How Much Do The High Season Crowds Affect You?

I can't respond accurately because our two trips Europe & Italy have been in October, then February/March, the latter being the same timeframe for our upcoming trip this year to Rome & Sorrento. So I've never traveled during high season.

What I do know is travelers have to determine their patience level for that kind of thing--for queues, lines, crowds, selfie sticks, not to mention heat in the middle of summer. Some can handle it, and more power to them. But from my mild irritation at the crowds and their behavior on the weekends even for the times we travel, I can safely determine that I wouldn't be a good candidate for travel to European urban areas in high season. And with the dollar and Euro about to be running neck-and-neck, that makes European travel a tremendous value, bringing even more tourists in high season in future years.

Personally, I love off-season travel, am a proponent of it, and feel that I can grab the essence of the 'real Italy' during these times, if that is to be grabbed. It just so happens that my business allows me to travel in late winter, so that's what we do.

I found the crowds this past June very bothersome! Hoards of people in Florence, Venice, Rome, Paris, etc.! I will probably go again but closer to winter to see if I like it better. I don't like heat but would rather be warm/hot than COLD!

At this stage in my life ( early 40s) it really does not bother me all that much. I do plan well ( pre-purchasing tickets, being part of a tour when it makes sense etc. ) and take advantage of being morning people as much as I can ( show up at sites when they first open). I also know that some things will not work out as planned or will have to be skipped all together and that is ok

I can see that changing as I get older.... I know that my parents cannot stand crowds and do not do well with the heat or cold at all At that point in my life though, it will be easier to plan according to crowds and weather and not around school and sports commitments :)

I think every year the heat bugs me more. We mostly travel mid-late Sept thru early Oct. In 2014, we went early Sept to Italy because of 'mom coming with us' logistics. At least half the days, we would go back to our apartment (luckily pretty centralized) and wait out the hottest part of the afternoon from about 1-ish to 5-ish. But we were able to recharge and go out until into the evening when the crowds were a bit less. Luckily, this year we're travelling in April!

As for crowds, I HATE crowds (especially on public transit...ugh), but know I am part of that mix by being there. I've def learned to go out early and stay out later in the big cities, and am learning the tricks of booking timed tickets and whatnot for the more popular spots. I just have to take a deep breath and tell myself...'You're in Italy/France/UK, just deal with it!' When we visited Venice, we'd explore the back alleys during the busy part of the day or head out to Murano/Burano (of course, you can do that after 4 visits) and our few visits to Rome we would spend an afternoon away from the crowds - be it by visiting Appia Antica or Ostia Antica or heading for the Borghese Gardens and going into the Zoo and just sitting and enjoying the shade trees. We also did a day trip from Rome to Naples and went to Herculaneum and up Mt Vesuvius - which were very un-crowded when we went.

Another great reason to spend more than a few nights in one spot - if you can take the time to spend 3-4 or even 5 nights in the major spots, you can take the time to relax instead of running around like a chicken with your head cut off trying to see everything in the short amnt of time you allotted yourself. I'm giving us 5 nights in Amsterdam this year - it'll be our first visit and I'd like to be able to see it at a relaxed pace. We are def more relaxed in our pacing now on trips - the first few were real whirlwinds.

And always have a water bottle with you to stay hydrated, use sunscreen and wear a hat!

I really hate hot weather and crowds. That said, I've been to DisneyWorld many times in the summer with my kids, and this summer I am planning a trip to Arizona (it's around a reunion, so I can't control the timing). I think the key is to be prepared. In DisneyWorld we would get out early and go back to the hotel for a swim in the afternoon. We also followed all the hints we could find for managing the crowds. When we go to Arizona, we don't plan to do a lot of hiking. We will see what we can by car and take short hikes in the early morning and evening as the heat allows.

Expectations are everything. If you know what you are facing and are prepared, you should be able to manage. It also needs to be a place you really really love or want to see.

Everyone's tolerance for heat and crowds varies, so it's important to know what to expect and think through how you will cope. Just because it bothers or does not bother someone else, does not mean that you will have the same reaction.

I think it is a HUGE mistake to travel during the peak season unless you absolutely must. My first 4 trips to Europe were in the summer because of school aged kids. The crowds and heat were a big problem for me. None of the the next 28 were. Winter is a great time to see the inside of all those museums. Lucky me, I'm retired.

I'm fairly heat-tolerant. I hate cold weather much more, so I travel between early May and mid-October. You really can't have perfect conditions, can you? I keep my itinerary flexible so I can head for a cooler area if the heat begins to be too much.

Crowds do bug me when they are so massive that I cannot walk at a normal pace--the sort of thing you see in photos of Cinque Terre and the Vatican Museums these days, and what I experienced at Plitvice in 2015. I have little tolerance for hyper-crowded small, touristy towns that feel as if they're being visited by all the passengers from a mega-ship. I try to learn about fairly similar places not too far away that aren't on the tourist radar--or at least not on foreign tourists' radar.

I'm bothered by crowding in museums to the extent that it blocks my view of the explanatory text on the wall or of the exhibits themselves, but I haven't run into that too often. Sometimes it helps to wander away from the big-ticket sights and try again in half an hour, and my interests are pretty broad, so I can be sure many of the rooms I want to see will not have Mona Lisa-like crowds.

It helps tremendously that my trips are heavily weighted toward smaller cities that don't get a great deal of tourist traffic. Even in major cities you'll often find me wandering off the tourist path with few other people around. Luckily, I'm uninterested in some of the most massively crowded sights, like the Eiffel Tower. Such are the joys of being slow traveler (and being retired).

I haven't been to Venezia or Firenze got three years because I can't give them the time I think I would need to adjust to the crowds. I get very impatient. My plan is to either visit these cities in winter or spend a week in each one during high season.

Roma seems to absorb crowds better; you can wait them out in most cases, or reverse an itinerary (start at the top galleries of museums snd work your way down, although at the Vatican Museums the best you can do is a before-or after-hours tour.

Heat is not an issue for me- lots of water, cross the street to walk in the shade, memories of living in Miami, Las Vegas and Roma.

@Zoe It's funny, because I just asked my older son if he thought it was crowded when we went there 2 years ago. He was 18 then. He said Firenze was crowded, but I just don't recall it being too crowded. We had a 15 minute wait to get into the Accademia with pre-purchased tickets. Once inside, it was teeming with people, but I saw everything I wanted to see, even a random spotting of baseball player Derek Jeter. =)
Maybe we were just lucky and there was a decline of tourism the 2 weeks we were there?

I hate heat and I hate crowds, so when the two are combined, I'm miserable. Sadly, the last time I was in Florence, April of 2013, it was so hot and the crowds were ridiculously massive. You literally could not walk down any street with any kind of personal space around you. I literally was walking shoulder to shoulder the entire time. And, heaven forbid you want to see something on the other side of the street, you had to push your way through. This put such a damper on that part of the trip, and I vowed I would not come back to a beautiful city that I love ever again. I could not enjoy any off it. Luckily I had been there twice, many years ago before the tourists became to thick, so I know how enjoyable it can be. This last trip I was with a couple of people who had never been before and they hated it. That made me sad.

For those who may shun off-season travel because of the potential inclement weather, give it a second thought. We all want our trip--which we paid good money for--to be picture-perfect from a comfort standpoint and weather-wise as well. Sorry, we can't control the weather, but we can prepare correctly.

For outdoor venues such as Pompeii, we kept our daily plans flexible and chose a day where--even in early March--was in the high 50's with sun, and the ruins were magnificent, especially with a lack of crowds. On another trip, to Sicily in October, the weather was foggy & misting, and the tour guide called to ask whether we wanted to postpone our day trip to the medieval villages above Taormina and to the catacombs and crypts nearby. Hell, no, I said! Yes, we needed an umbrella and wore ponchos, but it set the eerie mood for the day, and we thoroughly enjoyed it.

And sometimes you catch lightning in a bottle. Our one full day in late-winter Lucerne, it was sunny and crystal-clear but no more than 40 degrees F. And these crazy Swiss were still dining al fresco outside a brauerie like nothing was amiss--no portable heaters, either. OK, we chuckled to ourselves as we sat down and ordered sausages and lager. A highlight of our trip.

Certainly, clothing preparations are key. For Paris, Lucerne, and even Florence in February, a hat, gloves and ultralight down jacket were necessary. Biting cold & wind at times--not as bad as Chicago, however! Also important are a pair of waterproof shoes for the inevitable stepping in a puddle.

I hate crowds and heat. Only once did I travel to Europe in the summer, but it was as a guest in a small town in the UK to watch the Tour de France. That was fine. The crowds were one day and we didn't see them. The country-side was beautiful. When working I had little time for long European vacations so I always went off season even if during school vacations. A shorter vacation with no lines and no heat keeps me happier than a longer vacation wasted sweating in lines and/or avoiding the heat of the day. Besides, off season tourists are treated better, IMO. Now, I travel longer, but still off season and often in the dead of winter...a beautiful time to travel.

I also hate crowds and don't do well in the heat so have always vacationed in the spring. Yes it does get rain, but I always ask myself, where would rather be getting wet. Europe usually wins. I also like that is it less crowed and since it is the beginning of the season, people are not so worn out. Unless you manage to hit the museums, and I have, when the schools kids are there they are generally not as crowded.

I do have to say that Paris during Christmas was one of the best. The Louvre was practically empty in one evening and the guide at Versailles kept saying he had not seen it so empty in quite a while.

I hate crowds. I don't like heat but I can tolerate that better without the crowds. What gets me the most is that most crowded places I have been are full of people who are more interested in themselves and taking selfies than they are in the place they happen to be in. It would be so much nicer if these folks took themselves elsewhere so those of us who are there for the place could enjoy it better.

We did the big three and the Amalfi coast in 2009 and then again in 2014, both times in May. The increase in the crowds from 2009 to 2014 was astounding. I expect it will be even worse this year with the Euro not doing so well against other currencies.

At home I can be a pretty impatient person in lines and driving on freeways and busy stores, etc. But when I'm traveling I'm so into what I'm seeing and doing and enjoying the new places/cultures/sights that I don't seem to even notice the crowds or heat. All but 2 of my trips to Europe over 20 some years have been in the heat of summer - June through Sept, even in Sicily, Greece, and Turkey in July and August. I don't like heat but can tolerate it if I plan for it so it's never been an issue. In all those trips the only place I can remember where crowds were a problem for me was in the Sistine Chapel and that was because people kept stepping on my feet because they were looking up and not where they were going and because I'm short so had some problems seeing what was at eye level because of tall people in front of me and it was so crowded I couldn't get around them. Other than that it's never been a big problem for me, even at Versailles, the Louvre, and the Musee d'Orsay on free Sunday - bring it on, I can deal with it and I won't let it ruin my trip.

I was in Rome and Florence, and the Cinque Terre, with a few stops in between, last July. I encountered my fair share of crowds and heat, but it didn't detract from my experience. I tried to plan each day strategically, visiting the big sites when they were (hopefully!) the least crowded, doing a lot of my walking and outdoor activities in the morning or much later in the day. I found that stops in churches, museums, or gardens were usually a nice respite from the heat, and gelato is a yummy way to cool down. I also found that wandering and exploring in Rome and Florence, even a few blocks from major sites, often left the crowds behind. I guess it depends on one's sensitivity and preferences. Have a great time in June!

My dates for travel are always in the high season because I am a teacher. It is the only time I can go at this point. I just accept that there will be more people and it will cost more and keep traveling. After all, by being there I am part of the crowd problem as well.

I do find that I spend less time in large cities and more time in more rural locations as one way to deal with crowds. I just enjoy time out of the cities.