JaniceGo

My husband and I have a business trip scheduled to London for the last week of October. We'd like to add 7-10 days to the trip to visit somewhere other than London since we'll be in the City for nearly a week. We love to walk, eat, drink wine, go to art museums, historical sites, music, etc. We'd like somewhere a bit warmer and sunnier than the U.K. is likely to be that time of year and that would provide some or all of the activities above. Our last two trips have been a combination of several days in Paris then several days in rural France, so we're thinking of something a bit different. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance for any advice.

zeppole

Italy? There are endless cheap flights out of London for Italy, all destinations.

JaniceGo

Thanks. I guess I was hoping for a bit more specific recommendations. We're definately interested in Italy. I just thought folks might have some specific places to recommend visiting towards the end of October...as well as places to avoid perhaps. Thanks again.

zeppole

I would avoid the Amalfi, given your interests and the timing of the trip. Far north it will be starting to get cold.

If you're willing to drive, I would head straight to Lazio for a combination of Rome plus fantastic historic sites in the harvest season.

If you aren't willing to drive, I'd combine Milan (for music), Bologna (for food) and Firenze (for art).

danon

Barcelona or Seville

cmeyer54

You could also do the Black Forest and Baden Baden; or alsace; normandy and up to Brugge would also work. Black Forest and Baden Baden would be more laid back with scenic drives; Normandy and Brugge would have art and historic sites; I love Italy and would recommend Milan and Florence - in Milan, you can see the Duomo, LaScala, Last Supper and enjoy some very nice restaurants and parks; obviously, in Florence, you have the Accademia, Uffizi, Duomo, Pitti Palace, etc etc. Barcelona would also be great as would Seville for art, architecture, etc. Love em all...hard to choose!

travel2live2

How about Croatia? It is absolutely stunning in October with lovely weather and still warm enough to swim. Not only that but the food is stupendous and the history and culture extremely interesting.

Proenza_Preschooler

Berlin--a fabulous city filled with history, art, and unbelievable architecture.

Walking is a pleasure in East Berlin.

I LOVE Berlin.

Thingorjus

JulieVikmanis

A second for Croatia, but check to see whether cruise ships are still dumping passengers in Dubrovnik at that time of year. We were there for 5 days about five years ago and it was uncrowded and fantastic. we were very excited to find it as a stop on a cruise we took about 2 years later. Our cruise ship was one of 3 or more which disgorged its 2000+ passengers in Dubrovnik that day and the whole place was ruined by wall-to-wall bodies, ours included.

cpmac

Normandy fits all your requirements. It's great for walking, eating, museums and historial sites.
History is all around.
Rouen - Jaon of arc - 100 years war.
Honfleur - XVIIc port
Caen - William the conquerors Chateau + 2 abbeys
Bayeux - tapestry cathedral.
MOnt St Michel
and the d day landing zone.
For the normandy battle zone you need a guide. Human, or audio guide
normandy-tour-guide.cpmac.com/audio-guide.php3
With the highest concentration of pastures and 100s of miles of coastline food varies from sea food to cream dishes and mushrooms. Cammebert comes from Normandy.
Cider and calvados

kelliebellie

Definitely Seville and the rest of Andalucia. Do Seville, Cordoba, Ronda, and add Granada if you have time. What a wonderful laid back lifestyle! Avoid the southern coast unless you want to just see more Londoners.

Seville is a wonderful big/small city. The old town is so fun to lose yourself and walk and eat. The cathedral and palace are so neat to see.

Ronda is a nice sized smaller town built on a gorge. Our hotel (search the Spanish Parador system) looked out over the gorge. Like, I could have pushed my husband to his death, looked over. We split a memorable bottle of wine on our balcony and watched the sun go down over the hills.

Cordoba is wonderful to walk through and eat and see the amazing Mezquita. We also took a bath in the old roman baths. It is a group thing in bathing suits. You go from cold baths to hot baths and finally rest in warm water. It is a very fun thing to do for an afternoon:

http://www.hammamspain.com/

Driving in that area if very easy. You can fly in and out of Malaga. I want to go back, can you tell?!?

JaniceGo

Thanks for all these great suggestions. I wouldn't have ever thought of some of these places. Thanks again for your replies.

caroltis

Since Rome can be brutally hot in the summer, I would take advantage of the October opportunity to explore this incredible city when the weather is far more agreeable. To a 4 day visit to Rome I would add a drive through Tuscany, visiting several hill towns (Montepulciano, Siena, Pienza, etc).

If you do not want to rent a car, I would spend 4 days in Rome and then train to Florence for 3 full days, then train to Venice for 2 full days. In my opinion, October is a great time to travel!

qwovadis

www.lucca.info

Perfect time of year history food culture hike bike city walls

cheap flights into Pisa on Ryanair.

www.cinqueterre.com

nearby good for a side trip

www.torrettas.com Manarola my fav.

annhig

Hi Janicego,

here's another vote for andalucia. we spent a few days in granada in November, and it was just a bit cooler at night than we'd have liked though it was t-shirt weather in the day. october would be ideal and 7-10 days is just the right amount of time to see granada, sevile and ronda and the bits in between like Cordoba on the way.

Maribel has some great guides to the area - see www.maribelsguides.com.

regards, ann