When Should I Do My Trip?

Go next spring so you have more time to prepare

The reasons for going to Europe in summer are not OBVIOUS to me. Families with school-age children and teachers have few, if any options, but for those who can go when they will, summer means the highest prices and the biggest crowds of tourists at sights.

The "obvious" reasons I was referring to are the weather and when everything is open. I like warm weather. I don't like the falls and winters in North America (except for the west coast where the weather is mild), so I probably wouldn't like European winters either.

Agree with Kaeleku and Chani -- September/October are marvelous. We're in Italy in May because .. well, the flight price was too good to pass up. But the crowds are starting. Going in the fall means that some cultural events (opera, symphonies) are open for their regular customers versus the summer festival events.

But any time you go, hope you have a great time.

Another vote for fall: great time to hop around Europe.
Another vote as well to skip summer for reasons previously listed.

Has anyone noticed that Europe happens to be a pretty big continent with quite a number of climate zones, and that - as far as I can see - we don't have any information whatsoever about which countries Blaze2099 intends to visit? A broad statement like the following is, therefore, pretty much useless IMO:

Europe in Summer is (IMO) not fun. A trip in Sept, Oct, Nov is
perfect. You have: Cooler weather ...

Sure you have cooler weather in November than in July almost all over Europe. That doesn't mean it's a better month to travel. November is just drab and grey in many countries of Northern Europe, and in many countries of Southern Europe, the weather is simply unpredictable.

So, @Blaze2099, if you could specify which countries you are talking about, you would certainly get more reliable and more useful information.

"Europe" encompasses a huge area north to south---may more degrees of latitude than the US. So weather is vastly different from place to place.

Last year you were talking about a trip that covered the area from Greece to Turkey to Latvia. Did younever make that trip?

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/minority/black-traveller-going-to-eastern-europe

And you can't be all that adverse to cold weather as recently your were thinking of moving to Calgary Canada for a year. It's pretty cold there in winter!

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/beyond-europe/best-city-in-canada-to-live-in

So what happened to that plan? Now you are thinking of New Zealand? Do you know that you can get a "working holiday" visa for NZ? Won't the dates for that determine when you can go to Europe if you want to do it all one trip?

You definitely don't want yo be arriving in NZ in midwinter months of Jul or Aug.

Aug - start in Northern Europe during Summer
Sep - then to Central Europe
Oct - and finally the Med Countries during Autumn
Nov - before flying to New Zealand in Spring