AIBU to find European summer holidays too expensive and crowded now?

It's horses for courses but I don't see what appeals at all about a crowded touristy area. It's always best to work out what suits you whilst being open to trying new places.

It depends entirely on where you go and when. Europe is not just Barcelona or Ibiza. There are plenty of locations in Europe that are not hugely overpriced or jam-packed with tourists.

I am not sure what else you expect if you go to a holiday destination at the peak of the holiday season? If you go to Cornwall in August, it might be a tad busier than at the end of November too.

Spain, Greece, Portugal, they all have quiet and non-touristy places.
Prices that have gone up, sadly, it seems the same everywhere.

It does make me laugh when tourists complain about places being too "crowded" when THEY are the crowd.

YABU Europe is a big continent - it is not just Spain, Portugal and Greece - and holidays are not just a beach resort and pool.

We had a week in Toulouse in late June this year and it was great - no rip off prices or crowds (of course it was buzzy cos it is a large, successful French city).

I live in Spain (and a very expensive part too). I have never seen water more than 3€

Depends where you go. Last year I was on the Atlantic coast of Spain, this year Scandinavian road trip, neither were busy and contrary to what I’d been told, Scandinavian prices aren’t bad now, booze is pricier in Norway but I don’t mind only having one, not that kind of trip, petrol is cheaper.

Gosh - €9 for a bottle of water is expensive. Where are you?

I wonder if, after the intense heat people are experiencing this year, more people will look to holiday in places like Scandinavia, or at different times of the year if they can. Although I guess if it’s busy in Italy, Spain etc a lot of the holiday makers are from that country anyway.

Try the Netherlands. It’s a great place for family holidays. Islands like Texel or places like Zeeland have amazing beaches.

That’s interesting. We’ve met a few Canadians in Europe over the past year (and they are always keen to tell us where they from!)

There are lots of places off the beaten track. We like to stay on the outskirts of a large village or small town and dip in and out. However, we’ve decided not to holiday in Europe during the summer months as it’s just too hot these days. We can tolerate a 3 day break but not longer. We save Europe for May or Sept/October.

We enjoy the Scandinavian countries in July and August but the weather can be wet there and it’s also very expensive.

I don't really understand your point. You prefer to go on holiday in South Africa and Antigua so you go there. So what's the problem?

Europe is massive, and both crowds and price varies enormously not just by country but within countries.

They want to be sure you know that they're NOT AMERICAN!

I live in Mallorca and even in the mega touristy areas I’ve never seen a bottle of water that cost 9 € either. Max I’ve seen is about 4 €.

Well done place being busy just means that other people want to be at a the same time and place as you do, you are contributing to that busy, it’s difficult to complain about somewhere being busy.

A lot of travel is expensive. It’s not getting cheaper anywhere.

Research beforehand can make a holiday much more enjoyable, if you travel for a particular reason, to see particular things, or to do a particular activity, it’s worth investigating either when it is quieter or if there are less busy alternatives.

Many amazing people give budget tips on food, local travel, accommodation, free entry to everywhere on the planet, a few nights on Google deep searching is never a waste.

@whirlyhead TBF we once (and once only) got stung for about 7 euros in a cafe on the Corniche Kennedy in Marseille for a 1.5l bottle of Badoit as I was so hot and thirsty I forgot to specify "une carafe d'eau" (ie free tap water).

Was not best pleased but owned my mistake.

It has definitely got more expensive and paying a bit extra gets you out of Europe. I think prices have shot up. For me I don’t think it has necessarily got bigger but as I have got older my tolerance for busy places has got lower. You just need to go out of season and avoid package holidays or get a villa! However, I have found I don’t get excited about the travel anymore either so just getting old and miserable. Never thought it would happen to me as I was a holiday rep in my younger years.

Well also the pound is not as strong against the euro any more - long gone are the glory days of a euro being worth about 60p.

We haven't been abroad in years, what we can afford we don't fancy.

Go to Albania

Agree with this. Everywhere that was once good / quiet / cute / authentic is now ‘discovered’.

I visited an island in 2018 that I loved. Undisturbed paradise. There wasn’t even WiFi. This island was subsequently ‘discovered’ by ‘influencers’ and their followers. Not realising this, I returned a few years later to find that it had completely changed for the worse. Gutting.

It’s been expensive in the summer for years, there are more airports, more budget carriers & people travel from all over.
The heat now puts me off & I prefer to travel there in May or Oct.

The problem is the over tourism coupled with everyone now thinking that a summer holiday abroad is a necessity and their God given right.

There are many many many wonderful less touristy places to go but a lot of countries realise the money in tourism and have ruined their local places to attract the money. There is a reason there is a large anti tourist feeling in loads of places.

Some research is key - it’s not hard to avoid the crowds. Which are quite frankly horrible.

Wrong places, yes. But I don’t use AirBnB anymore. Too many problems - not with accommodation, with the concept. And it won’t be easily available in Spain...

We only go to central Europe these days. It’s clean, safe, and less crowded than the beaches of the Mediterranean. Next summer, the Alps!

Everything is more expensive, including holidays. The cheap deals we used to get circa 2005 are gone.