Tips to Make Off-Season and Off-the-Beaten Track Travel Work for You

It’s time to go ‘off’ travel. Yes, you read that right. Two of the smartest trends in travel are about visiting bucket list destinations when everyone else isn’t, and finding new destinations other people have yet to discover. 

Here’s why. 

OFF SEASON

Your choice of travel season can make a big difference to your experience and travel budget. And the good news is that there’s more flexibility and options than ever. 

‘High’ season is the historically most popular time to visit a particular destination. Or just the most popular time to travel, due to ‘non-negotiable’ travel events like school breaks and holidays. Whether or not you want to fight the crowds, risk delays caused by disruptive snowstorms, and pay through the nose, you’ll be gathered round the family table in time for turkey. 

There’s not much you can do about non-negotiable high-season travel except opt out and plan your extended family Christmas in July.

But other high-season travel is increasingly avoidable. And more and more people are discovering that the so-called ‘off’ season might be the best time to visit. 

Off-season used to be a write-off. The perfect weather or main attractions, or signature local experiences may be missing. There’s no snow on the slopes in June. In some cases, hotels are closed, the locals have all gone on their own vacations, and it’s a ghost town. 

But that’s changing fast. Many destinations are transforming themselves into year-round vacation spots, a boon to the local economy as well as visitors. 

Highlights of Low-Season Travel:

• Less Crowded. Fewer visitors mean fewer line-ups, more available tables, and more time enjoying your vacation.  Why spend your time waiting in line to go up the Eiffel Tower when you could be having your second café au lait and people watching at a picturesque sidewalk café?
• Relaxed and Authentic. Locals have more time to spend with guests in the off-season. The relaxed pace of the off-season can give you some of the most memorable exchanges with the people you meet on your journey.
• Special Events. There’s only one harvest season in the vineyards. One time of the year for a Christmas market. But more and more destinations are creating events that make their shoulder seasons among the most entertaining times to visit. Culinary and music festivals, marathons and yoga retreats, art shows and film festivals.  No matter what your interest, there’s likely a destination with an off-season event celebrating it.
• Lower Prices and More Perks. Everything is less expensive in the off-season, from flights and hotels to packaged tours and cruises. 

PRO TIPS:

• Save on last-minute travel: Early in the summer, watch for – and ask your travel advisor about – new savings for fall travel: hotels, tours, packaged vacations.
• All-season cruising on European rivers: river cruise ‘season’ is disappearing as more river cruise lines operate nearly year-round on several European rivers that become the busiest in the summertime.
• Cool off in the Med: year-round cruising in the Mediterranean is happening, too. Especially wonderful for those who don’t love summer heat.
• Cruise your way to fair weather: In Caribbean hurricane season, which seems to lengthen every year, a cruise ship can navigate around the worst of storms.
• Enjoy a favorite place in a different way: go to an alpine destination to escape city heat in the summer and hike the mountains instead of skiing them.

OFF-THE-BEATEN-PATH

More people than ever are traveling, and it’s making some of the world’s top destinations victims of their own success. When prices are driven up, when housing gets diverted to vacation rentals, when places become so crowded that daily life becomes stressful and difficult, noisy and polluted, the people who live there suffer. If it drives locals away, the very culture and lifestyle we are seeking when we travel to popular destinations are eroded. Natural wonders also suffer from their popularity. 

Overtourism is a tragedy for both the destination and visitors. More and more of us are concerned about the impacts of overtourism on the destination and on our own travel experience.

Like off-season travel, off-the-beaten-path travel provides a solution that’s better for everyone. 

Savvy travelers are looking for the places where everyone else isn’t going. And travel companies are providing more and more options to help you discover the hidden towns, natural charms, 

PRO TIP: Ask your travel advisor to help you plan a trip to new and upcoming destinations. Sometimes they are just down the road from the ‘big name’ destinations you’ve heard about, whether it’s a wine tour, an alpine outdoor adventure, or an immersion into Mediterranean lifestyle and cuisine.

There you’ll likely find, if less tourism infrastructure, a more relaxed and authentic local experience, often at better prices. With a warm welcome from residents who aren’t overwhelmed by visitors and are happy their local treasures are getting interest from outsiders. And you’re supporting a small local economy. 

As destinations and travel companies change with the times, your travel advisor has the key to unlocking the secrets of successful off-season and off-the-beaten-path travel. 

START YOUR TRIP!

By: Lynn Elmhirst, travel journalist and expert. 

Images: Getty

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