Travel in September / October

Most European destinations will have good weather in September.
Once you get into October, some of the more northern destinations will start to have what I call "transition weather": I mean, transitioning from good to iffy weather.
In many parts of Europe, the odds, of better weather for outdoor activities, changes depending on whether you are talking about early October, late October, or mid-October.

Some folks plan trips to hit specific events/festivals such as Oktoberfest which starts in September. Others plan trips to intentionally miss these events/festivals.

No such thing as bad weather but October is a transition month season wise and day light hours get noticeable shorter.

September is a lovely month to go to Europe. Local kids are back in school. The weather is generally good and the day light is still long. One festival that I enjoyed was the Tarbert Music Festival in Argyle. They don't have the info for this year yet--they always seem to be late with it. Probably because it's attended more by locals.

But, it might be more fun for your children to go to some Highland Games. Pitlochry has theirs in September. Pitlochry is right up the A9 north of Perth and south of Inverness. It's a great location for some walks and castles and so on. The Invercharron Games are the next weekend, but further north of Inverness. The Blairgowrie and Rattray Games are in Blairgowrie in Perthshire, but a bit south and east of Pitlochry and and earlier yet in September.

I've often used the tourist websites to find events. Visit Scotland has one that lets you search by the time of year and by the type of event. I entered September and chose family and came up with this result. I found something similar for England. And, I even found one for France! Look there is a puppet festival! And Germany--although this ones seems to require more clicking and scrolling.

Have a great trip!

Pam

I love traveling in September, much of the crowds have gone away and the weather is very comfortable for travel, warm days and cool nights.

I've been in Germany/Austria and Italy in October. Up north, October starts out just like September. Somewhere around the middle of the month, depends on the year, it turns cold then stays cold until late the following spring. We were in Koln October 12th and it was short sleeve weather during the day (light jacket or sweater at night). By the 16th, in Munich, it was freezing and we were stopping by a department store to pick up ski caps, gloves and scarves.

October in Italy is great. This is the best time of year IMO. Again it's comfortable days and cool nights, nothing extreme (maybe some rain).

We go to Central / Eastern Europe almost every year in the Fall. From about the 21st of September to maybe the 15th of October the weather can be perfect; cool, but not cold, and dry. Best times we have ever had in the region were in that time frame. Where you will find us again this Fall.

Hi Paul,

We've traveled to Bavaria, Austria and the Italian Dolomites a number of times anywhere from early to late October. Weather is unpredictable, but we've experienced almost zero rain and anywhere from cool days (like here in the NYC area) to pretty warm days. Nights and early mornings were consistently chilly though. That said, October would always be our first choice to visit the alps.

We're not much for cities in general, as we prefer the countryside and staying in the alps, cities we've included in our October trips: Salzburg, Innsbruck and on a smaller scale: Berchtesgaden, Garmisch, Fuessen, Hall in Tirol, Mittenwald, etc.

You could look into the festivals in smaller towns and villages in Bavaria and Austria in late September when the cows are brought back from the summer grazing areas. I think kids would love this. Here's a link to the ones from the Zillertal, not far from Innsbruck.

http://www.mayrhofen.at/en/101029/101106/101101/almabtrieb-cattle-drive.html

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=q4tQ6Y4dUSY

Paul

Hello Paul. I suggest : go to England. Children like seeing things of nature. At London, be at Kew Gardens one entire day. Other places in England :
The small city York. It is a tourist's delight.
Warwick Castle.
A few villages in Gloucestershire (north Cotswolds). And see farm land in Gloucestershire.
I think September is the best month for being at England.

Paul,

My suggestion would be to travel in September, as the weather will usually be warmer and more pleasant (although no guarantees). That's when I prefer to travel in Europe.

It would help to have some further information. For example.....

• What countries / cities are you most interested in visiting?
• How long will this trip be?
• Where will you be flying from?
• What is the time frame for this trip?
• Have you travelled in Europe before (there could be a "learning curve" if this is your first trip)?