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Off-peak vacations: 7 top tips for traveling off-season The off-season might just be the best time to visit popular travel destinations, offering the chance to experience a slower, more authentic pace. Here are 7 tips to help you plan your next holiday getaway / By Adi Shalom

fantastic options that allow for a completely different experience than what a particular destination has to offer during peak season. 05 The opportunity for a “digital detox”. When everything around you is slower and you’re not running from attraction to attraction, there’s less of an urge to frenetically record every moment. Give yourself permission to disconnect, sit in a square in a quiet European town, read a book in a park, go for a long walk in nature: let yourself experience real freedom. 06 Local events and festivities. Check out for seasonal events such as harvest festivals, little art gallery events, or traditional seasonal markets that are geared towards locals and less for tourists. Integrating these events to your travel plan gives you the chance to experience your destination much more authentically. 07 Don’t forget to have a backup plan. The weather during off-season tends to be trickier - one day it’s lovely and sunny, the next it’s pouring down with rain. The secret is to always have a “plan B” on the ready in case the weather deteriorates. Don’t be afraid of a last minute’s change of plans and stay open to spontaneous recommendations from locals.

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01 Embrace the “shoulder season”. The weeks that immediately precede or follow peak season (May-June in Europe or spring and fall in the Far East) are great for traveling. The weather is usually still pleasant, the prices are lower, the locals are less on edge from the crowds of tourists, and the overall experience is much more pleasant and relaxed 02 Check for national holidays. When you travel off-season, one of the risks is arriving somewhere when “everything is closed” because of a national holiday. But one of the huge pros of traveling off-season is that restaurants have more locals among their diners, which

guarantees a much more authentic culinary and cultural experience. 03 Be flexible with your schedule. The charm of off-season travel is having the freedom to not be tied down to a rigid schedule. Instead of booking tickets to sites and attractions months in advance, you can plan your day to suit your mood or even the weather of that given morning. If it suddenly starts to rain in London or Paris, you can make a spontaneous change of plans. 04 Look into “reverse seasons” . A winter trip to the desert (when Israel is cold and rainy, but the desert region is pleasant and sunny), or an autumn vacation in Northern Europe can be

12 ATMOSPHERE SEPTEMBER 2026