{"id":97172896,"date":"2016-10-03T06:00:16","date_gmt":"2016-10-03T06:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/?p=97172896"},"modified":"2023-09-26T13:07:25","modified_gmt":"2023-09-26T13:07:25","slug":"hot-air-balloons-haunted-houses-the-hagia-sophia-5-must-see-spots-this-october","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/hot-air-balloons-haunted-houses-the-hagia-sophia-5-must-see-spots-this-october\/","title":{"rendered":"Hot Air Balloons, Haunted Houses, & the Hagia Sophia: 5 Must-See Spots This October"},"content":{"rendered":"

This post was last updated on September 26, 2023.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Happy October, folks! We\u2019re knee deep in the autumn season, and I\u2019m still kind of in shock. Where did summer go? Well, the heat of the summer months might be gone, but the high point of travel season is just beginning. The weather\u2019s crisp and lovely, the crowds have seriously thinned out, and there are tons of cool things going on around the world.<\/p>\n

Where should you be traveling this lovely October? Let\u2019s find out!<\/p>\n

If You Can\u2019t Pull Your Kids Out of School…Albuquerque!<\/h1>\n

\"Steve<\/a><\/p>\n

If you\u2019d rather not leave the country \u2014 what with school fully in session and all \u2014 Albuquerque<\/a>\u2019s the place for you! The weather\u2019s perfect this time of year, but the city\u2019s real attraction is its annual International Balloon Fiesta<\/a>. Every October, the city comes alive with hundreds of brightly colored hot air balloons, and it\u2019s a pretty awesome experience.<\/p>\n

The 9-day event features a carnival, live music, fireworks, and of course, ballooning competitions. The festival fair grounds will be packed to the gills with cool booths selling local wares, so the time to stock up on New Mexican jewelry or ballooning memorabilia is now! If you\u2019re really into the balloons, head over to the Anderson-Abruzzo Albuquerque International Balloon Museum<\/a> to get caught up on the history. Need a break from all the balloons? Go on a Breaking Bad<\/em>-themed city tour<\/a>, or cruise historic Route 66<\/a>.<\/p>\n

If You Want to Enjoy Some Carbs and Wine…Rome!<\/h1>\n

\"Viacheslav<\/a><\/p>\n

Want to go a bit further afield \u2014 and get some peace and quiet while you\u2019re at it? Head to Rome<\/a>! The city\u2019s super crowded all summer long, but by October, the weather is still lovely and the crowds have (mostly) gone home.<\/p>\n

Tour the Coliseum, walk the cobblestone streets, take a selfie at the Trevi Fountain \u2014 you can even swing by Vatican City to say hi to the Pope. And the best part? There won\u2019t be swarms of tourists crowding all your photos. You can finally enjoy that bowl of homemade pasta in peace. Perfetto!<\/em><\/p>\n

When you\u2019ve had your fill of pizza and gelato (although that may never happen, #noshame), add a spooky Halloween component<\/a> to your Roman Holiday with a tour of some of its creepiest, crawliest spots. When in Rome!<\/p>\n

If You Just Can\u2019t Let Summer Go…Turkey!<\/h1>\n

\"Kaspars<\/a><\/p>\n

Missing the beach already? Who could blame you? A solid chunk of beach destinations are mired in monsoon and hurricane season this month \u2014 the Caribbean chief among them \u2014 but there\u2019s one spot that\u2019s absolutely perfectly this time of year. Turkey!<\/p>\n

The country\u2019s Aegean and Bosphorus coasts are still hot, sunny, and all around gorgeous in October, but the vast majority of vacationers won\u2019t be hanging around. You\u2019ll have that gorgeous coastline (almost) all to yourself. Bop around among the fishing villages and boutique hotels, eat all the food \u2014 Turkish food is incredible \u2014 and get your tan on. This one has to last you through the holidays!<\/p>\n

If you want a taste of Turkey\u2019s metropolitan side, make a stop in Istanbul<\/a>. It\u2019s hot, sticky, and crowded in the summer, but come October, it\u2019s crisp, open, and beautiful. Make sure you check out the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia \u2014 and don\u2019t forget to try the Turkish coffee. It’s an experience you won’t soon forget.<\/p>\n

If You\u2019re a History Nerd with an Adventurous Streak…Jordan!<\/h1>\n

\"JPRichard<\/a><\/p>\n

Want to see ancient rock-cut temples and tombs, Indiana Jones style? Jordan is the place for you. Despite headline-grabbing conflicts in the Middle East region in general, Jordan itself is peaceful, safe, and welcoming to visitors. Plus, there are virtually no crowds right now. If you want a taste of the Middle East in all its ancient glory, there\u2019s no better time or place to do it.<\/p>\n

Start out in the capital city, Amman<\/a>, before heading down to the iconic \u201cRose City\u201d of Petra. Take in the ancient architecture before moving on to one of the many picturesque towns along the Dead and Red Seas. If you\u2019d rather stay on dry land, take a trek into the desert on camel or horseback. Summer\u2019s drawing to a close in Jordan \u2014 meaning it\u2019s cool enough to venture into the Valley of the Moon, a seriously awe-inspiring experience.<\/p>\n

If You Absolutely Love Halloween…Salem!<\/h1>\n

\"Salem<\/a><\/p>\n

We\u2019re finishing out this guide the same way we\u2019ll all be finishing out the month \u2014 with Halloween. If you\u2019re a junkie for all things spook-tastic, you really can\u2019t miss Salem<\/a> in October. The history buffs out there will remember Salem as the site of the infamous witch trials in the mid-17th century. Ever since, the town has had a reputation for witchcraft, hauntings, and general freakiness. Even better, Salem\u2019s community (almost) totally embraces it. (There are a few Halloween Grinches here and there, but they generally make themselves scarce this time of year.)<\/p>\n

From October 1st through the 31st,\u00a0Salem plays host to its annual Haunted Happenings<\/a> festival, a full month\u2019s worth of costume parties, haunted hayrides, haunted house tours, a Halloween parade, and more. If you\u2019re looking for an epic Halloween extravaganza, Salem\u2019s got it.<\/p>\n

Do you have any suggestions for great October destinations? Tell us about the in the comments below!\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This post was last updated on September 26, 2023.\u00a0 Happy October, folks! We\u2019re knee deep in the autumn season, and I\u2019m still kind of in shock. Where did summer go? Well, the heat of the summer months might be gone, but the high point of travel season is just beginning. The weather\u2019s crisp and lovely, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":97220913,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[71,69,70,66],"tags":[774,775,776,777,958,953,289,700,781,370,951,572,952,322,224,954,237,406,955,956,957,375],"class_list":["post-97172896","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-adventure-travel","category-arts-and-history","category-family","category-interests","tag-abq","tag-albuquerque","tag-albuquerque-new-mexico","tag-albuquerque-nm","tag-amm","tag-amman","tag-bos","tag-halloween","tag-hot-air-balloons","tag-ist","tag-istanbul","tag-italy","tag-jordan","tag-mediterranean","tag-middle-east","tag-petra","tag-rom","tag-rome","tag-salem","tag-salem-ma","tag-salem-massachusetts","tag-turkey"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97172896","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97172896"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97172896\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":97220912,"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97172896\/revisions\/97220912"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/97220913"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97172896"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97172896"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cheapoair.com\/miles-away\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97172896"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}