We had planned a trip to London and Paris in early May but need to reschedule it to the fall. Can anyone give me recommendations about September or October travel dates? I really had looked forward to seeing flowers in bloom in the spring. :-( We also had wanted to avoid hot summer temperatures and that is why we originally planned a trip for the spring.
Posted by
Orange Park, Fl
985 posts
Marci - It shouldn't be freezing but also shouldn't be broiling. Then again it could be either... or neither. That is the best I can tell you. We were in London last early October and the temps ranged from mild (needing a light jacket) to windy/cooler (needing my fleece lined raincoat), but little in the way of rain during that period- lucky us. Mid October we moved to Paris where temps ranged from absolutely needing short sleeved shirts to requiring a winter scarf to stay warm enough. On this trip I might suggest 1-2 short and 3 long sleeve shirts. To me it is better to need a jacket than to burn up, so I counted us fortunate in the weather we encountered.
Posted by
Washington DC
28247 posts
I've been in London during early September the last two years, and I thought the weather was great. You never know whether there will be rain, so I usually just stuffed my rain jacket in my purse. You can take a look at actual day-by-day temperatures for recent Septembers and Octobers on timeanddate.com. I recommend looking back at least five years so you get a reasonably clear picture of the range of conditions you might have.
Posted by
Seattle, WA
17562 posts
September is one of my two favorite times to visit London (the other is May). There is a month-long festival celebrating the River Thames, with lots of events going on.
So try to include some September time for London, then go to Paris.
Posted by
New York, NY, USA
11294 posts
September should be a great time (as is May). The only catch is that it's the busiest month for hotels in Paris (and Emma indicates it's busy in London too), so book early.
As for weather, it's becoming less predictable, all over the world. I was just in the UK last month - London for 6 nights, York for 1 night, Edinburgh for 3 nights. Overall I had lovely weather. In London, days were mid 60's to mid 70's, and nights were high 50's to mid 60's, with - hold on to your hat - no rain! I then went to York, where it poured heavy rain for most of my 24 hours there (yuck). Then in Edinburgh, it was cooler than normal for that time of year, according to locals (mid 50's by day, down to low 40's at night), but clear with no rain (except for two hours of sprinkles, one day). However, expecting similar weather next year is going to lead to a lot of frustration.
If there are particular events you want to catch, do check dates. While September is the start of the cultural season in both London and Paris, I was 1-2 weeks too early to see some London plays I was interested in.
Posted by
381 posts
We were in London for 10 days this past September and had beautiful weather. We only had two very brief periods of sprinkles and the rest of the time it was in the 70's during the day to 50's at night. Take a light weight rain jacket and you should be good to go. The city was busy but not overwhelmingly crowded. As far as Paris goes, we were there in April a couple of years ago and it was chilly and unbelievably crowded wherever we went.
Posted by
Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, USA
14818 posts
Actually, you'll still see flowers. I've been to Monet's garden in Giverny in early October and the dahlias were jaw-dropping. Really beautiful! Still lots of flowers in the parks and flower boxes. You'll be pleasantly surprised!
I'd probably move it to the end of Sept/early Oct to get away from the heat but I'm not very tolerant of high temperatures.
Plus if you wait until early Oct then as others have said, not as busy as Sept for Paris.
There is a neat exhibition at the Queen's Gallery next summer that goes thru mid-October if you are interested!
https://www.rct.uk/visit/the-queens-gallery-buckingham-palace