The Best Places to Travel in September 2024

The summer warmth carries on well into September in Japan, making it an ideal time of year to avoid peak tourism season. Our 12-day Rail Trip aims to offer you a pretty comprehensive introduction to this beautifully eclectic nation, where modernity and ancient history sit side-by-side. We start in Osaka, before hopping on the Bullet Train to explore Hiroshima and Miyajima Island. Marvel at the serenity of Arashiyama bamboo forest and prepare to be charmed by Kyoto, arguably Japan’s prettiest city. We’ll head up to the Japanese Alps to sip sake and explore an open-air folk village museum, head to Hakone for a traditional hot spring experience, and go cruising with views of Mount Fuji on Lake Ashi. Our final destination is Tokyo, where you’ll try taiko drumming and sushi-rolling, watch sumo wrestlers train and spend a night belting out karaoke tunes in a neon-lit bar.

Cling onto summer until its very end by joining this island-hopping Mediterranean retreat. You’ll get the full Greek experience over eight days, starting in Athens, where you’ll get a guided tour of the Acropolis. Our first island stop is Milos, where charming fishing villages, magical cave systems and undiscovered beaches await. Naxos is next, where you’ll get to take part in a Greek cooking masterclass within a rural family home. Our final stop is Santorini, the most sophisticated of all the Greek Islands, and the perfect place to watch the sun go down over summer in style.

The middle of summer can be a little too intense if you want to explore Morocco properly, as you will on this extensive 11-day tour. Things cool down a little in September, especially by the time our trip departs on the 21st. You’ll start by visiting Africa’s largest mosque in Casablanca, strolling down the blue streets of Chefchaouen and time-travelling to old-world North Africa in Fes. Then it’s time to venture deep into the Sahara – where it will naturally still be very hot – for a night spent wine tasting and stargazing at a luxury desert camp, before getting up early for a sunrise camel ride. Things should cool back down again in the heights of the Atlas Mountains, while our final destination, Marrakech, offers you the chance to go on a street food tour and take an authentic cooking class.

City breaks can be a little sweaty in the thick of summer, but do you really want to pack your biggest coat on a winter getaway? September offers a perfect happy medium, with plenty of sunshine and daylight hours, ideal for hopping onboard a comfy train carriage and zipping through the European countryside. That’s what you’ll two on this 10-day itinerary, which stops off in five of our favourite capital cities. After becoming an honorary Berliner in the German capital, we’ll take you over to Prague, one of the world’s most picturesque cities. Having meandered along medieval streets and sipped on world class beer, you’ll continue the exploration in Vienna. Gorge on schnitzel and sachertorte either side of a day trip to the splendid Wachau Valley, where you’ll cycle and go wine tasting along the Danube. Back on the tracks we go to visit Bratislava, the pretty little Slovakian capital, before reaching the end of our line in Budapest. This city’s soothing thermal baths and trendy ruin bars make it the ideal destination to wind down and reflect on the ultimate Euro rail adventure – what a way to end your summer!

The sun still shines and the ocean waters are more than inviting throughout the month of September, and we can’t think of a more glamorous way to wrap up your summer than a dreamy jaunt along the coastlines of southern Italy. We have two departures running in September 2024, both of which will start with an incredible street food tour in Naples. After that we’ll wind down the Amalfi Coast by road and by boat, before heading east towards Puglia. Several scenic inland stops – Matera, Alberobello and the Itria Valley – embellish our travels, but it’s the beaches of Polignano a Mare that makes the journey really worthwhile. Our last few days will be spent visiting a local olive oil farm, an incredible cave system and some of the most beautiful towns and cities in all of Italy.