The 6 best places to visit in Spain this Autumn

After a hot summer, Autumn's cool breezes are a welcome change of pace in Spain. Without having to dodge the sun during the hottest part of the day, travelers are afforded more opportunities to enjoy the outdoors in fall, including the many beautiful beaches that are typically – depending on where you go – still warm enough to swim in until mid-October.

In addition to the pleasant weather, you’ve also got a host of exciting events you can add to your itinerary and if you prefer to be out on the trail, say on the Camino or in a national park, there are some great options to see the best fall foliage.

These are the top destinations that make a trip to Spain in Autumn a tradition worth making.

1. La Rioja

Best region for wine

There’s no bad time of year for a wine tasting, but there is no better time than Autumn to visit Spain’s most famous wine-producing region – La Rioja. Across the hundreds of vineyards that fill this small northern province, grapes are harvested, pressed and bottled. The city of Logroño celebrates this flurry of activity with the Fiesta de San Mateo in mid-September. During these days, the plazas and streets fill with people keen to enjoy the grape-stomping demonstrations, free concerts and lots of wine.

Planning tip: Some wineries let visitors participate in harvest activities like grape-picking and stomping, so look carefully for these special offers when booking your visits and tastings.

2. Andalucía

Best region for shoulder season beach days

The heat has broken, the summer vacation crowds have gone home and Andalucia’s beaches are looking more appetizing than ever in the Spanish Autumn. Hole up for a belated summer vacation at a comfortable resort in Marbella or venture to the Parque Natural de Cabo de Gata-Níjar for even more spacious beaches with natural surroundings. Generally, water temperatures don’t drop to 18°C (64°F) until November – which is still just warm enough for swimming (or at least a quick dip).

If you like the sun but prefer to keep dry, the shoulder season is a good time to tick off some of the top sights that are usually swamped with crowds in summer, such as the Alhambra in Granada or the Museo Picasso in the artist’s birth town of Málaga.

Local tip: The beaches are certainly a highlight of this southern region, but don’t miss out on unique cultural opportunities by going inland to visit historic towns like Ronda, famous for its bullfighting traditions.

3. Jaén

Best place for the olive harvest

Grapes aren’t the only thing getting picked this time of year. Olive trees will get their annual shakedown all over Spain, but the inland Andalusian province of Jaén does it best. During the process known as “verdeo,” green olives are harvested from September to November and then pressed into the delicious liquid gold we like to see on our tapas. Take advantage of this time of year to tour one of the farms or go at the beginning of December for the annual Olive Festival in Martos, which commemorates the end of the harvest season with concerts, art exhibitions, flamenco performances and olive oil pressing ceremonies.

Local tip: If you go to the festival in Martos, come very hungry and prepare to fill up on hoyos, or “holes,” small pieces of bread with a little cavity for filling up with olive oil.

4. Menorca

Best island for cheese-tasting

On a trip to Menorca in October, you can squeeze in some lingering beach days and try some of the island’s best cheeses at the Mahón Cheese Fair. The D.O.-classified cheese is a cow’s milk cheese that alludes to the island’s ancient agricultural and cheesemaking heritage. There are a few cheese factories on the island you can visit, like Sabaida which offers a “farmer for the day” tour, but if you go during the fair, you’ll have the rare opportunity of finding all of the island’s top cheese producers all in one place – plus a few cheesemakers from around Spain in town for the event. Come hungry and enjoy and top off your autumn island getaway with a bonus feast of cheesy samples.

Planning tip: The festival takes place in Mahón, but rent a car to explore more of this small island, including a visit to the town of Ciutadella on the west side.

5. The Pyrenees

Best region for autumn hiking

Once the temperatures drop to a more comfortable level, it’s a great time to get out and go hiking on the Spanish side of the Pyrenees. In the Autumn, this nearly 500-kilometer-long mountain range lights up as oak, chestnut and beech trees don their autumn colors. There are plenty of hiking trails from which you can access some of the most beautiful Pyrenean landscapes, but some of the top hiking hotspots are Aragon’s Parque Nacional de Ordesa y Monte Perdido (also a popular place for canyoneering) and the Cerdanya region in Catalonia, a very sunny and splendid valley split between France and Spain.

Local tip: If you'd like to explore Cerdanya, stay in the town of Puigcerdà but take the opportunity to indulge in a geographical oddity by visiting Llívia, a Spanish village on the French side of the border.

6. La Garrotxa

Best region for fall foliage

Between Barcelona and the Pyrenees, there is an ancient volcanic region known for its lush forests, striking landscape and high-quality gastronomy. In its own microclimate – not quite alpine and not totally Mediterranean either – La Garrotxa is a green paradise where you can find pockets of autumnal colors. Outside of the main city of Olot, Fageda d'en Jordà is the best place to see the shade-shifting beech trees but you will find pockets of color all over the region, which is well-organized with lots of hiking trails that pass by ancient lava flows in Sant Joan les Fonts and unbelievably-situated villages like Castellfollit de la Roca.

Local tip: When in Olot, try the local specialty patates d’Olot, tasty fried potato morsels stuffed with meat. They’re also sometimes known by the name of the restaurant that invented them, “patates de la Deu.”