May/Summer/October holiday!

[2weeksleft]

I am just going round in circles on Google.

I am a teacher and looking at holidays for next year, it’ll be our first holiday with baby in tow and I’m worrying summer abroad will be too hot.

Has anyone been away in May or October and have pros or cons for either?

just wanting a week all inclusive in Greece/spain with nice but not too hot weather.

Greece is lovely in May but the sea can be chilly -likewise Spain. I have had a few holidays in Greece in May and enjoyed them very much
By October the weather in Greece can be changeable.
If you went for October perhaps consider going a bit further south? Canaries?

Been to Spain in October many times and it's amazing. Temperature is usually in the low/mid 20s, so shorts and t shirt weather but not ridiculously hot. I've had friends tell me that in August the sand is so hot on the beach they can't even stand on it in bare feet.

The only thing is that tourist attractions aren't open as much (water parks, theme parks etc) and if they do it's only open at weekends so you need to plan that in.

Cyprus is a good option for May or October, the sea will be much warmer in October.

Does it have to be all inclusive? For the summer I’d recommend Biarritz-San Sebastián or anywhere in between for it to be not too hot.

Malta would be a nice option too. I've been in late May/ early June and it was perfect weather

I’m also a teacher and we travelled to the Canary Islands and also to Majorca and Menorca during the summer holidays when DS1 & DS2 were very young. We have also been away at May and October half term but don’t find the weather reliable enough during those times of year. It may be warm
enough but sometimes can be wet/cold and the pools can be too cold for swimming.

Canary island's definitely.

We were in Lisbon this May half-term, the weather was warm, easily mid-20s, but the pool was fairly cold still, not a place to linger very long. We went to Croatia in October 2017 half-term and it was definitely too cool to swim, air temperature sitting around 20, sea temperature was possibly warmer but it's not tempting to swim. Conversely we did Pisa and the Cinque Terre in October 2018 half-term and the weather was very warm and the sea was still plenty warm enough to swim. Last October half-term we were in Paris and it was shorts and t-shirt weather. We don't really gear our trips around sunbathing and beaches, but agree weather in mainland Europe is variable in October half-term. I'd go Cyprus or Malta, maybe even Tunisia, if I was looking for sunbathing.

May and October are both great times to go away - but as a PP says the sea is cold in May if you want to swim and pools are cold too, unless heated, so just check that they are if you like to swim. But I love going away a bit out of season. We were in Sicily last Oct half-term and it was perfect - beautiful weather, warm sea, not too hot, not too cold. It was heaven!