September & October weather

http://www.wunderground.com/tripplanner/index.asp The above site is the best we've found for educated guesses about the weather a year from now. Input a location (city nearby) and a time span (max of 14 day time span), and it will give you, neatly summarized, the last 15 years of actual weather for your location and dates.

Hi Jean, No one can predict the weather, as you certainly know. That said, our experiences during our trips in 10/01, 10/03, 10/06, 10/07, 9/09 in Bavaria, Austria and the Italian Dolomites was daytime temps ranging from the mid 60's to low 80's and chilly early am's and nights. Also, we experienced very few days with any rain. Just our experiences. Paul

It's true that no one can predict the weather. My experience from traveling September and October (but only skirting the mountain areas) is weather is great in September, often short sleeve weather in the day and cool enough for a sweater and windbreaker in the evening. October starts like September but gets cold somewhere around the middle of the month. We were there for my son's birthday in mid-October one year. Our pictures the day before his birthday were us in short-sleeves. On his birthday, however, we were fully bundled and stopped at a department store to pick up ski-caps, gloves and scarves for extra warmth (that was colder than usual though).

Last Halloween is was warm enough to wear short sleeves and jeans. About ten years ago we were in Oberammergau and it was snowing like crazy and bitter cold the first week in October. You just never know.

I second the above link for the best guesstimate. As far as personal experience, that time of year can vary widely in temperature but tends to be clear even when cold and absolutely gorgeous. You can certainly ride if you have appropriate coats (I would recommend something like the Northface triclimate or columbia interchange), shoes, socks, etc. Most of the pictures I have from October in that area feature myself in a jacket and gloves, so it does tend to be chilly in October. I have a story similar to the one above, we headed for the Bavarian Alps and the first half of two weeks it was about 60 and then overnight it dropped into the low 30's and started snowing. Thankfully, I had been there before and so had packed all my winter gear with my lighter clothes. September can vary, some years it's really nice, and other years it's chilly. It's still nice enough weather to do outdoorsy stuff in though.

Thanks for the posts. Your replies and suggestions are appreciated. At this point, we willl probably still try to travel then as we are very interested in seeing this area of Europe in the fall. Thanks again for the tips. Jean 4 Dave 2

My last trip to Germany and Austria was in early October one year (if I recall, I left the U.S. around Oct. 5 and had 3 weeks for the trip) and the weather was fine. I happen not to like the heat, so found the cooler weather very comfortable and conducive to traveling. It also depends where, exactly, you are heading. I began the trip in Prague (trained it from Prague to Berlin, and then basically began a loop around Germany) and it was quite cool (although pleasent) in Prague and Berlin, but then was warmer in the south (ended the trip in Munich). It rained a little in Berlin and in Baden-Baden but never anything that interefered with my travel/sight-seeing plans. And, in fact, it ended up being quite balmy in Munich and Salzburg (did side over-night trip to Salzburg); I recall just weaering a long sleeve tshirt while touring around this region (vs. the mid-weight jacket and sweater I always wore in Berlin!). Smart you are starting to plan so far ahead..now you get to countdown until then and will really be prepared.

I always go to Europe in the fall. For me the weather was perfect in September and October, but it can get really cold in November, but coming from Texas I'm sure it seemed even colder to me!
In early December I'm going to Venice Italy for the first time! BRRRR! But the trip is very cheap and am staying in a hotel I normally couldn't afford! I'm so much looking forward to it in spite of the weather!