I read a lot on this forum about crowds, lines, etc. Does this improve in October? We are going to London, Paris, Amsterdam and parts of Germany on the last day of September. I'm just wondering if the crowds will be much better than in the summer....
Have things calmed down tourist-wise by this time, or can I still expect long lines everywhere? Thanks!

Yes, dramatically everywhere. No lines anywhere IME. A real off season.

I believe June, July, & August is high tourist season. We always go in May or October and we have had no problems with LONG lines. Of course if there is a specific museum etc. we are going to, we go early and/or get tickets ahead of time for that day.

It depends about which city you are talking about. In Paris, August is vacation month and much of the city is closed, hotels offering many incentives to attract tourists. However, in September and well into October Paris comes alive with trade shows and conventions. Hotels and restaurants are both very full during this period.

You will get relief at most of the tourist attractions, except of course at the major temporary expos, which will be mobbed. Luckily, not many countries have school holidays at that time, because that can really surprise a lot of visitors out of the summer season. "Why is everybody in Paris Italian?" "Why is everybody in Paris German, Spanish, English?"

Last week of October is school holidays in England

We (myself, hubby and his parents) were in Paris from 22-27 October 2009 and saw quite a few lines; it does depend on what you are doing. We went to Notre Dame in early-mid afternoon and the line to get in the church was across the entire plaza. There was also a huge line of people to get into Angelina's. We were lucky enough to have a beautiful day on Sunday and the crowds at Montmartre were astonishing; we had to wait a few cycles of the funicular to go up. OTOH, we took a cruise of the St. Martin canal and the boat was nowhere near full, and we went to the St. Denis Basilica and there were not many people there--that's a less common destination though.

Alan makes a good point about school holidays in England which does make everything very much busier, and yes, you'll get queues in London for the popular tourist spots. The half term holiday will be w/c 24th October, although this can vary and be the week before in some areas. D

Don't under estimate the effect school holidays can have.
Also some stately homes, castles etc close after half term in October for the winter, re-opening at Easter, so I'll double check anywhere you especially want to go.
October is of course cooler (and even cold) in England, and also it will be starting to get dark much earlier. So there are pros but definitely some cons of going out of season.

We will be in London first...Sept. 29th-Oct. 3rd, so we're good as far as the school holidays go...

"I'm just wondering if the crowds will be much better than in the summer"

Of course not. With everyone back from their holdays, most cities get a great deal busier in the autumn.

Compared to the heady, empty, midsummer days when you can get around easily, tubes get a great deal more crowded in the autumn, hotels more difficult to find rooms or deals in (it's not just people who live in cities who are back at work, but the commercial visitors who keep their hotels in business), theatres full, decent restaurants more difficult to find tables in and queues for blockbuster exhibitions at museums and art galleries far, far longer.

To compensate, visitors will find a handful of minor places, of interest only to some tourists, emptier: in London, for example, the awful Mme Tussauds. But major attractions that depend mainly on local visitors (like the South Kensington museums) start getting crowded again.

It's very hard to say as the weather in here is as wildly predictable as its reputation. It also depends on what you want to do.

When the weather is nice in the summer (say above 20 degrees and sunny) it can be a fantastic place as we have so many parks, people are all out after work outside pubs and bars having a drink enjoying the weather, and you can do some day trip to Brighton etc... There are also a lot of music festivals at this time. Saying that the weather has been reliably poor over the last few summers, often we'll have a fortnight of good weather, but then lots of grey and rainy day with rather cold weather. It's also incredibly busy with tourists and schoolchildren so sightseeing can be a drag.

Winter can be a great time to visit also. It's obviously colder so if you are after sightseeing and shopping it can be a really good time, less busy (but then London is always busy!), and even with the cold weather the city is so lively, people still go out at any day of the week in bars and pubs. And we can get some really nice cold and sunny day, perfect to explore the city if you are well wrapped up. But again the weather is unpredictable, so we can get some horrible rainy and windy days. We rarely get snow although the last few winters have been bitterly cold with snow that brought the city to a standstill, and this winter seems to be cold as snow is forecasted for the end of the week!

"We are going to London, Paris, Amsterdam and parts of Germany on the last day of September. "

That's a busy schedule for one day. Most people here would suggest no more than two countries or cities a day.

I've seen some lines in October but only at the major sites that are always crowded. Generally flights and lodging are cheaper and the number of tourists isn't outrageous.

For north of the Alps, however, I'd prefer May or September because the weather will get cold in October (but probably not October 1st).