Summer volunteering in Europe is possible, because short-term projects fit summer holidays or semester breaks. In the European Solidarity Corps (ESC), Volunteering Teams last from 2 weeks up to 59 days, excluding travel days. Individual Volunteering in the European Solidarity Corps lasts from 2 weeks to 12 months, excluding travel time. An Erasmus+ Youth Exchange lasts from 5 to 21 days, excluding travel days. Youth Works Hub gathers the rules below together with the stories of five volunteers who spent a summer on a project.
Last updated: November 2026.
Which options fit a summer holiday?
Three formats fit a summer holiday:
🔹 Volunteering Teams: Volunteering Teams of the European Solidarity Corps last from 2 weeks up to 59 days, excluding travel days. In Volunteering Teams, volunteers carry out tasks for a project over a short period of time, usually, but not only, during holidays, breaks between study periods or the transition from education to work. Volunteering Teams can take place at any time of the year. Our guide on Volunteering Teams explains the format.
🔹 Short term Individual Volunteering: short term individual volunteering in the European Solidarity Corps lasts between 14 and 59 days, excluding travel days. Our guide on how long an ESC project lasts lists every duration.
🔹 Erasmus+ Youth Exchange: a Youth Exchange lasts from 5 to 21 days, excluding travel days. In Youth Exchanges, food and accommodation are fully covered for participants; this is mandatory, not an exception. In Youth Exchanges, participants receive no pocket money, and personal expenses are the participant's own. Our guide on what a Youth Exchange is explains the format.
Our guide on short Erasmus+ options for students explains the options for university students.
When should you apply for a summer project?
Apply at least four months before the project starts; for long-term projects, six months is better. Applying late rarely works: if a project starts in June, applying in May is almost useless, because the host organisation has to allow for your visa process, which can take weeks. In Erasmus+ Youth Exchanges and training courses, the time until the first answer varies. The answer usually becomes clear 3 to 4 weeks before the start date of the activity, but you can also be included at the last minute. Our guide on the application timeline shows the full process, and our guide on last-minute projects covers calls that close soon.
Where do you find summer projects?
You find opportunities in the ESC projects and Erasmus+ projects categories on Youth Works Hub. The Match page finds projects suited to you: Match asks 8 questions and shows the results as a swipeable deck of cards. Using Match requires creating an account on the site. Our guide on how to find projects shows where the offers are published.
What is a summer project really like?
A summer project can mean work with children, seniors or camp guests, and free time with other volunteers. Five volunteers describe their summers here:
🔹 Büşra, 34 days in Braga, Portugal: Büşra had been applying to volunteering projects since 2014 without getting an answer, then saw an organisation's project post on social media through a friend and applied straight away. Two days later the organisation called and asked for a clear answer on whether Büşra could go to Portugal in June-July, and Büşra accepted at once. For one week Büşra and the other volunteers spent time at a summer camp with children aged 4 to 15: the volunteers taught the children a few words and children's games from their own culture, and the children taught them their games and a few words. After that the volunteers continued their tasks in schools in the city centre. In free time Büşra visited Belem and Sintra, went to Aveiro and went often to Porto, the favourite of all the cities visited.
🔹 Merve, one month at a youth camp in Poland: Merve landed in Warsaw on 13 August and still had a long way to go by bus to a youth camp, Fundacja Rodowo in Sorkwity, for one-month volunteering. Volunteers at the international youth camp make a programme for the groups staying at the camp and spend time together with those groups, and a group of volunteers looks after the camp's landscaping. When a sports club of 5 to 12 year-olds came from Latvia, Merve and the other volunteers prepared a schedule suited to the club's field. Each nationality among the volunteers organised its own evening, with that nation's food cooked and its culture introduced. The camp's surroundings were completely green and there was a large lake 600 metres away; at the end of working hours Merve and the friends she made at the camp would go canoeing, go into the lake or light a campfire. Merve saw off many friends, and the next day new people from different nationalities took their place.
🔹 Nurşah, a summer on Sardinia, Italy: Nurşah looked for a project covering the summer so that her studies would not be extended. Most replies were for 12-month or 9-month projects. When Nurşah applied, there were no project announcements like those published now, so candidates sent applications to organisations with no project in hand. Nurşah made her 5017th application, and the next day an email came: she was accepted for a project starting on 1 June on the island of Sardinia, Italy. Her English was at beginner level, and a few months later, with everyone's efforts to teach her English, she began speaking a little. With the advantage of being on an Italian island in summer, every day Nurşah and her housemates and office mates went to a different coast and discovered different beaches. The programme gave Nurşah 5 months abroad and the chance to see 6 different countries.
🔹 Tara, a care home in Latvia: Tara is an ESC volunteer from Georgia at a care home in Latvia. What Tara enjoyed most was going outside with the seniors in summer and giving them a little tour around the town, seeing nature and seeing them happy. Tara's most memorable moment came at almost the end of the first month: the midsummer festival, something Tara had never seen and which does not exist in Georgia.
🔹 Victor, team volunteering on Sardinia: Victor was looking for something in the summer, felt restless about the future and wanted to broaden horizons and get direction for the new school year. In team volunteering the volunteers worked with each other, lived with each other and cared for each other, and by the end Victor says they were not colleagues but a group of friends.
Our guide on a day in the life of an ESC volunteer shows what a normal day looks like.
What is covered on a summer project?
What is covered depends on the programme:
🔹 European Solidarity Corps: taking part in volunteering activities must be free of charge for you. You are entitled to travel costs from your place of origin to the venue of the activity and return, free food and accommodation and living costs such as local travel provided by the host organisation. You also receive a small allowance (pocket money) for your personal expenses throughout the activity, including travel days and vacations. Our guide on whether ESC is fully funded goes through each cost.
🔹 Erasmus+ Youth Exchange: food, accommodation and travel are covered and the host organisation arranges everything, while personal expenses are the participant's own. Our guide on what Erasmus+ covers goes through each cost.
Frequently asked questions
Can I do a two-week project?
Yes: Individual Volunteering and Volunteering Teams in the European Solidarity Corps both start from 2 weeks, excluding travel time. Our guide on how long an ESC project lasts lists every duration.
Do I get pocket money in a Youth Exchange?
No: in Erasmus+ Youth Exchanges participants receive no pocket money or cash allowance. In Youth Exchanges, food, accommodation and travel are covered and the host organisation arranges everything. Our guide on what a Youth Exchange is explains the format.
Can I go with a friend?
Two friends can technically go to the same ESC project, but host organisations usually prefer volunteers from different countries for intercultural diversity. Our guide on how to find projects shows where the offers are published.
Do I need good English?
For Youth Exchanges, a high level of English is usually not needed, but if the topic is technical a better level helps, so read the topic of the project carefully. Most projects accept participants with basic English. Our guide on what a Youth Exchange is explains the format.
Is summer the only season?
No: Volunteering Teams can take place at any time of the year. Our guide on winter and Christmas ESC projects covers the cold months.
What should you do next?
Our guide on how to find projects shows where the offers are published, and the Youth Works Hub categories below show the current calls.
Related pages: Volunteering Teams · what a Youth Exchange is · how long an ESC project lasts · whether ESC is fully funded · winter and Christmas ESC projects
👉 ESC projects: youthworkshub.org/?tab=esc-projects
👉 Erasmus+ projects: youthworkshub.org/?tab=erasmus-projects
