Some people wait for good weather to set off, while others have realized that certain cities reveal their best when the sky grows gray. As the days shorten, many European cities continue to shine and, in fact, become even more captivating. After all, the only real way to face bad weather is to let yourself be won over, taking refuge in a historic café with a warm drink or losing yourself among the halls of a great museum, without the guilt of not being outdoors.
The right opportunity to travel comes with the new Ryanair promotion, which offers flights from as little as €16.99 to book until October 8, 2026, for travel from October 8 to December 17, 2026.
We recommend these 3 destinations to experience even with an umbrella in hand.
From Milan Malpensa to Warsaw
With flights from Milan Malpensa starting at €14.99 you can reach Warsaw. The Polish capital seems tailor-made for gray days: the secret is to alternate short strolls with long warm breaks. The ideal refuges are the museums, starting with POLIN, which tells a thousand years of Polish Jewish history, and the Warsaw Uprising Museum, engaging and moving.
For lunch it is worth trying a bar mleczny, the historic communal canteens where a hot soup and a plate of pierogi cost just a few euros. If the sky grants a lull, head to the 30th floor of the Palace of Culture and Science to admire the city from above. A single tip: wear waterproof shoes, because the rain makes the Old Town’s cobblestones slippery!
From Milan Bergamo to Manchester
Manchester is famed for being the rainiest city in the United Kingdom, but that is a myth to debunk: gray days and drizzle are common, yet other British cities are far better suited to this role! In any case, from Milan Bergamo the flights start at €14.99, and packing an umbrella is a smart idea.
The bad weather here is best faced indoors, starting with the John Rylands Library, a neo-Gothic library that feels like the set of a fantasy film. Football enthusiasts can reach the National Football Museum, while those seeking something new can peek at the program of the Aviva Studios, the cultural space on the River Irwell offering theater, music and art installations. Then coffee and record shops in the Northern Quarter and a pint at a pub to complete the itinerary.
From Venice Marco Polo to Vienna
Finally, from Venice Marco Polo you can fly to Vienna starting from €14.99. Late autumn may be the best time to discover the city’s most authentic soul: its historic cafés. Tradition holds that it all began with sacks of coffee beans abandoned by the Ottomans after the 1683 siege, and since then the marble table of a kaffeehaus is considered a city institution.
From Demel, on Kohlmarkt, the sumptuous interiors are as compelling as the pastries, while at Café Sacher you cannot miss the famous chocolate cake with apricot jam. Between breaks, the Kunsthistorisches Museum houses masterpieces by Bruegel and Vermeer and, right opposite, the Natural History Museum astonishes with its collections. For a full day sheltered indoors there is the Hofburg, home to the Sisi Museum and the Lipizzan horses of the Spanish Riding School.
