The sun was beating down on the Greek island of Crete last month, and the tourists were out in full force: dining on gyros along the harbor, buying trinkets in souvenir shops, zipping around the coastline on boats.
“We are hooked on traveling now,” said Lisa Mallo, 54, as she waited with her husband, Wesley, for a midday boat tour departing from the 14th-century harbor in the city of Chania. The couple from Florida was nearing the end of a 10-day island-hop around Greece, one of their first without kids—and they had plenty of company from their countrymen.
Americans are still flocking to Europe in droves this summer, despite record-breaking heat, higher airfare prices and long immigration lines due to the chaotic rollout of a new screening system in some European countries. The dollar has also weakened over the past year and a half, down nearly 10% against the euro since the start of 2025, sapping the purchasing power of travelers.
Nearly 11 million U.S. citizens have flown to Europe between January and June, up 2.2% compared to the same period last year, according to International Trade Administration data.
Find yourself in Europe among the crowd? Read on for tips from frequent travelers and travel advisers on how to enjoy its destinations without facing endless lines or scary prices.
There are parts of Europe with lighter crowds
The best way to avoid crowds has always been to go where they’re not. Cecile Blot, owner of travel agency Boundless Travels, is pushing clients to consider places like Slovenia, for its mountain views and medieval towns, and northern Croatia.
“Everybody goes to the south—Dubrovnik, Split, Hvar,” she said. “But northern Croatia is really beautiful. It’s all coastline and definitely not as many tourists.”
Jay Ternavan, founder of JayWay Travel, said more Americans are interested in summer vacations to Scandinavia, where temperatures are cooler. He is in Norway this month scoping out locations to add to his company’s itineraries.
But his top under-the-radar destination? The Baltic trio of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. He recommends visitors hike the Curonian Spit—a thin 61-mile stretch of sand dunes along the Baltic Sea—and cross the wooden boardwalks that span Estonia’s wetlands.
“There’s a ton of untouched nature, it’s a little bit unknown, and more reasonable price-wise,” he said. “It’s really one of my favorite itineraries.”
Even in popular destinations, it’s possible to seek out quieter corners. “I’m so allergic to crowds that I will do what it takes to avoid them,” said Rachel Ratliff, a 57-year-old retired lawyer from San Francisco who recently spent three weeks traveling in Crete.
Ratliff focused her trip on the archaeological sites that draw fewer tourists and she booked accommodation away from popular beach spots. She loved Thalori, a compound of traditional guesthouses set in a village in the Cretan mountains.
Splurge wisely
Alberto Buzzanca, founder of travel planner Authenticus Italy, likes sending clients to up-and-coming regions like Puglia and Sardinia. But for many, places like Rome can be nonnegotiable.
“Whatever is open to the public, you go there, you will queue,” said Buzzanca. “It’s probably going to be more of a nightmare than a dream.” To navigate the crowds, Buzzanca arranges early morning or late afternoon tours of the Vatican or Colosseum.
An early-morning tour of the Colosseum or a private winery visit can be expensive, but Buzzanca says a lot of his clients are willing to pay the extra costs. “We live in a world where it’s all about the experiences,” he said. “People nowadays, especially with the significant increase in price, want something that is unique for them.”
For local business owners dependent on tourism, Americans are particularly coveted as guests because, even with a weaker dollar, they tend to spend more, said Manolis Kamilakis, who manages a restaurant on Crete.
“They have starters, they have beers, they have cocktails,” he said. “Europeans are cheaper.”
Shoulder season is still a cheat code
Blot has blunt advice for Americans who want to visit Europe’s top locations in the height of summer: Don’t.
“I have clients that want to go to Italy and they don’t want it to be busy, and I’m like, ‘You’ve got to go in February,’ ” Blot said.
She recommends aiming for late spring, early fall, or even winter outside of the Christmas rush. She said her most financially savvy clients have also been opting for shorter trips with smaller budgets this year.
Charles Franklin and Janette Edwards, retirees from California, swore off Greece in the height of summer after a particularly sweltering, crowded trip to Athens a few years ago. “I felt it was dangerous with the heat,” Edwards said.
For Franklin’s 80th birthday, the couple planned a trip to Crete in May and early June instead. Franklin invited his children and grandchildren to join them and rented a 10-bedroom Airbnb to house them all. They made tie-dye orange shirts for the occasion.
