Autumn escape in Europe

Fruit and vegetable picking in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire

Just outside the Forest of Dean, Tudor Farmhouse has created an autumnal escape with 20 cosy and stylish bedrooms, outdoor fires and a restaurant serving food delivered within a 20-mile radius. This autumn, guests will have the opportunity to hunt for wild garlic, berries, mushrooms and herbs around the woodland with the hotel’s lawn staff. Then, using the ingredients you have gathered, the hotel’s head chef will cook a delicious lunch for everyone.

• The overnight package for each couple is £300, which includes a fruit and vegetable picking experience, lunch and dinner.
• Website: tudorfarmhousehotel.co.uk

Experience the Notte Bianca festival in the capital city of Valletta, Malta

Every October, on a beautiful evening, the streets of Valletta burst into life with a colourful celebration of music, dance, film, visual art, literature and digital art. Streets and squares transform into open-air galleries, cinemas and concert venues. Even better, museums and palaces offer free entry! This year, Notte Bianca falls on 6 October. However, if you can’t make it that day, you can always experience the other cultural events that take place throughout the autumn, right after Valletta finishes its year-long stint as European Capital of Culture.

• At the newly refurbished Phoenicia Hotel, three nights start from £797, including flights, if booked with Kirker Holidays
• Website: kirkerholidays.com

Explore the wilds of the Scottish Highlands

For many visitors, autumn is the best time to visit the Highlands, as most of the tourists have left and the midges are no longer in full force. Instead, the moors are dressed in a vibrant red and brown coat. Take time to walk and soak up the beauty of Wilderness Scotland by visiting Plodda Waterfall, wandering through the Great Glen along the banks of Loch Oich and exploring the wild forests of Glen Affic.

• The Highland Autumn Tour runs throughout October. Price for two people is £1,150, which includes four nights' accommodation in an eco-friendly hotel, meals, transfers from Inverness and a walking tour guide.
• Website: wildernessscotland.com

The Woodcutter's Cottage in Suffolk

It’s hard to conjure up a more romantic autumn escape than Hex Cottage – a thatched cottage owned by a retired forester. This small, candle-lit cabin in the woods has no electricity and overlooks its own pasture. Hex Cottage is located within the Wilderness Reserve – a vast area that is home to a charming and ever-growing collection of lodges. The list of activities is seemingly endless: fishing or rowing on the lake, cycling around the area, trying your hand at archery or clay pigeon shooting, learning bushcraft skills or booking a campfire experience (£30) and watching the sunset while enjoying mulled wine, marshmallows and hot chocolate. Mulled wine is wine that has been heated and sweetened with spices, and is traditionally drunk warm in some countries during winter.

• Prices for a weekend break at Hex Cottage start from around £650.
• Website: wildernessreserve.com

Apple Harvest and Fruit Beer Making in Devon

From learning traditional wood-cutting techniques to helping out behind-the-scenes rangers, the National Trust offers plenty of opportunities for visitors to get outdoors. This experience will run this autumn, during the working holidays. At Killerton House in Devon, from 7-13 October, volunteers can help rangers harvest apples and learn how to use a 19th-century press to make cider.

• The cost is £150 which includes cottage accommodation for 6 nights and all meals on board.
• Website: nationaltrust.org.uk

Hiking and house parties in Spain

For two decades, Georgina Howard has been hosting stylish house parties and cultural holidays at her holiday home in the foothills of the Spanish Pyrenees. The Baztan Valley is a stronghold of Basque mountain culture, with an autumn walking week running from 5-12 October – coinciding with an ancient mushroom festival. The week includes leisurely guided walks through alpine meadows and whitewashed villages, a wine tasting and a private Basque concert. Evenings often include three-course meals around the farmhouse table. Guests can choose between self-guided and guided walks.

• Costs range from £649 - £895 per person. This includes full en-suite accommodation (no extra charge), all meals in the restaurant and transfers from Biarritz airport.
• Website: pyreneanexperience.com

Wine Tasting in Tuscany, Italy

The rolling vineyards of the Tre Rose region in Tuscany produce the famous Nobile di Montepulciano – the first wine in Italy to receive DOCG status. In the heart of the region lies a medieval village that has been transformed into a charming country house hotel. Guests at Borgo Tre Rose can take guided tours and enjoy tastings in the cellar or restaurant, where wines are paired with local specialties such as chicken liver pâté, homemade pappardelle pasta, and Pienza pecorino. The elegant bedrooms are imbued with Tuscan style, with terracotta floors and wood-beamed ceilings. Sign up for cooking classes, horse riding, mountain biking, or explore Cortona, Pienza, and Montalcino.

• A 7-night break booked with Sunvil costs from £770 for two people on a B&B basis and includes flights and car hire
• Website: sunvil.co.uk

Food Festival in Normandy, France

Normandy’s towns and villages host a series of food festivals starting in late September. Take the ferry to Honfleur for Fête de la Crevette (6-7 October) and spend the weekend at the food stalls. Don’t forget to try the seafood pies, sailing events celebrating the port’s maritime heritage and its specialty, shrimp. The action then moves inland to Rouen for Fête du Ventre (13-14 October), a gastro festival that sees the streets around Place du Vieux Marché transformed into an open-air food market and restaurant. Normandy, the home of fruit beers, will be free to brew at Fête de la Pomme and du Cidre et du Fromage in the village of Conches-en-Ouche (28 October). With its farmers' market, folk music and pop-up eateries, the country attracts up to 35,000 visitors.

• For a full list of festivals, visit bit.ly/normandyfoodfests
• Sawday's has a wide range of accommodation options in Normandy

Monmouthshire Medieval House

Llwyn is one of the most outstanding surviving examples of a Welsh medieval house. Thanks to the Landmark Trust, which has restored the 15th-century building to its former glory, the holiday home will be available to rent from the end of this month. Use it as a base to explore the evocative ruins of Llanthony Priory, once part of an Augustinian priory, or explore the many hiking and cycling trails in the Black Mountains and Brecon Beacons.

• 4 nights sleeps 8 people from £880
• Website: landmarktrust.org.uk

Cycling along the Julian Alps, Slovenia

Why not sign up for a 5 day cycling tour called"Shade of the Julian Alps"This October? You’ll be sure to see Slovenia’s autumn colours at their best! Departing from the shores of Lake Bled, the self-guided tour takes you to Bled Castle, the waterfalls and rapids of the Vintgar Gorge, meadows dotted with traditional hayfields, forests and quaint villages. The 6-night trip is rated moderately challenging.

• Prices start from around £798, which includes hotel accommodation, some meals, bike hire and luggage transfers. You will need to pay extra for flights to Ljubljana.
• Website: inntravel.co.uk

Explore Camargue, France

Known for its black bulls, white horses and flamingos, the Camargue comes alive each autumn when thousands of birds descend from their nests on the region’s shallow lagoons. Stay at the charming Grand Hotel Nord-Pinus in nearby Arles for tours of the town’s imposing Roman ruins and bird-watching and horse-riding excursions in the Camargue National Park.

• Doubles start from £152 a night. Ryanair flights to Nîmes – 25km from Arles – start from £20 return.
• Website: nord-pinus.com/en, ryanair.com

Enjoy the autumn sun in Algarve, Portugal

For the last bit of sunshine before winter sets in, pack your bags and head to the Algarve, where the sweltering summer temperatures have mellowed out and the olive and wine harvests are in full swing. Pensão Agrícola is a rustic yet stylish boutique hotel set in a converted farmhouse surrounded by orange, fig and almond groves. The gardens opened three years ago and have been a hit ever since. If you can tear yourself away from the courtyard, heated pool and delicious home-cooked meals, the nearby town of Tavira or the deserted beaches of the Rio Formosa Delta are perfect options.

• Double rooms from £173/night
• Website: i-escape.com

Hai Hien