October is an excellent shoulder-season month. Southern Europe is still pleasant, with sunny days and fewer crowds, and autumn colours arrive in North America, Central Europe and later in the month in Japan. The Middle East and North Africa become comfortable again as the summer heat breaks.
In Mexico, preparations for the Day of the Dead (1–2 November) fill the last days of the month with altars, marigolds and markets, especially in Oaxaca and Mexico City.
Top picks for October
What October is good for
Warm and comfortable again
The heat of summer is over in North Africa and the Middle East.
Day of the Dead preparations
Markets and decorations fill the streets in the days before 1 November.
☀️ Warm-weather picks
Cities with a tropical or desert climate that are in season in October.
- 🇲🇦 MarrakechHot semi-arid
- 🇪🇬 CairoHot desert
- 🇴🇲 MuscatHot desert
- 🇮🇩 UbudTropical monsoon
- 🇮🇳 BangaloreTropical savanna
- 🇪🇬 AlexandriaHot desert
- 🇪🇬 LuxorHot desert
- 🇹🇿 ZanzibarTropical
💰 Good value in October
In season and easy on the budget. Estimate the cost of a trip with the budget estimator.
- 🇵🇹 Lisbon€€ Moderate
- 🇭🇺 Budapest€€ Moderate
- 🇬🇷 Athens€€ Moderate
- 🇲🇦 Marrakech€€ Moderate
- 🇪🇬 Cairo€ Budget
- 🇰🇷 Seoul€€ Moderate
- 🇿🇦 Cape Town€€ Moderate
- 🇵🇱 Krakow€ Budget
🌗 Quieter shoulder-season options
October is just outside these cities' best months: expect fewer visitors and lower prices, with less predictable weather.
- 🇬🇧 LondonBest: May–September
- 🇪🇸 BarcelonaBest: May–June, September
- 🇦🇪 DubaiBest: November–March
- 🇹🇭 BangkokBest: November–February
- 🇦🇹 ViennaBest: April–September
- 🇩🇪 BerlinBest: May–September
- 🇮🇪 DublinBest: May–September
- 🇬🇧 EdinburghBest: May–September (Fringe: August)
All 99 cities in season in October
🏰 Europe 25
- Athens
- Bologna
- Bordeaux
- Bruges
- Budapest
- Dubrovnik
- Florence
- Granada
- Krakow
- Lisbon
- Madrid
- Milan
- Naples
- Nice
- Palermo
- Paris
- Prague
- Reykjavik
- Rome
- Seville
- Turin
- Valencia
- Valletta
- Venice
- Verona
🏯 Asia 26
- Baku
- Bangalore
- Beijing
- Busan
- Chengdu
- Delhi
- Guilin
- Hanoi
- Hiroshima
- Hong Kong
- Jaipur
- Kathmandu
- Kyoto
- Macau
- Nara
- Osaka
- Samarkand
- Seoul
- Shanghai
- Taipei
- Tbilisi
- Tokyo
- Ubud
- Udaipur
- Varanasi
- Xi'an
🗽 Americas 23
- Austin
- Boston
- Buenos Aires
- Chicago
- Denver
- Guadalajara
- Honolulu
- La Paz
- Las Vegas
- Los Angeles
- Montreal
- Nashville
- New York
- Oaxaca
- Ottawa
- Philadelphia
- Salvador
- San Diego
- San Francisco
- Santiago
- São Paulo
- Toronto
- Washington
🦁 Africa 13
- Addis Ababa
- Alexandria
- Cairo
- Cape Town
- Casablanca
- Chefchaouen
- Fez
- Johannesburg
- Luxor
- Marrakech
- Nairobi
- Windhoek
- Zanzibar
🕌 Middle East 7
🌊 Oceania 5
How we choose these cities
Every city guide on GuesTheCity lists the months when we think the city is at its best, balancing weather, crowds and prices. A city appears on this page when October is one of those months. Warm-weather picks are filtered by climate, value picks by our budget rating for each city, and shoulder-season options are cities where October falls just before or after their best months.
Weather varies from year to year and festival dates move, so check the forecast and event calendar before you book. To see the full year for any city, use the best time to visit calendar, explore cities by region on the world map, or compare two options with City vs City.