Perhaps my number one tip is to travel to a place in its off season! When your child has sensory issues crowds and chaos can be a deal breaker. Our T especially cannot handle lots of people coming and going without any order. By traveling to places in their off season, not only do you get better deals, prices, and access, you eliminate one of the hardest parts of travel for many autistics.

One of the places we love to travel is Istria in Croatia, we have been so many times that we can talk about having favorite restaurants, groceries stores and activities. However, we have never been in prime season (we always go in October) and often comment to each other how this or that would be less enjoyable with 10 times the number of people. For example, there is a Dinosaur Park near where we stay and it is wonderful (see post in recommendations). F is particularly interested in Dinosaurs (and E has adopted his interest) and has been able to identify all the variety of dinosaurs by their scientific names since he was 3 (maybe some of you can relate). This place has a nature walk with animated replicas throughout along with lots of dinosaur facts and figures. However, it also has many rides, playgrounds, and amusement park activities that T loves (particularly the trampoline zone). For E, there is a decent sized petting zoo and free donkey rides. From a parent’s perspective the food is tasty, geared towards children’s tastes and relatively inexpensive (you would spend as much at McDonalds). We have never waited to get on a ride unless one was already in process when we got there. Sounds ideal, right? But we go on a Monday in off season when we can easily get parked in the first isle of the main parking lot. It would be a completely different experience if we were there in July and had to parking in the last row of the annex lot. If we had experienced it that way the first time, we would never have gone back.

Perhaps, you have seen the Instagram video where the couple rented a room in Versailles for the night (if not, check it out, it is on my bucket list) and the leisurely way they get to stroll through the halls and see all the amazing details of the place. This stands in contrast to my memory of being there shuffling through rooms literally shoulder to shoulder with strangers. All I remember was pushing and shoving and having a miserable experience until I was finally released from the clutches of the building into the massive gardens. I never wanted to return! The contrast between the video and my lived experience highlights the difference between in season and off season travel.

I do realize that many of you will have to take vacations around school schedules and holidays (as we do), but it is always off season somewhere. For example, we go to Austria in the summer since the busy season there is the winter ski season. We usually go to Canada (middle or East) or the American East Coast in the winter when there are not as many tourists.

There are some exceptions to this, however. In another post I will talk about Center Parcs, but for now I will say that in our experience, these are even better in peak season because they have more options open and therefore the people are dispersed throughout the park activities rather than concentrated indoors, mostly in the Aqua Mundo (large indoor water complex). In January, I (Sven would bring the kids later) would line up before the AM opened with all our towels and food for the day in order to find an area with enough chairs/loungers (especially when we also needed a playpen/crib and change table) because within an hour or two of opening there would be nowhere to sit or nowhere large enough for all of us. At other times of year, we have only had this problem on a Saturday afternoon. In this case, it really is a cost benefit decision.

Overall, I strongly recommend off season travel. So when you have decided to go on vacation, first decide when and then ask yourself “where don’t people go at that time?”