When to go

By destination

Seasons across our destinations

Each destination has its own good months, and summer is a fine season in many of them: long days, lakes and mountains, and our hosted Das Balance Edition on Lake Wörthersee in July 2027. This page gathers the seasons in one place. Follow a destination name for the full page, and see how we work for how a journey is planned around the season you choose.

The Mediterranean

• June: Warm water and long light. Our preferred month for a first Mediterranean charter.
• July & August: High summer on the water, with long days and warm seas. Book nine to twelve months out; Greece and the Adriatic are often a quieter choice than the Italian coast.
• September: Arguably the best month of the year, warm sea, thinning crowds, harvest on land. Strong for celebrations.
• Sukkot & shoulder: October is excellent in Sicily, the Balearics and southern Italy, and it is when private holiday programs work best here.

Italy

• May & June: Green, warm, uncrowded. The best months in Tuscany and Umbria, with long, mild days.
• July & August: Long days and warm evenings, with the coast and the lakes ideal for time on the water. Inland, we plan the days around quieter mornings. Estates for August are typically arranged twelve months ahead, so it helps to plan early.
• September & October: Harvest, the best light of the year, and the best month for Sukkot in the countryside.
• Winter: Venice, Rome and Florence privately, with far fewer people. A different and very good trip.

The Alps

• Winter (Dec-Mar): Peak weeks are planned twelve to eighteen months ahead, with Chanukah and February half-term the busiest.
• Summer (Jun-Sep): Cool, green and quiet. Walking, biking, lakes, via ferrata. Roughly half the winter rate for the same house.
• Sukkot: Early October is beautiful in the Alps, and a chalet terrace makes a straightforward and very memorable sukkah.
• Shoulder: Late April and May: many resorts close. We steer families elsewhere rather than pretend otherwise.

Jewish Europe

• May & June: The best months: long days, mild weather, and the countryside at its most legible.
• September & October: Excellent, with fewer visitors at the major sites. Cooler by late October.
• Summer: Long days for heritage travel. We plan visits to the major sites for quieter mornings and keep the warmest hours for rest.
• Winter: We generally advise against it, except for a specific yahrzeit or a short Prague-and-Kraków journey.

Morocco

• March-May: The best window. Warm days, cool nights, the Atlas still with snow on it.
• October-November: Equally good, with the desert at its most comfortable.
• Winter: Marrakech is mild and excellent; the Atlas is cold and the desert nights are genuinely so.
• Summer: The Atlantic coast is cooler and easy to enjoy; inland, we plan around the heat with early mornings and long evenings.

The Caribbean

• December-April: The season. Chanukah, the winter school breaks and Pesach are the tightest weeks; book nine to twelve months out.
• May & June: Excellent value, still reliably good weather, and far quieter.
• July & August: Warm and humid, with long beach days, and much less expensive.
• September & October: Hurricane season. We do not recommend it and will say so plainly.