Travel + Leisure Lists Eight European Destinations That Improve After Summer Crowds Leave

Key facts

• Travel + Leisure published a guide to eight European destinations that improve after summer crowds leave, based on writer Lane Nieset's firsthand experience living between the French Riviera and Paris for over a decade.
• Sicily's September through mid-October window brings quieter hotels and easier access to the Val di Noto Baroque towns, Mount Etna, the Valley of the Temples, Taormina, and Cefalù, with flights into Catania and Palermo dropping after school holidays.
• London's September and October feature London Fashion Week and Frieze London, a period Hubert Losguardi of The Hari London in Belgravia calls one of the city's most exciting stretches.
• Mallorca's interior suits cyclists once traffic thins, the century-old Sóller wooden tram becomes nearly private, and Palma's restaurants gain more time with diners.
• In Tuscany, Vittoria Ferragamo of Il Borro and Viesca notes Florence and Arezzo become more walkable, with truffle hunting, vendemmia, and Brunello tastings in Pienza and Montalcino, plus Hotel Il Pellicano in Porto Ercole extending its season.
• Paros, 13 miles long and about 35 minutes by ferry from Mykonos, peaks in October with closing parties, souma distillation at village kazanies, and Naoussa's harbor trading yachts for fishing boats.
• Marbella Club and Puente Romano stay open year-round on the Costa del Sol's roughly 320 sunny days, and the Puente Romano Tennis Club, where Novak Djokovic has trained, becomes usable once September heat breaks.
• The Amalfi Coast's Burning of Torello festival near Ravello, described by Palazzo Avino's Mariella Avino, features fireworks and illuminations, while ferries to Positano, Amalfi, and Sorrento and the Path of the Gods hike grow more comfortable.