Beaches are hotting up but for real heat without the cooling influence of the sea, head for the desert or a city near one. Online travel advisers Cheapflights (www.cheapflights.com) offers its top 10 desert city destinations: Las Vegas, Nevada Love it or loathe it, Las Vegas is the leviathan of desert destinations. It's a city of mega hotels: Mandalay Bay, New York-New York, The Mirage, Luxor, Bellagio, and Paris – all waiting to fulfil your fantasies. Four Corners It's the anti-Vegas. Remote and resplendent, pilots like to point it out from 35,000 feet. It's Four Corners - where Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado kiss. Back down to earth the view is more intimate. It's steeped in Navajo culture: arts, handcrafts, and ceremony. It's also home to a great resort called Amangiri. You get there via a winding road descending into a valley. Palm Springs, California It's the startling contrast of vivid golf greens amidst sandy surroundings that signals Palm Springs. Embraced by the ethereal San Jacinto Mountains are galleries, boutique shops, and authentic culture. The prime perch to take it all in is from the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway. Santa Fe, New Mexico Nowhere in North America do the arts, antiquity, and the high desert blend so effortlessly as in Santa Fe. Sited in the foothills of the Rockies, in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, galleries and museums exhibit traditional and contemporary works. Flagstaff, Arizona Flagstaff is near the sites that define this slice of desert: the Grand Canyon, Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument, Meteor Crater, Wupatki National Monument. After a day in that desert you're hungry. Shopping is a more sedate pursuit. The city's historic district is replete with boutiques and some first-rate booksellers. Scottsdale, Arizona Drink in the sights, sounds, and smells of the rugged Sonoran Desert from the gondola of a hot air balloon. Scottsdale has legions of experienced, licensed pilots. There's an award-winning zoo, and a railroad museum. Tucson, Arizona Desert destinations have one thing in common: outdoor pursuits. Take Tucson. There's hiking, rock climbing, horseback riding, biking and even caving. But if you really want to explore the ultimate out-of-doors visit Kitt Peak National Observatory for some real-life stargazing. It reputedly possesses the greatest collection of telescopes for stellar and solar research on our humble planet. Casablanca, Morocco Take the Aïn-Diab coast road that runs between the El Hank lighthouse and Sidi Bou Abderrahmane mausoleum, a small village accessible solely at low tide. Dubai More than a commercial crossroads, Dubai is a prime tourist draw. Revel in the warm waters just off Jumeria, site of the area's best beaches. There are clubs and restaurants aplenty – most located in the major hotels. Dine on a dhow as it cruises The Creek. Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt Relatively removed from the tumult, this Red Sea resort is one of be most sublime scuba venues in the world. Break from traditional tourist temptations and head for Ras Mohammed, at the south-most tip of the peninsula. It's a national park, preserving this extraordinary area the way it was.
