Selecting your actual travel dates can be difficult but here are 5 tips to help you narrow down the best dates for your next travel adventure!
When it comes to finding the best date to travel there are many things to consider. In this blog we are going to leave some of them to help you confirm the date of your next trip and make that next adventure a reality!
1. Important Personal Dates
When traveling we must consider important dates for ourselves and our loved ones. We can plan a trip around established dates such as traveling to celebrate a birthday or anniversary, but at the same time we must consider these types of events so as not to miss an important celebration, such as the birthday of a loved one. Also take into account other important events, for example, a loved one who will be graduating from university or a best friend who has their wedding date confirmed, we do not want our trip to have conflicts with those important dates.
2. Employer or Your Business
Take into account the best time to travel considering your employment or your business. If you work in a commercial store, it is very likely that they will require your presence during the Christmas season when there is an increase in sales. A landscaping company will be busier during the warm months, so traveling in winter would be best. You will also need to consider the number of vacation days (Personal Time Off or PTO) your employee gives you. If you receive a total of 10 days it would be great to split those 10 days into two different trips of only 5 days, to get the most out of your vacation days.
3. School Calendars
Getting up and going can be difficult especially for families with kids still in school. Parents with children in school will have to consider the actual school calendar. Most educational institutions have established their school calendars well in advance so you will be able to see the vacation days your children have to plan trips around those dates. Now if you don’t have children in school you could also use this type of calendars to pick travel dates that avoid crowds of people going on vacation with small children, for example avoid going to cities that have amusement parks (for example Orlando, Florida) during the annual Spring Break season, that would actually be the entire month of March.
4. High or Low Season at the Destination Place
The high season means the period of the year when the place/city receives the greatest number of tourists, and the low season is the opposite, the period of the year when the least number of tourists travel to that same city. If you have a place in mind where you would like to go, it’s very important to know the high and low season this destination. This will help you understand why there is a difference in prices or availability in hotels and activities. It will help you prepare to deal with large crowds if visiting in high season. Our recommendation is to always travel in the last 2-3 weeks of the high season or the beginning of the low season. For example, the high season for Greece is from May/June to September, our recommendation would be to visit Greece in the first or second week of October.
5. Holidays / Festivals
Remembering the holidays where you are from and knowing the holidays where you want to travel to is another important factor. Holidays such as Christmas and New Year mean that thousands of people have the same idea as you and want to travel, automatically increasing the costs of your trip. If possible it is better to avoid these dates. Take the time to research holidays at your destination. Local festivities will have an impact on your stay, could be a positive one, such as experiencing local customs such as a bullfight in Spain or a negative effect, for example visiting the beaches during Easter in Central America, when all the locals visit the beaches in masses as well. Websites like TimeandDate.com are a great resource to obtain a full view of all holidays for a specific destination.
6. Season of the Year (Bonus!)
There are cities that receive tourists all year round, for example New York, but if you are a person who hates the cold, it would be better to avoid visiting the city during winter time. If you don’t like excessive heat, it’s best to avoid cities like Phoenix, AZ during May through September where temperatures reach up to 115°.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I recognize that when starting to plan a trip and trying to confirm dates it can be overwhelming at first but if you take your time, with preparation and consider these points you will find the right time to visit your preferred destination. Now like any beginner we will always make mistakes and maybe find ourselves in Paris without a suitable jacket like I did a few years ago, all you have to do is go to a local store and buy one (even if it’s not my style)! But if you gave me the choice to be in a place like Paris in November without the right outfit, I would gladly do it again!
More Tips! Check out other travel tips in the following blogs
How to choose the perfect hotel for a relaxing vacation
9 Types of Tours when visiting to a Destination
6 Hotel Essentials your next hotel should have for a great stay
