Weather in western/Central Europe in May or October

Both are about the same for temps, rain, and crowds. April's just as good, maybe better in some ways. November will probably need a fleece under a light rain jacket in many places. Bear in mind you asked a loaded question; the top of Norway is a bit different than Gibralter. Above answer was based on England, Wales, France, Germany, Italy, Spain with no consideration of higher altitudes.

Hi Mike,

Can you be a bit more specific as to where?

We love October for or trips in the Alps... Bavaria, Austria and the Italian Dolomites. In our opinion, it's the best time to travel to these area's. Our experiences... mild days, chilly nights and hardly any rain. Can't predict the weather, but that's what we've experienced during many trips the last 8 years.

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For Germany, I would pick May over October any day. Mostly nice, Lovely sunny days, the flowers everywhere are gorgeous. Longer days too. June 21st is the longest day, so by October, they are really getting short again. We had nice weather the first couple of weeks of October this year, but last year it was really cold, rainy and windy.

May is usually pretty nice and the days are longer. October starts out nice but is usually pretty cold by the end of the month. If I had to choose, I'd pick May. If it's going to be early October, however, the weather may be about the same.