August is when most of Europe goes on holiday at once, and it shows: packed beaches, booked-out hotels, peak prices and, increasingly, punishing heat. The seasoned traveller's secret is simple and powerful. Shift your trip a month either side, to May or September, and you get almost everything that is good about a summer holiday with almost none of what is bad.
The advantages
The maths is compelling. Prices for flights and accommodation drop sharply outside the peak weeks, often dramatically. The crowds thin, so the sights are walkable and the restaurants relaxed. And the weather in the shoulder months is frequently better for actually doing things, warm and pleasant rather than the sapping heat that drives everyone indoors at midday in high summer. The sea is still warm in September after a summer of sun.
How to play it
- For southern Europe, late May and most of September hit the sweet spot of warm weather and lower prices.
- Avoid the exact weeks of school holidays, when families have no choice and prices spike again.
- Check that the things you want are still open; in some resorts the very end of the season sees attractions and restaurants wind down.
The trade-offs
Shoulder season is not flawless. The weather is a little less guaranteed, with a slightly higher chance of a cool or wet spell, and a few seasonal businesses in resort towns may be shut at the margins. But for most destinations these are minor risks against the real and certain gains of lower cost, fewer people and more comfortable conditions.
If you are tied to school holidays, you may have little choice, and August it must be. But for everyone else, the lesson is one of the most valuable in travel: the best time to go is usually not when everyone else does. Book for May or September, and you will wonder why you ever fought the August crowds and paid the August prices.