Europe is a dream in autumn. The weather is cooler, crowds are fewer, hotels are cheaper and yellow, crimson and ochre creep into every crevice. From festivals to foliage, we've picked the top destinations in Europe for the golden season.

Budapest is beautiful in autumn, when gold- and orange-hued leaves sprout around its Neo-Gothic buildings. But there's more than fall colour to pique visitors' interest. The Cafe Budapest Contemporary Arts Festival (or Budapest Autumn Festival) is a two-week-plus jamboree of mini music festivals, dance performances and exhibitions and usually runs from late September and through October. 

Often written off by tourists who are starry-eyed over the elegant Amalfi Coast, Naples merits a visit and its glorious grit is part of its charm. The food is reason enough to stay a while and in autumn you can find the famed Neapolitan-style pizzas topped with freshly plucked mushrooms and drizzled in truffle oil. This season also offers perfect conditions for a stroll along the Lungomare, Naples' seafront promenade, or an aperitivo in a sun-dappled piazza.

This charming Baltic city is another that often flies under the radar, but it has delights aplenty, and autumn is the perfect time to sample them. The Latvian capital is home to one of the largest markets in Europe, Riga Central Market, and stalls are laden with the harvest bounty, from colourful squash to stone fruits. Once you've had your fill, make a beeline for one of the many city parks, bright with golden colours: Bastejkalns and Vērmanes Garden are among the prettiest.

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Galway is the perfect place to enjoy the spoils of autumn. The revered Church Lane market, which has traded here for centuries, brims with colourful root vegetables and the urban Merlin Park Woods are awash with gold and yellow. But it's at the end of September that the fun really starts: the Galway Oyster and Seafood Festival is a weekend full of live music, tastings, free-flowing booze and the world-famous Oyster Opening Championships.

If it's a sun, sea and sand-filled escape you have your sights set on, Crete, the largest of Greece's islands, is a safe bet. Temperatures stay balmy right up until November (rarely dipping below 20°C/68°F), and the gentle waters are warm enough for a swim, even towards the end of October. Strike north for modern resorts and bar-dotted beaches, or south for rugged strands and little-visited villages. It's harvest season too, so don't pass on the rakı or the olives.

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Split and Dubrovnik are often pitted against each other – but while the latter is thronged with crowds, even into early autumn, Split remains a little quieter, especially in the off season. The mild, sunny climes are ideal for sightseeing in its historic centre, while the programme at the Croatian National Theatre kicks into full gear from September.

The Isle of Arran is prime territory for spotting autumn foliage. With its brooding castles, craggy coastline and rambling glens, Arran is often touted as 'Scotland in miniature', and there's no better time to visit than when its landscapes are bright with red and russet. Drink in the ruins of Lochranza Castle (pictured), perched amidst the fall colour, before warming your cockles with a wee dram at the Isle of Arran Distillery, a 20-minute walk away. 

If you're a lover of architecture, the little-visited town of Xanten in western Germany should be on your radar. Xanten Archaeological Park is one of Europe's most impressive, boasting to-scale recreations of the ancient Roman buildings that once stood here. The city's medieval centre has also been painstakingly restored after damage it suffered in the Second World War, and is particularly charming when dotted with autumn trees. From here, you can make the hour-long journeys to buzzing Cologne or Düsseldorf. 

This swathe of northern Portugal is the country's premier wine region, and the terraced vineyards, fringing Douro's namesake river, look particularly splendid when flecked with rust red and orange. It's not all about looks, though. Autumn brings the harvest, one of the best times to visit the region's wineries. Some vineyards will let you try your hand (or feet) at the traditional method of crushing grapes underfoot, before sitting back and sipping some local varieties. 

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Florence, with its world-class galleries, Renaissance architecture and thriving contemporary creative scene is a delight year round, but in autumn, the city really comes to life. After a quiet summer, the theatres and opera houses begin their programmes once more, while harvest season means freshly reaped mushrooms, chestnuts and olives grace the menus of its trattorias. If you can tear yourself from the city, slip out to a Tuscan vineyard to witness the vendemmia (the grape harvest).

York is a dream any time of year, but autumn gives it an extra spirit – especially around Halloween. Tales of spooks and spectres abound in the city, particularly in relation to the handful of haunted pubs, with the Golden Fleece the eeriest of them all. In late October, spookiness is kicked up a gear with extra ghost tours, cobwebs draped across pub windows and plump pumpkins fronting shops on the Shambles, a cobbled, medieval street in the city's centre.

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One for literature lovers, Odense was the birthplace of Danish fairy-tale writer Hans Christian Andersen, who penned The Little Mermaid and The Ugly Duckling, among others. You can visit the late author's birthplace (pictured) and spot sculptures of the characters he dreamed up dotted around the city's cobbled streets. Visit in October, when the Tartelet Festival sees the city's streets brimming with stalls selling different types of crisp tartelets, live music and a tartelet-eating competition. 

Some 330 miles (531km) west of Paris, you'll find Quimper, Brittany's oldest city. This historic commune rarely graces tourists' itineraries, but its Gothic-style cathedral and unspoiled old town should bump it up your list. If the autumn weather brings rain, duck into the Musée des Beaux Arts, whose collection spans centuries and includes works by such famed French painters as Jules Breton.

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The bronze and amber trees lining Utrecht's Oudegracht (Old Canal) are postcard-worthy indeed – but music lovers have another incentive to tour this city in the golden season. Le Guess Who?, a four-day festival celebrating indie music from around the world, kicks off in early November: expect performance art, raucous grunge romps and instrumental sets. If you can't make the event, be content with sipping artisan coffee in sidewalk cafés and taking in the Dutch-style architecture.

Jersey draws British holidaymakers with its Mediterranean-esque beaches and swish hotels, and while the waters may be too chilly for a dip in autumn, there are still plenty of reasons to pay a visit at this time of year. First, there's Tennerfest, an affordable food festival where restaurants offer up seasonal, multi-course set menus for a fixed price (beginning at £10/$11 and stretching to no more than £17.50/$20). Then there's La Faîs'sie d’Cidre, a weekend cider festival that kicks off in mid October.

Helsinki's autumn temperatures may be brisk, but it's worth it for the magic of 'ruska', the Finnish term for autumn foliage. Central Park, an area of national forestland sprawling into the city limits, is the best place to soak up some golden colours. Mushroom-picking season will be in full swing too, so you can scope out chanterelles on your travels (go with a guide to avoid a tummy ache). 

Valletta's Capital of Culture designation saw it shoot into the spotlight in 2018, but interest in the Maltese capital shows no sign of abating. In autumn, Malta's scorching summer heat peters out and more comfortable climes make sightseeing a pleasure. Take in St John's Co-Cathedral, a 16th-century Baroque masterpiece and round off the day with a Mediterranean feast on the waterfront.

The mother of all autumn escapes, the Bavarian city of Munich is the annual host of Oktoberfest, a two-week-long holiday of local brews and merrymaking. Gargantuan tents shelter the thousands of beer-supping, bratwurst-eating visitors, with rides, souvenir stalls and sweet treats adding to the fun. If you're after a quieter escape, head for the hills: hiking trails (such as those around fairy-tale Neuschwanstein Castle) lace the Bavarian Alps, covered in autumn foliage from late September.

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Most visitors to Iceland make their base in Reykjavík and concentrate their travels on the Golden Circle (a trio of sights including thundering Gullfoss Waterfall). But Iceland's Western Region has natural treasures aplenty. Highlights include terraced Hraunfossar falls and Snæfellsjökull National Park, dominated by its namesake: a conical, glacier-topped volcano. Autumn affords more daylight hours to soak in the sights than winter, but there's still a chance of catching the dazzling Northern Lights. 

Innsbruck is often overlooked in favour of Vienna and Salzburg, and that's a shame. Nestled in the Eastern Alps, the city is the capital of Austria's picturesque Tyrol region. While it's got its own charms including cosy bars, the Tyrolean Provincial Museum and the Markthalle for foodies, it's also an ideal springboard into its Alpine surrounds. Tail the summer sightseers and beat the winter sports enthusiasts and you'll enjoy a quiet city, carpeted in autumn colours, for a steal of a price.

Ski season may not get into full swing until late November, but there are many other reasons to visit this Swiss resort town. Autumn is an ideal time to see Zermatt in all its glory. Gaze up at the mighty snow-capped Matterhorn, take a hike in the surrounding woodland, golden for the season, and make time for Gorner Gorge, whose rocky bluffs are covered in bright fall foliage come late September. 

Is Edinburgh one of the top contenders for best autumn destinations? We like to think so. In October the Scottish capital generally sees the same sunshine hours as June and July, perfect for hazy afternoons spent exploring Edinburgh Castle (pictured) and long evenings enjoying its bustling café culture. The Scottish International Storytelling Festival is an apt way to celebrate the cèilidh (a traditional Scottish gathering) from mid- to late October. 

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Another often underrated city, the Slovenian capital Ljubljana, makes the perfect base from which to explore the rest of the country. Don't escape too soon, though. Rambling Tivoli Park is a riot of orange come autumn, foliage lines the Ljubljanica river and the fine Slovenian Museum of Natural History offers shelter on a chillier day. Once you've soaked up the city, make the hour-long train journey to Bled to see the famed lake and its islet cloaked in seasonal colour.

Paris is always a good idea, so the saying goes, but with autumn comes a fresh round of reasons to visit the City of Light. White Night (or Nuit Blanche) is an annual event in early October where the doors of the city's most beloved galleries and museums are thrown open for free and Parisian nights are illuminated by whimsical light sculptures. Then comes Salon du Chocolat, an indulgent show in late October into November celebrating chocolate from the world over. Throw in the Eiffel Tower, framed by a cluster of golden leaves, and there's little chance that autumn in the French capital will disappoint. 

Krakow was made for this season: the easy-going cafés and hearty meat-heavy cuisine take the bite out of the autumn chill, and impressive Wawel Castle looks even better when framed with orange and ochre. Whenever you visit, make time for Schindler's Factory, and for the two-hour train journey west to Auschwitz concentration camp – both offer a sobering dose of history and tributes to those who lost their lives during the Nazi regime.

Autumn is a splendid time to visit Tirana, where you can make the most of the foliage and main sights with a walking tour. Once you've covered the city's must-see attractions, embrace the great outdoors by taking a cable car up the Dajti mountain (pictured), which is also home to a national park, or rent a bike for a laidback cycle around the Grand Park of Tirana. 

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