Summer might be the most popular season for tourism to Europe, but it hardly promises a calm, cool and collected experience.
Who can forget this summer’s protests against overtourism in Barcelona and Mallorca, the wildfires that raged across Greece during the country’s hottest June and July on record and selfie spotlights to help control crowds on the clogged streets of Rome and Florence?
For travellers looking to avoid all that — as well as break less of a sweat literally and financially — welcome to Europe’s secret season.
From roughly mid-October to mid-December, shoulder season for travel to Europe comes with fewer crowds, far more comfortable temperatures in places that skew scorching hot during the summer months and plunging prices on airfare and accommodation.
Plunging prices
“The cheapest time to fly to Europe is typically from about the middle point of October to the middle point of December,” said Hayley Berg, lead economist at travel platform Hopper. “Airfare prices …