Simon Calder's Holiday Helpdesk: I can't get away till October - will anywhere in the Med will be hot?

Q Help! Work will only let me take annual leave in October. Will anywhere in the Med still be hot then? Where would you recommend?

Victoria Goodhall

A So long as you travel in the first half of October, you should have a fair amount of choice - plus the benefit of low prices. There are plenty of locations in which you have a good chance of warm and sunny weather, particularly if you draw a line through Barcelona, Naples and Istanbul - which straddle the 41N latitude - and don't stray north of it. But given that there is the possibility of rain and strong winds, I suggest you pick somewhere with plenty of diversions.

Indeed, Naples is my first strong recommendation, given the appeal of the city and the enthralling Bay of Naples - with Herculaneum and Pompeii much emptier than in the summer.

Next, the island of Crete will still be warm and welcoming, with some extremely low prices: Thomson has a deal to Hersonissos on 6 October from Luton for only £245, bed and breakfast. You fly into Heraklion airport, close to the marvellous archaeological site of Knossos.

Finally, you could go out on a limb and head for Austria's Tyrol: there is often a warm spell in October when the lakes and mountains around Innsbruck are at their finest.

Whichever appeals, there's no need to book now - unless you stray into late October, and collide with the school half-terms.

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