September, at the world’s best hotels.

Larch season: the Dolomites turn gold and the trails empty out.

Late season: the sea is at its warmest and the crowds are gone.

September seas at their warmest, meltemi winds gone, tables easy to find.

Warm seas and golden light after the season ends.

Late season: the sea is at its warmest and the crowds are gone.

Quiet island, warm water, open tables.

The islands after the season: warm water, olive harvest, empty coves.

The shoulder between monsoons: calm seas on the way in, the archipelago near-empty.

Green-season Niseko: alpine hiking and onsen at a fraction of powder-season rates.

The southwest monsoon barely brushes the high tea country — misty mornings, low rates.

Green-season Angkor: moats full, rice paddies electric green, temples uncrowded.

The green season in Lanna country: dramatic skies, full rivers, empty temples.

Off-season Rajasthan: hot afternoons, yes — and palace hotels at half their winter rates.

The monsoon on the Narmada: the river high, the ghats washed clean, the fort quiet.

Winelands winter: fireside tastings, green vineyards, and the Cape to yourself.

Summer on the west bank: dawn temple visits, pool afternoons, tombs without the queues.

Big Sky without ski-season prices: hiking, fly fishing, dark-sky nights.

The quiet months: afternoon rains, empty ruins, the peninsula at its greenest.

Green season in the rainforest: rivers full, wildlife loud, lodges at their gentlest rates.

Late-summer Baja: warm Pacific swells and the desert before the winter crowd.

Cartagena's quietest months, before the December high season ignites.

Wild winter on the Southern Ocean: storm-watching, whales offshore, fires lit.

New Zealand's quiet season: misty river mornings and the lodge at winter rates.