October: Hit the Ho Chi Minh trail...but use a bike

Where to go, what to do in 2011

The destination

Rugby Union's showpiece event is a good excuse to travel to the other side of the world. England will be vying for their third consecutive appearance in a final at the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand (englandrugbytravel.com).

The route

The £21bn high-speed Shanghai-Beijing rail link opens, reducing journey times from 10 hours to under five. The 824-mile line is expected to carry 80 million passengers a year at a speed of 302mph. Twin centre packages from Wendy Wu Tours (wendywu tours.co.uk).

The accommodation

The 213-room Palazzo Versace resort (palazzoversace.ae) opens in Dubai with 169 luxury villas, a Versace boutique, and a scuba lagoon. In the Caribbean, private island Petite St Vincent (psv resort.com) reopens as a boutique resort with 22 ocean-view villas. Rooms from US$709.

The cultural attraction

This is Franz Liszt's bicentennial year (1810-1886) and nowhere will mark it with more enthusiasm than Budapest, the capital of his home-country. On 22 October, the birthday itself, his Christus Oratorio will be performed at St Stephen's Basilica (budapestconcerts.com). It will be played, simultaneously, in other cities around the world.

The great outdoors

The prime month for trekking in Nepal sees four new trails open to bolster tourism. These include a new circuit around the world's eighth-highest peak, Manaslu, 40 miles east of the better-known Annapurna. Explore (explore.co.uk) offers a 22-night package from £2,198.

The family holiday

October's biggest launch is the eagerly anticipated Legoland Florida (florida.legoland.com), a 150-acre site with 10 mini-lands, including Lego versions of New York City and Las Vegas, as well as more than 50 interactive rides, shows and attractions. From $65 (£42) per adult, $55 per child.

The adventure

Explore's new two-week Asian cycling tour (explore.co.uk) begins in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh before taking in the Red River Delta and a train journey to Hue, where you cycle to an ancient citadel. It ends in Saigon. Departs 7 Oct, from £1,793.

The British day out

Grayson Perry will choose artefacts spanning world cultures from the British Museum collection to create his own exhibition there (britishmuseum.org) from 6 Oct. Centred on Perry's work, The Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman (a richly decorated cast-iron coffin-ship), it's a testament to the forgotten artists who created the featured pieces.

The winter sports

The 2011 Snowboard World Cup season begins in the northern hemisphere on the 600m indoor snow slope at SnowWorld Landgraaf (snowworld.com) in the Netherlands.

All prices are per person, based on two sharing, unless otherwise stated. Hotel room prices are per room per night, unless otherwise stated