From great deals on city breaks and beach holidays, to festivals, events, outdoor activities and more, here’s how to get the most out of your fall 2024 travel experience!
Where should you go this fall? It’s a great time to travel: the weather is still nice if you choose the right place, prices are lower and places and events are less crowded. We’ve picked a bunch of ideas — not destinations per se, but we will include a couple of those as well — to inspire you to a fall vacation you might not have thought of.
Graz, Austria
Hop on a train in Vienna and you’ll be in Graz in around two-and-a-half to three hours, passing through some stunning mountain scenery along the way. Once you’re there, you’ll find a small-ish city that’s the perfect fall getaway. The huge Schlossberg hill is shrouded in trees that are just beginning to turn, and the views from the top over the river and the Old Town are wonderful. The students have returned, giving it a buzz of beginning-of-term energy, and the cobbled alleyways and snug pubs are just the thing if the weather starts to turn. Oh, and there’s also a massive (175m) underground slide to play on. What’s not to like?
Le Mans, France
Known globally as the home of the world’s most famous 24 hour motor race, once the madness of the summer is over, Le Mans returns to what it is: one of the best-preserved Roman-walled cities in Europe, topped with a wonderfully bulbous pile of a cathedral. Only a couple of hours from Paris by train, it’s easy to get to and offers riverside bars for good weather and intimate bistros for the not-so-good. The narrow, winding streets offer up half-timbered buildings and little oddities like stone obelisks on corners (to stop cart wheels damaging the houses). If you do want a bit of a look at the history of the race (it’d be rude not to, you’re in Le Mans after all), the Museum of the 24 Hours of Le Mans is located at the north end of the circuit (the part closest to the city) and houses over 140 racing cars from the event’s history.
Boston, MA, United States
New England in the fall is famous for its foliage changing color, and while you might not necessarily be a “leaf-peeper” (as those who descend upon the region in the fall are widely known), Boston is a great place to combine a city break with a bit of the surrounding area. The city itself changes color with Boston Common and the Public Garden central to this, as well as the lovely Charles River Esplanade — perfect for walking, cycling, jogging, or simply sitting and people-watching. Outside the city you’re within fairly easy reach of the blustery headlands of Rhode Island and Maine, perfect for a day of walking followed by rewarding yourself with some fresh, local seafood.
Sagres, Portugal
Come fall, Sagres is more of a surf spot, with the Atlantic winds and tides giving some of the best waves in Europe, but the water is still nudging 20C so if you fancy having a splash around it’s still possible. Sagres (and the neighboring Tonel) are little more than villages, but the whole of Cape St. Vincent is beaches, cliffs, inlets and wild, lonely lighthouses. There’s also a lovely variety of places to stay, from luxury hotels to glamping, surf lodges, romantic clifftop villas or eco-camping, and activities from hiking to golf to keep you occupied if actually getting into the ocean isn’t quite your thing.
Bodrum, Turkey
Located on Turkey’s stunning Turquoise Coast, Bodrum is an almost sure bet for beautiful, warm weather in the fall. The Old Town itself features a medieval fortress built partly with stones from the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus (one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and no longer standing; I mean, part of it’s here). The twin bays also serve as a port with ferries to nearby Turkish and Greek islands, and the surrounding villages are little portraits of Mediterranean coastal life. For a genuinely relaxing beach break, you can’t do much better.
Quintana Roo, Mexico
Okay, so the northern tip of this Mexican state is where you’ll find the famously, stereotypically raucous resort of Cancún, but there’s a lot to be said for the rest of it if you don’t fancy partying all the time. The beautiful Riviera Maya has the bluest waters, and Playa Maroma gives you the chance to stay in bungalows built on stilts over that water. Playa Ruinas (again, very popular but worth it) allows visitors to swim in the shadow of a Mayan temple, Isla Holbox offers quieter beaches for strolling and watching the beautiful sunsets, and Laguna Guerrero sweeps prettily inland, offering canoeing, fishing and generally lazing about.
Let’s start with music shall we? Kraków in Poland has been hosting the Unsound festival every year for the last 21, and this experimental electronic bash is now a focal point for artists and fans who love pushing the boundaries of sound. Similarly electronic but involving an entire city, the ADE (Amsterdam Dance Event) is 1,000 events across almost 200 locations: not just club nights, but panels, talks, shows and workshops.
For something far more laid-back, Venice hosts the Regatta Storica, a rowing regatta involving hundreds of boats and contestants in magnificent period costumes. Otherwise, why not the Festival of Lights in Berlin, not so much a festival per se, rather a chance to see the major landmarks (Brandenburg Gate, Unter den Linden, etc.), parks, city squares and hip neighborhoods all covered in fairy lights. Genuinely beautiful.
Germany also hosts one of the major European festivals in fall, and one that brings people from all over the world: Oktoberfest. But… yeah, it’s mega-touristy, mega-busy and there are alternatives. How about the Ingolstadt Volksfest, a city that’s also home to a mighty German car brand (Audi as opposed to Munich’s BMW), a similar — if smaller — selection of red-roofed, arcaded Baroque and Renaissance buildings, and a festival that includes beer tents, live music, funfairs and fireworks. Or how about the Viehscheid (or Almabtrieb), an Alpine festival that involves farmers bringing their cattle down into the valleys for the winter? The animals all wear headdresses, flowers and bells, and the towns and villages teem with late-fall life.
The sporting season starts in earnest in fall if you’re a fan of sports such as soccer, ice hockey, NFL, rugby and the like. There are even great value 3-day general admission tickets still available for the F1 race (yay!) in Qatar (hmm).
It’s now becoming more and more common to base a trip around seeing a game of something. The English Premier League is one option, but it’s expensive and tickets can be hard to come by. But let’s say you’re in London. Why not hit a lower-league club? Charlton Athletic, Leyton Orient, QPR or AFC Wimbledon maybe? Or go even lower and get some genuine non-league action: cheap tickets to quirky grounds, local beer, passionate fans and good, honest players. Try Boreham Wood, Walthamstow, Kingstonian, Hampton & Richmond or hipster favorite Dulwich Hamlet.
Ice hockey is popular across northern and central Europe, so why not pick a game in, say, Berlin, Salzburg, Prague or Geneva as the centerpiece of a long weekend city break? Want something equally physical but outdoors? Rugby is wildly popular in France and some of the country’s most beautiful cities — Bordeaux, Montpelier, Lyon and more — have professional teams playing in large stadiums in front of passionate crowds.
Finally for this section, you could have sports for days in the US. So many cities have great sports teams it’d be almost impossible not to see a game of some sort. Let’s take Seattle for example: there are four teams playing within 200 meters of each other. The Seahawks (NFL), the Sounders (MLS) and the Reign (NWSL) share Lumen Field (although not on the same day, obviously!) while across the street is T-Mobile Park, home of the Mariners (MLB). On top of that, a mere two miles away opposite the Space Needle is the home of the Seattle Kraken (NHL). Now that’s a sporting city break!
Iceland
After the summer months when tourists appear in their droves to experience endless days, fall offers everything Iceland does well — hot springs, waterfalls, hiking, cycling, etc. — but without the crowds. Sure, you’ll have to bring some warmer, wet-weather gear, but that’s half the fun. Sitting in a warm lagoon in cold weather is the most satisfying way to do it, and although it’s not prime Northern Lights season, your chances are still very good.
Cape Town, South Africa
With pretty much perfect temperatures for outdoor pursuits (15 — 20C is normal), Cape Town offers hikes up Table Mountain (or an aerial cableway if you’re feeling a bit lazy) which, at this time of year, is exploding in wildflowers of all different kinds. You can sign up for a whale watching excursion (fall is calving season so you might see some baby whales), take a turn through the National Parks, or reward yourself with a day or two touring the local wine region.
The Lake District, England
Stride across the landscape in the footsteps of Alfred Wainwright, whose seven-volume Pictorial Guide to the Lakeland Fells has become the standard reference work to 214 of the fells of the English Lake District. He also wrote the first guide to the Coast to Coast Walk, a 182-mile (293-kilometer) trek from (checks notes) yep, one coast to the other. Pack some lightweight waterproofs, some sandwiches and a flask of tea and head out on daily hikes, or a tent for longer trips. Dry yourself off and get warmed up by the fireside in a friendly village pub, and marvel at this most beautiful of English landscapes (the Lake District, not the pub. Though pubs are nice too).
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