Is Autumn one of your favourite seasons? Here are five of the best autumn sun holidays in southern Europe.
Autumn is indeed a glorious season when leaves turn orange and red.The sky changes colour. The forest becomes a true painting with a thousand shades of gold.
But it means that winter is coming! The days are getting shorter. You feel the lack of natural light on your body and your morale takes a dip.
Here is a list of characterful places to spend an autumn sun holidays.
1- Makriyialos, Greece
Autumn is near-perfect in Crete: the masses have left, days reach 24C, the Libyan Sea is still bath-like, and tavernas are still open and pouring raki.
Much of the island’s east has been overdeveloped but there is a lovely, low-key alternative on the south coast.
2- Sagres, Portugal
The rugged Sagres peninsula, where mainland Europe ends in a froth of Atlantic waves, is the Algarve’s wild west, and more geared to locals and surfers than crowds of tourists.
That means it stays buzzy into October, when temperatures are still around 20C, the sea is warm, the surf is up and birding is at its best (the Sagres Birdwatching festival is on 1-5 October).
3- Calheta, Madeira
Any month is great in subtropical Madeira; in October, temperatures are between 22C and 25C.
If it’s a beach break you want, head for southwesterly Calheta, surrounded by vineyards and banana plantations above one of the rocky island’s few sandy bays.
Opened in 2020, Socalco Nature Calheta is a cluster of Atlantic-facing rooms and houses integrated into cliffs, orchards and agricultural land.
4- Alicante, Spain
For a most therapeutic burst of sunshine, look to the Costa Blanca. The World Health Organization named it as having Europe’s healthiest climate – even January averages 17C here.
North and inland from Alicante are the foothills of the Bernia mountains: rural, remote and heaven for hiking at this time.
5- Vejer de la Frontera, Spain
Few places in mainland Europe beat Andalucía for low-season sunshine – October still reaches the high 20s.
Hilltop pueblo blanco Vejer de la Frontera lies within the “sherry triangle”, 10km inland from some of southern Spain’s loveliest, least-developed beaches (El Palmar is top pick).
Califa Casas runs a handful of holiday homes scattered amid Vejer’s medieval streets, so a stay here lets you feel you’re living like a local.
