Europe in Autumn

Thanks to all so far who have answered. The Rhine River Valley is on our schedule for sure. We were in Germany and Austria in 2005 in the summer and stayed mainly in the Tirol and Bavaria. It was beautiful in the summer and I imagine it would be really beautiful in the autumn with autumn leaves.

Hi Jerry.. My husband and I are photographers and we always do some European travelling during the same time period you will be there. We love France. It is beautiful in the Fall. The small villages of Burgundy and the vineyards are incredible. This year we were invited on a vendage.. the last grape picking of the year. We drive down the A6 from Paris and drive through the vineyards. We also spend some time close to the Burgundy canal which is lovely this time of year. This year we drove down the A6 to Isle -sur-la-Sorgue and visited all the villages of the Luberon and the Cotes de Rhone. Great. The back roads of France are quite free of traffic this time of year and it is lovely to stop for a picnic. Isle -sur la- Sorgue has a wonderful Sunday antique and brocante market that is fun to do.

Hi Jerry,

While I don't know about many "special events" in autumn, we have traveled to Austria, Bavaria, the Dolomites and Switzerland in mid/late Oct. to early Nov.
Best time of year (IMO) to travel. Lighter crowds, comfortable temps. (our typical experiences where 60's and 70's daytime, low 40's at night) and there can be fall foliage that rivals the northeast here in the U.S. I really can't imagine what may close after early September. I'd certainly recommend going the time of year you're thinking about.

Paul

Some places close or shorten their hours but virtually all of the major sites are open.

We missed the summer roller bahn luge rides near Neuschwanstein in mid-October. They had closed for the season the week before. Every thing else was open.

Since wine harvest is in September (as well as Octoberfest), it's a great time to travel the area. I went to Bonnfest in early September and would highly recommend it (it really is better than Octoberfest).

Autumn in Central Europe is absolutely gorgeous, and I highly recommend visiting during this time, especially from end of September until the beginning of November!!
Here in Austria, you will encounter wine and harvest festivals everywhere, and the vineyards glow in all their autumn beauty. The nights will be cool, but the days still pleasantly warm for sitting outside in the gardens, cafes and taverns.
Fall in the Alpine regions is beautiful as well. However,if you are hiking in higher elevations, you must be prepared for extreme weather changes and spontanious winter outbreaks!
The Wachau Valley in Austria is especially lovely during his time of year:
http://www.wachau.at/donau/WN/?ln=EN

If you are into wine, then the Rhein River valley is the place to be. All the little towns along here have wine festivals. The trees can be quite pretty too. Perhaps not as spectacular scenery as Corinnas' neck of the woods, but pretty just the same. I suppose if I had the choice between the Alps and some place else, I would go for the Alps

Hi Jerry, my husband and I travelled to London, Munich and Switzerland between sept 15 to sept 29. We had a wonderful time, the weather was nice, but you did need a jacket for early mornings and evenings. There was no crowds or line up anywhere, we went to the désalpage (cows return from high pastures) in Charmey in French Switzerland and to the Oktoberfest in Munich, we enjoyed both very much, i suggest you reserve your lodging in advance if you want to attend these festivals. We also visited King Ludwig's castles in Bavaria and it was wonderful. We will definetely travel in autumn again!

Best time of year to go. Just bring slightly warmer clothes (warm/rain coats are essential) and enjoy.

Jerry, if you're planning to go to parts of the Alps in Switzerland (we were in Muerren and the Jungfrau region for 5 days in the middle of this last September), I would suggest doing that more towards the beginning of your trip if you possibly can. We kept checking the weather report when we got home and they got a lot of snow. Of course, they also got a lot of snow the week before we got there, so it's anybody's guess what the weather will be like. We also have done most of our traveling in the heat of summer. What we found on this trip to northern Italy and parts of Switzerland and France is that we had TONS more energy and could walk and walk and never got tired. I attribute it to the cooler weather...we're not used to the heat here in the Pacific Northwest! You'll certainly enjoy the colors and the climate. Enjoy!

It's a wonderful time to visit for many reasons. One of the biggest differences to take into account for planning purposes is that there is far less daylight.

Europe is generally north of the continental U.S. so the seasonal variation in daylight hours is greater. So, plan your outdoor time accordingly.

We always travel in the fall (September-October) We have had hot weather and we have had cold weather (below freezing this last September). A couple of tips:
The alps are beautiful this time of year, but you can be thwarted by early snowfall (both in 2001 and 2008 we had this happen) If you can, stay flexible and head for the alps when the weather looks good. In 2001, we never saw any mountains in the Jungfrau area and this last year we had to cancel a 3 day hiking trip due to a snowstorm the first half of September.
Harvesting and ripe grape vineyards are a highlight this time of year. I have been in the Mosel area and in the Melk/Krems area in late September and experienced grape harvesting in both areas. It was great. I really did not think our visit to Zell in the Mosel area could be equaled (we actually helped our B&B hosts harvest) until we biked from Melk to Krems this last September. Biking from town to town through the vineyards was spectacular.
Many towns hold festivals during this time of year. We have been in Salzburg twice when they have had their annual September festival-a beer tent and lots of free entertainment as well as many vendors. The date changes so you will have to check on it. We also happened on small town festivals in the Mosel area (Cochem) and in Mondsee (Near Salzburg). Apparently many towns have their own "Octoberfest" style parties during this time-usually on the week ends. As far as the cows coming down from the high pasture: it can be hit and miss. In Switzerland, it is usually accompanied by a cheese festival. Different towns will do it on different days. While we were there last September, Lauterbrunnen's was over, Stechelberg was on Saturday and Wengen was having theirs on Sunday. Also, you can sometimes just "catch" an occasional farmer bringing his cows down. This happened to us on the road to Lauterbrunnen- a police officer pulled us over so they could pass- we loved it!

Hello Jerry,
My family and I spent this past autumn in Europe. We started in London in September, then Belgium, Amsterdam, Germany, Prague, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, and, finally, Paris. We flew home from Paris in the middle of November. Autumn is a wonderful time to be in Europe. In many places, the crowds are smaller, although you should be aware of when European families will be on vacation (most school children get a full week off in the fall, usually in October, and many families travel during these vacation weeks). Also, you will likely encounter LOTS of tour groups. Most of the time, they won't bother you, but they can be rather pushy as they walk quickly through sites, trying to stay together.

Depending on your itinerary, you will probably want to have a well-coordinating wardrobe that can be layered. We were in Prague and Austria during the first half of October and it got rather chilly at times. In Italy, especially Rome, at the end of October, it was warm. In Pompeii, at the beginning of November, it was hot, and then Paris, in the middle of November, it was chilly, gray and drizzly (though still beautiful!).

We did not intentionally plan our trip around specific events, though I would recommend the Rhine at any time during the early fall. We also ended up in Dresden for German Unity Day, which was great! We found a lively street fair where we ate sausages, drank beer, and listened to a local band sing pop music from the late 80s! I would add that Dresden was a wonderful surprise. The people were warm and welcoming. The museums were impressive. The city is easy to navigate and it's cheap!

Have a great time!

Been to Europe three times in Sept Oct. Had good weather everywhere except Ireland - but that can be wet any time. We were up at the Jungfrau in late Spetember and the sky was a cloudless blue. The local guides said they had seldom seen it better and the Guides on our tour (one Canadian, one Dutch) who had done the trip many times said theyhad never seen it as clear, so you can be lucky whatever the time of year. Been up teh Rhine and Mosel in Sept and it is wonderful. Grape harvest was just starting. We would go back again at that time of year as it is less crowded and we did not find anywherr closed that we wanted to see.