Hi.
how's the weather in october? are there any huts/refuges open?
any recommended 3-6 day routes for that time? (with my 58 years old dad)

i'm also open for other, better suggestions for a place to hike in at that time.
Thanks
Benjo

For the climate in October, take a look here. It's in German, but you can use Google to translate.

Generally speaking, a few refuges stay open until sometime in October, and some that are close to a road may be open all year round, but a lot of them will already be closed. A little further down there are more places to stay.

Hiking in the Texel Group is still possible around that time, and if you want to go for a long distance route, check out the Meraner Höhenweg. Along most of the route, there will still be enough accommodation options available, varying from hotels to farm stays to mountain refuges.

Hiking the whole trail, which easily fits in 6 days or less, depending on what distance and elevation difference you're comfortable with, means that the crux will be the day that you go over the Eisjöchl, the highest point on the route. That may very well still be easy in October, but there can also be lots of fresh snow on the pass. A further small complication is that the Stettiner Hütte, next to the Eisjöchl, won't be open, so you have to plan your trip such that you cover the distance between Pfelders and Eishof Pfossental in one day.
To take this into account, you can plan to do the route starting in Pfelders, going counterclockwise. If there is too much snow or the weather is too poor to cross the Eisjöchl on the first day, you can still change plans: If poor weather is the only problem, then perhaps waiting a day is the solution. Or just go clockwise instead, and instead of hiking the whole circuit stop at Katharinaberg (if you left your car at Pfelders, you can return by public transport). Either way, if you change plans, you've got to make a lot of phone calls to change your reservations.
By the way, in Pfelders I recommend Pension Rosmarie, and on the south side of the Meraner Höhenweg, I really like Patleid.

If you go right at the start of the month, the Prags-Sennes-Fanes natural park might be another area to check out. At the east side of the park, a road goes up to Plätzwiese, around 2000 m or so, and there are a couple of accommodation options there. If you arrive early enough, you can use the afternoon to visit Dürrenstein (a steep hike, with 800 m elevation gain). The next day you can head west, into the park, to the Sennes Hütte for example, assuming that it's still open. After that, there are several possibilities.

Good luck,
Rob

I've been down there in late September / early October plenty of times and so far I didn't have snow conditions. Weather is usually much more stable in autumn so all you need is a bit of luck. In addition to wht Rob proposed there is also Vinschgauer Höhenweg which runs from Reschenpass to the mouth of Schnalstal Valley and can be seen as an extension of Meraner Höhenweg. It is not as popular as the latter and crowds will be much smaller.

Then there are the Sarntal Alps in the triangle Bozen / Meran / Sterzing. The mountains are not as high as the surrounding Ötztal, Stubai and Zillertal Alps but you have wonderful views to these ranges. There is atrail called Sarntaler Hufeisentour which goes around the horseehoe shaped mountain group mostliy along the ridges. It is easy in the southern legs f the horseshoue but might be a bit strenuous in the central connecting part.

Then there is Pfunderer Höhenweg in Pustertal Valley, starting near Brixen and running along the southern slopes of the Zillertal Alps. I once met a local who told me she always did the tour after the tourists had gone which would be the October timeframe. Like Rob I'm not sure about the huts, though. Most of the higher elevated ones will be closed in October.

And of course you can do a lot of hiking in the western Dolomites as well. Actually I would recommend to stay in one place and do day tours. The Alte Vie can be difficult and you don't want to get trapped by snowfall. As a base I would recommend either Seis / Kastelruth or the villages in Grödner Tal / Val Gardena. It's a wonderful area, a favourite one of mine.