Traveling In “Shoulder Season”
Shoulder Season (n.) a travel period between peak and off-peak seasons.
Also known as our favorite time to travel to some of the most sought after destinations in the world. Over the years we’ve saved thousands on flights, accommodations and adventures by traveling in the shoulder season. Namely we’ve visited Greece in November, The Caribbean in August, Australia & New Zealand in November and Alaska in April and October.
Sydney, Australia in late November
For sought after domestic destinations, it’s usually best to get contracts before or after the peak seasons. I.E. secure that Alaska contract in March or April, get down to Texas before the heat of Summer ends or head out to coastal California before the winter sets in across the nation. The rest of this article will focus mostly on international and leisure travel, but for more information on timing travel contracts as a healthcare worker keep an eye out for future articles
THE BENEFITS OF SHOULDER SEASON TRAVEL:
Cost. As mentioned above, the cost can be vastly different. We’ve never paid more that $1000 round trip for any of our travel destinations, for either coast of the US. Flying midweek and not in high season has been very helpful in doing so. Round trip flights to New Zealand in January/February are typically $1,500 from our home airport, but our tickets came in at $850 in November. Going to Greece, our roundtrip tickets from Texas were ~$400. This benefit often applies for accommodations and tour prices as well.
No Crowds. This is at the top of the list for us. After so memorable experiences during a short 5 day trip to Athens over Thanksgiving (sorry Mom!) We agreed we’ll never go to a popular European destination during the high season. We had no waits at any of the Athens sights, small groups on all of our walking tours, and come to think of it, I don’t think we waited for a table at a single restaurant. I truly believe the beauty of these destinations is not on full display when there are crowds in the tens of thousands every day.
One of our favorite restaurants in Athens, all to ourselves!
THE DOWNSIDES:
The Weather: Dreaming of that perfect Santorini beach day or surfing at Bondi Beach? Shoulder season travel to Greece might not be for you. Ideally we try to get to our destinations at times when the weather is questionable, but not horrible. We’ve had some amazing weather and also some… interesting experiences. IN our eyes, you never know what the weather will bring and try to keep a positive mindset no matter what each day brings, but traveling in the off season may raise the possibility of weather cancellations.
A cloudy and windy wine tour in New Zealand.
Closures: Certain tours, restaurants, destinations etc. will be seasonally closed. Some of these things you may know ahead of time, but others you may not realize until you are there. In Greece we had two tours cancelled due to low sign ups, but we also lucked out and met some amazing people who decided to open their wine bar one evening because it was such a nice day! In Australia we skipped any water activities in Melbourne and Sydney.
If you can’t decide if shoulder season travel is right for you answer these questions to help you decide.
Will there be anything that I am unable or unlikely to be able to due that is important to me due to the season?
Am I willing to sacrifice these seasonal experiences to save money? If so, how does this effect my trip budget?
What are the crowds typically like where I am going? Is avoiding crowds more important to me than seasonal experiences?
General Thoughts:
1) No extreme climates out of season
2) Many Historical European destinations are great shoulder season options
3) Use these trips as an opportunity to discover. leave at least 2 days with no plans at all and explore outside of the popular spots and ‘must-see’ stops from social media.
4) Use Pomelo Travel Flight Deals to find cheap flights!
