When to Go - The First Step in Great Travel
"When to go" dictates almost everything when traveling
smart. It's the most important decision you can make to
improve your vacation.
I try to travel during the shoulder season,
which is May, June, September, and October in Europe and Asia. South of the
Equator I go in January, February, and March. It's worked very well for me.
For longer term travel, the best time to travel is after I have
quit or lost a job. You can stay away as long as you want, you don’t
have emails, time limits, angry bosses or customers. If you have
family members just drag them along, if they're willing. I travel until
I run out of money or get tired of moving. Three to six months is
all I could handle when I was younger. Then I loved staying at
home...
It seems timing is everything in travel.
For Europe, summer is expensive, crowded, super hot, noisy, and
hard. Spring and fall is inexpensive, uncrowded, mild weather,
quiet, and easy. Winter is the cold season, busy only in the ski
areas and at the holidays.
Everything's open in the summer, most things in the
spring and fall. Only a few things are open in winter.
Villages and small cities tend to shut down in the off season. Big
cities never let up all year.
I tell you, "The English are great travelers."
After all they invented tourism and tourists.
They were the ones that made the Alps a destination instead of an
obstacle.
They helped create the world's first ski resort,
with San Moritz in Switzerland founded in 1864. They were the
honored customers.
They invented tours and tour groups.
They taught their children to make "the Grand Tour" to see the most important
sites on continental Europe as part of their formal
education.
I basically did the same thing in the 1970's
when I back packed through Europe. Brilliant!
They invented the Travel Bureau, Train Time Tables for all of
Europe and, yes, they even invented modern travel
advice including when to go.
Here is what happened to me when I choose to travel off
season:
Evening's coming quickly, and I haven't found a place to stay
for the night. I'm not worried; there are plenty of hotels to
choose from. I'm driving a rental car around the shoreline of the
Gulf of Trieste in Slovenia, and enjoy a glowing sunset. I check
my guidebook: The tiny picturesque Slovenian port city of
Piran (Greek for fire), in Slovenia, has some of the best sunsets in the
Mediterranean. If
true, that would be saying a lot.
I have come in October when the weather is still pleasant and
the water warm. Piran has a tiny marble port area,
filled with spectacular neoclassical Venetian and Italian
Renaissance architecture, as charming as Venice without the
sewage.
To the right is Tartinijev Trg (Square) named after Slovenia's
most famous composer Giuseppe Tartini. His statue stands in front of the town hall. Up on the ocean cliff
stands the bell tower of St. George's Church that once held
the fire (pyr) that made Piran famous. I have the whole
place to myself. Maybe there is a cheap room somewhere
here...
This is the touristy rich man's version of the tiny port city.
The alleyways here are more inner twining; the viewpoints, more
enthralling; and the buildings, more sculptured than other port
cities.
But in summer it's smothered in tourists. Prices
soar; the accommodations become non-existent.
My guidebook points out a hostel nearby with single
rooms and shared bathrooms. "A toilet down the
hall" was the way almost all lodgings were in Europe until a decade
or so ago. That's changed. Now most lodgings here sport the
American Room (the one that includes a shower and a
toilet.)
The sign on the door says rooms available, in
five languages. For 24 Euro ($32) a night I have a home in
paradise.
Travel in shoulder season is a
breeze…
Here is a short list of when to go and where to go during the
on and off seasons. (Check the Tim Leffel's book, mentioned
above, for details):
When to Go - Spring, try:
- Fly to anyplace in the world. Shoulder season is the
best time to travel.
- US National Parks.
- Hawaii.
When to Go - Summer, try places that have their off
seasons due to hot weather or reverse climates:
- Fly to Caribbean & Mexico - Hot, but tropical breezes
help.
- Fly to South America. It's their winter. It's usually a little
cool, sometimes cold, but not icy.
- Try diving in Latin America.
- Safaris in Kenya and Tanzania - there's a lot of bargains
here.
- Miami, New Orleans, Phoenix, and Las Vegas. It will be hot!
When to Go - Fall, try:
- Fly to anyplace in the world. Shoulder season is the
best time to travel.
- US National Parks.
- Try an Alaska Cruise. Crisp, but a bargain
When to Go - Winter, try:
- Fly to Canada, Quebec & Montreal. There are lots of indoor
things to do including miles and miles of world-famous malls.
- Fly to anyplace in the world except for the ski areas, except
of course if you want to ski. .
- Time to visit the Tropics.
- Try summer down under in Australia, New Zealand, South
America, South Africa
- Go Home: Thanksgiving and Christmas be with your family, you
idiot!
It is a lot to think about. Picking a good time of year to travel
can make all the difference. Cost savings and ease of travel
make the shoulder season a smart deal.
It's the most important travel secret I know.
Here are some important travel points:
Go to the Page on Best Travel Secret
What to do?
Where to go?
When to go?
Who can you trust?
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