berths to $112 for six).
On Holland's 6,000 miles of inland waterways, motorboats that sleep four can be chartered from $50 to $150 a week. (Most are already reserved.) Sweden offers a pleasant, three-day cruise through the Gota Canal and Sweden's largest lakes ($126). A four-day tour of the Finnish Lake Saimaa district by bus and boat from Helsinki costs $52.50.
Off the Traveled Trail. Cheapest way to see the Continent is the way many Europeans (particularly Germans) do: camp out. Basic equipment (tent, air mattresses and sleeping bags, two-burner stove and utensils) costs about $100 in Europe. Camping sites with running water are available in all countries, cost, 75¢ per night for two people and a car. It sometimes requires great tolerance of one's fellow man and his debris. To see Ireland in a rut, the Cork Caravan Co. has a horse-drawn gypsy cart that sleeps four, costs $40 per week, including bottled gas for cooking, built-in lights and the horse.