Don't travel in the summer

Summer is vacation time, right?

Wrong.

Summer is the most expensive time to travel. You'll pay double for your accommodations and double or triple (or quadruple) for your airfare.

Besides wasting buckets of money, you'll waste a bunch of your time, because summer is when lines are the longest at most attractions.

It is far more efficient and affordable to travel in the shoulder seasons or off seasons. Think April, May, September, October and early November. You'll avoid hot weather, long lines, expensive airfare and pricey accommodations.

By traveling during a non-peak time, you'll see more and spend less time doing it. This means you'll have more time for other sights (or have more time to spend at the sites already on your list, without feeling like you need to hurry because other people want to see it, too).

There are some downsides to off-season travel. You'll have less daylight. Some attractions might be closed. If you have children in school, you'll have challenges taking them out of school - although I never let that stop us.

The benefits of low-season travel overshadow all these downsides.

PS - you can get gelato year-round in most large cities, and it tastes just as good amid holiday lights as it does in the summer sun.

To see the additional tip of ordering tickets ahead of time, check out our video below. Despite rain and an off-season day, Michelangelo's David draws huge crowds year-round -- as do many other popular attractions. You want to spend your time doing things, not waiting in line to do them.