Barcelona revealed as the best Autumn getaway destination in Europe for 2023

DiscoverCars.com has created a ranking of the best Autumn getaway destinations for the second year in a row. Barcelona was revealed as the top destination for 2023.

DiscoverCars.com have ranked the best destinations in Europe for an Autumn getaway. This is the second year they have completed this ranking, they used the same ten cities plus five new locations to visualise how the results have altered over the past twelve months.

To do this, they explored factors such as the average cost of hiring a rental vehicle for a week and the number of budget hotels in each city. The destinations were then scored out of 120 and ranked accordingly.

As DiscoverCars.com ranked these cities last year, we are able to make comparisons between the two rankings.

First, let’s remind ourselves of 2022’s results, the top five locations for an Autumn getaway last year were:

1. Budapest

2. Barcelona

3. Lisbon

4. Berlin

5. Copenhagen

Speaking on the rankings, Aleksandrs Buraks at DiscoverCars.com said:

”Summer may be coming to an end but that doesn’t mean holidays have to also. Our annual ranking of the top Autumn getaway destinations yielded some interesting results – particularly with no location retaining its position from last year’s ranking.

”Our inclusion of five new cities was useful for further comparison between countries, as we wanted to give travellers as many options as possible when considering the location of their next Autumn escape.

Now that we’ve familiarised ourselves with the previous ranking, it’s time to see how the top five have altered over the past twelve months.

The top five destinations for a European Autumn getaway were:

1. Barcelona, Spain

Barcelona improved on its 2022 result by moving up one spot to take first place. The Spanish city received a score of 98 out of 120 points. With the highest number of cheap restaurants (1,793) and budget hotels (534), there are certainly plenty to choose from when visiting the Catalonian city.

The average cost of a week-long hotel stay in Barcelona is priced at £981 while plane tickets from Heathrow cost £141 on average during Autumn.

2. Lisbon, Portugal

Next, Lisbon ranked in second place receiving a score of 94 out of 120 points – also moving up one position from last year’s results. Lisbon is home to 455 budget hotels and has the highest average temperature from September to November out of all cities examined (18° Celsius).

The journey from London Heathrow to Lisbon Humberto Delgado Airport costs £148 on average while vehicles are available for hire for £159.

3. Berlin, Germany

Moving on, in third place is the German capital, Berlin. The city received a score of 89 out of 120 points and improved from 2022’s results where the location ranked in fourth place. Berlin offers visitors a choice of 1,422 cheap eateries and 360 budget hotels throughout the city.

Additionally, the average cost of a week-long hotel stay totals £827 while the average amount of daylight throughout Autumn is 10.7 hours.

4. Budapest, Hungary

In fourth place is Budapest – the top-rated destination 12 months ago. The city received a score of 85 out of 120 points. Budapest has an average of 56mm of rainfall during the Autumn months, the second lowest out of all cities investigated.

Meanwhile, the average price of a flight from Heathrow costs £160 while a week-long hotel stay is priced at £600 on average.

5. Gdansk, Poland

Lastly, rounding off the top five is one of this year’s new additions, Gdansk. The Polish city received a score of 81 out of 120 points and ranked above popular tourist destinations such as Amsterdam and Florence.

Gdansk has the lowest amount of rainfall (51mm), the cheapest car rental costs (£124) and the cheapest hotel prices on average (£526) making it a great option for a getaway this Autumn.

Completing the top ten, the remaining cities in order were; Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Bilbao, Bordeaux and Bruges.