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Summer is perhaps the most popular season tourism Unpleasant Europebut it hardly promises a calm, cool and collected experience.
Who can forget this summer’s protests against overtourism in Barcelona and Mallorca, the forest fires that raged through Greece during the hottest June and July on record and the selfie traffic lights to control the crowds in the congested streets of Rome and Florence?
For travelers who want to avoid all that – and also want to sweat less literally and financially – welcome to Europe secret season.
From about mid-October to mid-December, the shoulder season for travel to Europe sees fewer crowds, much more comfortable temperatures in places that are scorching during the summer months, and falling prices for airfare and accommodation.
Falling prices
“The cheapest time to fly to Europe is usually from about mid-October to mid-December,” said Hayley Berg, chief economist at travel platform Hopper.
“Airline ticket prices during those eight to nine weeks will typically be about 40 percent lower on average than prices during the peak summer season in June.”
The data also shows that average nightly accommodation prices in the top 10 travel cities in Europe (including places like Amsterdam, Paris and Munich) fall by 27 percent in December compared to June, when tourism is at its peak.
The intervening period that starts in the last week of November and extends into the first two weeks of December is another good spot for airfare from the US and accommodation deals in European destinations, travel site Katy Nastro To go, said, citing this period as “the calm before the storm of winter holiday activities.”
She recommended trying to travel before the week of December 16, when prices start to rise across the board.
Travelers – and travel advisors – take this into account
Jack Ezon, founder of travel agency EMBARK Beyond, said he has recently seen a 22 percent shift, with customers who traditionally traveled to Europe during the summer months now choosing to visit during the shoulder seasons of spring or fall instead. visits.
He attributes this trend to the fact that summers have become unbearably hot in many places, prices in popular European destinations are about 40 to 50 percent higher in the summer and the fact that overtourism is plaguing so many places.
Among the top places Ezon directs customers for a fall trip are Madrid, Barcelona and Ireland – where it’s neither too hot nor too cold in the fall and you can avoid the hordes of summer road trippers. Another great place for fall? The principality of Monaco, bordering the French Riviera.
“Although the beach clubs in St. Tropez are closed, Monaco is truly a year-round destination, with beautiful, mild weather well into December,” Ezon said, adding that the small country on the northern coast of the Mediterranean has to offer has shops, great restaurants and access to beautiful nature at your fingertips.
Madeline Steuber, Virtuoso advisor and co-founder of Steuber Travel Group, said being flexible with shoulder season travel can lead to the best prices on luxury accommodations and an overall more satisfying travel experience.
“We are encouraging many of our customers who want to travel during what we call the holiday season, which is later December, to consider moving their dates back to the week after Thanksgiving, during the first two weeks of December,” she said.
“We can get premium guides, premium drivers and excellent hotels at lower prices for the same product than what they would pay for it in the summer,” she said.
Steuber points to river cruises in Europe as a good fall option for covering a lot of ground, including spending on food and drinks.
The week after Thanksgiving through the first two weeks of December is the best time to get deals on river cruises, she said.
And it’s a bonus that many river cruises along the Danube, Main and Rhine also visit the Christmas markets at this time of year.
“Any traveler looking to take advantage of Europe’s Christmas markets but facing a lack of PTO (paid time off) may be in luck this year,” Nastro said. “Since Thanksgiving is the last week of November this year, you can plan a winter vacation during Thanksgiving week.”
One of Germany’s famous Christmas markets opens in Nuremberg on November 29, and the French Christmas market in Strasbourg opens on November 27, which means you can sip mulled wine and snack on gingerbread while everyone at home is busy eating turkey and stuffing it of it, she said.
Think beyond the usual destinations
London, Paris and Rome remain the most sought-after European travel destinations regardless of the time of year – including end-of-year travel between mid-October and mid-December, Berg said.
But more off the beaten track destinations in Europe showing an increase in demand (including for searches at this time of year) include Marseille in southern France, Cyprus, the Faroe Islands in Denmark, Longyearbyen in the Norway’s Spitsbergen Archipelago and Helsinki, according to Hopper data.
They are all also offering lower prices on airline tickets from the US for year-end travel this year compared to the same periods last year and in 2019.
Mediterranean cities in the south of France, Greece and Cyprus remain temperate into November and December and northern European destinations such as the Faroe Islands, Finland and Norway offer the chance to see the Northern Lights.
“There’s definitely a trend among younger travelers to a lot of these destinations,” Berg says. “The domestic travelers from a few years ago who went to Jackson Hole are now headed to the Arctic Circle.”
Booking.com’s recent reveal of the trending destinations of 2025 also showed growing interest in unique cities in Europe, such as Trieste, Italy; Tignes, France; and Villajoyosa, Spain.
According to the site, nearly two-thirds of Americans plan to travel during the off-season in the coming year to reduce the overall cost of their trips, according to Ben Harrell, managing director, US at Booking.com.
Nastro said that while the Croatian coast and Kotor in Montenegro are packed with sun seekers in the summer, the shoulder season in these places also offers a conviviality that is attractive.
“Cultural festivals, homemade pumpkin seed oil and beautiful and almost tourist-free views should be taken into consideration,” she said. But she advises travelers to “stay in the larger cities as some smaller beach resorts may be closed for the season.”
And while Tuscany blooms during the warm summer months, November and December usher in crisp weather and white truffle season.
Hotels such as the 18th-century Borgo San Vincenzo in Montepulciano can organize truffle hunts and visits to local truffle markets, and from mid-November a Christmas market even takes over the town’s Piazza Grande.
Dates and rates to consider
If you decide to get away from the crowds and head to Europe instead of a domestic destination, flying on Thanksgiving Day offers the added benefit of being the least busy day at U.S. airports during the holiday. And it’s best to avoid the busy Sunday after the holidays.
Along with airline tickets, average nightly accommodation prices across Europe drop dramatically at the end of the year compared to during the peak summer months.
Hopper’s data shows that average nightly rates in cities like Paris and Reykjavik fell by 30 percent or more at the end of the year compared to peak summer. In Rome, savings on nightly rates reach up to 40 percent by the end of the year, with the average room rate reaching $300 per night.
That means that a hotel you’ve always dreamed of could suddenly be within reach.
“Finding availability at certain European gems can be nearly impossible in the summer without early planning, but some of our favorite spots still have availability for Thanksgiving,” says Fora advisor Kim Hannum. These luxury properties include Adare Manor in Limerick, Ireland; JK Place Roma in Italy; and Grand Hotel Son Net in Mallorca, Spain.
An online search for rooms at Adare Manor shows rates of $1,230 for two people with breakfast on November 28, 2024, while a comparable room on June 29, 2025 costs almost double at $2,230.
In Mallorca Grand Hotel Son NetA room on Thanksgiving Eve this year will cost $837, while the same room on June 19, 2025 (when a two-night minimum is required due to peak season) will cost $1,750.1,075.
Another chance to save
And even if you can’t take a secret seasonal trip to Europe before the winter holidays roll around, Berg said you should mark price alerts for Travel Deal Tuesday — the travel equivalent of Black Friday. These deals drop on December 3 this year.
“The Tuesday after Thanksgiving is probably the best day of the year to book a trip to Europe or anywhere internationally,” she said. “We see big discounts on airline tickets and hotel stays in the travel industry, and of course also on the Hopper app.”
Even though a trip to Europe in January or February will likely bring even cooler temperatures, you can reap many of the same benefits of the fall break, including lower prices and fewer crowds, she said.
“There is a lot more focus on tourism in the summer,” Berg said. “While during this period you experience a much more local experience, which many travelers crave.”
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