1. Cape Town — South Africa
Score 100.0Day23.5 °CNight12.9 °CRainy days4
Where to go in October
October is the long farewell to the Mediterranean summer and the return of the southern hemisphere. Cape Town and Stellenbosch climb back to the top, in the driest part of their year, while Crete registers a single day above 1 mm, Seville becomes a city again at 27.6 °C, and the Dead Sea reaches 27.6 °C for 1 mm of rain. This month is read as spread rather than average. Autumn rain on the western Mediterranean arrives in a few violent episodes — Barcelona collects 79.9 mm over six days, Seville 82.8 mm over six as well — so a fortnight will be perfect or half lost depending on its dates, which does not happen in April. Elsewhere the season shuts: Greek island hotels close after mid-month, flights thin out, rates fall outside the autumn holidays.
The ranking for October
Three of them in detail
Seville — Spain
Seville becomes walkable again at 27.6 °C, after a summer whose peak is August. Nights drop to 15.1 °C and six days pass 1 mm for 82.8 mm: the rain comes in bursts. October belongs to one of its five good months, and the airport is 8 km from the centre.
Dead Sea — Jordan
The Dead Sea records 27.6 °C by day and 13 °C at night, without a day above 1 mm and for 1 mm over the month. The whole year totals 96.9 mm, which is the entire point of the place. Amman is 53 km away, Tel Aviv 81 km: the transfer is the real subject.
Stellenbosch — South Africa
Stellenbosch reads 23.5 °C in the afternoon and 12.9 °C at night, four days above 1 mm, 11.5 mm over the month. This is Cape spring, and one of the three driest months in its year. Cape Town's airport is 25 km off and, at 381 on our index, the valley stays cheap.
What to avoid this month
The Gulf of Guinea takes over the list: Lagos 27 days above 1 mm, Abidjan 25, Accra 22 — these are the short rains. Kerala holds 27 as the monsoon ends. In Europe only the far north has turned: Reykjavik takes 17 days of rain and 140.9 mm.
How the score is calculated
One formula, applied identically to the hundred places, on measured station records:
score = 100 − 3·max(0, |tMax − 25| − 3) − 4·max(0, rainyDays1 − 6) − 2·max(0, 12 − tMin)A place is flagged as one to avoid when it records 14 rainy days or more in the month, an average high of 34 °C or more, or an average high of 8 °C or less. Only the five lowest-scoring flagged places are listed.
Updated on 21 September 2026