One of Australia’s top travel companies has canceled some European tours during July and August 2025, warning that rising temperatures, wildfires, and extreme weather are now making popular destinations unsafe for tourists.

Intrepid Travel has scrapped peak-season trips to the Iberian Peninsula—including Spain and Portugal—citing growing safety concerns, frequent heat advisories, and the closure of major tourist sites during extreme heat.

The cancellations affect tours involving physical activity, such as hiking and cycling. 

Intrepid’s Australia and New Zealand managing director, Brett Mitchell, said the company is now redesigning its European itineraries to be more climate-resilient.

‘For the first time, more than half of Intrepid’s Europe-bound travellers are booking outside of the traditional June to August window,’ he said.

‘I thought we had five to ten years before this trend hit the mainstream, but climate change has accelerated everything.’

The company has already faced 34 climate-related disruptions to its trips in 2024 alone. 

In Greece, last year saw the country’s longest heatwave on record, prompting Athens to appoint a Chief Heat Officer to manage summer health risks. 

‘Heatwaves, wildfires, and overtourism aren’t isolated incidents anymore – they’re central to the travel experience of a European summer,’ Mr Mitchell said.

As many as 2,300 people died of heat-related causes across 12 European cities during the recent two-week heatwave, bleak new research found.

British scientists studying the 10 days to July 2, 2025 and looking at cities including London, Madrid, Barcelona and Milan, found climate change had increased temperatures by as much as 4C.

Portugal alone recorded 284 deaths during the heatwave.

Last month was the planet’s third-hottest June on record – behind 2024 and 2023 – while Western Europe saw its warmest June since records began, according to the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.

Britain has also sweltered in near-record-breaking temperatures, with sunseekers across the country heading to coastal areas to cool down as it basked in its third heatwave of the year.

New booking data shows that more than half of travellers are now choosing the cooler shoulder season of April, May, and September to explore Europe.

September has even overtaken July as the most popular time to visit hotspots like Italy, Croatia, and Portugal, with off-season demand for Italy up a staggering 166 per cent, while peak-season bookings have plummeted 72 per cent year-on-year.

Mr Mitchell added that the company is shifting away from oversaturated hotspots to quieter, lesser-known places – from Minori on the Amalfi Coast instead of Positano, to Mljet Island in Croatia instead of Hvar.

The effects of rising temperatures and throngs of tourists are beginning to reshape the patterns of European travel, particularly for people from Australia, where long flights and expensive trips require thoughtful planning.