Halloween is around the corner and the last leaves are tenaciously clinging on to their branches, but with a little help from Skyscanner it can be holiday season all year round. Check out our guide to the best cities, beaches and events this October.
Best city breaks in October
1) Marrakech, Morocco
Average temperature: 27°C
October is an excellent time to visit Marrakech: the weather is at an ideal midpoint between the scorching 38°C highs of August and the chilly 6°C lows of January. If you’re looking for somewhere to stay in the city, a riad makes an excellent choice. These guesthouses are usually arranged around a pleasantly cool open courtyard and act as tranquil cocoons against the chaos of the city outside. There are hundreds across Marrakech, but a couple of recommendations are the beautifully restored Riad Les Yeux Bleus and Riad Chafia.
2) Palermo, Italy
Average temperature: 22°C
Sicily enjoys fine weather all through October, and the slightly cooler temperatures make it much more pleasant than in August. As you explore the decaying grandeur of Palermo, make sure to take some time out for a visit to the eerie Catacombe dei Cappuccini (open daily 9am–1pm and 3pm–6pm; €3) undoubtedly the city’s most ghoulish attraction and the perfect place for a creepy Halloween trip. The catacombs have been in use since the 1600s as the final resting place of monks, friars and members of the city's elite. The catacombs were eventually closed to new burials in the 1880s and they now hold around 8,000 corpses: some are mere skeletons, but others are eerily well preserved.
3) Marseille, France
Average temperature: 19°C
Marseille in October is certainly warm enough for an evening spent on the terrace of a bar in the old port, watching the luxury yachts bob in the water as you sip pastis, the anise-flavoured local liqueur. Try Bar de la Marine (15 Quai de Rive Neuve) or L’Unic (11 Cours Jean Ballard), both excellent sundowner spots. If you’re more into culture than quaffing visit the excellent Museum of the Civilisations of Europe and the Mediterranean (open daily 11am–6pm, exhibitions cost €8), which hosts exhibitions on everything from the birth of agriculture to the recent uprising in Tunisia.
4) Hanoi, Vietnam
Average temperature: 29°C
After soaring temperatures from May to August, the weather in Hanoi becomes much more pleasant in October. It's a generally warm and sunny period, before temperatures dip to 15°C in December. With its crumbling colonial buildings, particularly the elegant villas in the French quarter, Hanoi proves a fascinating place to wander around. But it also makes an excellent jumping off point for trips to the exotic Ha Long Bay, the site of astonishing limestone karsts that thrust almost vertically out of the water, earning it a reputation as one of the natural wonders of the world.
5) Crete, Greece
Average temperature: 22°C
At a more than pleasant October average of 22°C, Crete is the perfect place for an autumn getaway. Balos Beach provides an extraordinary sight – as well as offering soft golden sand, it provides a stunning view of a sheer-walled island topped with a Venetian castle. And speaking of ancient buildings, the huge Bronze Age site at Knossos on Crete is thought to be Europe’s oldest city, dating back around 4,000 years. During its heyday, the city and its environs boasted a population of 100,000 people. In Greek mythology, Knossos was the site of the Labyrinth, which was patrolled by the half-man, half-bull Minotaur and the beautiful Queen Ariadne lived in the palace. The Labyrinth may be pure myth, but there was certainly a palace: you can find its ruins around three miles south of Iraklio. Guided tours are around €10 and last 90 minutes.