Unexpected Travel Deals - look against the season

(Italian Riviera)

To unravel the mystery of this title, just think - where is travel busiest in the summer for Canadians?  Europe.  How about the winter?  South!  Seems logical living in Canada that we want to escape to a warm climate when our cars won't start or when the kids have a break during the school year, but when summer is on, time to do some longer travel over to Europe.  Well, makes sense that when you are looking for a vacation on a budget to do the opposite, unfortunately the weather is not that ideal.  But to make a compromise, try the shoulder seasons.  Europe is beautiful in the Fall.  The weather is warm and mild, everyone is back at school (Europeans are known to travel in August!) the streets are not as crowded with tourists and you can get a great deal!  Italy and Spain not to mention Greece and other countries in the Mediterranean can be downright hot - what a great idea to prolong the feeling of summer!

(Coastal Town of Liguria, Italy)

Deals are to be had almost everywhere during the early fall for Europe.  Residing in Edmonton is slightly problematic to achieve a massive discount or variety of options, but take a look at package deals out of Toronto and it will shock you!  How about a week on the coat of Italy, airfare, accommodations and either all or some of your meals included for about $1100!  With that price, you can find your way to Toronto either by points or a cheap fall sale!  Compare that with packages from Edmonton to Rome, Italy - no other Italian destination offered - currently runs with no meals at a whopping $1800+.

Check out your favorite destination using some of these discount website  My favorite:

http://www.escapes.ca/

Or

http://www.selloffvacations.com/

If your dates are flexible

http://www.flightcentre.ca/

Also, sign up on this website for your local area as well as Toronto, and get the best deals sent to you on a weekly basis

http://www.travelalerts.ca/

As for heading South, of course the best deals happen in the rainy season or hurricane season (or both!).  You also want to consider how hot is too hot for your liking! We have always found that November is a great month to travel.  It is the end of the hurricane season, making it highly unlikely to interrupt your vacation and the temperature is very pleasant!  In fact, you can get extremely good prices travelling south for the entire month of November, and up until the 15th of December!  If you really prefer to travel after the Christmas season, January is the best budget-wise month with minimum crowds.  Otherwise, February, March and the first half of April coincide with Midterm, Easter and Spring breaks for Colleges, Universities and School Boards across North America.

(Puerto Vallarta Coastline)

If you enjoy a winter wonderland in Canada and prefer not to miss out on the ski season, May is also a fantastic time to travel, either to Europe or the South!  For Mexico and exotic destinations, it is a shoulder season between the winter/spring breaks and summer vacations and for Europe, it is the quiet time before children are out for the summer. 

One tip you might not have considered: summer is not necessarily a budget or quiet time to head to southern destinations!  Trends have shown that while the "cold" States in the US and Provinces in Canada prefer their southern vacations in the winter, "warm" or Southern States prefer to travel in the summer, to experience a hot summer climate!  Go figure!  You will find a high percentage of Americans travelling with their families to Exotic destinations in the summer months, guaranteed high humidity and temperature with a not-so-great deal on a package vacations!

(Total Relaxation!)

So, if you have some flexibility, May-June and September-October are my picks for European travel.  Keep in mind, I enjoy feeling the warmth of the sun on my face when I go abroad!  And to head South, my picks are late October to late January and late April to the end of May.

K