Q – After more years than I care to count with the Ford, I am set to begin showing my bride a bit of the world. We want to start in my ancestral home, Ireland and are tentatively thinking about travel in mid-July when it gets rather warm here in Atlanta. We’ve done some business-related travel to Europe but this would be our first in-depth trip and I am thinking of spending about two and a half weeks. I will likely want to stay at nice places and will follow your advice in that regard but I am wondering about timing and crowds and even itinerary. I just read a piece in Bloomberg that indicated that several European destinations are getting seriously crowded, including the roads, in mid-summer. Any suggestions would be much appreciated. And please don’t waste your time suggesting that I rent anything but a Ford product in Europe. Love this site and grateful for the help you provide those who may not be your clients.
A – In a general sense, American travelers really need to get more creative. In Europe specifically, Europeans are doing much more international travel than their American counterparts and China, Japan, and Russia are sending enough tourists to major destinations to really impact both pricing and availability. It is time that the savvy traveler starts doing more travel to Europe in the off-season and more wandering to sites just to the left of the tourist map. Here are some strategies we would suggest:
- Avoid traveling in July or August. Change your departure to mid-May or even late April. On the other side, consider “post-tourist” travel in late September or early to mid-October.
- Consider actually skipping the big-name Irish sites for alternatives that are just as lovely. This is, after all, a country filled with natural beauty and charm and any wrong turn will likely bring you past colorful villages surrounded by lovely farmland and gently rolling hills. Don’t, for instance, even do the Ring of Kerry. Many experts will tell you that the Beara Peninsula is as beautiful with a lot less traffic.
- The Americans have not yet discovered what many Europeans know: the city of Belfast is wonderful and only two hours away from Dublin with far fewer tourists. It is the gateway to lovely drives including the incredible Causeway Coast. It is becoming more popular because so many of the scenes from Game of Thrones were filed there.
