Octobr Trip - London and then?

Amsterdam is just as likely to be cool and wet,, I have been three times now, all in summer and generally consider Amsterdam a "wet" place to visit at the best of times, lol With cheap flights almost all of Europe is easily within 5 hours of London, you could visit Rome , easy and cheap , and weather there will likely be perfect! Also Barcelona. Both are less then Have you looked at Easyjet ? They have flights to Rome for less then 100 bucks return (aprox) and its less then 2.5 hours. If limiting yourself to trains/ferry/Eurostar then you are looking at UK, France , Netherlands and Belgium. Going north ( Scotland ) won't be warmer or drier then London.

I would opt for Spain...easy access from London via several of the low cost airlines, and the weather should be good, especially in the southern area. Fly to Madrid, and then head south via the AVE train...lots of scenery there and lots to do - or not do, whatever your pleasure.

I have not been to Spain and not sure how many days you want to add on after London, but my vote is for Rome. Tons of things to see and do, plus great outdooor sights. Amazing city and no need for a car. You can look at the Rome week long tour and see what there is to see and do. Great place to sit at cafes and watch people and eat great food. Tons of streets to walk and see great art. I agree Amsterdam and Ireland are not the best for that time of year. I went to Ireland in late June and had to dress in a rain jacket, jeans and warm jacket. Wonderful but not a warm place to go even in the summer. Suggestion, buy the Rome RS guide book and make musuem reservations and Vatican reservatons in advance, if you want to see the museums and Vatican. Whatever you decide, have a great trip.

Thanks for the responses! Rome/Italy is out, as we've spent time there before. I'm liking Spain, with a focus on Madrid. We travel light, so the EasyJet/Ryan Air options should be OK for us.

Before we condemn Amsterdam or Ireland to an image of hopelessly rainy mires, look at their positions in Europe's climate zones. They fall in the same zone as much of NW Europe, which means that statistically, October is actually the DRIEST month of the year. Of course, that doesn't mean it won't rain, it just means that you would be less likely to experience rain than any other time. So, if you're made of sugar but you really want to visit these places, October is actually one of the single best months.

Tom, I just looked on a few weather sites, none of them supported October as the month with the least precipitation. Two showed April and Feb as driest months, and October definitely was in top three months for most precipitation on all the sites I looked at ... so perhaps we are looking at different stats?

I would head for the south of Spain... beautiful area, lots to do and see and the weather should be nice and warm. Maybe a flight to Malaga? I went to Ireland in Feb. and expected it to be cold and rainy so it was a bonus when we had some nice weather. I think if you prepare for it, it's not a problem... rain or shine the people of Ireland are always the same... and isn't that what you go to Ireland for??? If that is where you want to go I would not give in to the weather. We actually had more nice days in Feb, than some friends of mine had who went in July.