What's on around the world in November

In November, 2013 seasonal things are on across 1148 destinations: 286 natural spectacles, 941 seasonal conditions, 184 festivals and cultural dates, 261 mass holidays and 341 hazard seasons. The seasons doing the most work this month: Christmas & New Year, Off-season shutdown and Dry season. Every entry links to that place's full November climate breakdown.

Things to travel for

Blossom, foliage, whales, the light itself — the short windows worth booking a month around.

  • 🇲🇬 Antananarivo

    Jacarandas at Lake Anosy

    1 Oct – 15 Nov (usually)Nature

    Lake Anosy and the streets climbing to Antaninarenina go purple from the middle of October.

  • 🇨🇦 Churchill

    Polar bear season

    1 Oct – 25 Nov (usually)Nature

    Around a thousand bears gather on the coast waiting for Hudson Bay to freeze, and the last week of October into mid-November is when they are most concentrated.

  • 🇨🇦 Churchill

    Tundra buggy season

    1 Oct – 25 NovSeason

    There is no road in: everyone arrives by air or the two-day train from Winnipeg, and the buggy operators run a fixed number of seats.

    Source: frontiersnorth.com

  • 🇺🇸 Great Smoky Mountains National Park

    Fall colour

    1 Oct – 5 Nov (usually)Nature

    Colour starts above 1,200 metres in early October and works down to the foothills by the first week of November, so there is nearly a month of it somewhere in the park.

  • 🇿🇦 Johannesburg

    Jacarandas in the northern suburbs

    1 Oct – 10 Nov (usually)Nature

    Houghton, Killarney and the ridge roads go lilac for a few weeks from the start of October.

  • 🇯🇵 Matsumoto

    Autumn colour

    1 Oct – 5 Nov (usually)Nature

    Kamikochi and the Norikura road turn first, from the treeline down, usually in the first half of October.

  • 🇰🇪 Nairobi

    Jacaranda on the old avenues

    1 Oct – 15 Nov (usually)Nature

    The colonial-era streets around Upper Hill and Westlands go purple as the short rains start, and the petals end up thicker on the pavement than on the tree.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

  • 🇨🇦 Vancouver

    Salmon run

    1 Oct – 10 Nov (usually)Nature

    Spawning salmon come up the Capilano and the Adams River east of the city through October, strongest in the years the cycle peaks.

  • 🇸🇮 Bled

    Autumn colour on the lake

    5 Oct – 5 Nov (usually)Nature

    The beech and larch around the shore and up the Pokljuka plateau turn through October, and the morning mist off the water is at its most likely in the same weeks.

  • 🇺🇸 Charlotte

    Blue Ridge fall colour

    5 Oct – 5 Nov (usually)Nature

    The mountains two hours west turn through October, high elevations first and the foothills last, and Charlotte's own trees follow in early November.

  • 🇩🇪 Freiburg

    Black Forest autumn

    5 Oct – 8 Nov (usually)Nature

    The beech below the Schauinsland turns first, the valley vineyards a fortnight later.

  • 🇩🇪 Füssen

    Autumn around the castle lakes

    5 Oct – 5 Nov (usually)Nature

    The beech below the two castles and around the Alpsee turns through October, which is the one time the standard view is worth queueing for twice.

  • 🇨🇳 Jiuzhaigou

    Autumn colour

    5 Oct – 5 Nov (usually)Nature

    Larch and beech above water that is already an implausible blue, for about three weeks.

  • 🇬🇧 Keswick

    Borrowdale in autumn

    5 Oct – 5 Nov (usually)Nature

    The oak and larch through Borrowdale and around Derwentwater turn through October and hold for about a fortnight.

  • 🇮🇪 Killarney

    Oakwoods turning

    5 Oct – 5 Nov (usually)Nature

    The old oak and the imported beech around Muckross and Torc go through October, and the park's paths are at their emptiest between the summer coaches and the Christmas weekends.

  • 🇮🇹 Madonna di Campiglio

    Larch turning

    5 Oct – 5 Nov (usually)Nature

    The larch woods around Lake Tovel and up the Val Genova go gold for about three weeks in October, with the first snow already on the Brenta above them.

  • 🇺🇸 Mammoth Cave National Park

    Fall colour

    5 Oct – 5 Nov (usually)Nature

    The Kentucky hardwood above the cave peaks in the first half of October, which the park itself calls the best time to be here.

    Source: nps.gov

  • 🇨🇦 Niagara Falls

    Autumn on the parkway

    5 Oct – 5 Nov (usually)Nature

    The Niagara Parkway and the botanical gardens turn through the middle of October, the boats are still running, and the queues have gone.

  • 🇯🇵 Nikko

    Autumn colour

    5 Oct – 10 Nov (usually)Nature

    Chuzenji and the Irohazaka hairpins turn from the top down through October.

  • 🇭🇷 Plitvice Lakes

    Beech forest turns

    5 Oct – 10 Nov (usually)Nature

    The beech that covers the whole basin goes copper for a fortnight in mid-October, and the boardwalks reflect it.

  • 🇨🇦 Toronto

    Fall colour in the ravines

    5 Oct – 5 Nov (usually)Nature

    The Don and Humber ravines and High Park turn through the middle of October, a week or so behind the Muskoka and Algonquin trees that everyone drives north for.

  • 🇩🇪 Baden-Baden

    Autumn in the Lichtentaler Allee

    8 Oct – 8 Nov (usually)Nature

    The two-kilometre park along the Oos turns through October, and the Black Forest slopes behind it a week or so later.

  • 🇺🇸 Detroit

    Fall colour

    8 Oct – 5 Nov (usually)Nature

    Belle Isle and the old boulevards through Indian Village turn in the second half of October, and the drive up towards Port Huron is what locals do with the weekend.

    Source: michigan.org

  • 🇩🇪 Frankfurt

    Autumn in the Stadtwald

    8 Oct – 10 Nov (usually)Nature

    The city forest south of the river and the Palmengarten turn through October.

  • 🇩🇪 Heidelberg

    Autumn on the Neckar slopes

    8 Oct – 8 Nov (usually)Nature

    The wooded hills either side of the river turn through October and the castle terrace looks down on it.

  • 🇩🇪 Nuremberg

    Autumn on the castle hill

    8 Oct – 8 Nov (usually)Nature

    The gardens under the Kaiserburg and the Pegnitz banks turn through October, which is the last easy month before the market crowds arrive.

  • 🇺🇸 Pittsburgh

    Fall colour

    8 Oct – 2 Nov (usually)Nature

    The hillsides fall straight to the rivers here, so the colour reads as walls of it from Mount Washington and the bridges.

  • 🇺🇸 Columbus

    Fall colour

    10 Oct – 5 Nov (usually)Nature

    Central Ohio turns in the third and fourth weeks of October, and the Hocking Hills gorges an hour southeast are where people drive for it.

  • 🇺🇸 Indianapolis

    Fall colour

    10 Oct – 5 Nov (usually)Nature

    The canal, Holliday Park and the Central Canal towpath turn through the second half of October.

  • 🇺🇸 Kansas City

    Fall colour

    10 Oct – 5 Nov (usually)Nature

    Loose Park, the Plaza and the bluffs along the Missouri turn through the second half of October, and the oaks hold on into November well after the maples have gone.

  • 🇺🇸 Newport

    Autumn on the Cliff Walk

    10 Oct – 10 Nov (usually)Nature

    The coast turns two or three weeks later than inland New England, so the Cliff Walk and Ocean Drive hold their colour into November.

  • 🇯🇵 Nozawa Onsen

    Autumn colour

    10 Oct – 5 Nov (usually)Nature

    The gondola keeps running into October for the beech woods on Kenashi.

  • 🇺🇸 Portland

    Fall colour

    10 Oct – 10 Nov (usually)Nature

    The Japanese Garden's maples and the vine maple in the Gorge turn through the second half of October.

  • 🇺🇸 Seattle

    Fall colour in the Arboretum

    10 Oct – 10 Nov (usually)Nature

    The Washington Park Arboretum and the Japanese Garden turn through late October, usually a week or two after the maples in the Cascade passes.

  • 🇺🇸 Yosemite National Park

    Autumn colour in the valley

    10 Oct – 15 Nov (usually)Nature

    Black oak and dogwood on the valley floor turn through late October and the aspen along Tioga go earlier and higher.

    Source: nps.gov

  • 🇨🇳 Beijing

    Fragrant Hills red leaves

    15 Oct – 10 Nov (usually)Nature

    The smoke trees on the hills west of the city turn from around the third week of October; weekend visitor numbers are published and the park caps entry.

  • 🇦🇺 Brisbane

    Jacaranda

    15 Oct – 20 Nov (usually)Nature

    New Farm Park and the older inner streets go purple from late October, which lands squarely on university exams.

  • 🇬🇷 Kalabaka

    Autumn colour in the Pindus

    15 Oct – 20 Nov (usually)Nature

    The oak and beech on the slopes behind the rocks turn through late October, and the coaches have gone.

  • 🇯🇵 Karuizawa

    Autumn colour

    15 Oct – 10 Nov (usually)Nature

    The larch avenues and Kumoba pond turn from the end of October.

  • 🇬🇧 London

    Autumn colour in the royal parks

    15 Oct – 15 Nov (usually)Nature

    Richmond, Hampstead Heath and Kew turn through late October and hold into November, which is the one thing the month reliably gives you.

…and 246 more in this group. Open any destination's page for its own month-by-month calendar.

The state of the place

Monsoon, dry season, lifts open, sea warm enough — what the weather is actually doing.

  • 🇦🇩 Andorra la Vella

    Between seasons

    1 Oct – 25 NovSeason

    The lifts and most mountain refuges are shut and the summer trails are past their best, so the country is down to shopping and thermal baths.

  • 🇪🇸 Baqueira-Beret

    Between seasons

    1 Oct – 25 NovSeason

    Hotels and most restaurants in the resort villages close entirely for autumn.

  • 🇵🇸 Bethlehem

    Olive harvest

    1 Oct – 20 Nov (usually)Nature

    Families take a fortnight off to pick the terraces around Beit Jala and Battir and the presses run late into the night.

  • 🇺🇸 Big Sky

    Autumn shoulder

    1 Oct – 20 NovSeason

    The aspens turn, the elk bugle in the Gallatin canyon and the summer operations wind down before the snow arrives.

  • 🇨🇴 Bogotá

    Second rainy season

    1 Oct – 30 Nov (usually)Season

    The rains come back for October and November, shorter and colder than the April round, with grey afternoons and the sabana flooding in the worst years.

  • 🇮🇹 Bologna

    Porcini, truffle and new oil

    1 Oct – 30 Nov (usually)Nature

    Autumn puts porcini from the Apennines and white truffle from the hills onto every menu in the Quadrilatero, and it is the strongest argument for coming here in the fog months.

  • 🇱🇰 Colombo

    Second inter-monsoon

    1 Oct – 20 Nov (usually)Season

    The wettest weeks of the year on this coast, delivered as heavy afternoon and evening thunderstorms rather than a steady soak.

  • 🇮🇹 Courmayeur

    Between seasons

    1 Oct – 25 NovSeason

    Lifts, most hotels and half the restaurants shut for autumn, and May is the same story at the other end.

  • 🇮🇳 Dharamshala

    Clear season on the Dhauladhar

    1 Oct – 25 NovSeason

    The rain stops and the wall of rock behind the town is sharp from the terrace of every cafe.

  • 🇨🇭 Engelberg

    Glacier skiing opens

    1 Oct – 25 Nov (usually)Opening

    The glacier above the valley turns lifts in October, weeks before the village runs have any snow, so early-season skiing here means a cable car up and a cable car down.

    Source: engelberg.ch

  • 🇳🇵 Kathmandu

    Autumn trekking season

    1 Oct – 30 NovSeason

    The monsoon has washed the air and the peaks are visible from the valley rim.

  • 🇹🇭 Khao Sok

    Wettest weeks of the year

    1 Oct – 30 Nov (usually)Season

    Rain from both directions at once.

  • 🇮🇹 Madonna di Campiglio

    Between seasons

    1 Oct – 30 NovSeason

    Lifts stop and most hotels and restaurants close for two months, the same again in May.

  • 🇺🇸 Pensacola

    The good weeks

    1 Oct – 15 Nov (usually)Season

    The humidity finally breaks in October, the Gulf holds its summer warmth into November, and the beaches are empty.

  • 🇳🇵 Pokhara

    Autumn trekking season

    1 Oct – 30 NovSeason

    The rain has scrubbed the air and Machhapuchhre is in the water at dawn.

  • 🇮🇹 Rome

    Porcini and chestnuts

    1 Oct – 20 Nov (usually)Nature

    Autumn puts porcini, chestnuts and puntarelle on every menu in the city for about six weeks, which is why Romans push October as the month.

  • 🇪🇸 Seville

    The tables come back out

    1 Oct – 15 Nov (usually)Season

    October is when Seville reoccupies its squares: terraces reopen properly, evenings need a jacket for the first time since spring, and the light goes long and low.

  • 🇧🇹 Thimphu

    Autumn touring season

    1 Oct – 30 NovSeason

    Clear passes, the high trekking routes open, and a tshechu somewhere most weeks.

  • 🇨🇴 Villa de Leyva

    Second rainy season

    1 Oct – 30 Nov (usually)Season

    The second and wetter of the two rainy spells, with cloud sitting on the hills and the tracks out to the fossil museums turning to mud.

  • 🇦🇹 Innsbruck

    Stubai glacier opens

    5 Oct – 30 Nov (usually)Opening

    The glacier above the Stubai valley starts turning lifts in October, months before anything in the valleys, and it is the only skiing within reach of the city until December.

    Source: stubaier-gletscher.com

  • 🇺🇸 Vail

    Autumn shoulder shutdown

    5 Oct – 10 NovClosure

    The second mud season: the gondola drops to weekends or stops, restaurants take their annual break and the village runs on locals until the snow comes.

    Source: discovervail.com

  • 🇦🇹 Zell am See

    Glacier skiing opens

    5 Oct – 30 Nov (usually)Opening

    The Kitzsteinhorn turns lifts from about the tenth of October, months before the valley runs.

    Source: zellamsee-kaprun.com

  • 🇺🇸 Yellowstone National Park

    Roads close for the season

    12 Oct – 5 Nov (usually)Closure

    Dunraven Pass and the Beartooth go first in mid-October, the rest of the interior at the beginning of November, and the park then sits empty until the oversnow season starts in December.

    Source: nps.gov

  • 🇹🇭 Chiang Mai

    Rice harvest in the valley

    15 Oct – 30 Nov (usually)Nature

    The terraces on the valley floor below the hills turn gold and are cut through late October and November, which is also when the air here is at its cleanest of the year.

  • 🇯🇵 Furano

    Between the seasons

    15 Oct – 25 Nov (usually)Season

    Lifts shut, farms closed, half the restaurants on holiday and the snow not yet down.

  • 🇹🇭 Ko Lipe

    The island reopens

    15 Oct – 15 Nov (usually)Opening

    Resorts and dive shops come back one at a time through late October as the ferry schedule is restored.

    Source: nationthailand.com

  • 🇮🇹 Sirmione

    Garda olive harvest

    15 Oct – 30 Nov (usually)Nature

    This is about the northern limit for olives, and the lake's mild, delicate oil is pressed through late autumn.

  • 🇪🇸 Santiago de Compostela

    Magosto, chestnuts and new wine

    20 Oct – 15 Nov (usually)Nature

    Braziers of chestnuts and the year's young wine around 1 November, in a month when the pilgrims have gone and Galicia is doing what it does for itself.

  • 🇮🇳 Srinagar

    Saffron harvest at Pampore

    20 Oct – 15 Nov (usually)Nature

    The fields fifteen kilometres out flower purple for two or three weeks and whole families pick them before the sun is up.

  • 🇯🇵 Nozawa Onsen

    Nozawana harvest

    25 Oct – 25 Nov (usually)Season

    The turnip greens the village is named for are pulled in late autumn and washed in the hot-spring water before pickling.

  • 🇰🇪 Amboseli

    The short rains

    1 Nov – 15 Dec (usually)Season

    Sharp afternoon storms rather than settled rain, and the dust goes out of the air.

  • 🇹🇿 Arusha

    The short rains

    1 Nov – 15 Dec (usually)Season

    Afternoon storms rather than all-day rain, and the dust settles out of the air.

  • 🇬🇪 Batumi

    Mandarin harvest

    1 Nov – 31 Dec (usually)Season

    Adjara is Georgia's citrus corner and the hills behind the city are picked through late autumn, with fruit sold by the crate at the roadside.

  • 🇩🇪 Berchtesgaden

    Between-seasons shutdown

    1 Nov – 10 Dec (usually)Closure

    The Kehlstein road is closed, the lifts are not turning yet and a good share of the guesthouses take their break.

    Source: berchtesgaden.de

  • 🇲🇦 Fes

    Olive harvest and new oil

    1 Nov – 31 Dec (usually)Nature

    The presses in the hills around the city run from November, and the first oil of the year turns up in the medina at breakfast.

  • 🇨🇭 Gstaad

    Glacier 3000 autumn skiing

    1 Nov – 10 Dec (usually)Opening

    The glacier above the pass opens for skiing in early November, weeks before anything in the valley, and is the only snow within reach until December.

    Source: skiresort.com

  • 🇹🇷 Izmir

    Aegean olive harvest

    1 Nov – 20 Dec (usually)Season

    The groves around Urla and Seferihisar are picked and pressed through November, and the new oil turns up green and peppery in the markets.

  • 🇰🇪 Maasai Mara

    The short rains

    1 Nov – 10 Dec (usually)Season

    Short storms in the afternoon and new grass coming through after the herds have gone south.

  • 🇲🇦 Marrakesh

    Olive harvest

    1 Nov – 31 Dec (usually)Nature

    The presses in the villages below the Atlas run the new olives from November, and the first oil of the year turns up on every breakfast table in the city.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

  • 🇹🇿 Moshi

    The short rains

    1 Nov – 15 Dec (usually)Season

    Three or four weeks of afternoon rain over the lower forest.

…and 901 more in this group. Open any destination's page for its own month-by-month calendar.

Festivals & culture

The festivals a place is known for, and the weeks the streets belong to them.

  • 🇩🇰 Copenhagen

    Tivoli Halloween season

    2 Oct – 1 NovOpening

    Tivoli reopens for a month of pumpkins and a much darker garden.

    Source: tivoli.dk

  • 🇵🇪 Lima

    Senor de los Milagros

    1 Oct – 1 NovFestival

    Hundreds of thousands walk behind the image in purple through the centre, with the main days on 18, 19 and 28 October.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

  • 🇮🇹 Palermo

    Le Vie dei Tesori

    1 Oct – 15 Nov (usually)Opening

    For five or six autumn weekends a coupon buys entry to palazzi, crypts, rooftops and convents that are locked the rest of the year.

    Source: leviedeitesori.com

  • 🇲🇽 Oaxaca

    Marigolds in the markets

    10 Oct – 1 Nov (usually)Nature

    Cempasuchil arrives from the valley farms towards the end of October and the whole Central de Abastos smells of it.

  • 🇬🇧 Belfast

    Belfast International Arts Festival

    14 Oct – 8 NovFestival

    Three and a half weeks of theatre, dance and music across thirty-odd venues from mid-October.

    Source: belfastinternationalartsfestival.com

  • 🇨🇭 Bern

    Rendez-vous Bundesplatz

    17 Oct – 21 NovFestival

    A free projection show on the parliament building, three times a night for about five weeks.

    Source: rendezvousbundesplatz.ch

  • 🇨🇳 Guangzhou

    Canton Fair, autumn session

    15 Oct – 4 NovFestival

    The second session runs the same three phases across three weeks, and does the same thing to room rates.

    Source: cantonfair.org.cn

  • 🇲🇽 Mexico City

    Cempasuchil in the markets

    15 Oct – 2 Nov (usually)Nature

    Orange marigolds arrive by the truckload for the altars, and the fields at Xochimilco and Tlahuac are worth the trip out before they are cut.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

  • 🇦🇺 Sydney

    Sculpture by the Sea

    16 Oct – 2 NovFestival

    A hundred works along the Bondi to Tamarama walk for a fortnight from mid-October, free, and shoulder to shoulder on the weekends.

    Source: sculpturebythesea.com

  • 🇲🇾 Kuala Lumpur

    Malaysian MotoGP at Sepang

    30 Oct – 1 NovFestival

    The season's closing rounds at Sepang, an hour south of the city.

    Source: sepangcircuit.com

  • 🇨🇳 Lhasa

    Lhabab Duchen

    20 Oct – 25 Nov (usually)Festival

    One of the four great merit days: the kora circuits round the Jokhang and the Potala move shoulder to shoulder from before dawn and everyone gives something away.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

  • 🇺🇸 Mackinac Island

    Somewhere in Time weekend

    20 Oct – 1 Nov (usually)Festival

    The Grand Hotel's costume weekend for the 1980 film shot here, held in late October just before the season ends.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

  • 🇬🇧 Liverpool

    River of Light

    23 Oct – 1 NovFestival

    A free trail of light installations along the waterfront for ten nights around the end of October, lit early because it is dark early.

    Source: visitliverpool.com

  • 🇺🇸 Washington

    Marine Corps Marathon

    22 Oct – 2 Nov (usually)Festival

    Twenty-odd thousand runners past the monuments and over the Potomac bridges on a Sunday at the end of October.

    Source: marinemarathon.com

  • 🇪🇸 Girona

    Fires de Sant Narcis

    23 Oct – 3 Nov (usually)Festival

    The city's own ten-day fair around the patron's day on 29 October: barraques by the river, a fairground on the Devesa and the whole province in town after dark.

    Source: web.girona.cat

  • 🇸🇨 Praslin

    Festival Kreol

    24 Oct – 5 Nov (usually)Festival

    The Creole festival runs at the end of October across Mahé, Praslin and La Digue: moutya and kamtole, food stalls, a parade and the one week the islands put their own culture in front of the beaches.

    Source: seychelles.travel

  • 🇺🇸 Savannah

    SCAD Savannah Film Festival

    24 Oct – 2 Nov (usually)Festival

    Eight days at the end of October run by the art school that owns half the buildings downtown, with awards-season screenings in a restored 1920s cinema on Broughton Street.

    Source: filmfest.scad.edu

  • 🇮🇳 Varanasi

    Chhath Puja

    24 Oct – 22 Nov (usually)Festival

    Four days of fasting for the sun god in Kartik, and the one festival that fills the ghats twice in a day: at sunset, then again before dawn, families standing waist-deep in the river with their offerings.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

  • 🇦🇪 Dubai

    Dubai Fitness Challenge

    31 Oct – 29 NovFestival

    Thirty days of free classes and pop-up fitness villages across the city, with the Dubai Run closing Sheikh Zayed Road one Sunday morning and the Dubai Ride doing the same in November.

    Source: dubaifitnesschallenge.com

  • 🇺🇸 Fort Lauderdale

    Fort Lauderdale Boat Show

    25 Oct – 5 Nov (usually)Festival

    The largest in-water boat show in the world, five days across seven marinas at the turn of October into November.

    Source: flibs.com

  • 🇦🇺 Melbourne

    Spring Racing and the Cup

    3 NovFestival

    The carnival runs for a fortnight and the Cup itself, on the first Tuesday of November, is a public holiday across the metro area.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

  • 🇲🇽 Mexico City

    Mexico City Grand Prix

    30 Oct – 1 NovFestival

    Three days at the Autodromo at the end of October, overlapping Day of the Dead in most years.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

  • 🇯🇵 Nara

    Shosoin treasures exhibition

    25 Oct – 15 Nov (usually)Festival

    A few dozen objects from the eighth-century imperial storehouse go on show at the Nara National Museum for about a fortnight each autumn, and never the same ones twice.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

  • 🇰🇭 Phnom Penh

    Bon Om Touk, the Water Festival

    25 Oct – 25 Nov (usually)Festival

    Longboat crews from every province race in front of the palace over three days and something like two million people come into the city for it.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

  • 🇧🇷 São Paulo

    Sao Paulo Grand Prix

    6–8 NovFestival

    Three days at Interlagos in the first half of November, with the southern suburbs closed off and hotel rates across the city at their yearly high.

    Source: f1saopaulo.com.br

  • 🇨🇦 Banff

    Banff Mountain Film Festival

    28 Oct – 8 Nov (usually)Festival

    Nine days of mountain film and books at the Banff Centre at the turn of October into November, in the quietest weeks of the year.

    Source: banffcentre.ca

  • 🇵🇫 Bora Bora

    Hawaiki Nui Va'a finish

    28 Oct – 10 Nov (usually)Festival

    The three-day outrigger race from Raiatea finishes on Matira beach at the start of November, and the whole island turns out for the landing.

    Source: hawaikinuivaa.pf

  • 🇺🇸 Death Valley National Park

    Death Valley '49ers Encampment

    28 Oct – 10 Nov (usually)Festival

    A pioneer-history gathering at Furnace Creek and Stovepipe Wells at the start of November, running since 1949 with cowboy poetry, wagon trains and a horse parade.

    Source: deathvalley49ers.org

  • 🇯🇵 Okinawa

    Shurijo Castle Festival

    28 Oct – 8 Nov (usually)Festival

    A Ryukyu court procession in period dress down Kokusai-dori and ceremonies at the castle at the turn of October into November, while the main hall is still being rebuilt after the 2019 fire.

    Source: oki-park.jp

  • 🇺🇸 San Antonio

    Day of the Dead

    28 Oct – 2 Nov (usually)Festival

    Altars and a free two-day festival at Hemisfair around the start of November, in a city that has kept the tradition since long before it was a border it sat behind.

    Source: muertosfest.com

  • 🇬🇷 Thessaloniki

    Thessaloniki Film Festival

    28 Oct – 15 Nov (usually)Festival

    The biggest film festival in south-east Europe, ten days at the start of November in the port warehouses and the old cinemas on Aristotelous.

    Source: filmfestival.gr

  • 🇲🇽 Guanajuato

    Día de Muertos

    30 Oct – 3 NovHoliday

    Altars in the university and the plazas, marigolds on the graves at the Santa Paula cemetery, and the mummy museum next door doing brisk trade.

    Source: guanajuatocapital.gob.mx

  • 🇰🇪 Lamu

    Lamu Yoga Festival

    4–8 NovFestival

    Five days of classes on Shela's rooftops and beach as the short rains end, which quietly fills the good houses before the cultural festival does.

    Source: lamuyoga.org

  • 🇲🇽 Morelia

    Noche de Muertos

    30 Oct – 3 NovHoliday

    The Michoacan version is the one on the postcards: candlelit graveyards on the islands of Lake Patzcuaro, an hour and a half west.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

  • 🇲🇽 Playa del Carmen

    Day of the Dead

    30 Oct – 2 NovFestival

    The Yucatec version, Hanal Pixan, is a family and cemetery affair rather than a parade.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

  • 🇲🇽 San Miguel de Allende

    Day of the Dead

    30 Oct – 2 NovFestival

    Altars in the doorways, marigolds up the cobbled streets and the cemetery lit at night, plus a large arts festival that has attached itself to the same days.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

  • 🇲🇽 Cancún

    Hanal Pixán

    31 Oct – 2 NovFestival

    The Yucatán's own Day of the Dead: altars in the houses, cemeteries lit at night, and mucbipollo baked in a pit oven.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

  • 🇲🇽 Mexico City

    Day of the Dead

    31 Oct – 2 NovFestival

    Altars everywhere, a parade down Reforma that the city invented for a film, and the older, quieter version out in Mixquic and the southern boroughs.

    Source: ich.unesco.org

  • 🇲🇽 Oaxaca

    Day of the Dead

    31 Oct – 2 NovFestival

    Vigils in the valley cemeteries from the night of 31 October; rooms go a year ahead.

    Source: ich.unesco.org

  • 🇲🇽 Valladolid

    Hanal Pixan

    31 Oct – 2 NovFestival

    The Yucatec Day of the Dead: altars in the houses, cemeteries lit at night and mucbipollo baked in a pit in the ground.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

…and 144 more in this group. Open any destination's page for its own month-by-month calendar.

Holidays that swamp a place

Mass holidays: full trains, closed shops, the year's dearest fortnight.

  • 🇲🇾 Kuala Lumpur

    Deepavali

    10 Oct – 20 Nov (usually)Festival

    Brickfields is strung with lights and open houses for a fortnight, and the day itself is a public holiday that shuts much of the city.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

  • 🇮🇳 Mumbai

    Diwali

    8 NovFestival

    Lamps on every balcony and a week of visiting either side of the day itself.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

  • 🇲🇾 Penang

    Deepavali

    10 Oct – 20 Nov (usually)Festival

    Little India is strung with lights and open houses for a fortnight, and the day itself is a public holiday when much of the island closes.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

  • 🇮🇳 Bengaluru

    Deepavali

    15 Oct – 15 Nov (usually)Festival

    Three nights of firecrackers in every layout, and the morning after is the worst air of the Bengaluru year.

    Source: karnatakatourism.org

  • 🇿🇦 Durban

    Diwali

    15 Oct – 15 Nov (usually)Festival

    Durban has one of the largest Indian communities outside India and the festival shows in Chatsworth and Phoenix rather than downtown — lights, sweets and fireworks for the best part of a week.

    Source: durban.gov.za

  • 🇲🇺 Grand Baie

    Diwali

    15 Oct – 15 Nov (usually)Festival

    Mauritius keeps Diwali properly: clay lamps and paper lanterns down every street in the Hindu villages, sweets handed over the fence, and a public holiday the day after.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

  • 🇮🇳 Hyderabad

    Diwali and the smoke after

    15 Oct – 15 Nov (usually)Festival

    The old city sells little but crackers for a fortnight, and the monitors spike for two or three days either side of the night itself.

    Source: cpcb.gov.in

  • 🇫🇯 Nadi

    Diwali

    15 Oct – 20 Nov (usually)Festival

    Fiji's Indo-Fijian communities make Diwali a national public holiday: lamps and lights along the Nadi back road, sweets given between neighbours, and shops shut for the day itself.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

  • 🇸🇬 Singapore

    Deepavali

    8 NovFestival

    Little India is lit for several weeks either side of the day and the night market runs late; the holiday itself closes Indian-run businesses for a day.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

  • 🇹🇹 Tobago

    Divali

    15 Oct – 15 Nov (usually)Holiday

    A national public holiday here, with deyas along walls and driveways after dark.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

  • 🇮🇳 Pondicherry

    Diwali

    18 Oct – 15 Nov (usually)Holiday

    Tamil Nadu keeps Diwali to a dawn start: oil bath, new clothes, and firecrackers from four in the morning.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

  • 🇮🇳 Agra

    Diwali

    8 NovFestival

    Offices shut for most of a week and Indian families travel, so the Taj is at its fullest on the days either side.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

  • 🇮🇳 Delhi

    Diwali

    8 NovFestival

    Lit-up markets and a week of shut offices, and fireworks that land on top of the crop smoke: Delhi's 24-hour air index reached 488 on the nights after Diwali 2025.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

  • 🇮🇳 Goa

    Narkasur night

    20 Oct – 15 Nov (usually)Festival

    On the eve of Diwali neighbourhoods parade demon effigies built over weeks from bamboo and paper, judged for prizes and burned before dawn.

    Source: itsgoa.com

  • 🇮🇳 Jaipur

    Diwali in the bazaars

    8 NovFestival

    Johari, Bapu and Tripolia bazaars compete to light the whole pink facade, and the walled city is closed to cars for several nights.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

  • 🇳🇵 Kathmandu

    Tihar

    8–11 NovFestival

    Five days of oil lamps, marigold garlands and doorway patterns, with a day each for crows, dogs and cows.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

  • 🇮🇳 Kolkata

    Kali Puja and Diwali

    8–9 NovFestival

    Bengal's own version comes three weeks after Durga Puja: night-long pujas, lit courtyards, and firecrackers that put the air into its worst readings of the year for two days.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

  • 🇺🇸 Los Angeles

    Dia de los Muertos

    25 Oct – 3 Nov (usually)Festival

    Altars and an all-night gathering in the Hollywood Forever cemetery on the Saturday nearest 2 November, plus nine days of processions on Olvera Street.

    Source: hollywoodforever.com

  • 🇵🇭 Manila

    Undas

    29 Oct – 2 NovHoliday

    Families camp overnight in the cemeteries for All Saints' and All Souls', and the rest of the country goes home for it.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

  • 🇵🇱 Kraków

    All Saints

    30 Oct – 2 NovHoliday

    The country travels home on 1 November and the cemeteries burn with candles after dark; Rakowicki is the one to walk.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

  • 🇵🇱 Warsaw

    All Saints

    30 Oct – 2 NovHoliday

    The country travels home on 1 November and the cemeteries burn with candles after dark; Powazki is the one to walk.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

  • 🇬🇹 Antigua Guatemala

    Giant kites for All Saints

    1 NovFestival

    On 1 November the villages half an hour up the road, Sumpango and Santiago Sacatepequez, raise barriletes the height of a house over the cemetery while families eat fiambre among the graves.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

  • 🇬🇧 Birmingham

    Frankfurt Christmas Market

    5 Nov – 24 DecFestival

    The largest German market outside Germany and Austria runs down New Street and Victoria Square for seven weeks.

    Source: thebfcm.co.uk

  • Vatican City

    All Saints and holy-day closures

    1–2 NovClosure

    The museums shut on 1 November with the rest of Italy, and for a scattering of other holy days across the year.

    Source: museivaticani.va

  • 🇵🇦 Bocas del Toro

    Panama's November holidays

    2–10 NovHoliday

    Four national days inside nine: separation from Colombia, flag day, Colon day, then the first cry of independence.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

  • 🇵🇦 Panama City

    Panama's November holidays

    2–10 NovHoliday

    Four national days inside nine, with school bands drumming down Via Espana for most of them and the whole country on the move.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

  • 🇮🇳 Varanasi

    Dev Deepawali

    24 NovFestival

    On Kartik Purnima, a fortnight after Diwali, every step of every ghat is set with oil lamps and the whole river front is lit at once.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

  • 🇬🇧 Bristol

    Bristol Christmas Market

    6 Nov – 23 DecFestival

    Stalls down Broadmead from early November through to just before Christmas, with the older St Nicholas Market covered and open alongside it when it rains.

    Source: bristolchristmasmarket.com

  • 🇬🇧 Manchester

    Christmas markets

    7 Nov – 22 Dec (usually)Festival

    Stalls spread across Albert Square, Piccadilly Gardens and half a dozen smaller sites from early November.

    Source: visitmanchester.com

  • 🇦🇺 Adelaide

    Christmas Pageant

    14 NovFestival

    A century-old parade of floats through the centre on a Saturday morning in November.

    Source: christmaspageant.com.au

  • 🇵🇱 Kraków

    Independence Day

    11 NovHoliday

    A public holiday: shops shut, Wawel closes to ordinary sightseeing around the morning mass, and the procession down the Royal Route to Matejki Square takes the Old Town streets out of use for the middle of the day.

    Source: zdmk.krakow.pl

  • 🇬🇧 York

    St Nicholas Fair

    12 Nov – 21 DecFestival

    Alpine chalets down Parliament Street and St Sampson's Square from the middle of November, with the Shambles lit above them.

    Source: visityork.org

  • 🇫🇷 Aix-en-Provence

    Christmas market and santon fair

    13 Nov – 31 Dec (usually)Festival

    About fifty chalets down the Cours Mirabeau from the middle of November, with the santon makers alongside selling nativity figures by the tray.

    Source: aix.fr

  • 🇬🇧 Belfast

    Christmas market at City Hall

    14 Nov – 22 DecFestival

    Chalets fill the City Hall lawns for five weeks from mid-November.

    Source: visitbelfast.com

  • 🇬🇧 Liverpool

    Christmas market and ice rink

    14 Nov – 24 Dec (usually)Festival

    Chalets on the St George's Hall plateau from the middle of November, with the rink and the big wheel nearby.

    Source: visitliverpool.com

  • 🇳🇱 The Hague

    Sinterklaas

    14 Nov – 5 Dec (usually)Holiday

    Sint arrives by boat in mid-November and the country counts down to the evening of 5 December, which is the real family night here rather than Christmas.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

  • 🇨🇦 Toronto

    Distillery Winter Village

    14 Nov – 31 Dec (usually)Festival

    The Distillery District's Christmas market runs from mid-November to the end of the year and charges timed entry at weekends.

    Source: thedistillerywintervillage.com

  • 🇦🇹 Vienna

    Christmas markets

    14 Nov – 26 Dec (usually)Festival

    Rathausplatz, Spittelberg, Karlsplatz and Schonbrunn each run a different kind of market from the middle of November.

    Source: wien.info

  • 🇬🇧 Glasgow

    Christmas lights and market

    15 Nov – 31 Dec (usually)Festival

    The lights go on in mid-November and the markets run in George Square and St Enoch until the new year.

    Source: peoplemakeglasgow.com

  • 🇦🇺 Gold Coast

    Schoolies

    21 Nov – 12 DecHoliday

    Three weeks from mid-November when school leavers take over Surfers Paradise in tens of thousands.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

…and 221 more in this group. Open any destination's page for its own month-by-month calendar.

Hazard seasons to know about

Not forecasts — the seasons in which the risk exists. Most weeks pass quietly.

  • 🇪🇬 Cairo

    The black cloud

    1 Oct – 30 Nov (usually)Hazard

    Smoke from rice-straw burning in the Delta gets trapped over Cairo by autumn inversions and sits there for days.

    Source: unep.org

  • 🇮🇹 Cinque Terre

    Autumn storm trail closures

    1 Oct – 30 Nov (usually)Hazard

    Autumn brings the downpours that flattened Vernazza and Monterosso in 2011.

    Source: parconazionale5terre.it

  • 🇮🇳 Delhi

    Stubble-burning smoke

    10 Oct – 30 Nov (usually)Hazard

    Crop residue burns across Punjab and Haryana in the weeks around early November and the smoke drifts onto the city.

    Source: science.nasa.gov

  • 🇵🇭 Boracay

    Typhoon season

    1 Jun – 30 Nov (usually)Hazard

    Aklan sits inside the storm track.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

  • 🇧🇧 Bridgetown

    Hurricane season

    1 Jun – 30 NovHazard

    Barbados sits at the eastern end of the arc, ahead of most storms rather than under them, and is brushed far more often than hit.

    Source: nhc.noaa.gov

  • 🇲🇽 Cancún

    Hurricane season

    1 Jun – 30 NovHazard

    The Atlantic season runs June to November, with most activity between mid-August and mid-October.

    Source: nhc.noaa.gov

  • 🇱🇨 Castries

    Hurricane season

    1 Jun – 30 NovHazard

    Far enough south to be missed most years, but Tomas arrived at the end of October 2010 and took the roads and the water supply with it.

    Source: nhc.noaa.gov

  • 🇧🇿 Caye Caulker

    Hurricane season

    1 Jun – 30 NovHazard

    The island is barely a metre above the sea and evacuates by water taxi.

    Source: nhc.noaa.gov

  • 🇺🇸 Charleston

    Atlantic hurricane season

    1 Jun – 30 NovHazard

    Officially June to November, with the risk concentrated between mid-August and early October.

    Source: nhc.noaa.gov

  • Charlotte Amalie

    Hurricane season

    1 Jun – 30 NovHazard

    Irma and Maria crossed the territory two weeks apart in September 2017 and the islands still plan around that fortnight.

    Source: nhc.noaa.gov

  • 🇺🇸 Clearwater

    Atlantic hurricane season

    1 Jun – 30 NovHazard

    Officially June to November, with the dangerous weeks from mid-August to early October.

    Source: nhc.noaa.gov

  • 🇵🇭 Coron

    Typhoon season

    1 Jun – 30 Nov (usually)Hazard

    Northern Palawan sits at the edge of the main track and takes fewer direct hits than the Visayas, but a system passing north still stops the ferries and the small planes for a day or two.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

  • 🇲🇽 Cozumel

    Atlantic hurricane season

    1 Jun – 30 NovHazard

    June to November on paper, with the real risk from mid-August to early October, when the island also has its cheapest rooms and its emptiest dive boats.

    Source: nhc.noaa.gov

  • 🇺🇸 Destin

    Atlantic hurricane season

    1 Jun – 30 NovHazard

    June to November, with the Gulf's dangerous weeks from mid-August to early October.

    Source: nhc.noaa.gov

  • 🇵🇭 El Nido

    Typhoon season

    1 Jun – 30 Nov (usually)Hazard

    Northern Palawan sits west of the main track and takes fewer direct hits than the rest of the country, but a storm passing anywhere near grounds the small planes and the boats for a day or two.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

  • 🇺🇸 Everglades National Park

    Atlantic hurricane season

    1 Jun – 30 NovHazard

    The park sits at sea level on an exposed coast and closes ahead of any serious storm, sometimes for weeks afterwards while roads are cleared.

    Source: nhc.noaa.gov

  • Fort-de-France

    Hivernage and hurricane season

    1 Jun – 30 NovHazard

    The wet half of the year is called hivernage, and the storm risk sits inside it, concentrated between mid-August and early October.

    Source: nhc.noaa.gov

  • 🇺🇸 Fort Lauderdale

    Atlantic hurricane season

    1 Jun – 30 NovHazard

    Statistically the risk sits in August, September and October.

    Source: nhc.noaa.gov

  • 🇧🇲 Hamilton

    Atlantic hurricane season

    1 Jun – 30 NovHazard

    The official season runs June to November and the activity is concentrated from mid-August to mid-October.

    Source: nhc.noaa.gov

  • 🇨🇺 Havana

    Hurricane season

    1 Jun – 30 NovHazard

    Havana's weak point is the Malecon: a system passing well offshore pushes the sea over the wall and floods Centro Habana for a day or two.

    Source: nhc.noaa.gov

  • 🇺🇸 Hilo

    Central Pacific hurricane season

    1 Jun – 30 NovHazard

    The season runs June to November and most systems weaken or pass south of the islands, but Hilo is the town on the windward side and takes the rain when one does track close.

    Source: weather.gov

  • 🇺🇸 Hilton Head Island

    Atlantic hurricane season

    1 Jun – 30 NovHazard

    Direct hits on this stretch of the South Carolina coast are rare, but the island is flat, low and reached by one causeway, so evacuation orders come early and often.

    Source: nhc.noaa.gov

  • 🇲🇽 Holbox

    Hurricane season

    1 Jun – 30 NovHazard

    The island is a sandbar with sand streets and one ferry.

    Source: nhc.noaa.gov

  • 🇺🇸 Honolulu

    Central Pacific hurricane season

    1 Jun – 30 NovHazard

    The season runs from June to the end of November.

    Source: nhc.noaa.gov

  • 🇺🇸 Houston

    Atlantic hurricane season

    1 Jun – 30 NovHazard

    The risk concentrates from mid-August into September.

    Source: nhc.noaa.gov

  • 🇲🇽 Isla Mujeres

    Hurricane season

    1 Jun – 30 NovHazard

    September and October are the months that matter on this corner of the Yucatan.

    Source: nhc.noaa.gov

  • 🇺🇸 Jacksonville

    Hurricane season

    1 Jun – 30 NovHazard

    North-east Florida is hit less often than the peninsula, but the St Johns River backs up on storm surge and floods downtown and San Marco when a system passes anywhere nearby.

    Source: nhc.noaa.gov

  • 🇺🇸 Kauai

    Central Pacific hurricane season

    1 Jun – 30 NovHazard

    Hawaii is hit rarely, but Kauai is the island that gets hit: Iniki flattened it in 1992 and the north shore roads still close for days when a system passes near.

    Source: weather.gov

  • 🇺🇸 Key West

    Hurricane season

    1 Jun – 30 NovHazard

    The island is four feet above the sea at the highest and reached by one road with forty-two bridges, so evacuation is ordered early and the Overseas Highway closes long before landfall.

    Source: nhc.noaa.gov

  • 🇺🇸 Lahaina

    Central Pacific hurricane season

    1 Jun – 30 NovHazard

    Landfalls are rare, but a system passing south of the islands drags dry downslope wind across leeward West Maui, and that combination is what drove the 2023 fire.

    Source: weather.gov

  • 🇵🇭 Manila

    Typhoon season

    1 Jun – 30 Nov (usually)Hazard

    Luzon takes the storms that cross from the Pacific, and it is the rain rather than the wind that stops the capital.

    Source: en.wikipedia.org

  • 🇺🇸 Maui

    Central Pacific hurricane season

    1 Jun – 30 NovHazard

    Most systems track well south of the islands and pass as a few days of heavy swell and rain.

    Source: nhc.noaa.gov

  • 🇺🇸 Miami

    Atlantic hurricane season

    1 Jun – 30 NovHazard

    The season runs June to November and the real risk here is concentrated in August, September and early October.

    Source: nhc.noaa.gov

  • 🇯🇲 Montego Bay

    Hurricane season

    1 Jun – 30 NovHazard

    Melissa came ashore in Westmoreland at the end of October 2025 as the strongest storm on record to hit Jamaica, and the west of the island is still rebuilding.

    Source: nhc.noaa.gov

  • 🇺🇸 Myrtle Beach

    Atlantic hurricane season

    1 Jun – 30 NovHazard

    The Carolina coast sticks out into the track and takes a serious storm every few years.

    Source: nhc.noaa.gov

  • 🇺🇸 Naples, Florida

    Hurricane season

    1 Jun – 30 NovHazard

    The south-west Florida shelf turns storm surge into something the Atlantic coast rarely sees, and Ian put the pier and Fifth Avenue under water in 2022.

    Source: nhc.noaa.gov

  • 🇧🇸 Nassau

    Hurricane season

    1 Jun – 30 NovHazard

    Dorian stalled over Abaco and Grand Bahama for two days in September 2019.

    Source: nhc.noaa.gov

  • 🇯🇲 Negril

    Hurricane season

    1 Jun – 30 NovHazard

    Melissa made landfall a few miles down this coast in Westmoreland on 28 October 2025, the strongest storm on record to hit Jamaica, and the West End is still rebuilding.

    Source: nhc.noaa.gov

  • 🇺🇸 New Orleans

    Atlantic hurricane season

    1 Jun – 30 NovHazard

    The Gulf coast's exposure peaks from mid-August into September.

    Source: nhc.noaa.gov

  • 🇯🇲 Ocho Rios

    Hurricane season

    1 Jun – 30 NovHazard

    The north coast sits on the sheltered side of the island, but Melissa crossed the whole of Jamaica in October 2025.

    Source: nhc.noaa.gov

…and 301 more in this group. Open any destination's page for its own month-by-month calendar.

Windows are the usual ones and move a little each year — lunar feasts and blossom most of all. Hazard seasons are the months in which the risk exists, not a forecast. Check a live source before booking.