No longer the secret of savvy travellers, autumn is becoming the season of choice for people looking to escape summer heat and overtourism

INQUETERRE, ITALY, in thermal layers. Ireland in ceaseless rain. For decades, I restricted most of my European travels to fall because, whatever the weather, I enjoyed the feeling of having the hotel, trail, restaurant or cathedral—well, maybe not the Duomo in Florence—to myself.

- ELAINE GLUSAC

But I won’t be alone this year. From resort towns in Europe to popular summer destinations in the United States, places once emptied by October are now brimming with guests. Booking.com reported notable growth in searches for traditional beach trips such as the Hamptons—up 78% year-over-year in September and 45% in October—and Cape Cod. Searches for rooms in Dublin are up 35% in the fall over summer, according to Expedia, and Virtuoso, a consortium of high-end travel agencies, says that fall bookings have climbed 30% this year. At Fairmont hotels in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean, occupancy in the shoulder seasons, fall and spring, has nearly doubled since 2019. Omer Acar, the chief executive of Raffles and Fairmont hotels and resorts, credited remote work, the boom in music and event travel, and "guests seekin