Autumn is the smart season to visit this swaggering coastline. We’ve picked the best-value options, from Greece to France, where you’ll find no crowds and a warm welcome
France, Spain and Italy’s native holidaymakers are now back at work having spent August at their favourite resorts. British families have departed. As a result, there’s an end-of-term feel in Europe’s Mediterranean holiday hotspots, and for anyone who isn’t tied to travel during school holidays, it’s a magical time to head abroad.
The archaeological sites aren’t full of overheated, underwhelmed children who don’t care about key stage enrichment. The parents-who-club have packed away their dancing shoes. Restaurateurs are no longer having to juggle the mix of locals and overentitled holidaymakers who demand last-minute tables for 20. Boutiques are selling off wafty linen dresses and sandals at bargain prices before they close for the season (buy them for next year — wafty linen will never go out of fashion on the Med). As a result, it’s time for the rest of us to drink deeply of the local rosé and relax.
Timing is everything, though. Some of the best hotels will close for the winter, which for them starts at the beginning of October. With smaller hotels, it’s often because they’re family-run and, having worked hard all summer, they want a rest.
At the other end of the seasonal hotel spectrum are those that never want to deliver anything less than a perfect stay to their guests. Since their regular summer visitors have been and gone, for a short while they lower their prices to become only very expensive, rather than eye-wateringly so. If you’ve ever wanted to experience one of the Med’s most celebrated hotels, autumn is the time to do it. You’re likely to have a stay that you’ll never forget, but for a fraction of the cost of high summer (although, be warned, while room rates are significantly lower, the price of food and drinks will stay the same).
So here are 24 of the best places to head to this autumn, where you can squeeze every last drop of late-summer sun.
Cyprus
24. Anassa Hotel, Paphos
Cyprus’s poshest hotel shutters for winter each year. In the meantime, with temperatures usually about 26C during the day in October, there’s still time to book in. The 166 rooms and suites are blue and white Cape Cod-inspired affairs and, as the season winds down, this faux (but very charming) village-style resort adopts a gentler pace of life. It should be cool enough to explore the walking trails in the neighbouring Akama National Forest Park but warm enough to enjoy the private beach. As a bonus, Anassa’s spa has an indoor swimming pool and plenty of space.
Greece
22. Amyth, Mykonos
This island in the Cyclades became a lode star of clubbing in 1971 when Super Paradise beach club opened. That feels far away and long ago at this 50-room hotel, which opened in the hills above it in 2024, though there are a few knowing decor references to the era with macramé touches and white-on-white interiors. Super Paradise beach club will be open until October 12 if you want to party out the season but there are plenty of other things to see and do, including sailing trips to Delos, said to be the birthplace of Apollo and full of ancient Greek archaeological sites.
Click here to read the article in The Times.