Here’s how to escape the crowds while traveling this summer.
While it’s often advised to embrace the unknown in travel, the appeal of popular destinations like London, Rome, New York, and Barcelona is undeniable. These cities are beautiful, full of history, and certainly worth seeing.
For those with flexible schedules, visiting during shoulder season can offer a less crowded experience. However, many travelers are bound by work and school schedules, leaving no choice but to visit during peak summer season. This doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy these destinations, but it may require some creativity in planning your trip. Here are some tips for seeing the world while avoiding crowds:
Wake up early
When visiting iconic sights, it’s worth setting your alarm for around sunrise. Going to Rome? It’d be tough to miss the Colosseum. Heading to Sydney? The opera house is a must-see on your itinerary. Rather than heading there in the late morning or afternoon with the rest of the city, try an early start. The early bird gets the photo op without 10,000 tourists in it.
Check popular times
If you’re not an early riser, no worries. Just be sure to check out the most popular times at the places you’re hoping to visit. Google Maps can be a huge help here. Open the app, search for the place (restaurant, museum, monument, whatever). Scroll down to the Popular Times section, and flip between the days of the week to see which days are busiest at which times. Better yet, check the websites of the places you’re hoping to visit to see if there are open times outside their standard schedule. Often, these times attract fewer tourists.
Buy tickets ahead of time
Visiting major museums like the Sistine Chapel, the Prado, and the Rijksmuseum is inevitably going to be busy no matter what time of day you choose in the summer peak season. Rather than waiting in a busy line to get into an equally busy museum, buy your tickets online ahead of time if it’s somewhere you know you want to go. When it’s time for your visit, you can usually bypass the line (or stand in a much, much shorter one) to get in.
Don’t be afraid of travel books
In this digital age of travel, it’s likely you’ve seen hundreds—if not thousands—of recommendations on Instagram, Twitter, or Pinterest before you even step foot off the plane. And there are some real gems to be found on social media! But you’re probably not the only one seeing them. Instead, consider kicking it back to the late-20th century and early noughts, when good old-fashioned guide books ruled. Often, these guidebooks are written by locals or, at the very least, someone who is deeply familiar with a destination and can provide invaluable tips to see the city through a different lens.
Ditch the public transit
Sometimes taking public transit is mandatory, but for those who are able and have time on their hands, avoiding metros, buses, and even taxis can be one of the best and most freeing ways to escape the summer crowds. During the hours of about 7–9am and 4–6pm, you’re not only dealing with tourists aboard the trains and buses, you’re also vying for a seat against commuters who are heading into work. Plus, by ditching public transit, you get to take the road less traveled—down alleys, along waterways, and through neighborhoods—to see sides of a city you might not otherwise get the chance to see.
Follow the local crowds
Consider the kind of trip you’d like to have. If you’re keen for one where you’re pushed a bit outside of your comfort zone but rewarded with vistas rarely seen and under-the-radar food worth a five-star rating, follow the local crowds rather than the international ones. In a crowded city, venturing into less-touristy areas is one way to do it, discovering restaurants, cafes, watering holes, boutiques, and galleries, often occupied by “locals who know.” And those are often the places you remember for years to come. Beyond that, traveling to the destinations where locals visit, rather than the big names, is another way to break away from the crowds.
Check for local holidays and events
This comes down to the kind of trip you want to have. Holidays can be a wonderful way to experience the local culture of a place—just be prepared for lots of people. Celebrations to keep an eye out for include cultural festivals (like the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona, Spain, each July), sporting events (soccer tournaments!), and concerts, all of which can increase foot traffic in a city by tens or even hundreds of thousands. In addition to huge events like these, you’ll also want to note local holidays, not for just when patrons come out in droves, but also when businesses shutter.
Eat early (or late)
Museums and monuments aside, one of the hardest places to bust through the crowds can be at a restaurant around 7pm. While this is the time most Europeans eat dinner, it can vary widely from country to country. A couple years ago, a map of dinner times throughout Europe went semi-viral, showing just how diverse meal times can get. In the Nordic countries, it’s common for locals to eat from 4–6pm, while in Spain or Portugal, locals will be looking for a reservation more around 9–10:30pm. Eating dinner on the earlier or later end—depending on where you’re traveling—can increase the chances you’ll avoid a good amount of the crowds.
Twist Take: If you’re traveling in the summer, follow these tips for crowd-free summer travel.
