When to Go to Europe: Timing Your Trip

By Rick Steves

Some people have flexible enough jobs and lifestyles to cherry-pick when to take their vacations, but many others have less choice. Fortunately, Europe welcomes visitors 365 days a year — and each season offers a different ambience and experience.

In travel-industry jargon, the year is divided into three seasons: peak season (roughly May through September), shoulder season (April and October), and off-season (November through March). Each has its pros and cons. Regardless of when you go, if your objective is to "meet the people," you'll find Europe filled with them any time of year.

Peak Season

Summer is a great time to travel — except for the crowds and high temperatures. Sunny weather, long days, and exuberant nightlife turn Europe into a powerful magnet. Pandemic aside, I haven't missed a peak season in 40 years. Families with school-age children are usually locked into peak-season travel. Here are a few tips to help you keep your cool if you do travel in summer:

Arrange your trip with crowd control in mind. Go to the busy places as early or late in peak season as you can. Consider, for instance, a six-week European trip beginning June 1, half with a rail pass to see famous sights in Italy and Austria, and half visiting relatives in Scotland. It would be wise to do the rail pass section first, enjoying fewer crowds, then spend time with the family during the last half of your vacation, when Florence and Salzburg are teeming with tourists. Salzburg on June 10 and Salzburg on July 10 are two very different experiences.

Spend the night. Popular day-trip destinations near big cities and resorts such as Toledo (near Madrid), San Marino (near huge Italian beach resorts), and San Gimignano (near Florence) take on a more peaceful and enjoyable atmosphere at night, when the legions of day-trippers retreat to the predictable plumbing of their big-city or beach-resort hotels. Small towns normally lack hotels big enough for tour groups and are often inaccessible to large buses. So, at worst, they experience midday crowds. Likewise, popular cruise-ship destinations, such as Venice and Dubrovnik, are hellishly packed during the day — but more bearable at night, when the cruise crowds sail off.

Prepare for intense heat. Climate change has come to Europe, with more frequent and persistent heatwaves. Even restaurants in typically cooler climates (like Munich's or Amsterdam's) now tend to have ample al fresco seating to take advantage of the ever longer outdoor-dining season. Throughout Europe in July and August, expect high temperatures — even sweltering heat — particularly in the south.

Don't discount July and August. In much of Europe, especially Italy and France, cities partially shut down in July and August, when local urbanites take their beach breaks. You'll hear that these are terrible times to travel, but it's really no big deal. You can't get a dentist, and many launderettes may be closed, but tourists are basically unaffected by Europe's mass holidays. Just don't get caught on the wrong road on the first or fifteenth of the month (when vacations often start or finish, causing huge traffic jams), or try to compete with all of Europe for a piece of French Riviera beach in August.

Some places are best experienced in peak season. Travel in the peak season in Scandinavia, Britain, and Ireland, where you want the best weather and longest days possible, where crowds are relatively rare, and where sights are sleepy or even closed in shoulder season. Scandinavia has an extremely brief tourist season — basically from mid-June to late August; I'd avoid it outside this window.

Shoulder Season

"Shoulder season" — generally April and October — combines the advantages of both peak- and off-season travel. In shoulder season, you'll enjoy decent weather, long-enough daylight, fewer crowds, and a local tourist industry still ready to please and entertain.

Shoulder season varies by destination. Because fall and spring bring cooler temperatures in Mediterranean Europe, shoulder season in much of Italy, southern France, Spain, Croatia, and Greece can actually come with near peak-season crowds and prices.

Spring or fall? If debating the merits of traveling before or after summer, consider your destination. Both weather and crowds are about the same in spring or fall. Mediterranean Europe is generally green in spring but parched in fall. For hikers, the Alps are better in early fall, because many good hiking trails are still covered with snow through the late spring.

Off-Season

Every summer, Europe greets a stampede of sightseers. Before jumping into the peak-season pig pile, consider a trip during the off-season — generally November through March. In the off-season, you'll enjoy an amazing slice of Europe where the only crowds are festive locals.

Expect to pay less (most of the time). Off-season airfares are often hundreds of dollars cheaper. With fewer crowds in Europe, you may find you can sleep for less: Many fine hotels drop their prices, and budget hotels will have plenty of vacancies. And while some smaller or rural accommodations may be closed, those still open are usually empty and, therefore, more comfortable. The opposite is true of big-city business centers (especially Berlin, Brussels, and the Scandinavian capitals), which are busiest with corporate travelers and most expensive off-season.

Enjoy having Europe to yourself. Off-season adventurers loiter undisturbed in Leonardo da Vinci's home, ponder Rome's Forum all alone, kick up sand on lonely Adriatic beaches, and chat with laid-back guards by log fires in French châteaux. In wintertime Venice, you can be by yourself atop St. Mark's bell tower; below, on St. Mark's Square, pigeons fidget and wonder, "Where are the tourists?"

Off-season adventurers enjoy step-right-up service and experience a more European Europe. Although many popular tourist-oriented parks, shows, and tours are closed, off-season is in-season for high culture: In Vienna, for example, the Boys' Choir, opera, and Lipizzaner stallions are in all their crowd-pleasing glory.

Be prepared for any kind of weather. Because much of Europe is at Canadian latitudes, winter days are short. It's dark by 5 p.m. The weather can be miserable — cold, windy, and drizzly — and then turn worse.

Pack for the cold and wet — layers of clothing, rainproof parka, gloves, wool hat, long johns, waterproof shoes, and an umbrella. Dress warmly. Cold weather is colder when you're outdoors trying to enjoy yourself all day long, and cheap hotels can be cool and drafty in the off-season. But just as summer can be wet and gray, winter can be crisp and blue, and even into mid-November, hillsides blaze with colorful leaves.

Beware of shorter hours. Make the most out of your limited daylight hours. Some sights close entirely in the off-season, and others operate on shorter hours, with sunset often determining the closing time. Winter sightseeing is fine in big cities, which bustle year-round, but it's more frustrating in small tourist towns, which can be boringly quiet, with many sights and restaurants closed down. In December, most beach resorts shut up as tight as canned hams. While Europe's wonderful outdoor evening ambience survives all year in the south, wintertime streets are empty in the north after dark. English-language tours, common in the summer, are rarer off-season, when most visitors are natives. Tourist information offices have shorter hours in winter.