Ah, autumn, that special time of year when the weather has you putting on and taking off a jacket every five minutes, and whatever goodwill you had left over from summer is disappearing faster than the daylight, but you still put up with it because nature is going hard with the orange palette and the air smells of spice.
Sandwiched between peak summer tourism and the holiday season, autumn is also a great time for a quick city break, and the folks over at weloveholidays have put together a convenient list of the best European cities for an autumn getaway. And wouldn't you know it, London comes in at number one!
The list, available here, analyses a number of different criteria: percentage of green areas, number of cafes, average number of hours of sunlight in autumn, average temperature in autumn, the average cost of a pumpkin spice latte, and the number of autumnal social media posts. It was this latter category and the number of cafes that helped London beat out second-placed Stockholm (119,000 posts compared to 43,000, and a whopping 3,000+ cafes compared to 364) and compensate for its poor showing in green surfaces (just 22,29%, lowest of all the analysed cities) and outrageous pumpkin spice latte price (tied with Austria for most expensive at €6,90).
The top five autumnal cities are rounded off by Prague, Berlin, and Heidelberg. Meanwhile, if you just want to guzzle pumpkin spice all day long, you'll want to head to Bulgaria – €3,95 a pop buys you a lotta latte. Those looking to soak up the sun, however, are better off booking a flight to Sintra, Portugal – the city came in dead last overall, but has by far the most sunshine and highest average temperatures of the 25 analysed cities.
Finally, if you're looking to plan your autumnal trip to London, make sure to check out our guides to London's best parks, cafes, and weekend getaway essentials for an unforgettable stay – or at least a nice pumpkin spice latte.