The Joys and Sweats of Summer Clothes-Free Travel

Who doesn’t love the summer? The days are long, the sun is high, and naturist resorts are packed with friendly naked people.

But “packed” also means queuing for bread in the morning, praying for an empty lounger next to the pool, and traffic jams. Lots and lots of traffic jams.

During our travels, we have met lots of people who love summer clothes-free travelling and many others who prefer the shoulder seasons instead. Each has their own reasons. If you haven’t figured out yet which season is better for you, this blog post will definitely be a help!

Although much of what we talk about will apply to clothes-free places around the world, it is specifically written based on our many years of experience with summer clothes-free travel in Europe.

Our Australian friend is planning a vacation to Europe because he wants his family to see what European naturism is really like, and he asked for our help. Coming from down under, flights are a high cost, and they are much cheaper in early spring or late autumn than in summer. So he wondered about his options. We advised him to cough up the extra Australian dollars and travel in summer anyway.

If you really want a taste of true European family naturism, July and August are the only sweet spots, because that’s when most kids have school holidays. Not only does this make it easier for children to make friends and have a good time, but summer is also when all the entertainment is running, and many resorts have children’s programs.

Interestingly, a few days later, we received an email from a couple who were planning a trip to France in July, and since they are travelling without kids, they didn’t really want to be surrounded by other people’s offspring either. We gave them quite a few tips, but probably the most important one was to try to change the vacation to either June or September.

For many, one of the great things about naturism is that it’s so easy to meet like-minded people. If the social element in social nudity is important to you, it seems like easy math that the more people, the more opportunity to meet someone interesting.

This can be true, but only in certain cases. At small campsites and resorts, summer is really the social time and often the owners put a lot of effort into bringing people together for activities or communal dinners. Last spring, we were at a small naturist campsite in a forest next to a lake and very much enjoyed the natural solitude. But when we saw the summer program, we were sure that this whole vibe would change in just a few weeks.

At large resorts, however, it can be the complete opposite. More people create a certain anonymity, which makes it harder to get into a conversation with strangers. It’s like comparing a village to a city. Walk into a bar in a small town, and it will be more likely to strike up a conversation with the locals than if you’d visit a bar in some big city. When you’re planning a visit to a large resort and do want a bit of the social element, it’s often better to aim for the shoulder seasons.

We don’t like visiting nude beaches during the summer, but that’s largely for practical reasons. A big one that probably doesn’t bother you much is that we try to make videos, and in summer, that’s often impossible at any reasonable hour. Another reason is that we like to pack light, and since many nude beaches don’t have natural shade, in the shoulder seasons we aren’t forced to drag an umbrella for the sun along.

A big problem with nude beaches is that the nude vs clothed ratio easily changes from day to day. A bit ago, we received a complaint from someone who went to Fuerteventura based on our video. Instead of the endless clothing-optional stretches we had been talking about, all he found was bathing suits. He had travelled in August.

Fuerteventura is one of our favourite clothes-free destinations, but we would never think of going there in summer. That’s the season for the masses. The same for any other Canary Island, or any other island in Spain. In fact, it’s the same for most islands in Europe. Go to the Greek islands or the Italian ones in summer, and you may not find a single spot to sunbathe naked.

At some official nude beaches, on the other hand, summer is when you’ll get the best vibe. Hundreds of people come to that specific beach to get naked, and not a single piece of fabric in sight. The difficulty is that you really need to know which nude beaches work well in summer and which largely disappear.

One of the things we personally enjoy a lot about summer clothes-free travelling is that the resorts are at full speed. Everything is open, and everything is happening all at once. In early June, we were at naturist campsite Arnaoutchot in France. The weather was excellent, and there was a pretty relaxed vibe. But somehow it felt like we were missing out on something. Only one of the three restaurants was already open, there were no bands playing in the evening, and no organised activities.

Sometimes we enjoy the quiet feel of being naked in nature, but other times we want the vibrant atmosphere of a naturist resort at full speed, even though that often means eating sandwiches from the shop because we once again forgot to make a reservation at one of the restaurants.

Travelling in summer means giving up on flexibility. At many naturist resorts, you can’t just show up and ask for a place to stay. You have to make reservations upfront, often months in advance if you want to stay in rental accommodation.

It’s also impossible to avoid the crowds. Summer is when most people go on vacation, and they will be there at every market you visit, at every sight you want to see, at every parking lot, and on every highway.

But in return, you get vibrant places, long days, and weather you can more or less count on (although with last summer’s heat waves, this too isn’t always a joy). It all depends on what you’re looking for. When we are travelling in spring, we can sometimes look forward to a busy summer. But during the summer, we often can’t wait for the peace and quiet of September to come along.

Tell us in the comments what your favourite season is!