{"id":9683,"date":"2025-06-08T16:58:05","date_gmt":"2025-06-08T20:58:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mediarevive.com\/why-weve-gotten-european-summer-all-wrong\/"},"modified":"2025-06-08T16:58:05","modified_gmt":"2025-06-08T20:58:05","slug":"why-weve-gotten-european-summer-all-wrong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mediarevive.com\/francais\/why-weve-gotten-european-summer-all-wrong\/","title":{"rendered":"Why We\u2019ve Gotten European Summer All Wrong"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"european<\/p>\n

European summer\u2014complete with no AC, an easy 10k daily steps, and a steady diet of peaches and ros\u00e9\u2014is the dreamy vacation we all crave. But what do Europeans actually do in the summer? Spoiler alert: It\u2019s not \u20ac1,000-a-night hotels, Pucci printed sets, truffle pasta, Aperol spritzes, back-to-back sightseeing, beach clubs, and parties. As someone who has spent every summer back in Europe, I was recently sitting around a table with loved ones in a garden in Biarritz, France (having done little more than exactly that for over a week), and the conversation turned to this overly aestheticized version of Euro summer, which got me thinking about how European summer is highly misunderstood and misrepresented. The reality? The real thing is slower, quieter, and deeply local. <\/strong>And maybe this obsession with the hyper-curated, influencer-fed version of summer isn\u2019t just missing the point but eroding the ethos behind it entirely.<\/p>\n

What is a European summer, really<\/em>?<\/h2>\n

Growing up, European summer (much like elsewhere) meant school was out and life moved outdoors: lake swims, mountain hikes, long lunches in the garden, and no alarm clocks. It was a time to forget what day it was. So, when did summer become a marathon of strict itineraries and overbooked plans? I asked myself that recently\u2014because I\u2019ve become a victim of it, too. In much of Europe, though, summer still carries a deeper meaning. Entire offices shut down in August across many countries. In France and Italy, it\u2019s estimated that around 50 percent of people take their annual leave during this time, with some businesses closing entirely.<\/strong> In France, there are even specific terms for vacationers\u2014juilletistes<\/em> and ao\u00fbtiens<\/em>\u2014depending on whether they holiday in July or August.<\/p>\n

This cultural pause, though shifting with time, is still honored as a chance to reset: to escape the city heat, spend time with loved ones, and ease into a slower rhythm before fall. That\u2019s the real Euro summer: not the commercialized White Lotus <\/em>version packed with designer kaftans and yacht itineraries, but the unhurried joy of doing less and feeling more.<\/p>\n

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\u201c\u2026 Not the commercialized White Lotus <\/em>version packed with designer kaftans and yacht itineraries, but the unhurried joy of doing less and feeling more.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

What you don\u2019t see as a tourist <\/h2>\n

There\u2019s a predictable list of destinations that get slammed in peak season: the Amalfi Coast, Capri, Ibiza, Mallorca, Croatia, and Mykonos. Who can blame anyone for wanting a European escape? But here\u2019s the reality: the heat is real, and AC is often minimal (according to Eurostat, fewer than 10 percent of homes in France and fewer than 5 percent in Germany are air-conditioned). While locals embrace the heat with long lunches, late dinners, and afternoon siestas, it\u2019s not just the air-conditioned hotels or yachts where tourists differ.<\/p>\n

A friend of mine, hotelier Clara Cortes, opened boutique hotel \u00cdbara Ibiza last year. In just one season, she\u2019s seen the full range of tourist behavior. On her days off, she\u2019s not at a day club\u2014you\u2019ll find her diving into sea caves or enjoying long dinners with friends. \u201cI accidentally went to one party last year,\u201d she laughs. For her, Euro summer isn\u2019t about going hard; it\u2019s about choosing your moments. \u201cI have plenty of guests I never even see,\u201d she says. \u201cThey come back to their room at 6 a.m., miss breakfast, and are off to a beach club by noon. And I just think\u2026 how exhausting.\u201d Her own family keeps it simple: quiet time on the outskirts of Madrid or in Marbella, one of Spain\u2019s more low-key vacation spots.<\/p>\n

When I asked Patrick, a friend in Mallorca, for a list of recs, he gave me two: the cala<\/em> (a tiny cove) in front of his house and a restaurant he went to with family that weekend. \u201cPeople come here and binge-drink,\u201d he shrugged. \u201cI might have two drinks a week, max.\u201d Back in Biarritz, our days revolve around three-ingredient lunches\u2014garden tomatoes, burrata, and basil, drizzled with olive oil and fresh black pepper. I know San Sebasti\u00e1n is a short drive away, and Bordeaux is just beyond that. But somehow, doing nothing in the garden feels like everything.<\/p>\n

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\u201cSummer here isn\u2019t about doing more. It\u2019s about doing less on purpose.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

How to have a real European summer<\/h2>\n

If you\u2019re going to Europe this summer\u2026<\/h3>\n

If you are lucky enough to find yourself on a trip to Europe this summer, there\u2019s so much more to enjoy than what you\u2019ve seen on Instagram. In other words, don\u2019t be a tourist, unless you absolutely have to. Here are my tips for travelers:<\/strong><\/p>\n

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  • Read Don\u2019t Be a Tourist in Paris<\/em> by Vanessa Grall (she spends part of every summer outside the city with her family, and her point of view is refreshingly off-grid).<\/li>\n
  • Skip the big hotels and look for more boutique or local stays. You\u2019ll spend less, sleep more, and have better conversations.<\/li>\n
  • Don\u2019t always make reservations for your dinner\u2014just walk around.<\/strong> A stranger at a boutique might point you to a tucked-away vermouth bar that becomes the highlight of your trip.<\/li>\n
  • Talk to people (this is the one travel tip that always works). You might meet a gallery keeper from Berlin who urges you into a dimly lit perfume shop, and next thing you know, you\u2019re deep inside the velvet-lined maze of Arquinesia, a fragrance house you\u2019ll never find in a guidebook (\u201cWhy do you need that guide anyway?\u201d he asked me). Or maybe you\u2019re pointed toward a vintage heaven inside L\u2019Arca in Barcelona instead of the crowded shops. The locals know the best spots. Always.<\/li>\n
  • Go to the market. Pick up p\u00e2t\u00e9 and cherries. Bring a bottle of wine to the beach. Buy the colorful inflatable donut.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    If you\u2019re having a European summer at home\u2026<\/h3>\n

    After multiple conversations with friends across the continent, one theme kept emerging: Summer here isn\u2019t about doing more. It\u2019s about doing less on purpose. It\u2019s spending as much time outside as possible, whether in a garden or on a terrace caf\u00e9. It\u2019s long conversations, simple meals, zero alarms, and logging off completely. Books (the physical kind) are a big hit, too. It\u2019s the unglamorous, deeply human version of summer we\u2019ve somehow forgotten, and the kind we probably need most.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    European summer is more than an aesthetic (if it were, it would be completely uncurated); it\u2019s really about spontaneity, slowing down, and presence over perfection. As the French say: sans se prendre la t\u00eate<\/em>\u2014don\u2019t overthink it.<\/p>\n

    \n
    \n \"Angelika\n <\/div>\n
    \n
    ABOUT THE AUTHOR<\/div>\n
    \n

    Angelika Pokovba, Contributing Writer<\/h3>\n

    Angelika is an avid traveler and wellness enthusiast who currently lives in Tulum, Mexico, and speaks six languages. Her deep connection to nature influences all her decisions, driving her to explore unique destinations and discover hidden gems. From curating curiosities to delving into cosmologies, she finds inspiration in the world\u2019s little-known wonders.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    READ ANGELIKA\u2019S FULL BIO<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

    Feature graphic images credited to: Filipa Matos | Dupe, Elisa Morey | Dupe, Tatiana Castro | Dupe, Amy Heaton | Dupe<\/em><\/p>\n

    The post Why We\u2019ve Gotten European Summer All Wrong appeared first on The Everygirl.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

    <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    European summer\u2014complete with no AC, an easy 10k daily steps, and a steady diet of peaches and ros\u00e9\u2014is the dreamy vacation we all crave. But what do Europeans actually do in the summer? Spoiler alert: It\u2019s not \u20ac1,000-a-night hotels, Pucci printed sets, truffle pasta, Aperol spritzes, back-to-back sightseeing, beach clubs, and parties. As someone who<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9684,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7911,7827,7908,7909,7894,7907,7910],"tags":[631,1345,1369,1283],"class_list":{"0":"post-9683","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-garden","8":"category-homedecor","9":"category-indoor","10":"category-kitchen","11":"category-mens-clothing","12":"category-office-supplies","13":"category-outdoor","14":"tag-european","15":"tag-summer","16":"tag-weve","17":"tag-wrong"},"brizy_media":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mediarevive.com\/francais\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9683","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mediarevive.com\/francais\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mediarevive.com\/francais\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediarevive.com\/francais\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediarevive.com\/francais\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9683"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mediarevive.com\/francais\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9683\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediarevive.com\/francais\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9684"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mediarevive.com\/francais\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9683"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediarevive.com\/francais\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9683"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mediarevive.com\/francais\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9683"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}