Looking for other 'sweet spots' that avoid the worst of the crowds in cities

Every year, we do a beach holiday in the Mediterranean in mid September. The weather is still nice but it's right after the school year has restarted so there are fewer crowds. It's still busier than it would be in the off season but the trade off is it's still warm enough to go in the water, eat outdoors, etc.

I've seen pictures from a Forum friend of the Netherlands AFTER the tulips have been harvested, showing fewer crowds, little rain, and easy travel.

I flew into Amsterdam in 2018 3 days after Keukenhof closed for the season, and while the city still had crowds, it was nothing like they usually are. And the weather was beautiful! Seeing the tulips would have been nice, but being there without the massive crowds was worth it.

Thanks Cat VH & Mardee, thanks, I'm keeping an eye on the Netherlands after tulips are over! Beaches sound like fun, any particular ones you really liked Cat VH?

I should have mentioned, my bro & SIL took a train trip from Sweden to Strasbourg, Paris & Barcelona the week before the week of Good Friday, fewer crowds, though they were wearing sweaters. And mentioned that they strolled right into Sagrada Familia without booking, no Q!

I went to Germany/Austria in April and while it rained a lot, the cities were all pretty quiet. Even Salzburg was just beginning to start the busy season but it there was never hordes of people.

Honestly, I would never go to Germany or Austria in the summer. The weather may be nice but it is overcrowded and the locals seem less stressed in the spring. JMO.

It's hard to pick my favourite beach area because I have loved them all. But in general, we keep returning to Greece. There is so much variety between all the different island groups. For a pure beach holiday, I would recommend either Crete or Rhodes (though we have also loved Corfu, Santorini, Hydra, Skopelos, and while not Greece but very similar, western Cyprus). If you can combine an area with beautiful beaches with a very charming historic old town with great restaurants, to me that is pretty much as good as it gets. Chania in Crete and Rhodes old town are two of the best historic old towns we've been to that are also very close to great beaches.

Outside of Greece, we have also had lovely September beach holidays in Mallorca, Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily, Malta, and the Dalmatian coast in Croatia. Honestly, it is hard to go wrong!

As many here know, Slovenia is about as sweet as it gets when you want to avoid tourism madness. Yes, it can be touristy during high season, but certainly nothing comparable to places like Rome, London, Paris, et al. Despite the decades of supportive fanfare by Rick Steves it still amazes me how nice Slovenia can be for visitors, and I suppose a lot of that has to do with the people who tolerate us as well as its less direct access.

Finding nice places to visit "...minus the hordes of tourists I'm seeing mentioned here on other threads" isn't too hard in Germany as long as you avoid the destinations that receive lots of attention in Rick's guidebook. I assume you looked up the Mainz and the Stephanskirche tips from this forum using other resources - and that you had set aside whatever hesitations you might have about using Rick's suggestions as places to avoid. So these are good first steps toward a calmer trip with less competition for rooms and a quieter experience. IMO Tripadvisor is a good resource for gathering info on places that catch your attention on the forum or elsewhere.

Some suggest avoiding Germany in summer, but I think that should apply only to big-name places. Summertime in lesser-known towns and cities where neither Germans nor international tourists choose to spend their vacation time in large numbers can be enjoyable, uncrowded and inexpensive. I've often heard that Paris is best when the Parisians leave town - and this principle applies in Germany too in towns/cities with low name-recognition.

Here are a few places out of my own travel experiences that might be worth looking into. They tend to be places that were interesting unto themselves (which is very subjective, of course) or small places that were near one or more other interesting places.

Ettlingen
Neustadt-an-der-Aisch
Bad Windsheim
Iphofen
Münster
Bullay
Gengenbach
Hannoversch Münden
Rinteln
Radolfzell
Löffingen
Neuburg-an-der-Donau
Pappenheim

We’re tied to August peak season holidays because of school and work. We go to North Pembrokeshire for a week every year. It’s delightful. Of course there are other people there on holiday too, but it’s not like Cornwall where it’s impossible to park at the beach, or get a dinner reservation, or a table at a cafe.

We then take 2 weeks usually in France or Spain with friends and their children. We rent a house with a pool anywhere that’s affordable and looks nice enough. This means we’re never anywhere that’s particularly busy as prime locations are just too expensive for the size of house we need. We always have a good time. There are things to see and do everywhere. This year we’re staying an hour from Bordeaux.

Heather - The locals seem less stressed in the spring - Interesting comment as I found the locals, many of them immigrants in the service sector, to be so kind to visitors when we were there 2 weeks ago.

Cat VH - Ohhhh this sounds lovely - combine an area with beautiful beaches with a very charming historic old town with great restaurants, to me that is pretty much as good as it gets! Have added these to my list - Chania in Crete and Rhodes old town are two of the best historic old towns.

Thanks Russ, you’re actually one of the people I credited with suggesting Mainz, I thanked you in my TR! Oh yeah, I would not tie myself to Rick’s suggestions. I did read up on WHY he doesn’t recommend Heidelberg, he visited 40 years ago when there was a US militrary base nearby, say no more, and hasn’t been back since. I’ve made a list of your other German suggestions, thank you.

Kelson - Slovenia - That’s a great idea, I haven’t ventured that far east since I visited Prague in 1976 while it was still under Soviet control. What an eye opener for a naive visitor.

Helen - Sounds like you’ve worked around being tied to August holidays for school-aged children. I particularly liked the idea of an hour from Bordeaux, hope you write a TR when you’re back? We would love to spend some time in Bordeaux and Lyon, thanks!

To be honest our holidays involve quite a bit of relaxing and barbecuing so I’m not sure how interesting a trip report would be! But yes, it’s a challenge to make August holidays affordable. It’s an extremely expensive time to go away.