Shoulder season travel: when to go for fewer crowds and better value

Every popular destination has a rhythm. There is a peak, when everyone wants to be there, and a low season, when few people do. In between are the shoulder months, the weeks when the weather is usually good enough and the crowds have not yet arrived or have already gone. For many trips, they are the best time to travel.

What shoulder season means

Shoulder season is the period on either side of the busiest part of the year. It is defined by demand, not by the calendar, so it moves from place to place. For a Mediterranean beach town it may be late spring and early autumn. For a mountain region it may be the weeks between the ski season and the summer hiking season. For a tropical country it may be the weeks at the edge of the rainy season.

There is no fixed date. The way to find it is to look at where the place sits between its extremes.

What you gain

• Fewer people. Queues are shorter, streets are quieter and it is easier to get a table or a seat.
• Better value. Flights and accommodation are often cheaper than in the peak weeks, because demand is lower. The exact difference varies by place and year, so check the dates you want rather than assume.
• More space. Trails, beaches and museums are easier to enjoy.
• A more local feel. When fewer visitors are around, you see the town as the people who live there do.
• Easier booking. You can find a room at short notice more often than in summer.

What you give up

Shoulder season is a trade, and it is worth being honest about it.

• Weather is less certain. A week that is warm one year can be cold or wet the next. Pack for a range, and plan days that can swap.
• Some things are closed. Seasonal restaurants, ferries, tours, mountain huts and beach clubs may not be open yet or may already have shut. Check each place you care about.
• Shorter days. Daylight in spring and autumn may be shorter than in the summer peak, particularly the further you are from the equator.
• Fewer services. Boat and bus timetables are often thinner, which makes a day trip harder.

None of these is a reason to avoid the period, but each is a reason to check before you book.

How to find the shoulder season for a place

1. Look at the climate. Find the monthly temperature and rainfall for the place. The shoulder months are the ones just either side of the best weather.
2. Look at when the crowds come. School holidays, public holidays and big events pack places out. The weeks before and after are quieter.
3. Check what is open. Look at the websites of the things you want to do, such as ferries, tours and attractions, for their season dates.
4. Check for local events. A festival or a public holiday can turn a quiet week into a busy one. If you want to join, good. If not, plan around it. Planning a festival trip covers what to do when the event is the point.
5. Ask people who have been. A recent traveller or someone who lives there will know more than any guidebook.

The country guides on the blog list the seasons for each place, for example in the Portugal travel guide and the Japan travel guide. Use the "When to go" section to see which months sit on the edges of the peak.

Shoulder season in practice

The same logic works across different kinds of trip:

• City breaks. Many cities are at their best in spring and autumn, when it is mild enough to walk and the main sights are not packed.
• Beach trips. The sea is often at its warmest just after the summer peak, because it has had months to heat up.
• Mountain trips. The shoulder months can bring cool, clear weather for hiking, with huts and lifts running on shorter schedules.
• Tropical trips. At the edge of a rainy season, you may get short showers and green landscapes and fewer visitors. Learn what the season means locally, because some areas have storms or extreme heat that are worth planning around.

Make the plan flexible

Weather in shoulder season is the main risk, so build a plan that survives it.

• Keep outdoor plans light and flexible. Put the big outdoor day on the best forecast, not on a fixed date.
• Have a list of indoor ideas for each place: a museum, a market, a cooking class, a café that deserves an afternoon.
• Book cancellable accommodation where you can, so that you can shift if the weather changes.
• Pack layers, a waterproof and shoes that handle wet ground.

Decide how much risk you want

Some travellers want the certainty of peak season and are happy to pay for it. Others are happy with a grey morning if the afternoon is empty of crowds. Neither is wrong. Be honest with your group about which you are, because someone who needs a guaranteed beach day will have a bad time on a shoulder-season trip.

If the group disagrees, you can still take the middle path: travel at the near end of the shoulder, where the weather is closest to the peak, and book accommodation with a place to sit inside.

Next step

Pick the destination, then look at its climate and its calendar, and choose a window of two or three weeks on the edge of the peak. Check that what you want to do is open. After that, planning is the same as for any trip, as in how to plan a trip step by step.