Summer cruising in Europe

[colkeena]

Is summer a busy time to cruise in Europe?Spring is great but unsure of summer crowding.Are all the ports of call busy with European vacationers?Would I be better off waiting till fall when crowds probably are less?

Thanks

[paul929207]

Yes, the ports and major cities are crowded during the summer. The Med can be very hot. We are going in October on the Crown Princess

[Quasar1011]

If you can handle the fickle fall weather, it will be a bit less crowded.

[Langley Cruisers]

Summer is very busy. The day we went to the Acropolis I'd say there were, easily, 10,000 people there with us. It was screamingly hot too. However... it was the trip of a lifetime and of course, we are thrilled to have been able to go at all.

[cruisemom42]

I agree with all the others. If you can swing it, it is much better to go in late Spring or early Fall than in the heat and crowds of Summer.

 

I personally enjoy late Fall. I'm willing to take a chance on the weather in order to see the sights with an order of magnitude fewer fellow travelers.

 

Hardly anyone at the Colosseum or Parthenon in late November:

 

 

 

[katz]

We have been on Med cruises in Summer and Fall. In the summer, the weather was very hot, but always sunny. When we went in the middle of October, we had only one sunny day. Temperatures were comfortable to a little bit cold and we had a lot of rain and thunderstorms in the middle of the night. Apparently, the cruise before us, had perfect weather. So I think the summer weather you can pretty much count on being nice. Fall is iffy.

 

Also, we found that a lot of the shops were closed in the Fall, but we did find some good bargains at many of the shops that were still open.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Some ports could have 6 ships there ...

[jocap]

Many countries in Europe have their long holidays in August; the majority of English schools have holidays from mid July to the first week in Sept (Scotland slightly earlier), so everyone's off to the sun! The sky will be packed with planes carrying folk, so airports are daunting; beaches are overflowing with people, and all the sights will have queues.....standing in the Med. sun isn't fun!

May and June; September and October are when we travel to the Med, whether on a cruise or beach holiday, and even then the heat can be too much for me, although once the autumn solstice has happened-Sept 21st- the weather can be changeable, as the nights draw in and the winds begin, bringing some rain.

My ideal time for a cruise is the last week in May into June, and last of Sept into Oct.

Having said that, one of our most interesting cruises ever was in Feb, when we had snow and winds....but sites such as Ephesus were empty.;)

Jo.

[Scubadoobie2]

We're doing a May 20 eastern Med this year. Sounded like just about the perfect time of year. I hope to let ya'll know once we've sailed it. (On Navigator OTS). Let's just hope Greece and Italy are still in one piece at the time. ;)

[sail7seas]

We have many land trips in Europe in early fall and was wonderful weather for touring.

The heat in Rome and Athens etc in the summer can make it very uncomfortable for a long, full day but certainly if that is when you can go, by all means, do it.

 

Cruising Europe/the Med is fabulous!