If I could pick only one season in which to travel it would be autumn. What’s not to love? The peak-season crowds are thinner and hotel prices and air fares are lower. Arguably the food is better as heartier ingredients come to the fore — pumpkin tagines, freshly pressed olive oil and truffles on everything, for starters. And the weather is generally less extreme; an ever-more important factor these days and crucial for a city break. Autumn is the times when European cities fizz with new energy, with the lethargy of summer over and the winter hibernation yet to hit. And let’s not forget the colours — there are few things more memorable than crunching through russet leaves as you walk through a park between a gallery session and a button-popping lunch.
I’m a diehard Euro-city fan in autumn — eating truffle-dusted comfort food in Turin, driving through the fiery Rhodope Mountains from Plovdiv, and drinking xinomavro wine in the reddening hills outside Thessaloniki are some of my all-time favourite travel memories. But cities further afield also do autumn brilliantly, of course. I liked Boston well enough until an October holiday combined with leaf-peeping day trips morphed that like into love. Afternoon showers were an easy exchange in return for the excitement of Diwali celebrations in Singapore. And at this time of year the southern hemisphere is equally gorgeous in its spring — the jacaranda season in Buenos Aires (and, for that matter, Johannesburg) turns the city into one big art installation.
For this list, I’ve tried to pick a mix of big hitters and less obvious locations — half short-haul, half long-haul, all of which come into their own in autumn. Whether you’re looking for a food scene, off-season sun, culture or leaf-peeping, there should be something for everyone. See you over a plate of pumpkin tagine in one of these best places around the world for an autumn city break.
Meet our expert
Julia Buckley is a travel writer based in Italy. She is a city-break devotee, and while Italian cities will always remain among her top picks for a metropolitan break — Naples is her all-time favourite — she’s also a super-fan of anywhere with ancient history. She’d pick a city any time over a beach or countryside holiday and has notched up favourites across the world from Athens to Zaragoza, via Johannesburg, Montevideo and Buffalo, New York.
Best places for an autumn city break
All recommendations within this article are informed by expert editorial opinion. If you click on a link in this story, we will earn affiliate revenue
Short-haul destinations
1. Turin, Italy
Best for seasonal nesting
Criminally underrated Turin comes into its own as Italy’s unofficial autumn capital. Piedmont (the surrounding region) is exactly where you want to be as the leaves start dropping; this is a never-ending landscape of vineyards and forested hills that act as the cradle for some of the world’s most famous truffles. There’s no need to head out into the countryside as Piedmont’s finest wares come straight to the city. This is the home of the Slow Food movement, so you’ll find truffles from Alba and full-throated reds from Barolo on every menu, accompanying Piedmont classics such as ravioli del plin — tiny, delicate pockets of pasta filled with meat and swimming in a glassy, gravy-style sauce.
Aside from the food, the elegant first capital of a unified Italy is a big-hitter museum city. The Museo Egizio has the greatest collection of ancient Egyptian antiquities outside Cairo; the Museo Nazionale del Cinema is a wonderful ode to film in Turin’s most famous building; the Musei Reali form a network of former royal collections from art to armour — this year they’re marking the centenary of the death of Margherita, Italy’s first queen, with a niche but fascinating exhibition of female-centred coins.
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NH Collection Torino Santo Stefano is a dizzying (in a good way) modern build opposite the Palazzo Reale and cathedral.
Kirker Holidays can tailor-make city breaks to Turin, including flights and transfers to a city-centre hotel. They’ll throw in a 72-hour Torino Card, which allows free access to all the main sites in the city — including more than 80 museums, castles and royal residences — as well as covering all public transport except the metro and offering discounts on theatre performances, concerts and guided tours.
2. Cadiz, Spain
Best for history in abundance
You’ll need to travel around 80 minutes south of Seville airport for a weekend in Cadiz — arrange a private transfer or take the train via Seville city centre — but the journey is more than worth it. While the Andalusian capital gets ever more busy, Cadiz remains (almost) as gloriously unspoilt as it was 3,000 years ago when founded by the Phoenicians. You can see remains of Phoenician houses at the Yacimiento Arqueologico Gadir in the city centre and traces of their harbour below La Cueva del Pajaro Azul flamenco bar, near the florid 18th-century cathedral.
The centre is a palimpsest of the cultures that have passed through here, from the Roman theatre to the Parque Genoves, filled with plants from across the globe — and autumn is the perfect time to visit, as the city comes back to life after the sizzling summer. In October the Casa Alameda Melia Collection, a new five-star hotel sculpted from two 18th-century palaces, opens on the waterfront.
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Roll back the centuries at the Hotel Boutique Convento Cadiz, a simple but delightful conversion of a 17th-century Dominican monastery in the old town.
Bespoke weekend breaks to Cadiz are available from Kirker Holidays, including all-important transfers from Seville airport.
3. Bordeaux, France
Best for oenophiles
The vendage is calling and France’s wine capital makes the best base for a wine-themed short break. Pair time in the city exploring museums from the Musée des Beaux-Arts, which has a rare portrait by the female Renaissance artist Lavinia Fontana, to the wine-themed Cité du Vin, immersing you in the history of this famed terroir. Spend the evenings strolling through the elegant streets — all creamy-coloured limestone mansions along the Garonne River — as you work your way through its wine bars. Add a day trip or two out of town to see the harvest in action. Château la Fleur de Boüard is one of the many Bordeaux vineyards that allow visitors to take part in the harvest or offer picnics amid the vines.
Make it happen
Le Boutique Hotel & Spa combines elegant 18th-century environs with outré-but-classy modern decor.
Abercrombie & Kent’s epicurean journey through France is a ten-day gastro extravaganza, with four days in Bordeaux after stops in Paris and the Loire Valley.
4. Valletta, Malta
Best for a reliably warm break
For (pretty much) guaranteed short-haul autumn sun, bets don’t get much safer than Valletta. Enjoying about 300 sunny days annually, Malta’s capital is a place to bask year-round — on hotel terraces, outside British-style pubs (the aptly named the Pub on Archbishop Street is always a good option) or on the traditional dghajsa boats that shuttle between Valletta and the Three Cities (Birgu, Senglea and Cospicua) across the water, or do longer loops of the Grand Harbour.
A half-hour ride on the 82 bus takes you to Birzebbuga, a town known for its sandy beach (Pretty Bay) and archaeological sites including a ruined Roman villa and a megalithic temple. Back in Valletta, the dwindling crowds mean that you can properly enjoy a visit to St John’s Co-Cathedral — have a one-on-one with Caravaggio’s mindblowing Beheading of St John the Baptist but also take time to appreciate the handiwork of Mattia Preti, who rejigged the cathedral in the baroque period. A quick taxi ride away is the Hal Saflieni Hypogeum, an extraordinary neolithic burial complex that resembles an underground temple — in peak season it is fully booked weeks ahead but tickets are much easier to score in autumn.
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You’ll have a spectacular view of Valletta from the Barcelo Fortina Malta, located in Sliema, across the water from the city centre (a few minutes by ferry).
Oceania Cruises’ ten-night, Valletta-to-Barcelona itinerary departs in September and includes stops in Sorrento and Portofino in Italy — at their loveliest without the summer crowds. Your base is the all-inclusive Sirena, which has various impressive dining options and stylish, nautical-blue-themed staterooms.
5. Fez, Morocco
Best for slow city mooching
As the scorching summer temperatures drop, the crowds flood to Marrakesh, making Fez — Morocco’s cultural capital — the place for a more tranquil city break. Now is the time to spend your days getting lost in the medieval medina, its sprawling centre rated by Unesco as one of the largest and best conserved Arab-Muslim historic old towns. The food gets an autumnal twist as pumpkin and figs are slipped into traditional tagines, while the clear skies make it a photo-friendly season. A hotel relaunch this autumn puts Fez on a par with Marrakesh: Palais Jamai, a 19th-century vizier’s palace and a hotel for nearly a century, will reopen as a sister hotel to Marrakesh’s La Mamounia after a decade-long renovation.
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Palais Amani is an elegant art deco-style riad standing outside the medina, with fantastic views from its rooftop terrace.
Cox & Kings’ Moroccan Explorer itinerary is a 12-day epic journey through the country’s three imperial cities: Rabat, Marrakesh and Fez.
6. Thessaloniki, Greece
Best for ancient history
The pristine beaches of nearby Halkidiki mean that there are year-round flights to Thessaloniki from Gatwick and Stansted, bolstered by seasonal connections from regional airports that continue well into October. As tempting as the beaches are, you’re here for one of the most fascinating ancient city breaks in Europe. Thessaloniki’s latest attraction is its metro, which slices through layers of history. After decades of planning, repeatedly stymied by the treasures below the surface, the first line has finally opened, with stations doubling as museums of ancient and Byzantine Greece (Venizelou and Hagia Sophia are the most interesting — at the former, you’ll walk past the excavated Decumanus Maximus, or Roman high street).
Stroll the three-mile waterfront in the autumn sun,and bask in the Macedonian gold at the Archaeological Museum. For a day trip, make a twin-centre journey to Veria, a town rich in Byzantine history where St Paul preached, or Vergina, where Philip of Macedon and various ancient royals are buried — both are about an hour’s drive away, in hills filled with trees turning copper.
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Thessaloniki’s grande dame is the Electra Palace, taking pride of place on Aristotelous Square, with views towards the sea.
Audley Travel’s 11-day Mainland Greece itinerary winds through the country’s ancient history as you make your way north from Athens to Thessaloniki.
7. Plovdiv, Bulgaria
Best for a base for day trips
Perhaps only Boston can match Plovdiv for its autumn colours. While the old town’s many trees flush russet between vibrant Roman ruins and Ottoman-era mansions, a short drive from town thrusts you straight into the glorious colours of the Rhodope Mountains. You’ll be immersed in golds, reds and coppers on the easy journey through a river gorge to the hillside Bachkovo monastery, Bulgaria’s second largest, whose ancient frescoes unfurl around a vast tree in the medieval courtyard, about 30 minutes’ drive south of the city. To really enjoy the mountains, hire a car and head out for the day into the Rhodopes, where you’ll find the ancient Thracian sanctuary of Belintash and the city of Perperikon hoisted high in the blazing-copper mountains.
Make it happen
Base yourself at Villa Flavia, a delightful family-owned, centrally located boutique hotel with a Roman bath complex in its basement.
Intrepid Travel’s Eastern Europe Express trip is a ten-day odyssey through Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey, visiting Plovdiv after Bulgaria’s famous Rila Monastery — also perfect for autumn colours.
Long-haul destinations
8. Boston, US
Best for leaf-peeping
It’s all about the fall in Boston. New England’s famed foliage is in blazing colour in the city, where flaming trees spark up against the classic brick buildings and turn Boston Common — America’s oldest city park, established in 1634 — into a symphony of colour. That’s the starting point for the Freedom Trail, a 2.5-mile walking route that takes you through sites linked to the American revolution. For a day trip, rent a car and just about any direction will take you straight into classic “fall foliage” views. Heading west takes you into the mountains, but going north past Marblehead, Salem and up to Rockport combines spectacular coastal views and historical towns with incredible colours.
Make it happen
The Newbury has been a Back Bay staple since 1927, but today it wears its history lightly, with rooms coloured in classic neutrals. Book a park view for peak autumn colours.
Hayes and Jarvis has an epic, three-week New England Mountains & Cape Cod Road Trip, which starts and ends in Boston, with plenty of leaf-peeping in between.
hayesandjarvis.co.uk
9. Kyoto, Japan
Best for a spiritual experience
Kyoto is another jewel box of autumn colours (koyo in Japanese). Its maples and ginkgos flash from gold to red as the leaves begin to turn, making it as spectacular a sight as the more famed sakura (cherry blossom) season in springtime. Of course, Kyoto is always beautiful — and studded with history, as Japan’s cultural capital and former imperial base — but for the best momijigari (leaf-peeping) you’ll want to head out of the Unesco-protected centre. A quick jaunt, and still on the metro line, is Daigo-ji temple, a Buddhist complex dating back nearly 1,000 years (though the temple is 16th-century). It stands at the foot of a mountain that comes ablaze with russet leaves in autumn.
Further afield, but still possible in a morning, are the temples of Jingo-ji and Saimyo-ji. The former is a 50-minute bus ride from Kyoto station, and from there it’s a 20-odd minute walk between the two, situated on Mount Takao, with crimson maples all around. Just beware, there are punishing 400-odd steps to reach Jingo-ji. Further along the river from Saimyo-ji is Kosan-ji, another foliage-wrapped temple and home to Japan’s oldest tea fields.
Make it happen
The Dusit Thani Kyoto is near the station, making it ideal for getting into the landscape on day trips.
Inside Japan’s 13-night Secrets of Shikoku itinerary concentrates on the lesser-visited Shikoku island but starts with three days in Kyoto.
insidejapantours.com
10. Oaxaca, Mexico
Best for festivals
Getting to Oaxaca from the UK means a transit in either Mexico City or Cancun, but it’s worth the extra effort to reach Mexico’s culinary powerhouse. The big autumn hitter here, of course, is Dia de Muertos (Day of the Dead) on November 2, and while it’s a deeply felt ritual for locals — who set up marigold-strewn altars and burn incense in the street to communicate with their ancestors — it’s also a magical time to pay a privileged visit, as the streets teem with dancing and brass bands. There’s so much to see here — the Zapotec ruins of Monte Alban are six miles southwest, while six miles east is the Arbol de Tule, a Montezuma cypress said to be 1,400 years old, with the widest trunk in the world.
Make it happen
With 91 bedrooms around an old convent, plus a modern pool, Quinta Real is a historic retreat in funky Oaxaca.
Audley Travel’s 11-day Cities and Culture: Mexico City, Puebla & Oaxaca itinerary includes a three-night stay at Quinta Real, as well as two nights in the Unesco listed city of Puebla and a visit to the floating gardens at Xochimilco, near the capital.
11. Quebec City, Canada
Best for history in nature
Its 400-year-old history makes Quebec City one of the most fascinating places in North America. Visit in autumn and it’s one of the prettiest too. With the St Lawrence River on one side and backed up against tree-covered mountains the other, this is the emerald city in summer but comes ablaze with the same autumn foliage colours you’ll find in New England.
You’ll get standout views of the show from the city’s ramparts (this is the only North American city north of Mexico to retain its original defensive walls), from the top of the Upper Town, reached by funicular, or from the Plains of Abraham, once a battlefield and now a tranquil green space that’s home to centenarian maple trees. There are plenty of day-trip possibilities to amp up the colours too — the vast Parc national de la Jacques-Cartier–Sépaq is only half an hour away by car, while Île d’Orléans, floating in the St Lawrence River upstream of the city, combines 17th-century cottages with wonderful fall foliage.
Make it happen
Swaddled by trees that glow copper in the autumn, it’s little wonder that Fairmont le Château Frontenac is said to be the most photographed hotel in Canada.
Audley Travel’s 15-day Boston and Eastern Canada by Cruise and Train itinerary offers an explosion of fall foliage, catching a cruise from Boston to Quebec City and continuing by train to Montreal.
12. Buenos Aires, Argentina
Best for southern-hemisphere spring
Our autumn is Argentina’s spring, when Buenos Aires seems to bloom with the explosion of the lavender-coloured jacaranda flowers. At their finest in November, the violet-canopied trees are everywhere: along Avenida del Libertador, the main road skirting the pretty districts of Retiro and Palermo; in Plaza de Mayo, outside the Casa Rosada; and at their most beautiful in Plaza San Martin (though stick to the safer northern part).
The southern hemisphere spring is when the Porteños fill up on culture too — this year there’s everything from the ballet Manon to the Barber of Seville at the Teatro Colon, said to have the best acoustics for opera in the world. And you can always expect to eat well in the Argentinian capital too — try Don Julio, a traditional parrilla (steakhouse) so good that it has a Michelin star. Don’t just go for the meat; pair it with fire-grilled vegetables from pumpkin to brussels sprouts.
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Nuss Buenos Aires Soho is immersed in the green (and jacaranda blues) of Palermo Soho, the city’s boho-cool district, with a rooftop terrace and small pool that feels like a park of its own.
Exodus Travels’ 14-day Discover Patagonia itinerary is topped and tailed with a stay in Buenos Aires, pairing the big city with the wild landscapes at the bottom of the planet.
13. Singapore
Best for a celebratory setting
In October the streets of Singapore’s Little India come alive with Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights. You may also be in time for the Formula 1 Grand Prix. Either way, autumn is a time of celebration for Asia’s smallest country. Be warned that this isn’t the dry season — afternoon showers are common — but on the plus side that means the Botanic Gardens and the city’s many parks come alive again after the dry season. The rain also provides the perfect excuse to nip to a hawker stand — perhaps the Michelin-starred Hill Street Tai Hwa Pork Noodle or Hawker Chan, which was the first street food stall to get a Michelin star for its sublimely simple chicken rice; it subsequently lost it, but you wouldn’t know from the food.
Make it happen
Wanderlust is a beautiful boutique hotel conversion of a 1920s mansion in Little India — perfect for a Diwali stay.
Virgin Holidays can put together Singapore packages departing from UK airports including Heathrow and Manchester, with stylish stays including the fabulously old-school Raffles Singapore.
14. Muscat, Oman
Best for guaranteed sun
The city makes for an ideal city-and-beach break when the punishing summer heat abates in late September. The National Museum of Oman tells the fascinating history of Muscat, including its time under Portuguese colonial rule; the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque, the country’s largest, is a spectacular modern complex made of creamy sandstone; and the 200-year-old Mutrah souk will set you up for an afternoon’s shopping.
Day trip options are world class — Wadi Ghul is a limestone gorge in the Hajar mountains better known as Arabia’s Grand Canyon (about three hours’ drive away), while Wahiba Sands, two hours’ drive from the city, features spectacular 100m-high (330ft) dunes. Of course, the beach is a year-round option here — pick a hotel on the water for the easiest access, such as the glamorous, recently opened Mandarin Oriental or the always-popular Chedi. If even the autumn heat gets too much, there’s always Verdi — the Royal Opera House Muscat releases its 2026-27 programme in September and always has first-rate productions.
Make it happen
Mandarin Oriental Muscat is a 15-minute drive from the centre, on a Mediterranean-feeling beach.
Wild Frontiers is an expert in putting together culture-packed tours of Oman that begin in Muscat and feature guided tours of the Mutrah souk, visits to the Al Alam Palace and trips to the Grand Mosque. Other highlights of the 11-night group tours or personalised tailor-made holidays include the Hajar mountains, Nizwa Fort and the otherworldly Wahiba Sands.
We regularly reassess and refresh this list, adding the latest advice and inspiration
What’s your favourite autumn city break destination? Please share in the comments below
