From Berlin’s all-night clubs to Budapest’s ruin bars and Barcelona’s autumn sunshine, these are six cities worth escaping to this October
If the increasingly dark evenings have you contemplating a minor escape from the East Midlands, October provides a pretty good excuse to disappear abroad for a few days.
And you don’t necessarily need to trek down to London to do it.
East Midlands Airport has direct connections to some seriously good European city-break destinations, whether your idea of a holiday involves thermal baths and ruin bars, wandering around medieval streets or simply sitting outside with a drink somewhere considerably warmer than Nottingham.
Getting through the airport is becoming a little easier too. New security scanners mean passengers can leave liquids and electricals inside their bags, while facial-recognition eGates have also been introduced for some passengers arriving back into the UK.
Which leaves only one genuinely tricky decision: where are you going?
Here are six cities we’d happily disappear to this October.
🇩🇪 Berlin
For: clubs, culture and seriously good nightlife
Berlin doesn’t really do boring.
The German capital can take you from world-class museums and Cold War history during the day to tiny jazz bars, enormous beer halls and legendary techno clubs after dark.
For street art, start with the East Side Gallery, where a surviving stretch of the Berlin Wall has become a giant open-air gallery. Then wander through Mitte, grab dinner somewhere you hadn’t planned on finding and see where the night takes you.
Berlin manages the clever trick of feeling gritty and glamorous at exactly the same time.
✈️ Flight time: 1hr 50mins
🌡️ Typical October half-term temperature: around 12°C
Perfect if sleep isn’t a priority.
🇪🇸 Barcelona
For: architecture, tapas and a final blast of sunshine
October in Barcelona suddenly sounds rather appealing when you’re staring out at drizzle back home.
This is a city that barely requires an itinerary. Wander around El Born, investigate the stalls at La Boqueria, order something you can’t pronounce and find somewhere for a glass of cava.
Then there’s the small matter of Gaudí.
The astonishing Sagrada Família remains the obvious must-see, while colourful Park Güell provides another excuse to gawp at the architect’s imagination.
Throw in the Picasso Museum, beaches, brilliant restaurants and temperatures that can still hover around the low twenties and you’ve got one incredibly easy half-term escape.
✈️ Flight time: 2hrs 30mins
🌡️ Temperature: around 22°C
Ideal if you’re desperately clinging onto summer.
🇮🇪 Dublin
For: Guinness, pubs and a ridiculously easy getaway
Don’t overlook Dublin just because it’s close.
With a flight time of roughly an hour, you can spend less time in the air than some people spend crawling along the M1.
The Guinness Storehouse is the headline attraction, but Dublin is far more than one extremely famous stout. Explore Trinity College, browse around Grafton Street and then allow yourself to get pleasantly sidetracked by pubs, cafés and shops.
Temple Bar inevitably attracts visitors, but wander beyond it and you’ll find plenty more reasons to stay for another pint.
And Dublin’s food scene has moved well beyond the old clichés, with everything from smart contemporary restaurants to comforting Irish classics.
✈️ Flight time: around 1hr
🌡️ Temperature: around 15°C
Definitely worth the trip if you want maximum holiday with minimum travel.
🇭🇺 Budapest
For: thermal baths, ruin bars and one very good-looking city
Budapest might be the most complete city break on this list.
You’ve got grand Belle Époque architecture, the Danube, impressive food, street art and the brilliantly unconventional ruin bars, built inside formerly abandoned buildings and filled with an anything-goes mixture of mismatched furniture, plants and art.
And then there are the baths.
Spending an autumn afternoon soaking in one of Budapest’s famous thermal baths while everyone back home is turning the central heating on is arguably reason enough to book the flight.
✈️ Flight time: 2hrs 50mins
🌡️ Temperature: around 15°C
Arguably the best all-round city break on the list.
🇵🇱 Kraków
For: history, handsome streets and exploring on foot
If your perfect city break involves leaving the hotel and simply wandering, Kraków is difficult to beat.
Its magnificent Old Town clusters around one of Europe’s largest medieval market squares, putting cafés, museums, churches, bars and restaurants within easy strolling distance of one another.
Head towards Wawel Castle, investigate the city’s museums and then surrender to the temptation of Polish comfort food.
Kraków’s historic centre is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Despite all that history, however, it doesn’t feel like somewhere trapped in the past. There’s a lively restaurant and bar scene when you’ve finished sightseeing.
Just bring a decent coat.
✈️ Flight time: 3hrs 40mins
🌡️ Temperature: around 11°C
Best choice for history and value
🇨🇿 Prague
For: castles, beer and ridiculously photogenic streets
There are very few bad angles in Prague.
The Charles Bridge crosses the Vltava towards the enormous Prague Castle complex and gothic St Vitus Cathedral, while the Old Town provides the sort of cobbled streets and grand buildings that will have your camera roll working overtime.
But Prague isn’t simply somewhere to tick off historical landmarks.
There’s an excellent contemporary food and drink scene too, although when you’re in the spiritual home of pilsner it would seem borderline disrespectful not to investigate the beer.
Explore Wenceslas Square, disappear into the surrounding side streets and don’t worry too much about having an itinerary.
✈️ Flight time: 2hrs 15mins
🌡️ Temperature: around 13°C
Ideal for those whose camera roll needs a significant upgrade.
