Amsterdam to Venice
 

I am doing a road trip from Amsterdam to Venice for 10 days next month (mid October). I've never been to Europe before so I'm wondering what are must-hit stops on the way. I'm mostly interested in mountain adventure towns and less on big cities. Hallstatt, Austria vs. Lake Como??? Also, has anyone traveled to Europe in mid October?? What are the leaves like at that time of year? Thanks for the help

Is this in a rental car? If so, it will cost you a small fortune to rent a car in Amsterdam and drop it in Venice.

I live in Europe, so yes, I'm familiar with mid-October. It can be rainy. It can be cold. Or it can be very nice, sunny and warm. In general, you don't get brightly colored fall leaves in Europe the way you do in New England, for example, but the trees do change color, and there are different types of trees in different countries.

You might want to check out www.viamichelin.com, pick "scenic route," and see what it suggests.

October is a funny month to want to focus on mountains. The leaves have fallen, things aren't lush and green any longer, the cows have gone back down into the valleys, the days are getting shorter, weather is most uncertain, many places have closed for the season, and there is usually no snow just yet that would spruce up the visuals. Adventures are few and far between. Lakes can still be pretty on a good day - the public boats may no longer be running, or on a reduced schedule, but those things are easy to find out on the internet.

If you look at the map, you'll find three major basic options: After you head south along the Rhine, you pick
a) a western route past Geneva and through the French Alps into the flatland of Northern Italy then head East past the lakes to end up in Venice
b) a route through central Switzerland
c) a route through Bavaria into Austria past Innsbruck-Bolzano

It's impossible to compare Hallstatt and Lake Como - apples and oranges.

We always take a trip in mid october - it has become a family habbit - in central western Europe.

We were once in Loire and had good weather, once in Amsterdam and had one good day, and an awful one, once in Alsace with beautiful weather twice in Belgium because the weather was so bad we stayed cloe to home, and last year we ran to London where it was the only place that week end that was correct.

Usually the leaves are beautiful unless they were hacked by rain/storms just before.

Be sure to have a good car, with winter tyres.

October is one of the busiest months for tourism in Italy, and the leaves certainly are still mostly on the trees, and at the peak of their color towards the end of the month, unless, as Whathello says, there has been a big storm. Rain is always a possibility here in October, but often the weather is very pleasant.

Hallstatt is a lovely town. The scenery there appeals to me much more than that of Lake Como. However, I haven't been to Hallstatt in October. I really doubt that the leaves have all fallen there in October, though.