Inspiration for October holidays

In Europe, there can surely be few places where autumn is more beautiful than in the Apennines, the mountains that form Italy’s spine. Their thick cloak of beech, oak and chestnut woodland makes for a superb display of colours to feast your eyes on. But the treats are not just visual – freshly harvested chestnuts and succulent wild mushrooms feature in autumn menus. Other regions where you can enjoy the very best of autumn are the Aracena Sierra, Garrotxa and Sicily's Madonie Mountains.

Our cycling holiday around the ‘heel’ of Italy leads via a wild coastline honeycombed with grottoes and rock arches, crumbling watchtowers, a wetland inhabited by lots of different bird species, medieval and Baroque towns, olive groves which stretch as far as the eye can see, and Lecce, the ‘Florence of the South’. The reason we recommend it in October is the weather – cool by southern Italian standards, but still pleasantly warm by British standards.

While Europe’s wine-growers are busy harvesting grapes at this time of year, farmers on the Ebro Delta south of Barcelona are hard at work from mid-September to mid-October harvesting a very different product: rice, which features in a wide range of dishes, not least paella. The farmers aren’t the only ones creating a pleasant bustle – the delta is a very important habitat for birds. In October, you can spot not only birds that will over-winter in the wetlands, but also those passing through en route to destinations further south, so be sure to pack your binoculars.

Our Classical Cities of Old Castile and Beyond the Iron Curtain holidays couldn’t be more different in terms of the cities they visit – other than being at their best in the quiet of autumn, Segovia, Salamanca and Madrid (all of which contributed greatly to Spain’s Golden Age) have very little in common with Berlin, Leipzig and Dresden (which have been completely rejuvenated since the fall of the Berlin Wall). What the holidays do share is the same formula to enjoy the cities to the full: centrally located hotels of character and self-guided walking-cum-cultural tours.

Conditions on Turkey’s Mediterranean Coast in October are ideal for walking: warm but not too hot. This region combines scenic beauty (secluded coves, turquoise waters and golden beaches) with a fascinating history – you walk past the site where the eternal flames of the mythical chimaera come straight out of the ground, as well as the remains of Greek temples, sarcophagi, the city of Olympos and the ancient site of Kyaneia which comprises a theatre and mausoleums. By October, most of the summer visitors have left, leaving you to marvel at the ruins in relative tranquillity.

In Britain, only the very (fool)hardy would relish the prospect of a night under canvas in October, yet in Morocco’s sub-Saharan dunes, where temperatures average 25°C, this is very much something to look forward to. You will return from this holiday with plenty of memories – the colours and sounds of Marrakesh, the views of the vast emptiness of the sub-Sahara from the Tizi n’Tichka Pass, the majesty of the Atlas Mountains, and the camel ride through the dunes – but the night you spend in a nomad-style tent under the huge desert sky is likely to be the highlight.