Where to go??

If you want to bike, Europe is a great place for that. Some wonderful and almost classic biking routes include

• the Mosel river from Trier to Koblenz
• the Danube from Vienna to Budapest

There are actually on my bucket list and one of these days I want to bike them :-)

@ Lindsey,

just a comment. you say you want to spend time in the smaller less touristy towns, but you afraid if the places are deserted?

travel can be an expensive hobbie for people. Since us in the USA have to spend some (alot?) of $$ just to set foot on soil overthere, that cost can eatup alot of vacation time. Also, we loose 1 full day traveling to there.

Look at:

http://www.skyscanner.com/
http://www.kayak.com/

for some flights costs. Also, the sooner you book the better the prices can be. Note that traveling during "tourist" season can be more expensive. just because you may want to travel "off" season doenst mean you can have fun either. I choose to travel in March or September when its at either the early start or starting end of tourist season. Some drawback is the weather may not be as nice. But im not a sun worshiper so it doesnt affect me as much as people that live by it.
One other hint it to look at flying open jaw- in one city and out of another. ALso, differnt days of the week can make a difference too.

Once you get on land, look at this site.

http://www.seat61.com/

there is alot of info there for using the trains. I like train travel since i hate driving so im really biased, but its really nice to take the trains since they go from city center to city center and you dont have to screw around looking for transportation from the airport to the city.

Also, get some guide books for where you want to go. If you dont know where, then you have a problem and will need to figure that out since you cant plan for it unless you know. There could be some things that you need a reservation for unless you want to spend more $$ to do so. You can also look at your local library for travel books, or if youre lucky your area may have a "travel group meeting".

What i do for ease of travel is to try and plan my travels in some path. i find that bouncing back and forth around eruope can be more expensive and you will loose sight seeing time by doing so. If you can, try to make a linear path or a circular path so that you dont cris-cross your path and waste time.

One last comment. Take a look at Rick Steves, "Europe through the back door". It has some really good tips and is the one i used on my first trip and with several others. I still use the hint/tips since its a tool you will use everytime you travel.

happy trails.

The airfare is just one factor. Airfare from where I am at to London for example is very, very reasonable; but London as a whole is $$$$$, and the cheap airfare doesn't off set the other costs.

Another factor is where you stay. Look at apartments. They can be less than half the cost and can actually add to the experience by putting you "in the economy" and deeper into the culture of where you are visiting.

Look for easily linked locations like Prague, Vienna and Budapest; or Rome and Florence. You will save on time and transportation expenses.

Then some places just have a lower cost in general: Here are some suggestions http://travel.usnews.com/Rankings/Best_Affordable_Europe_Vacations/

No touristed places will be deserted in early October, but some mountain, lake or beach areas can be very quiet by November 1. Be prepared for rain and with the flexible layers you would usually use for hiking and biking, but I would not be extremely worried about weather. Summer-only local buses may not run to a beach in October, but I have swum in early October at shallow or sheltered beaches along many parts of the Mediterranean. Our tour groups enjoy Lake Bled in Slovenia through mid-October. Outdoor excursion companies near there, such as Lifetrek Adventures also have offerings at least partway into October.

Lindsey, In my opinion this is an excellent time of year to travel to Europe. Last year we were in Italy from mid-September to mid-October and experienced about 5-6 days of rainy weather in Tuscany. A few years ago we were in France and Spain during the same time period and I don't recall any rain. Use a website like weatherbase.com to get some historical averages. One place for hiking is the Lauterbrunnen Valley in Switzerland. Beautiful scenery in that part of the Alps. The average high temps there at that time of the year are historically in the low 60s. Warning: Switzerland is somewhat expensive. Have a good trip!

We travel in Central and Eastern Europe a lot and our favorite time is mid September to mid October give or take a week at one end or the other. This isn't the slowest tourist season but the differences can be pretty notable in places like Prague. When you find yourself in the countryside of the Czech Republic or Slovakia or Hungary the lack of competing tourist is very marked. November on the other hand tends to be less enjoyable as it can get pretty cold without Holiday events to make it all worth while. If you are into cultural events the fall is when it all starts up. This is a significant part of the culture of Central and Eastern Europe which again makes the fall a pretty nice time to visit. Over in the HUNGARY forum there is a post of activities in the "Winter" which includes the Fall season. Similar things happen throughout the region.

September is perfect for hiking in Central Europe. Not in the Alps, but in the Mittelgebirge. The most popular Mittelgebirge in Germany are the Harz, the Black Forest and Saxon Switzerland.
My personal favorite is Saxon Switzerland, halfway between Dresden and Prague. The mountains are small but spectacular, and there is a large network of hiking trails, which can keep you busy for months. Some of the trails are romantic, some are demanding, some are scary, some are nuts, and all of them offer great views. You can also continue on the Czech side, which is called Bohemian Switzerland. Hiking there is wonderful, even kids of all ages(!) love it.
The train from Dresden to Prague crosses the mountains, which means day trips to both cities are easily doable. Dresden is closer to the mountains and great if the weather is bad. Also close-by are the small towns of Pirna and Meissen, Königstein fortress and Pillnitz castle. Pillnitz is surrounded by wineyards, just like Radebeul (where you can see this castle). Late September is also the time when all the wine festivals take place. All the mentioned places, except Prague, can also be reached by a fleet of nostalgic paddle steamers. And if you rent a car you can visit places like Bautzen, Görlitz, Freiberg, Weesenstein castle or Seiffen, a village with nothing but Christmas shops.