September destinations

We were in Stockholm and Copenhagen in September 2022 - one week in each city. One rainy day in Stockholm that made life a bit miserable. Otherwise lots of sunny days.

On previous trips we have been in Prague, Lucerne, Vienna, Budapest and Amsterdam in October. No real weather problems. A couple of damp days but mostly pretty good.

Our preferred travel months for Europe are March-April and September-November. Crowds are less and hotel pricing is usually better.

Thanks.

I've traveled in September and even October before.

In some places like Paris, hotels still have peak rates.

Good to hear that you got mostly nice weather up in Scandinavia.

We took a Baltic cruise that went into the first week of September. We were told that our sunny and moderate weather was unusual after the end of August as it quickly got cold and rainy the farther north you go. Scandinavia is so expensive that we have found a cruise ship the most economical way to travel there.

We have traveled to Normandy and we were good to go after a couple of days. We've been to Paris quite a few times, and we're just not big Francophiles.

Have you traveled to Spain? We have been to the cities along the Mediterranean coast, but we really enjoyed Barcelona and then the cities of inland Spain. The people are quite beautiful and it's much less expensive to visit than many of the other European countries. Spain's quite large, and it has a number of completely different regions.

I think there's some risk to heading to Scandianvia, Finalnd and Estonia in September, especially in the second half of the month, but it could turn out fine. You can find actual, historical, day-by-day weather statistics on the website timeanddate.com. I find that sort of detailed data a lot more useful than monthly averages. I want to know how bad it has been over the last five years, not that the average high temperature (meaning around 2 PM) was decent. (I may care about the temperature a lot more than you do.) This link will take you to Helsinki's weather in September 2022. Use the Search box near the top right to change cities. Use the pull-down menu just above the graph to change the month and year.

Keep in mind that monthly hours of sunshine are likely to decrease rapidly through the month of September. That's one of the statistics included in the climate-summary charts in the Wikipedia entries for many cities.

The northern destinations would be my last choice of the three options you present for the month of September.

A car would be helpful in getting to some places in Normandy, but I managed to see all of the following by train and bus: Honfleur, Rouen, Falaise (WWII museum), Bayeux, Caen, Cabourg and Deauville. There are small-group tours offered to D-Day invasion sites if you want to see them and don't want to rent a car.

Public transportation will get you to Biarritz, Bayonne (which I much preferred) and St-Jean-de-Luz (also more interesting to me than Biarritz, but there was a weather differential at play). To go to some of the small mountain villages in the French Basque Country, a car would be very useful.

There's very, very fast train service from Paris to Bordeaux. Bordeaux is seen by many people as primarily a jumping-off point for the Dodorgne and Lot rather than as a destination itself, though I enjoyed the historic section of Bordeaux. A car would be extremely helpful outside Bordeaux unless you're satisfied to stick to cities like Cahors and Perigueux and forego visiting the charming villages in the area.

I like the odds of decent September weather in southern England a lot better than in places like Finland. I've been to England several times in September and haven't had a problematic combination of cold weather and rain. I believe rain is likelier the farther west you go.

If you want to do more than spend an hour or two in each of a bunch of cute little villages (doable via small-group tour at modest cost, with some tours originating in Bath), a car would be pretty essential in the Cotswolds. Moreton-in-Marsh has train service (good links to Oxford), and there are some buses fanning out from there, but bus service seems so infrequent it would probably be difficult to visit more than one village a day. I've read on this forum that taxis are not widely available.

How do you define good weather? If less rain is important, stay away from the British isles and the Norwegian coast.

Northern European capitals - Copenhagen, Stockholm, Tallinn, Helsinki,
Berlin. Copenhagen, Tallinn and Helsinki would all be new
destinations. Mostly would stay 4 nights in each city, maybe do one or
two day trips if weather and time allows. Would be flying between
them, except the ferry from Tallinn to Helsinki.

Sounds like a good idea in my opinion! (But I might be a bit biased…) It all depends on personal preference, but September will usually have nice weather, at least if you're travelling further north than that. But, planning to fly between them is in many cases a waste of both time and money. The train is a better options on many routes, as well as the ferries across the Baltic sea. But it depends on which cities you decide to visit.

Keep in mind that monthly hours of sunshine are likely to decrease
rapidly through the month of September. That's one of the statistics
included in the climate-summary charts in the Wikipedia entries for
many cities.

Also keep in mind that the monthly hours of sunshine is not the same as the monthly hours of daylight.

I'd like to follow this thread up with similar question but for April, I'm guessing Spain and Portugal are mostly sunny at this time? I went to Italy in April and it was the best 3 weeks ever, weather wise. I was stunned to see Paris,London,Amsterdam, southern Germany be cold and rainy in late May and all of June.

September is nice in Europe.

For the UK, we love the British countryside. In 2017 we did a four week drive tour of S. Wales and England visiting Bath, Well, Glastonbury, Cardiff, Tenby, St. David's and a small village in Cardiganshire, Wales. Also, spend several days in the Cotswolds (stayed in Chipping Campden), using it as a base to visit Oxford, Blenheim Palace, Stratford Upon Avon and the Cotswolds.

Then on to Warwick to see the castle, York (one of our favorite places), then the Yorkshire Moors, Whitby, Durham, Hadrian's Wall, The Lake District and Winchester. Rent a car with an automatic transmission.

Copenhagen, you can see that great city for a few days and explore nearby taking tours. Be sure to visit the Viking Museum as Roskilde.

I always travel in September and October.

I took a Baltic Cruise in September 2019.

I went to Copenhagen and then to Rostow, Stockholm, Tallinn, Helsinki, and St Petersburg. My memory is that the weather was decent. I have pictures that I wish I could post. My memory is very little rain and cool but comfortable if you dress right.

You have to be prepared for rainy and cold weather just in case.

It was beautiful. Depending on when and where you go, you would might still have fall colors.

I've been to England and parts of Germany in the fall (mid-September to early October) and never had any real problem with the weather in either place. There were a few foggy misty days in England but a light raincoat was sufficient to keep me warm and dry and it enhance the atmosphere (imo). :)

But of course you know that weather changes from year to year, so you're never guaranteed what you want. I would just pick the spot that appeals to you the most and head there.

Sounds like a good idea in my opinion! (But I might be a bit biased…) It all depends on personal preference, but September will usually have nice weather, at least if you're travelling further north than that. But, planning to fly between them is in many cases a waste of both time and money. The train is a better options on many routes, as well as the ferries across the Baltic sea. But it depends on which cities you decide to visit.

I'm thinking of something like fly from US to Stockholm, then fly to Tallinn, then ferry to Helsinki, then fly to Berlin, then fly to Copenhagen, then fly back to the US.

The ferry between Stockholm and Tallinn or Helsinki would be 16 hours. Would rather spend most of that time on land.

A car would be helpful in getting to some places in Normandy, but I managed to see all of the following by train and bus: Honfleur, Rouen, Falaise (WWII museum), Bayeux, Caen, Cabourg and Deauville. There are small-group tours offered to D-Day invasion sites if you want to see them and don't want to rent a car.

Public transportation will get you to Biarritz, Bayonne (which I much
preferred) and St-Jean-de-Luz (also more interesting to me than
Biarritz, but there was a weather differential at play). To go to some
of the small mountain villages in the French Basque Country, a car
would be very useful.

There's very, very fast train service from Paris to Bordeaux. Bordeaux
is seen by many people as primarily a jumping-off point for the
Dodorgne and Lot rather than as a destination itself, though I enjoyed
the historic section of Bordeaux. A car would be extremely helpful
outside Bordeaux unless you're satisfied to stick to cities like
Cahors and Perigueux and forego visiting the charming villages in the
area. I like the odds of decent September weather in southern England
a lot better than in places like Finland. I've been to England several
times in September and haven't had a problematic combination of cold
weather and rain. I believe rain is likelier the farther west you go.
If you want to do more than spend an hour or two in each of a bunch of
cute little villages (doable via small-group tour at modest cost, with
some tours originating in Bath), a car would be pretty essential in
the Cotswolds. Moreton-in-Marsh has train service (good links to
Oxford), and there are some buses fanning out from there, but bus
service seems so infrequent it would probably be difficult to visit
more than one village a day. I've read on this forum that taxis are
not widely available.

My plan for Normandy would be to visit Mont St. Michel, taking the TGV to Rennes and picking up a rental car there, then driving east to Caen for maybe a couple of nights to visit the Omaha Beach area, then to Etretat for a couple of nights. May add a night inRouen there, then head back to Paris. It is somewhat hectic, moving every day or every other day and probably missing a lot of places.

Then from Paris, take the TGV or fly to Biarritz or Bordeaux. Would rent a car there, day trip around the Basque coast near Biarritz, then drive up to Bordeaux and do one or two day trips. Then back to Paris to fly back.

For England, I haven't outlined an itinerary but it would include Bath, Oxford, Cotswolds. Probably won't have time to go further north on this trip. Maybe I could cut across East to Cambridge or just go back to London and day trip to Cambridge. Maybe also to Brighton and Seven Sisters.

Either that or go further north, rather than returning to London after Cotswolds or Oxford. Lake District and the York area seem too far for this trip. Plus I'm assuming warmer and hopefully drier weather in the southern part of England.

September is nice in Europe.
For the UK, we love the British countryside. In 2017 we did a four week drive tour of S. Wales and England visiting Bath, Well, Glastonbury, Cardiff, Tenby, St. David's and a small village in Cardiganshire, Wales. Also, spend several days in the Cotswolds (stayed in Chipping Campden), using it as a base to visit Oxford, Blenheim Palace, Stratford Upon Avon and the Cotswolds.
Then on to Warwick to see the castle, York (one of our favorite places), then the Yorkshire Moors, Whitby, Durham, Hadrian's Wall, The Lake District and Winchester. Rent a car with an automatic transmission.
Copenhagen, you can see that great city for a few days and explore nearby taking tours. Be sure to visit the Viking Museum as Roskilde.

Thanks, I"m hoping for good weather. Maybe fly out in the last week of August and go until middle of September, about 2-3 weeks total.

Leaning towards doing the UK trip but trying to decide where to stay in the Cotswolds.

Bourton-on-the-water seems really charming but the lodgings there are old stock so they're tiny, often under 100 square feet. Reviews note that they didn't have room for two adults with luggage, difficult parking and steep stairs -- no elevators in these old buildings.

Some larger towns like Cirencester or Cheltenham seem to be larger and offer more modern accommodations, with parking, though they're not modern to the point of having elevators. But more dining options too. Of course not as charming as a little village full of picturesque cottages.

Also thought about staying a couple of days in London before heading back to London but the parking options are very limited and pricey. The hotels generally have poor reviews and they're notably more expensive than these Cotswold villages.

Any opinions on places to base in the Cotswolds? I'm leaning towards skipping Oxford except as a day trip, not staying there at all.

The ferry between Stockholm and Tallinn or Helsinki would be 16 hours.
Would rather spend most of that time on land.

Do not underestimate the ferries between Stockholm and Finland/Tallinn! Since they are overnight you spend a lot of the time sleeping, in addition they offer great views of especially the Stockholm archipelago.