Have find we prefer traveling in the Fall more than Spring

Cool. I agree. Anywhere you go Northern Hemisphere it is beautiful without the crowds and the autumn leaves on the trees.

I have been fortunate enough to travel to Europe during the four seasons and I've loved them all for different reasons ... The long days of the summer, the lack of crowds and " beautifulness" ( Does that word exist?) of the winter, the great weather of October , the beautiful blossomed trees of spring ... ahh!
Love it, love it there!

I think it depends on where you are going . We just visited greece( Mykonos and Naxos ) and found staff were getting burnt out after a long busy season ( last year we went in May and everyone was a lot more "up".

Also small stores in Mykonos had stores with limited stock and they told us they wouldn't be restocking as it was end of season and they were closing soon .

Obviously this wouldn't apply to a big city visit

Becky,
Thank you for your perspective on the season to travel. I have been considering my 2018 plans and whether I would go in spring or fall. I have typically traveled in the fall but have wondered if the lengthening days of spring would be preferable to the shortening days of fall.
My dilemma is that I love the four seasons but HATE the months of November and March! November because everything here is grey and usually wet and cold and typically before any significant snow. March because of the same but with the sometimes hint of spring where every snowfall is just a pain in the butt. By March I want warmth but in the fall, I want to extend the summer!! A couple of years ago, I came back to VT from Italy the day before Thanksgiving arriving back home to the first snow storm of the season.
Decisions, decisions. Maybe in 2018 I'll do a short hop to warmer climes and a longer one in the fall to extend the season!

I was in Paris for 2 weeks in April a couple years ago. All the trees were in bloom, flower beds everywhere, fragrant lilacs in parks, a riot of color.

I was in Sicily in April . . . masses of wildflowers in bloom, hillsides literally carpeted with them.

Brochu - consider a winter getaway. February is positively balmy in Andalucia, similar in Italy.

I prefer late spring - like the end of May. I also like October. You are right that March and April can be a little dreary in some places. October meanwhile seems to be more pleasant with leaves on trees and often not as cold. If you are in the south and go to the beach the water is warmer, too. Even if it is very warm outside in April the sea is freezing.
But later spring has flowers and people getting excited for summer which is fun.

All else being equal, I'll take spring over fall. Funnily enough, we've been travelling through Europe for the last 3 weeks. Haven't managed a peak fall colour time yet, although the weather has been warmer and drier than usual. London, Paris and the Loire didn't have much colour at all (a bit here and there). And the gardens are for the most part well past their prime. I'm now in a little Bavarian mountain village and the leaves are mostly gone. But due to a recent warm spell, the window baskets are still going strong. There's a possibility of snow here by tomorrow night. The weather has been good for travelling. Apparently everyone else thinks so too, because crowd levels have seemed quite high everywhere we've gone.

I love the new green in the trees in spring, as well as the colour from the spring bulbs, plants, shrubs and trees. If I can also get a jump on the tourist crowds, it's a bonus. But a lot depends on where you want to visit.

Normally, our visits to Europe occur during spring or fall, but we've done so in the winter as well. Being in Scandinavia during summer solstice was special and with great weather.

Given the two choices of either in Oct or April, I'll take April, the earliest is after 15 April but the end of April would be the choice. I much prefer leaving in May than in April. Between Oct or Sept, I'll take Sept for travelling than Oct. Still, the best option is travelling is in the summer, ie from the third week of May to the end of August.

Yes - we generally prefer Fall, but we travelled in the spring this year (no tulips in NL in the Fall!) and I must say, we were in Paris the 3rd week of April and it was gorgeous - trees in leaf, flowers blooming, warm enough to wear a tshirt - and we come home - where spring is practically non-existent - I think it was still a month before we caught up with what was already blooming in France and NL.

(But I think I'll always like mid-Sept to early Oct better - it's my fav time of year). Next year we are doing Scotland mid-Spring - partly to hopefully avoid the midges (which I guess are still bad in the autumn). Also - I don't think I could go almost 18 mos without going on holiday (Apr to Sept following year).

After our first spring trip I had to promise my husband we would NEVER travel to europe in spring again as his allergies were so bad we almost cut the trip short! We usually travel in early summer, but have done a winter trip which was a blast! We'll have to try the fall one of these years:)

Although I have travelled to Italy in Spring, which was lovely, most of my European travel has been in fall. I especially like fall in Italy, as there are lots of harvest festivals in the smaller villages, which I enjoy. And fall weather has always been great for us.

I've found the same. I had a great trip to Ireland in mid May but a freezing trip to Spain in April and another freezing trip to Burgundy in early May. I've decided you can count on decent weather hanging on for a little while after summer more reliably than you can count on it warming up in spring.

… I love Paris in the springtime.
I love Paris in the fall.
I love Paris in the winter when it drizzles,
I love Paris in the summer when it sizzles

Laughing a little because for teachers the idea of choosing between spring and fall is a problem we would love to have! For us it must be summer.....

I had someone ask me what did I think I would do when I retired, which is still a few years away. My response, "The only thing that I know for sure is that I am going to go on a trip in September."

I do not want to pay an extremely high price for airline tickets for my travel to Europe. The lowest prices for American Airline tickets are for travel during the time period August 15 thru November 1, and in the month May. And I inquired at Delta Airlines. The answer I got was "Prices are lower if the tickets are booked 4 months before the travel date". I guess there are exceptions to that rule.
I like to be at some countries in Europe in May. For travel in ENGLAND, the month September is good. For a trip to islands of GREECE, I would want to be there in October. At ITALY, I guess the weather is not extremely hot in October.

On "I love Paris in the spring time"...whose rendition? Ella Fitzgerald's is certainly the one. Paris when it "sizzles" in the summer....how true, when you bake and broil in the summer but C'est ca Paris !

Carol, I am so with you on going in September . . .about six years to go. But I'm in no hurry . . .time passes fast enough as it is.

Fred, for me, Sinatra's version is tops. Not because of Frank, but the arrangement works better for my taste than Ella's. But her voice . . .magnifique.