There are plenty of reasons to mourn the end of summer, from longer days and warm evenings to holidays spent by the sea. However, for me, autumn is the best season to travel – no matter where you are heading.
I love travelling to the Mediterranean coast, enjoying the empty beaches, the cooler temperatures and calmer atmosphere once high season is over. But nothing beats a little autumn getaway in the UK, where the change of season brings with it fiery foliage, crisp countryside walks, cosy pubs and the perfectly reasonable excuse to spend an entire Sunday afternoon eating a roast dinner by the fire.
Some of my best autumn holidays have been spent in treehouses in Devon, learning how to sail in Rutland and exploring cities in Scotland. So many destinations in the UK are perfect for autumn, making it quite hard to decide which one to choose. If you’re wondering where to make the most of the season, a new study has crunched the numbers to find the ultimate UK destination for an autumn escape.
Small-group tour company Rabbie’s analysed 30 destinations across the country, looking at four factors: average autumn temperature, average number of rainy days, number of parks and the number of nearby walking trails up to 20km long. Data was collected from Tripadvisor, AllTrails, World Weather Online and WeatherSpark, with each destination awarded a score out of 120.
When it came to temperature, researchers considered between 12°C and 14°C optimal autumn weather, with 13°C deemed the sweet spot – in other words, cool enough for a crisp autumn walk without being quite cold enough to make you regret leaving the house.
And one historic northern city came out on top: York, with a score of 106 out of 120.
Yorkshire and The Humber, YorkshireMaremagnum