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Western Med - May or October?


mackfam
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3 hours ago, LHT28 said:

either would  be good

cooler & less tourists

 

This is true most places... good times to travel.

 

We also include most of September, as most children are back in school after Labor Day (often even earlier, these days).

 

One of the main reasons we'd select September over May is IF we want warm water, such as in Bermuda.  The water there is much warmer at the end of the summer than in the late spring.

 

That's not a concern in the Caribbean, of course :classic_smile:

I don't know how the sea temps change in the Med, but it's not the sea that calls to us for those destinations.

 

GC

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My travels to Europe are land travel and I typically go mid to late May .... weather is pleasant, kids are in school, and the vendors are fresh and ready for the new tourist season.

For my upcoming Med cruise I looked at mid Oct but in researching historical weather data, there was a higher chance of cool, rainy Fall weather .  And several trip reviews last Oct reported that they missed 1 to 3 ports due to high winds during a bad storm.  So I backed it up a month and we're going mid Sept.  

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The water will be a lot warmer in September than anytime in May.  Check the different temps in either of these sites:

https://www.seatemperature.org/

http://sea-temperature.com/

 

School in Europe starts as follows:

August: Denmark, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland

September:  all other countries, most in the first week of September and a few in the second week

 

Most school systems end mid-June, but a few end in late May.

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We were in the western Med (beginning of a TA) in mid-Oct 2011 and had rain at Cannes, but not elsewhere between Venice and Lisbon as I recall.   We were also there in Sep. 2014 and had sun at the port of Villefranche (somewhat east of Cannes) and no rain at any of the ports (although overcast at Malaga and Genoa).  Did excursion to the mountain town of St. Paul de Vence on both cruises and it was much more pleasant in sunshine than rain.  However, the "streets" (really broad sidewalks actually) are paved with stones in intricate patterns which are much more noticeable and beautiful when wet. 

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On 1/12/2019 at 9:38 AM, mackfam said:

Considering a Western Med cruise ( Spain, France and Italy) and trying to decide between mid May and mid October. Any comments or recommendations? 

I did October in 2012 and it was wonderful. Doing May this year and I'm expecting the same. Beautiful weather and less crowds.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 1/12/2019 at 6:38 AM, mackfam said:

Considering a Western Med cruise ( Spain, France and Italy) and trying to decide between mid May and mid October. Any comments or recommendations? 

We usually cruise the Mediterranean in September and October and of your 2 choices would probably pick May. October weather has been fine for us when cruising the eastern Mediterranean but our experience with weather on the western Mediterranean has been mixed.

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