Looking for somewhere to go in October for some winter sun for up to a week, only real criteria are:
1). Flyable from Bristol (direct)
2). Less than a 5 hour flight
3). Decent beach but other stuff to do as well (mountains, buildings etc.)
4). 20c+ with minimal chance of rain
5). Minimal chance of getting kidnapped/beheaded

Any ideas? Balearic islands or Canary Islands seem the most obvious choice and not been to either but am I missing a less well-known gem (I quite fancy Croatia etc. but figure now’s not the time weather-wise). Going with the GF to so won’t be riding 🙁

Going here in a couple of weeks – http://apartamentosvistalegre-mallorca.com/en/index.php

Spotted a deal on Icelolly and haggled a bit, got 7 days for two people inc transfers for £330.

I really fancy Croatia or Albania too, maybe next year.

Best weather will be the Canaries or further south (Cape Verde, Gambia, Morocco) or the Eastern Med. The east has a lot less rain and much warmer temperatures on average than the Balearics into October (Mallorca gets ~12 days of rain in October on average whereas the Canary Isles gets 2-4 days and Cyprus gets ~2-3 days and the sea temperature in the Eastern Med will be ~25 deg C). I think you are right that the weather will start to break in Croatia and that area would be better to visit May-September.

In the Canaries, the islands are very dry and hence quite barren. Although Gran Canaria has some greenery inland and good walking / cycling. The tourism is very much focused around the beaches, water sports etc. If you want a bit of architecture or history, look at Turkey, Cyprus or the southern Greek islands.

I quite fancy Croatia etc. but figure now’s not the time weather-wise

I was in Dubrovnik in October last year. Was about 23 degrees. Lovely. Really easy to get to parts of Bosnia and Montenegro, which were even lovelier and warmer too. Rained a bit in Croatia though.

Going with the GF to so won’t be riding

Book a nice hotel, order some wine, run a bath…you never know…

Mrs Pondo is a teacher so we quite like to get away during half term for a bit of sun before winter embraces with its icy grasp. Last four years, we’ve been to Gran Canaria, Tenerife, then Mallorca twice – we’ve always been near the coast, Gran Canaria and Tenerife don’t seem to offer much other than that, unless you travel away from the coast, but Mallorca (especially up north) seems quite green and lush, prolly a bit more to do other than lie on a sun lounger or swim in the sea (which is all we do).