July in Europe
 

We will be visiting family in London in early July. If we wanted to spend several days in another european country is there any place that would not be super crowded? I know Italy is bad and would also prefer not such hot weather. Amsterdam?

thanks

Hi Joan,

I suggest Copenhagen.

If you think you are interested in amsterdam, then I would say go for it - - and at about 25% less e4xpensive than Copenhagen (based on what I erad - - no recent trips to either country, i.e., more than 5 years since I have been to either).

And of course in both holland and Denmark, there is much charm (and money to be saved) in smaller towns than in the bigger capital cities of the two countries.

Best wishes,

Rex

I suppose it depends on what you consider "crowded" but Amsterdam/Netherlands and Berlin/Germany would probably not have the weather you want to avoid in Italy.

But, I honestly wouldn't let the weather or potential masses of people be the MAIN determinant of destination. After all, there is usually a good reason why people visit the places they do.

There are ways of avoiding masses of visitors and also of dealing with "adverse" weather but whatever you decide I hope your trip is memorable.

Have you considered France? Normandy is an easy trip from London and Paris is an easy trip as well. And both are fabulous.

I don't think an entire country can be <crowded>. Maybe major cities or a particular famous museum, site or landmark. Or when a big event is taking place i.e., Montreux Switzerland during the Jazz Festival.

After younger son's wedding in Hambleton (Hall) England in mid July '04, we flew to Oporto and spent 9 days in NW PT and Galicia, Spain - great LaJolla like weather, great food and wine and not too expensive even given the weak USD. We did score Senior discounts at the Pousadas and at the Parador in Baiona.

I would def return to Baiona in July.

BTW it was 55 degrees C in Sevilla on 30 June this year - that's 122 F, so the South is a bit extreme.

Also, the Moseltal and Rheintal in Germany are VG if you are selective.

M

Ireland

Early July will not be as crowded as the rest of the summer as the kids will still be in school.
We went to Rome at the end of July this year, and it wasn't awful. OK, so we had to queue to get into the Vatican, but that was mostly due to the security detectors. Planning ahead was the key as we pre-booked on line the Colosseum and just walked past the lines.
I agree with mamc about France. Paris apart, we've never found it "too" crowded in Summer - even in Provence last August (apart from Gordes!).

I have been to Europe each of the last four years in July and did not find the "crowds" to be a problem. I also travel to Europe regularly in March and compared to July, yes there are less "crowds". But I certainly wouldn't let a fear of places being unpleasant due to crowds stop you from going anywhere. They really are NOT that bad. And I really don't think Amsterdam or anywhere else will be less crowded than say Italy or France. You are correct that the weather will be hotter in Italy, but again, I have been to Italy two of the last three Julys and only had one or two days when I really wished it were cooler. Alot of people like to travel in May-June or September becuase they think of them as "shoulder"seasons with fewer crowds. But I've been finding that hotel prices are actually higher in those months than in July and August and when I ask locals (people who work at the hotels) they say those months are more crowded than summer.