Back to school has something of a threshold about it. We put away the suitcases from summer — or not, for lack of having been able to fill them — and we're already looking at the next horizon. In September 2020, while the health crisis has disrupted travel habits, some destinations remain open and offer an opportunity for welcome change of scenery, in the soft light of Indian summer.
Contents
- Back to school: resuming the thread of travel
- Heading to Europe: Italy and Georgia
- Further afield to Africa: Tanzania, Benin, Morocco, Mauritania
- Travelling mindfully in autumn 2020
Back to school: resuming the thread of travel
Many of us couldn't leave this summer. The Covid-19 context has redrawn the maps, sometimes at the last minute. Back to school, then, becomes an ideal catch-up period: fewer crowds at sites, softer light, milder temperatures. September and October sketch out a season apart, where travel regains its slowness and its original value — that of discovery, without the summer frenzy.
Here are a few destinations still accessible, provided you prepare your departure well and check the entry conditions in force.
Heading to Europe: between romanticism and little-known lands
Italy, from Roman ruins to Mediterranean islands
Italy has never stopped attracting for what it is: an open-air museum where history surfaces at every step. On the cobblestones of Rome, in the Renaissance streets of Florence or among the perched villages of Tuscany, we trace the thread of the Roman Empire, the great masters and crossed eras. Back to school, the country changes face: the summer hordes disappear, the terraces breathe again.
And since the sun persists over the Mediterranean, why not extend the trip with your feet in the water? Sicily, Capri, the Isle of Elba or Sardinia still offer serene swimming in September, in translucent waters barely rippled by the end of season.
I'm heading to Italy or perhaps to Sardinia!
Georgia, the other Europe
At the edges of Europe, Georgia composes a singular geography. Like its Armenian neighbour, it's a still little-visited destination, where you travel off the beaten path without spending too much. Its religious heritage — monasteries clinging to mountainsides, troglodytic churches — tells centuries of a separate Christianity.
On the nature side, the palette is equally vast: snow-capped peaks of the Caucasus, discreet valleys, ancestral vineyards of Kakheti, high plateaus of Djavakheti, shores of the Black Sea. Ideal terrain for those wanting to follow, while strolling, the traces of the Silk Road.
I'm booking my trip to Georgia!
Further afield: the African call
Tanzania, the great eastern expanse
Few countries concentrate so many facets in a single itinerary. Tanzania offers one of the most complete safari grounds in East Africa, with the promise of observing the famous Big Five in its parks. Added to this are the beaches of Zanzibar for decompression, the ascent of Kilimanjaro for seasoned hikers, and encounters with ethnic groups living ancestral ways for travellers seeking meaning.
It's undoubtedly, at this season, one of the most complete ways to put travel back at the centre.
I'm opting for total change of scenery in Tanzania for back to school!
Benin, Africa of colours and rituals
More discreet on tourist maps, Benin reserves rare cultural intensity for those who venture there. A small West African country, it can be travelled by canoe along lakeside villages, on foot through the savanna to meet wild animals, or in sharing with the nomadic ethnic groups that populate the north. It's a trip where encounter always takes precedence over tourist performance.
I'm heading off to discover Benin!
Morocco, adventure within reach of a flight
Morocco, you think you know it, and then you return to discover all that you hadn't seen. Stepping off the classic circuits here means sleeping a night in the heart of the Sahara under a starry sky, combining trekking and 4x4 to reach little-visited corners of the western High Atlas, as far as Bedouin camps in the western Sahara. Back to school is a perfect season for this type of itinerary: the desert heat eases, and nights become comfortable again.
I'm heading on an adventure in Morocco!
Mauritania, Saharan silence
At the crossroads of Arab-Berber and African cultures, Mauritania resembles no other destination. The journey you undertake there is necessarily a journey inward: you disconnect there, you advance with muffled steps, you learn to listen to the desert rather than cross it. Fauna, flora, caravan cities steeped in history — Chinguetti, Ouadane — compose a slow, free and deeply responsible Saharan wandering.
I'm preparing for an extraordinary trip to Mauritania!
Travelling mindfully in autumn 2020
Leaving on this back-to-school 2020 also means travelling differently: with more flexibility, more listening, more respect for the territories you cross. Before any departure, it remains essential to consult the entry and stay conditions specific to each country, which can change rapidly.
Find out on the official government website for all up-to-date information: Conseils aux voyageurs — France Diplomatie.
Florine Dergelet