Some trips start with a hotel. Others start with a reason to go. October has quite a few of those. A guest chef from Switzerland cooking at OLM for almost two weeks. A 24-hour spinning challenge in the Austrian Alps. A long autumn table in the Allgäu. Yoga in Brandenburg, a leadership retreat high above Lana and a full day in Bolzano dedicated to longevity.
Here are the events that caught our attention this month.
24 October 2026
Ebenrieder is gathering guests around the table for an autumn dinner inspired by the changing season. The evening is conceived as a culinary homage to nature moving from late summer into autumn, with warmth, seasonal flavours and a deliberately slow pace at its centre.
It is exactly the sort of event we like finding at a small countryside stay. You could come for the dinner and suddenly have a very good excuse to spend an October weekend in the Allgäu.
29 October to 1 November 2026
A few days later, the mood changes completely. The Daily Fusion Retreat is centred around strengthening your inner balance, recharging and creating space for your own potential. Ebenrieder currently lists the four-day retreat from 29 October to 1 November. And the setting makes sense for it. The former farm in the Allgäu has its own wellness area with sauna and outdoor pool, alongside spaces created specifically for retreats, workshops and slower days.
10 October 2026
For one day in October, Dips&Drops swaps its usual mountain rhythm for 24 hours of spinning, music and a lot of collective energy. Spinn for Miles brings teams and solo riders together to collect as many kilometres as possible in support of Austrian disability sport. The challenge runs through the day and night, with riders taking turns in the saddle while the rest of the hotel turns into part workout, part event and part very enthusiastic support crew.
What we love about it is that it feels completely different from the usual hotel programme. No silent retreat, no tasting menu, no slow morning. Just movement, people and a slightly mad idea with a good cause behind it.
19 to 30 October 2026
This one alone would be enough reason to plan a few days in the Ahrntal. From 19 to 30 October, Swiss guest chef Michaela Frank joins OLM’s culinary chef Berni Aichner and his team at PRENN°. The concept changes from day to day, moving between an exclusive multi-course menu and an aperitivo-style buffet. Sundays are rest days and reservations are required. OLM describes the collaboration as “Where Alpine Roots meet Asian Soul”, which is probably the shortest way of explaining what makes it interesting.
The pop-up also is not limited to hotel guests. You can book dinner at PRENN° without staying overnight, although we would quite happily use the dinner as an excuse to stay.
2 to 4 October 2026
About an hour north of Berlin, a historic four-sided farm becomes the setting for three days of yoga, good food and countryside. Root to Rise: Weibliche Herbstkraft & Seelenwärme is led by Dr. Bianca Herrmann and includes five yoga sessions, evening meditations, breathwork and mindfulness sessions, alongside vegetarian and vegan meals using ingredients partly grown in the Thomashof garden.
19 to 23 October 2026
Five days when the calendar is supposed to get quieter rather than fuller. Garberhof describes Nama-Stay simply as a break devoted to peace, relaxation and inner balance. It runs from 19 to 23 October at the hotel in Mals in the Vinschgau. There are worse places to disappear for a few days. Garberhof’s wellness area covers 2,200 square metres and includes sauna and hamam spaces, a swimming pool, natural pond and a large garden.
This is probably the event on the list for anyone whose ideal October plan consists mostly of moving more slowly than usual.
12 to 16 October 2026
A leadership retreat at 1,500 metres above sea level already has one advantage: your inbox feels quite a long way away. My Inner Summit is a four-day retreat for female leaders, centred on clarity, renewed energy and conscious self-leadership. The programme takes place in German and runs from 12 to 16 October at vigilius mountain resort above Lana.
It is a fairly specific retreat for a fairly specific moment. Not simply a wellness weekend, but a few days for people who spend much of their year making decisions for everybody else.
11 October 2026
Parkhotel Mondschein is dedicating 11 October to longevity. The hotel currently lists Longevity Day as part of a very busy October programme that also includes concerts, special classes, food pop-ups, workshops and artist residencies.
We like this one partly because it sits in the middle of Bolzano rather than at an isolated wellness retreat. You can make a day of it, then walk straight back into the city afterwards. And if longevity is not quite your thing, October at Mondschein still gives you plenty of other reasons to stop by. There are piano concerts beginning on 7 October, an Istanbul Fish Dürüm pop-up on 16 and 17 October and a spoon-making workshop on the final day of the month.
A good hotel is enough reason for a trip sometimes. But we like it even more when something is actually happening once you get there.
A dinner that only takes place for one night. A chef you would not normally find in South Tyrol. A retreat that gives the weekend a purpose. Or just one very strange and wonderful reason to choose one October date over another. That is what What’s On is for. Every month, we collect the hotel events, dinners, retreats, workshops and small happenings we think are worth knowing about across Germany, Austria and Italy.
Because where to stay is only half the story.
Once a month, we send you a curated list of the hotel events worth knowing about across Germany, Austria and Italy.
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