Where would you go in October for a special holiday?

[tangerino]

I'm turning 40 in October and want to go on a week-long family holiday to celebrate but can't decide where. I'm open to everything- would be happy lying on a beach (somewhere idyllic and not too crowded), visiting a wonderful city or going somewhere really different to do something wild.

We had been thinking about India but unfortunately can't get enough time off work to do it properly. Morocco, France, Greece are also out as we have been recently.

Where is good in October? Would want to be really warm for a beach holiday, otherwise not fussed about temperature (but would prefer to avoid anywhere too rainy).

I like walking, beautiful countryside, history, being active. Don't like shopping. Kids are 10 and 8.

Any suggestions v welcome. Our budget is quite flexible.

If I'd a week in October, money not a problem, either Dubai or New York. Both reasonably shortish flights, but enough out of the ordinary that it's not a standard 'week in the sun' break.

New York or cape town.

Lisbon or Valencia. Both short flying times, both still hot in October with great beaches nearby, tons of history, yummy food, cheap but good wine, both are good walking cities, easy access to beautiful countryside (Lisbon you can do on public transport but I don't know about Valencia as we had a car) , lots of English spoken and local population adores children. Science museum in Valencia is well worth a visit (don't normally like that kind of stuff but ended up spending five hours there!) as is the Puppet museum in Lisbon More ideas here

South Africa could be good. Long haul but no jet lag.

Oooooo Dubai, good suggestion 'Pablo.

I have done NY in September and July and deffo preferred it in July, rain is risky for October.

Both are an acceptable flight time from the UK for a week.

Venice?

Rome, Florence or Madrid.

Thanks, everyone. NY is a great idea- I will look into that. Thanks for all these ideas.

Cuba...Havana?...incredible city and culture, fabulous beaches

I was going to say Valencia too. My favourite city.

I probably wouldn't take an 8 and 10-year-old to NYC for a week, because there just isn't that much for kids to do unless they love museums. We took our two last Oct for 2 nights, then went down to Florida for five days and that was great - just enough time to go to the Natural History Museum, hang out in Central Park and hit a couple of the famous shops - and then we spent the rest of the week at Disney. We used to live in NYC so we knew that any longer than that and our DC would be bored.

As for other suggestions - what do your kids like to do? If they're anything like mine they're happy if there's a pool and some kid-friendly stuff around to do (water park, wildlife park, beach, aquarium, etc). For that you could do a lot worse than go to Lanzarote. The weather will still be lovely in Oct, but then its pretty lovely year-round.