August bank holiday weekend is the final hurrah before the new school term starts and the last bank holiday before Christmas in England and Wales (or St Andrew’s Day – on 30 November – in Scotland).
This year, data from aviation analytics company Cirium suggests that the Friday (28 August) will be the busiest day for departures from UK airports of the summer, with 3,321 flights scheduled.
With research from Advantage Travel Partnership suggesting that more people are also booking last-minute trips than ever before – perhaps due to uncertainty about flights and heat across Europe – the last weekend of summer is shaping up to be a busy time to travel.
The good news is that it’s still possible to find a quiet spot on the continent at the end of August, especially if you swerve the most popular summer flight destinations – identified by Cirium and Advantage as Dublin, Amsterdam, Palma, Alicante, Malaga, the Canaries, and Greece.
Make tracks to places where schools have already begun the new term or to less-populated regions, and you can enjoy the swan song of summer in peace.
