Hello from Greece in August. We’ve survived nearly three months in Europe having seen just bits of the best of Spain, France, Italy and now Greece. We survived the wildfires, the crowds at historical sites, the (very well organized and courteous) Italian train strike in Rome, the peak season prices and the heatwaves. Thankfully we stopped paying too close attention to all the news about how challenging it was and found ourselves enjoying every minute! And we had some help from local and traveling folks along the way. Here’s some of what we learned.

We went to Spain and France in May and June instead of July and August. (By mid-July we were already south of Rome.) That made a difference. It wasn’t quite peak season crowds. It wasn’t quite so hot.

In many instances we went to regional destinations where everyday Europeans take their holiday for a more relaxed experience. Seeing small towns with delightful outdoor markets such as Montalivet les Bains on the Atlantic coast in France was so relaxing. Enjoying the Calabrian coast of Italy with inland villages where maybe there’s just one (fabulous!) restaurant and hardly any tourists. Montpelier instead of Nice and Bordeaux instead of Paris in France. Ravello instead of Amalfi in Italy. Antiparos and Folegandros instead of Santorini and Mykonos in Greece. You get the idea.

When we were in the bigger cities of Madrid, Barcelona, Rome and Athens (and we loved every one!) we googled ‘non-touristy things to do’ and planned our visits with an expanded horizon and open mind of what to do. And in some instances we just skipped the lead attraction and found something just as rewarding. For example, we got the iconic pic of us outside the Coliseum in Rome (below) but we didn’t venture inside. We’d both done that on previous visits.

We wandered around the continent and let the magic happen. It worked!

For more on our hotels and activities click on any country below…
Spain — France — Italy — Greece