Celia Fuller, a book designer based in Tuckahoe, New York, often lets her personal passions dictate her journey. For several years, she joined friends in Montreal to attend Formula 1 races.
“We would return to the same French restaurant every trip and see members of the F1 team eating there,” she said. “Or run into them in our hotel elevator. That was cool.”
But Fuller has also experienced the downside of traveling to events. Next summer, she plans to attend Solid Sound Festival in North Adams, Massachusetts, where fans often book their stays in advance. But, sometimes, when musical acts announce specific performance dates for a biennial event, Airbnb hosts will drop existing reservations to relist properties at a higher price.
And what could be worse? When your completely unrelated-to-the-event travel plans overlap with everyone else’s reason for being in town. You will miss out on the fun but still experience the crowds, booked-up restaurants and elevated hotel bills.
To crowd-proof your vacation in 2025, we’ve compiled a list of places hosting huge events next year that are everyone but a superfan — unless you’re into that sort of thing.
Winter 2025
Inauguration Day in Washington DC
When: January 20, 2025
The official inauguration of the president overlaps with Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 2025. Bloomberg reports That the hotels are already almost sold out, and the restaurant will be booked for the entire three-day weekend. Hopefully, that’s the worst that will happen.
Lunar New Year
When: January 29, 2025
The Year of the Snake begins worldwide on Wednesday, January 29, but you can expect crowds, traffic and street closures for parades in Asian cities and in popular Chinatowns in places like San Francisco, Vancouver, Los Angeles and New York City.
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Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans, Louisiana
When: February 9, 2025
Super Bowl LIX coincides with Mardi Gras parade season in New Orleans next February, creating a perfect storm for unsuspecting tourists. Hotel rates will skyrocket to reflect the demand for rooms. Restaurant reservations will be nearly impossible to snag. Streets will be blocked. And if you choose to fly, expect prices to skyrocket. Right now, a Spirit Airlines round-trip flight from New York City for Super Bowl weekend costs $828. Flying the same trip a week ago? $173.
Spring 2025
Cherry blossom season in Washington, DC and Osaka, Japan
When: Variable, but average falls between the last week of March and the first week of April
While you can’t predict when the cherry trees will bloom, you can do Accurately predict crowds when the flowers finally bloom. Hotels along DC’s Tidal Basin will be packed and priced accordingly. In Osaka, hotel rates rise to a 30-year high in March 2024Thanks to record numbers of tourists drawn by the weak yen and the popularity of cherry blossom season. In short, consider planning a trip during Japan’s shoulder season unless you’re in it for the particularly beautiful colors. (And don’t come to Japan during Golden Week, April 29 to May 5, when four back-to-back holidays are bundled into a full week off from school and work. Surely everyone goes on vacation, so hotel and flight availability is scarce. And prices skyrocket if you don’t plan ahead.)
Related: How to Avoid Crowds When Traveling in Japan
Easter in Rome
When: April 20, 2025
The annual crowd of Easter celebrants in Vatican City will swell next year due to an overlapping jubilee year in 2025. (Jubilee years come every 25 years, so warn yourself for 2050 as well.) The Catholic Church expects more than seven. The city receives millions of pilgrims throughout the year, many of them on Easter, the holiest holiday in the Christian calendar. During Easter 2023, the price of a hotel room in Rome was More than 30% year on year. Now factor in the 2025 pilgrim surge: Do you think prices will be higher? In other words, is the Pope Catholic?
Met Costume Institute Gala in New York City
When: May 5, 2025
Don’t come to Manhattan’s Upper East Side on the first Monday in May without expecting traffic and delays near the Metropolitan Museum of Art. (Or the wildly high rates at The Mark, where most celebrities stay because of the hotel’s proximity to the museum.) But the payoff may include a glimpse of the stars in extravagantly embellished outfits based on the 2025 Met Gala theme, “Superfine: Black style tailoring“
Summer 2025
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band in Milan
When: June 30 and July 3, 2025
The boss (Il Capo?) and his legions of fans will march into Milan for two nights of his late concerts next summer. 2024-2025 World Tour. GQ Italia Back then, “Born in the USA” sold more than a million copies in Italy, and everyone knows that devoted American Springsteen fans love to travel to his legendary performances. They’ll likely linger, too: The Fourth of July week is a popular vacation time, so Milan is sure to be thronged with American tourists for sightseeing and risotto—they’ll be easy to spot in their Stone Ponies. shirt
Comic Con in San Diego
When: July 24-27, 2025
If you happen to stumble upon Comic Con while visiting San Diego in the height of summer, prepare yourself for more than an eye roll. While it’s a lot of fun to see Star Wars stormtroopers, anime school girls and caped superheroes walking down the sidewalk in colorful packs, it’s a lot less fun to be stuck in traffic near a convention center. The crowd is young (the average age range of the 135,000 attendees is between 17 and 34), so the high-end hotel rooms might not sell out, but the outlandish costumes and subsequent rubberneckers will slow the city down to a (definitely not Teenage Mutant Ninja) turtle pace.
Oasis in Dublin
When: August 16 and 17, 2025
Coming off their 15-year hiatus, the riotous brothers Gallagher are touring Ireland, the UK, North America and Australia to mark the 30th anniversary of their debut album, “Definitely Maybe”. The band’s Irish shows will attract rabid fans, many of whom will be in town for both nights. Dublin’s limited hotel capacity can be an issue. When Taylor Swift played in June 2024, Irish News It has been reported that Dublin hotel prices near the Aviva Stadium have increased by 45%. That won’t stop ardent Oasis fans from coming but you can avoid staying in Dublin that night. For a complete list of tour dates, contact LiveNation.
Autumn 2025
UN General Assembly in New York City
When: September 9-23, 2025
There’s nothing like world leaders and their entourages riding in limousines through the streets of Manhattan. Even if you can sidestep Midtown during this two-week crush, you’ll feel the effects of increased security and extra traffic throughout the city and its airport.
Fashion Weeks
When: New York City (Sept. 11-15, 2025); London (Sept. 18-22, 2025); Milan (Sept. 23-29, 2025); Paris (Sept. 29-Oct. 7, 2025)
The annual migration of glamorous International Fashion Week attendees begins the month in New York and then slinks like a cat across Europe. (The “big four” cities—New York, London, Milan, and Paris—also hold spring shows in late winter, but the fall weeks somehow have more of an impact on the well-dressed citizen itinerary.) Where you’ll most likely feel the burn is fashion week luxury. is in the price of the hotel. The city’s best suites will be booked by fashion labels, celebrities and buyers’ heads, none of whom are afraid to pay fashion-week prices for a lavish room. It’s all about looks, Ma Cheri.
Formula 1 in Austin
When: Oct. 17-19, 2025
The Lone Star State capital adds a uniquely Austin touch to its annual F1 race weekend with concerts by big-name acts such as Taylor Swift (who played in 2016), Post Malone (2024), Eminem and Sting (who share the 2024 weekend lineup). . This performance increases race attendance among those who know little about the sport. At night, 440,000+ race fans make their way downtown to fill restaurants, Sixth Street bars, music venues, and all the hotels. In the days leading up to the 2024 race weekend, the average downtown hotel rate was $477 per night (not terrible), but occupancy was around 90%. (Las Vegas, which hosted its first F1 race in the modern era in 2023, has 105,000 more hotel rooms than Austin, so if you need to overlap with the race, choose Nevada.)
Note: Among the many unknown but inevitable music events of 2025 that could ruin your trip if you happen to coincide with them:
- The Jonas Brothers have announced a tour to celebrate their twentieth anniversary but have not confirmed a schedule.
- Harry Styles, Blackpink and Chappelle Ron all plan to tour but have yet to announce dates and cities.
- All seven members of K-pop sensation BTS will have completed their military service by June 2025, but who knows where the “Bulletproof Boy Scouts” and their army will land?