Best time to go
Where to go in October
24 vetted destinations are at their best in October, across 17 countries. Each one is rated from ten years of daily temperature and rainfall recorded at that city's own coordinates — so this is a weather answer, not a popularity ranking, and the figure beside every place is the actual average it earns that rating on.
A rating of “ideal” means the month lands in that destination's comfortable band for both heat and rain. It says nothing about crowds or prices, which move on school holidays rather than on the weather — a city can be at its climatic best and still be at its busiest, and several here are both.
- Rome · ItalyComfortable days around 23°C, and little rain (76mm rain).
- Paris · FranceComfortable days around 17°C, and little rain (91mm rain).
- Istanbul · TürkiyeComfortable days around 21°C, and little rain (52mm rain).
- London · United KingdomComfortable days around 16°C, and little rain (112mm rain).
- Vienna · AustriaComfortable days around 17°C, and little rain (49mm rain).
- Santorini · GreeceComfortable days around 24°C, and little rain (10mm rain).
- Amsterdam · NetherlandsComfortable days around 15°C, and little rain (92mm rain).
- Barcelona · SpainComfortable days around 22°C, and little rain (105mm rain).
- Lisbon · PortugalComfortable days around 23°C, and little rain (85mm rain).
- Lucerne · SwitzerlandComfortable days around 16°C, and little rain (135mm rain).
- Prague · CzechiaComfortable days around 16°C, and little rain (53mm rain).
- Berlin · GermanyComfortable days around 15°C, and little rain (56mm rain).
- Mexico City · MexicoComfortable days around 23°C, and little rain (79mm rain).
- Kraków · PolandComfortable days around 16°C, and little rain (58mm rain).
- Grand Canyon · United StatesComfortable days around 25°C, and little rain (16mm rain).
- Plitvice Lakes · CroatiaComfortable days around 15°C, and little rain (127mm rain).
- Hiroshima · JapanComfortable days around 22°C, and little rain (65mm rain).
- Florence · ItalyComfortable days around 22°C, and little rain (100mm rain).
- Provence · FranceComfortable days around 19°C, and little rain (126mm rain).
- Cappadocia · TürkiyeComfortable days around 21°C, and little rain (14mm rain).
- Cotswolds · United KingdomComfortable days around 14°C, and little rain (126mm rain).
- Salzburg · AustriaComfortable days around 17°C, and little rain (98mm rain).
- Athens · GreeceComfortable days around 23°C, and little rain (28mm rain).
- Keukenhof · NetherlandsComfortable days around 15°C, and little rain (141mm rain).
Where to skip in October
These are worth going to — just not now. The same ten-year record puts each of them outside its comfortable band this month, and every one has a better window on its own guide.
- Ho Chi Minh City · VietnamVery wet — 327mm rain across the month (30°C).
- Jungfraujoch · SwitzerlandCold, around -3°C (162mm rain).
- Phuket · ThailandVery wet — 301mm rain across the month (29°C).
- Kerala/Kochi · IndiaVery wet — 382mm rain across the month (28°C).
- Hakone · JapanVery wet — 257mm rain across the month (21°C).
- Cinque Terre · ItalyVery wet — 271mm rain across the month (19°C).
- Isle of Skye · United KingdomVery wet — 278mm rain across the month (11°C).
- Santiago de Compostela · SpainVery wet — 254mm rain across the month (19°C).