September is, for those who know how to look, the most generous month on the travel calendar: the heat eases, the crowds leave with the return to school, and the countryside enters its most photogenic moment, the grape harvest. We've scoured the map — from La Rioja to South Africa, through Georgia and your own Girona — to bring you ten plans that combine hotels with character, real wellness, and a table worth the trip.
What do you feel like doing on this getaway?
Answer three quick questions and we'll tell you which of the ten plans is yours.
1. What are you looking for most in this getaway?
2. How much time do you have to travel?
3. What kind of indulgence do you prefer?
First northern lights of the season and thermal baths
In late September, Iceland's northern lights season begins and runs through March, and 2026 coincides with the most intense solar cycle peak since 2003: auroras appear more frequent, brighter, and visible from lower latitudes than usual. Combine watching the phenomenon with a dip in thermal waters at sunset.
Grape harvest among vineyards without flying
September is harvest month in La Rioja, the most visually striking time of year for wine tourism. In Entrena you'll find La Rioja's first project to combine a hotel, winery, restaurant and spa under one roof, with rooms above the barrel cellar itself: you wake up literally on top of the wine still aging.
Treading grapes by the river
From September 13 to 15, Peso da Régua celebrates the Douro harvest festival, with traditional grape treading in granite lagares, port wine tastings, river cruises and live fado. Stay at a centuries-old vineyard estate turned boutique hotel, where you can join the harvest during the season.
Do getaways like these inspire you?
Subscribe and get your monthly pick of destinations, boutique hotels and wellness plans before anyone else.
Subscribe
Rtveli, Europe's most authentic grape harvest
From September 9 to 11 — and through October — the Kakheti region, an hour from Tbilisi, celebrates Rtveli: winemaking families invite you to tread Rkatsiteli and Saperavi grapes barefoot and fill the qvevri, the clay vessels Georgian wine has been made in for eight thousand years. Sleep in a boutique guesthouse in Sighnaghi or Telavi and end the day at a supra, the traditional feast with polyphonic singing.
Harvest and spa among UNESCO World Heritage vineyards
With the 2026 harvest concentrated between late August and September 22, the Champagne region — a UNESCO World Heritage site — lives its liveliest weeks of the year. A hotel with a spa of over 1,500 square meters overlooks the vineyards from a 19th-century former post house: two heated pools facing the vines and a Michelin-starred restaurant.
Masserias and fresh oil without August's heat
In September, temperatures in Puglia drop to a comfortable 23°C, local tourism recedes with the return to school, and olive picking begins. Stay in a masseria within the Fasano-Ostuni-Savelletri triangle, 16th-century fortified farmhouses turned hotels with bougainvillea courtyards and centuries-old olive groves.
The start of white truffle season
In late September, Istria's white truffle season opens and runs through November, turning Motovun, Livade and Buzet into the Adriatic's gastronomic epicenter. Book a morning truffle hunt with trained dogs and stay at a boutique hotel in a hilltop medieval village.
Do getaways like these inspire you?
Subscribe and get your monthly pick of destinations, boutique hotels and wellness plans before anyone else.
Subscribe
Southern right whales and cool-climate wine
September and October are peak months for southern right whale activity off the coast of Hermanus, arriving from Antarctica to calve in Walker Bay: they're perfectly visible from the cliff path, no boat needed. Nearby, the Hemel-en-Aarde wine route produces some of the southern hemisphere's finest pinot noir.
The medina without the heat or the queues
September brings Marrakech mild temperatures, riad rates noticeably lower than peak season, and far fewer crowds, as both tourists and Moroccan families return to the school routine. It's the ideal time to stay at a boutique riad in the heart of the medina, with an interior courtyard, fountain and rooftop terrace for dinner.
Harvest and the Roca brothers' table
From late August through all of September, the DO Empordà Wine Route runs family harvest days at its wineries, including grape picking and treading. Fifteen minutes away, in the heart of Girona's old town, the Roca brothers of El Celler de Can Roca run a boutique hotel in a restored historic building, with their own chocolate workshop and a terrace over the Onyar.
How to choose your September plan
- If you want something unrepeatable: choose Iceland, for the start of aurora season.
- If your goal is to eat well and slowly: choose Istria, for the white truffle, or Georgia, for Rtveli.
- If you need real disconnection: choose South Africa or Marrakech.
- If you'd rather skip a long flight: choose La Rioja or Girona and the Empordà.
Fancy an anniversary or gastronomic getaway closer to home? In Girona, the Roca brothers turn a historic building into your next indulgence.
Discover Hotel Casa Cacao →
