Alternative European destinations you can check out in the next few months

Sicily in autumn is still pretty warm, making it a wonderful place to visit during that season. — ANDREEA PETRUTI/Unsplash

The nightmare of this year’s summer travel season in Europe has been well-documented: Epic airline failures, chaotic crowds, skyrocketing hotel rates, and Armageddon-style heat waves all made it a summer to remember, if (hopefully) not to repeat. And for many, it was all reason enough to postpone that long-awaited getaway altogether.

“The sticker shock of this season was very real, even for travellers who had the means to afford it,” says David Prior, founder of the US-based membership travel club Prior. Inflation made already record rates climb even higher – to as much as 50% more than in 2019 – and not even the late-summer dollar-to-euro parity could make up for it.