Hi,
We've mainly visited Europe over the summer months. There's some good flight deals for end of October and November. We're thinking of going for 3-4 weeks, and are wondering which cities/countries will have descent weather and reasonable accommodation prices. Trying to take advantage of the slower season and better rates, if possible.
Thanks!
I am very biased - Spain and Portugal are my recommendations.
Southern Spain would be a good choice, combined with another destination -- maybe Sicily or southern Italy, though I can't speak from experience there.
Or you could look for big city experiences, where day-to-day weather is less important -- London, Paris, Rome, Berlin, etc. You have enough time to visit several or burrow into a couple.
October is a good month to visit Greece’s Dodecanese Islands. Rhodes I hear is a gem.
October is the perfect time for visiting Andalucia in Spain. Andalucia is very, very hot during the summer months, so fall and spring are ideal for this wonderful region of Spain. You could spend all of your time in Spain. Andalucia, Madrid, Toledo, Barcelona, Costa Brava, etc. Perhaps Extremadura, which I haven't visited yet, but many people refer to it as old world Spain. Extremadura is very, very hot during the summer so, again, like Andalucia, would be perfect to visit in October/November.
Or combine Portugal and Spain. I am partial to both countries!
Anywhere on mainland Europe can have grim weather in November, which is why I head to the Canary Islands. October gives you a better chance of decent weather, but even so, I would head south to Portugal or southern Spain. Greece weather is 50/50 in October.
Tanya, I'd go with 2 weeks Portugal and 2 weeks Spain ... don't know what you like to do (cities, countryside, beach) or your style (stay put for a week, always moving from place to place, etc...) but I would look at Portugal and Spain ... first half of the trip, fly into Lisbon, spend a few days there, then rent a car and drive up the coast to Porto for a few more days ... then head east through the Duoro Valley, down the other side all the way to the Algarve for a few days ... then back to Lisbon (we did this trip in 2019) ... second half, fly to Madrid, spend a few days there ... then trains to Cordoba, Seville, Granada, etc ... ending up in Barcelona for a few days before heading home.
Or to really make the decision tough, you could do 3-4 weeks in Italy alone ... or a few weeks Italy then train to Munich and check out Bavaria and that area (including a few days in Salzburg) ... might even be there for the start of some of the Christmas Markets (Munich, Nuremburg, etc...)
1 Travel based on your interests, I love Europe in October, some locations will be warmer than others; but what are your plans, the beach or museums or wandering the streets taking in the sights?
2 Averaging the Oct & Nov temps: Lisbon: 68/56, Budapest 55/43, Rome 67/49, Paris 66/43, Prague 56/40, none unbearable.
3 As you get deeper into Nov the differences in temps begin to close; by mid-November there is only a 2F difference between Budapest and Paris.
4 For better prices, head East the dollar is strong, but the world is in an inflationary trend and prices are up everywhere so the exchange rate savings is negated to a degree.
5 After 19 Nov the Christmas Markets will be open, and the temperature is part of the experience (google for the best market awards).
Thank you so very much for all of the responses and recommendations! What a great resource this travel forum is!
We're looking at visiting Portugal (fly into Lisbon & then travel south) and Spain (travel south & fly out of Barcelona), with a visit to Morocco (Tangier). Our options for flights are mid-October to mid-November or mid-November to mid-December. We are planning on going for 4 weeks. Has anyone visited these countries this time of year? For those who have visited Tangier, how long would you say is a good amount of days to visit? Is there another city we should be looking at besides Tangier? My husband and I have been to Barcelona (summertime) and he has visited Lisbon.
Thank you!
FORGET Tangier, it is not worth it.
Morocco is wonderful, especially, Fes and Marrakesh, but not Tangier.
Same advice as jehovahgriffith, forget Tangier. If you want to go to Morocco take a Lisbon-Marrakesh flight.
From Spain you can also look for a flight to go to the island of Tenerife.
Otherwise spend some time in southern Spain in Andalucia which is very different from the Catalonia
We are currently on a 3 week trip around Spain. We started in Barcelona, then train to Madrid. We are actually sitting in the lounge at the Atocha train station in Madrid waiting to go to Granada, then Seville, then Cordoba, then Toledo then home from Madrid. We are staying a minimum of 3 nights in each place - Madrid was 6. We arrived on October 1 and boy was Barcelona hot. I mean shorts, swimming weather. Madrid was a little cooler, but not much, average around 78. You could easily spend the entire time in Spain as there is so much to see and so much history .
