Travel calendar No. 10
October
Soft light, short distances, few people.
October is the month we recommend most often when someone asks when travelling feels least like effort. The heat has gone, the houses are still open, and the landscape stands in a light photographs never quite carry.
In Japan the second great season begins at the same time: an autumn that arrives in the mountains before it reaches the cities.
Why this month
Why this month is special
In Italy the harvest, the truffle season and the last warm days coincide. Until about mid-month you can still eat outside at noon while the evenings belong to the fire — a combination that exists at no other time.
From the last week of October many country houses close. If you travel late, check before the route is fixed.
What makes October interesting?
Two things: the light in Europe and the start of the finest months in the Indian Ocean. Tuscany is at harvest, Morocco turns comfortable, Japan prepares its autumn colour. Along the Mediterranean many houses close mid-month — dates before 15 October are the safer choice there.
Noted by Pure Voyage
Pure Voyage Atlas
Where this leads
The Atlas connects what belongs together: the region, the collections, the right season and the houses that sit within the same story.
Related Houses
Within These Collections
Rooms and Suites
Where to go now
Recommended destinations
Places with warm middays and cool evenings — autumn before it turns.
Italy
Tuscany
Landscape one does not tour, but inhabits.
- Best time to visit:
- Mid-May to late June, mid-September to late October
- Suggested length:
- Five to seven nights
Tokyo, Kyoto and the Alps
Japan
A country where care is not a luxury but a premise.
- Best time to visit:
- Late March to May, October and November
- Suggested length:
- Twelve to sixteen nights
Liguria, Italy
Portofino
A harbour the size of a square, ringed by pines.
- Best time to visit:
- Late May to early July, September
- Suggested length:
- Three to four nights
Where we stay
Addresses that suit it
Houses with a fireplace, a garden and a kitchen that follows the season.
Four Seasons — Florenz, Toskana
Four Seasons Firenze
A Renaissance palazzo with eleven hectares of garden behind it — Florence on foot, silence at breakfast.
- Suits:
- Families and cultural travellers who want city and garden together
- Suggested length:
- Three to four nights
Aman — Otemachi, Tokio
Aman Tokyo
A Japanese house lifted to the 33rd floor: washi, stone, cedar and a lobby thirty metres high.
- Suits:
- First-time and returning Japan travellers who want calm above the city
- Suggested length:
- Four nights, ideally combined with Kyoto
Belmond — Portofino, Ligurien
Belmond Splendido
A former monastery above the bay of Portofino, revisited by the same families since the thirties.
- Suits:
- Couples after the quiet side of the Riviera
- Suggested length:
- Four nights
On the move
Journeys this month
India is emerging from the monsoon — one of the best times for the north.
Through the month
Seasonal highlights
01
Truffle season in Tuscany
Markets in San Miniato and kitchens that cook differently for six weeks.
02
Autumn colour in Japan
From the alps downwards — in Kyoto usually not before late November.
03
The last warm days in Liguria
Lunch outdoors until mid-October, then winter quiet.
Related collections
From the Collection
Read on
From the Journal
An Invitation
Once a month: hotels, new openings and travel ideas
One hotel that convinced us, with our advice on suite and season. The openings that actually matter. And a destination at its best right now. No offers, no advertising.