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Most families travel in the summer school holidays, and that is fine – but if you can choose, the months around the summer are often better. Here is how we think about the calendar.
March and April
Spring in Andalusia is beautiful: orange blossom in Seville and Granada, green hills and pleasant days. Rome and Istanbul are lovely too, with tulips in Istanbul’s parks in April. The sea is still cold – this is a season for cities, not beaches.
May and June
For many destinations, the best time of the year. Long days, warm weather, the sea warming up in the Algarve, Greece and the Turkish coast, and fewer people than in July. Santorini and Lake Como are at their best, and hotel prices are still reasonable.
July and August
Hot inland – Madrid, Seville, Rome and Athens can be above 35 degrees – and busy everywhere on the coast. This is when Marbella, the Algarve and the islands are most lively. Plan sights early in the morning, rest in the afternoon, and go out again in the evening, as the locals do. Book hotels months ahead. Trabzon and the Black Sea mountains are a cool alternative.
September and October
Our favourite months. The sea is at its warmest, the heat softens, and the summer crowds leave. Perfect for Greece, Lake Como, the Algarve and the Amalfi Coast. In late October some island hotels start to close.
November to February
Quiet and cooler, with short days. A good time for city breaks with shopping – Madrid, Milan, Istanbul and Lisbon have Christmas lights and winter sales from early January. Lisbon and the Algarve stay mild. Santorini is very quiet, and many hotels there close.
Good to know: European school holidays, Easter and local festivals fill the hotels too. When you send us your dates, we check if anything big is happening in the city that week.
