Article: Why Does Everyone Want to Visit Europe in Summer?

[lovetravellingoz]

If it's not below -20, it's not really cold.

Yes, Cold all depends on how you dress, and what you want to do.

We are just back from an Alaskan Summer. Temperatures often colder than winter here in Melbourne. We still had an amazing time. Mind you sunset was after midnight, so plenty of daylight hours.

The Alaskan mosquitos certainly did mind the cold. On the Exit Glacier Hike it was surprising to us how abundant they were.

 

[crh66]

e.g. late May early June was great this year and I got EK F redemptions both ways.

Hope we have a similar experience next year (our first Europe trip)!

Booked J class QF rewards to Rome, we arrive on the 25 May, then back to oz from Budapest on 28 June

 

[Forg]

The Alaskan mosquitos certainly did mind the cold. On the Exit Glacier Hike it was surprising to us how abundant they were.

It has previously occurred to me that it would fit with the ethos & spirit of cross-country walking/hiking to eat Protein Packages made of fresh compacted insects, and that this would appear to offer all sorts of opportunities for backpack-mounted Food Collection Devices for travellers walking in areas similar-but-not-limited-to south-western New Zealand …

 

[anyonebutqantas]

For me it's the long hours of sunlight, the flowering gardens, warm but not excessive heat, and of course the culture and heritage of Europe.

 

[Forg]

For me it's the long hours of sunlight, the flowering gardens

Most of us dislike continual hayfever!

 

[Flashback]

For me it's the long hours of sunlight, the flowering gardens, warm but not excessive heat, and of course the culture and heritage of Europe.

Depends on the part of Europe you're in. Contrary to my usual M.O. which is to not travel in Europe in Summer .. in the past month I've spent time in France, Andorra, Croatia and Bosnia & Herzegovina. They were all rather bloody warm! Unusually so for some due to the heatwave, but B&G was more normal and still hot hot hot.

Most of us dislike continual hayfever!

I find my hayfever is much worse in the UK compared to Aus and in Aus, I used to think it was pretty bad!

 

[NSun]

I went to Europe last August and promised I would return next year, only to break it barely a month later when I managed to snag an award seat on the 2nd ever AKL-JFK Qantas flight. I had a good trip in the US although it seems I'm the only one who hasn't gone to Europe.

Last year, I only found major crowds where there were major monuments like Westminister Abbey where there were queues snaking outside - the way I got around crowds there was to come back first thing on Sunday. The only place where the whole 'town' was crowded was Brighton Beach and that was the annual pride event was on there - the upside was that it was easier than it otherwise would've been to find the train going down there. In going to Europe, I did like the escape from the short winter days in Australia and everywhere I went it was between 20 and 30 degrees.

My previous trip to Europe in 2018 was in late November, it was a sort of celebration from finishing university trip, and I loved the Christmas markets in Oslo, Norway - I got there right in time for the first snow of the season. I'd love to go back to Europe one winter and see the Christmas markets in Germany given how good everyone says they are.

 

[Flashback]

I went to Europe last August and promised I would return next year, only to break it barely a month later when I managed to snag an award seat on the 2nd ever AKL-JFK Qantas flight. I had a good trip in the US although it seems I'm the only one who hasn't gone to Europe.

Last year, I only found major crowds where there were major monuments like Westminister Abbey where there were queues snaking outside - the way I got around crowds there was to come back first thing on Sunday. The only place where the whole 'town' was crowded was Brighton Beach and that was the annual pride event was on there - the upside was that it was easier than it otherwise would've been to find the train going down there. In going to Europe, I did like the escape from the short winter days in Australia and everywhere I went it was between 20 and 30 degrees.

My previous trip to Europe in 2018 was in late November, it was a sort of celebration from finishing university trip, and I loved the Christmas markets in Oslo, Norway - I got there right in time for the first snow of the season. I'd love to go back to Europe one winter and see the Christmas markets in Germany given how good everyone says they are.

Unless you went this year, in which case due to strike action no trains were running

Agree, Christmas markets all over Europe are a great option.

 

[drron]

Depends on the part of Europe you're in. Contrary to my usual M.O. which is to not travel in Europe in Summer .. in the past month I've spent time in France, Andorra, Croatia and Bosnia & Herzegovina. They were all rather bloody warm! Unusually so for some due to the heatwave, but B&G was more normal and still hot hot hot.

I find my hayfever is much worse in the UK compared to Aus and in Aus, I used to think it was pretty bad!

My hay fever basically goes year round. As well as a couple of allergies the major precipitants are cold air, exercise and spicy foods. So in Europe this year even though I left in May it was the spring flowers, Air conditioned rooms, much more walking and having as much chilli as I could as no longer get it at home. I am banned from cooking my curries.
So Europe is definitely bad for my hay fever but I am totally used to it after 70 years. Just have to remember to take tissues where ever I go.

 

[Forg]

So Europe is definitely bad for my hay fever but I am totally used to it after 70 years. Just have to remember to take tissues where ever I go.

I guess at least COVID fears have abated … 12 to 18 months ago, I was convinced I was going to be flayed by the angry mob for having an allergy …

My last trip OS was to England & Scotland, for June 2018. No crowd-related problems there. London’s busy regardless for example but it was nice that there was a holiday vibe, our AirBnB near Borough Market was 50m from a street which was closed off for a festival/celebration of some description & it added an enjoyable sense of fun. Even driving on highland roads in Scotland wasn’t excessively caravan-ey.

 

[Townsend]

We are the odd ones here as we love travelling in the northern hemisphere winter. Why? Svalbard in February with about 200 visitors and not the huge cruise ships that visit in summer. St Marks Square in Venice with two other people and a snowman…fantastic. Iceland, Norway and the Shetlands were wonderful in February.

Sure, we miss things eg have never seen a puffin, and you cannot travel with only hand luggage. But we find the lack of crowds, and the friendly locals, well and truly make up for any problems we encounter.

 

[burmans]

So agree with Matt on this, May/June and September are so much better than July/August, weather still nice and so much more pleasant. I don’t got to Europe’s for the weather anyway!

 

[kamchatsky]

We went to Europe in July this year,mainly because of my end of work contract at the end of financial year, as well as lining up kid's school holidays. It was great, but it was really hot at Italy and Greece. I would have loved to travel in cooler months but work + school holidays dependencies takes presedence.

 

[Must...Fly!]

When I lived in the UK I stayed in London from mid June until early September. I despise the holiday crowds. Worked well for me, I worked a lot and made the most (or tried to) of the British summer. And then in the off season travelled more because, well, I could afford to with the savings from not going in the peak season.