The rules of cool (climate)

Planning an off-season cold-weather break? Dedicated peak-season-dodger ANNA HART shares the tricks of the trade for a successful stay.

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A HIGH-SEASON HOLIDAY COMES WITH corresponding high prices, high tourist numbers and – most challenging of all – high expectations. Travelling in low season, by contrast, is all about embracing the lows. Gleaned from decades of experience as a penny-pinching and crowd-phobic traveller, here is a list of golden rules for a fabulous low-season getaway.

SLACK OFF

The best thing about a low-season holiday is permission to lower expectations of yourself. Consider this a well-earned break from how you normally travel, when you’re sun-shamed into being outside every waking moment of the day, forced onto the beach or into fields, urged to eat every meal alfresco and pushed into queues of fellow travellers to see some “must-visit” attraction. Instead, look forward to lazy mornings reading in bed, ordering room service or Uber Eats, and early nights watching a movie in your pyjamas. A holiday from regular high-achiever holidays, if you will.

PLAN AHEAD

As with all intrepid expeditions, less-than-optimum weather conditions demand a bit more prep, a bit more responsibility, a bit more self-sufficiency. In inclement weather, and in destinations where businesses shutter in low season, you cannot simply rely on “taking a wander,” “seeing what happens” or “just walking into the restaurant that looks busy”. This wishy-washy attitude does not work for Santorini in November. Check the off-season opening hours for museums, restaurants and boutiques, and prepare a skeleton itinerary for your first few days, assuming the weather is at its worst.

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