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The Off Season

Autumn harvests, winter festivals and spring flowers: the Mediterranean at its quietest and often its loveliest.

Last checked October 2026.

Yachts in Monaco at sunsetPhotograph: Pexels

Autumn: September to November

Portugal

  • The harvest in the Douro ValleySeptember, sometimes into October

    The grape harvest on the terraced slopes of the Alto Douro, demarcated in 1756 and one of the oldest wine regions of its kind, when the port quintas pick by hand and still tread grapes by foot in granite lagares. Six Senses Douro Valley, above the river near Lamego, holds two MICHELIN Keys.

Spain

France

Monaco

Italy

Malta

Slovenia

None that meets our standard yet.

Croatia

None that meets our standard yet.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

None that meets our standard yet.

Albania

None that meets our standard yet.

Greece

  • Greek National Opera season openingAthens, September to October

    The national opera opens its season in the Stavros Niarchos Hall at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center, with the official opening production in October. Visit website ↗

  • Thessaloniki International Film FestivalThessaloniki, November

    Greece's great film festival, international since 1992, held in the Olympion theatre and the port warehouses. Visit website ↗

Türkiye

  • Istanbul BiennialIstanbul, September, odd years

    The international contemporary art exhibition organised by the Istanbul Foundation for Culture and Arts, running through November. Visit website ↗

  • Turkish Grand PrixIstanbul, October, from 2027

    Formula 1 back at Istanbul Park, on the Asian side of the city; the 2027 race is subject to the circuit's FIA approval.

Cyprus

  • Pafos Aphrodite FestivalPaphos, September

    Open-air opera in front of the medieval castle of Paphos.

Israel

  • Jerusalem International Chamber Music FestivalJerusalem, September

    A week of chamber music at the Jerusalem International YMCA, led by the pianist Elena Bashkirova, with international soloists and ensembles. Visit website ↗

  • Abu Gosh Vocal Music FestivalAbu Gosh, September or October, at Sukkot

    Choral and vocal music in the Crusader-era church of Our Lady of the Ark of the Covenant in the Judean Hills. A second edition follows at Shavuot, in late spring.

Egypt

Tunisia

  • Journées Musicales de CarthageTunis, October

    Tunisia's international music meeting, with jazz, contemporary and Mediterranean music from across the region.

Algeria

None that meets our standard yet.

Morocco

  • Morocco Royal TourTétouan, Rabat and El Jadida, September and October

    International show jumping over three consecutive weekends in three cities, under the patronage of King Mohammed VI, ending with the Grand Prix of His Majesty the King at El Jadida. Visit website ↗

  • Marrakech International Film FestivalMarrakech, November, sometimes into December

    International cinema and stars in Marrakech. Visit website ↗

Winter: December to February

Portugal

  • Gulbenkian Music seasonLisbon, autumn to spring

    The Gulbenkian Orchestra and Choir and visiting orchestras and soloists in the Grand Auditorium of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, set in its modernist gardens. Visit website ↗

  • New Year's Eve in MadeiraFunchal, December

    New Year's Eve, at the start of the island's mild winter, when fireworks light the whole bay of Funchal, best seen from the clifftop terraces of Visit website ↗

Spain

France

  • Black truffle seasonProvence, mid-November to mid-March

    The season of the black truffle, with Richerenches, near Avignon, holding Europe's largest truffle market every week of the season.

  • Haute Couture WeekParis, January

    The couture houses show their spring collections. Visit website ↗

Monaco

Italy

Malta

Slovenia

None that meets our standard yet.

Croatia

  • Festivity of Saint BlaiseDubrovnik, February

    The feast of the city's patron saint, celebrated for more than a thousand years and on UNESCO's intangible heritage list, with white doves, the saint's banner on Orlando's Column, a procession of relics and folk costume through the Old Town. Visit website ↗

Montenegro

None that meets our standard yet.

Albania

None that meets our standard yet.

Greece

  • Skiing on Mount ParnassosArachova, December to spring

    Greece's largest ski area, with 23 pistes and 13 lifts up to 2,260 metres, above the mountain town of Arachova and Delphi.

Cyprus

None that meets our standard yet.

Israel

  • Christmas in Nazareth and JerusalemDecember

    Nazareth's Christmas Eve procession to the Basilica of the Annunciation and midnight Mass, and in Jerusalem a Christmas Eve concert at the YMCA and festive dinners at the grand hotels.

Egypt

  • Nile cruisingLuxor to Aswan, October to April

    The classic way to see Upper Egypt from autumn to spring, with warm, dry days for the temples of Karnak, Edfu and Kom Ombo. The Oberoi Philae sails between Luxor and Aswan. Visit website ↗

  • Grand Egyptian MuseumGiza, winter

    Beside the pyramids, it shows the complete Tutankhamun collection together for the first time; cool winter days are the best time to pair it with Giza. Visit website ↗

  • Abu Simbel Sun FestivalAbu Simbel, February, and again in October

    Twice a year, in February and October, the dawn sun reaches the inner sanctuary of Ramesses II's temple and lights the statues of the king and the gods, an alignment about 3,300 years old.

Tunisia

  • Carthage Film FestivalTunis, November or December

    The Journées Cinématographiques de Carthage, the oldest film festival in Africa and the Arab world. Its top prize is the Tanit d'Or.

Algeria

None that meets our standard yet.

Morocco

Spring: March to May

Portugal

  • Holy WeekBraga, March or April

    Portugal's great Holy Week, in the country's ancient archiepiscopal city, with the Ecce Homo procession on Holy Thursday, led by barefoot penitents in purple hoods, and the torchlit burial procession on Good Friday evening. Visit website ↗

  • ARCOlisboaLisbon, May

    The international contemporary art fair, sister to ARCOmadrid, in the Cordoaria Nacional, the 18th-century royal ropeworks on the Tagus. Visit website ↗

Spain

  • ARCOmadridMadrid, March

    Spain's international contemporary art fair, at IFEMA Madrid. Visit website ↗

  • Holy WeekSeville, March or April

    Some 60 brotherhoods carry more than 100 pasos through the city, reaching their height in the Madrugá, the night before Good Friday.

  • Feria de AbrilSeville, April, sometimes May

    Seville's spring fair, for its private casetas, open only to their members and invited guests, and its horse culture, with riders and carriages in traditional dress parading through the fairground each afternoon. Visit website ↗

  • Palma International Boat ShowPalma, April

    The spring boat show in the Moll Vell marina, with a superyacht section, as the Mediterranean season opens.

  • Mutua Madrid OpenMadrid, late April into May

    Top tennis on clay. Visit website ↗

France

Monaco

Italy

Malta

None that meets our standard yet.

Slovenia

None that meets our standard yet.

Croatia

  • Za Križen processionHvar, March or April

    Through the night from Holy Thursday to Good Friday, six processions walk 25 kilometres in eight hours through Jelsa, Pitve, Vrisnik, Svirče, Vrbanj and Vrboska, a rite kept for more than five centuries and on UNESCO's intangible heritage list. Visit website ↗

Albania

None that meets our standard yet.

Greece

  • Easter on CorfuCorfu Town, April or May

    Greek Orthodox Holy Week in the Venetian old town, when clay jugs are thrown from balconies onto the streets on Holy Saturday morning and the island's philharmonic bands march through the town.

Israel

  • Holy Week and EasterJerusalem, March or April

    The Palm Sunday procession from the Mount of Olives, and the Easter liturgies at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

Egypt

None that meets our standard yet.

Tunisia

None that meets our standard yet.

Algeria

None that meets our standard yet.

Morocco

  • Trophée Hassan IIRabat, spring; May in recent years

    Morocco's royal golf tournament at the Royal Golf Dar Es Salam, with PGA Tour Champions players, played alongside the women's Lalla Meryem Cup. Visit website ↗

The Mediterranean Season Letter

Where to be, every season

Four letters a year, one for each season: the Mediterranean from spring to autumn, and Beyond the Mediterranean, into the Alps, in winter. The one best hotel to book, and the events worth crossing a sea for.