When to travel? What are shoulder seasons? Many tourist destinations have four “seasons” in terms of numbers of visitors. The peak season is the time when the most tourists visit, such as summertime at a beach or fall foliage season in New England. The “low season” is when tourism is at its lowest (e.g., winter at a beach in New Jersey or a cold-winter city destination like Chicago, Illinois). Then there are often two “shoulder seasons,” which are times when the weather is milder, but tourist numbers are lower. Often shoulder seasons are spring and fall. They also sometimes coincide with school calendars, since families and college students often cannot take vacation during the academic year. The advantages of traveling during traditional shoulder seasons are cheaper airfares and lodgings, smaller or non-existent crowds, and cooler temperatures.
Other events and occurrences can affect tourist “seasons.” Festivals, sporting events, natural phenomena such as the Monarch Butterfly migration in Mexico, or religious calendar-driven events such as Mardi Gras in New Orleans, Louisiana, can turn unexpected days or weeks into peak seasons. Recently, the proliferation and popularity of Christmas Markets in European cities has created peak seasons over the winter holidays. But still, summer is often the main peak season, winter the low season, and spring and fall the shoulder seasons. This can flip though in places like Death Valley where heat is a deterrent to travel in the summertime – so when in doubt, check climate and holiday information. It is also helpful to consider how much daylight is available for different dates (see sunrise-sunset).
Although we prefer shoulder seasons, we still sometimes travel in peak season. If the opportunity arises, we will grab it and figure out our budget and how to work around crowds. But our general aim is to travel in the shoulder seasons.