October, with its mild weather, autumn color, and fun festivities can be one of the best months to travel.
Vacations are a fun way to get some rest, enjoy the company of family or friends, and see areas of the world that perhaps we've never seen. Summer is the most obvious time to take a vacation: the children are out of school and the weather is usually cooperative. Yet if a family, couple, or individual can wait a couple of extra months for that vacation, October is a great month to travel to many places around the globe, due to the mild, cool weather.
If Asia is on your itinerary, the weather in Japan, China, Thailand, Singapore and India are ideal for travel. Usually by October, the rainy season has ended and the air is dryer and cooler. Sometimes the skies are a bit cloudier, but this means less tourists and more room to explore. Indonesia is also a good place to go in October; wintertime is quite wet and humid, but the summer months through October are dry and pleasant. Places to avoid are Hong Kong, as October is often cyclone month, and Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines, as October falls right in the middle of the wet season.
Tourists in Europe have begun to thin out by October. The days are a bit shorter and the air cooler, but the crowds are all but gone and the autumn colors are beautiful. Many special fairs and festivities are planned in October to keep European cities livened up after the summer rush. Paris has the Salon du Chocolat, which celebrates the wonders of chocolate in late October; Munich celebrates its famed Oktoberfest in early October; and Budapest offers its Autumn Music Festival later in the month. Southern Europe still has warm weather and blue skies: Italy and Spain are lovely in October; the beaches are still warm and inviting, but the Mediterranean is much too cool for swimming.
Mexico and Central America are warm and the beaches are filled in October. Brazil celebrates the Cirio de Nazare, an Amazon region festival, and Mexico has its famed week of Dias de los Muertos, the Days of the Dead. The west coast of Mexico offers wide beaches and blue Pacific waters, but sometimes the Caribbean hurricane season affects the eastern parts of the country.
The United States has a plethora of travel opportunities in October. With all the kids back in school, crowds are low and the weather is generally mild, with a few exceptions in the high Rockies, the high Sierras, Alaska and the Southeastern coast. Often snow will arrive in early October in the mountains and in Alaska, and the Southeast coast is prone to hurricanes, though if they don't show, the weather is beautiful. The rest of the southern half of the country is ideal this time of year. Southern heat and humidity have subsided and the intense desert heat of New Mexico and Arizona is but a remnant. Central and Northern California is nice in October, as much of the fog has subsided and often it feels warmer than in the summer months. Tornado season has ended across the Midwest and skies are clearer and bluer than usual. But perhaps the best place to be in the United States in October is the Northeast. From Tennessee to Maine, the autumn color is stunning, where travelers will find unlimited grove after grove of red, gold, orange, peach and scarlet leaves, contrasted against breezy blue skies.
If you can get away or take the children out of school for a few weeks in October, try planning your vacation then. With mild weather, autumn color and fun festivities, October can be one of the best months to travel.
