Where to Travel in October

Celebrate fall with a great October vacation.

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Celebrate fall with a great vacation featuring some of our favorite October events like spooky Halloween activities and leaf-peeping excursions.

Munich, Germany

Millions of visitors take over Bavarian capital Munich for Oktoberfest each year from mid-September through early October.

Photo by: Reuters

Reuters

Join the 6 million visitors who head to Munich each fall for beers and brats at the classic Bavarian Oktoberfest. Our Oktoberfest travel guide gives you the scoop on the best biergartens, culture and fun during the multiday, beer-fueled festival.

Stowe, Vermont

fall, foliage, autumn, leaves, stowe, vermont

Photo by: Don Land/iStock/Getty Images

Don Land/iStock/Getty Images

Hit the road for some serious fall foliage on a road trip through New England. Mother Nature’s autumn show kicks off at the Canadian border and makes its first appearance in the northern states like Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont in early September. As the month progresses, the colors move south where the final colors fade away in early to mid-November.

Albuquerque, New Mexico

Photo by: Paul deBerjeois

Paul deBerjeois

Starting with a mere 13 balloons in 1972, the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta has grown into the largest balloon event in the world. Held each year during the first week of October, visitors flock to photograph the hundreds of balloons and over 1,000 pilots from 28 different countries.

Fountainebleau, France

Photo by: Arthur Hsu

Arthur Hsu

Take advantage of the crisp fall air, and bring along a crash pad for a bouldering adventure. Bouldering is an extreme type of rock climbing where boulderers scale extra-large boulders, starting at 10-15 feet high and "high balls" exceeding 25-feet high, relying on technique and fearlessness without any harnesses or ropes.

Best Halloween Attractions

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Photo by: Ben Kress

Ben Kress

Scare yourself silly on Halloween with a trip to one of the country’s top 10 corn mazes or spookiest haunted houses. These terrifying attractions rely on thrilling technology and old-fashioned terror to instill some Halloween fear in visitors.

Dallas, Texas

Texas State Fair

Get ready for 24 days of excitement … and lots of fried food: deep-fried Oreos, deep-fried s'mores, deep-fried pork ribs, deep-fried peanut butter… did we say “fried”? But first, hop aboard this 212-foot-high Ferris wheel, the largest in North America, at the Texas State Fair -- a tradition since 1886 that takes place every fall at Dallas’ historic Fair Park.

Photo by: iStock

iStock

Held in Dallas' historic Fair Park, the Texas State Fair has been a tradition since 1886. It's hard to tell whether the 212-foot-high Ferris wheel or abundance of fried food is the bigger drawl for fair-goers. On second thought, with delicacies like deep-fried Oreos and chicken-fried bacon, it's no contest.