British Isles

Escape to the Lake District as the children return to school. Lakes Cottage Holidays has a house for eight in Grasmere reduced to £750 for a week from September 12 and a smart flat for six above an office in Windermere for £390 for a week from September 18. Available for a week from Saturday is a cottage for four in Wetheral near Carlisle, which costs £290, including use of a leisure club. 01768 774060

In the quiet byways of Wiltshire, Hideaways offers Stable Cottage near Malmesbury for £255 for three-night stays this month. It sleeps three and facilities include tennis, trout fishing and an outdoor pool. Cosy Cot, a pretty thatched cottage with three bedrooms in Stapleford and featured on TV, is £533 for three nights when fully occupied and £400 if just a couple stay. 01747 828170

Arrive in good time at Ford Street Cottage in Tavistock, Devon, on September 19 to catch the town’s Rock’n’Blues Festival that afternoon and evening, with drinks stalls and a barbecue. The property sleeps four and costs £357 for the week with Classic Cottages. 01326 555555

A walking holiday in the Peak District for five nights is on offer at a discount with HF Holidays. It starts on September 30 and costs £368, with full board at Newton House, beside the Tissington Trail, guided walks and social events. 0845 4707558

After an early spring and wet summer, the leaves are beginning to turn already, making the New Forest even more attractive to visit this month. Enjoy long walks followed by a relaxing massage on a weekend break at the four-star Carey’s Manor and Sen Spa hotel, Brockenhurst. It starts on September 11 and costs from £198 with B&B. 01590 623551

Walk the city walls and medieval streets, visit the Minster, Jorvik Viking Centre or National Railway Museum on a weekend break at the York Minster Hotel with Expedia.co.uk. B&B for two nights from September 18 costs from £119. 0871 2260808

Short haul

Package prices to the Med drop as this month progresses. For example, On the Beach has a week at the four-star Avra Beach Resort, Rhodes, from September 22 from £234, with a flight from Gatwick.

Self-catering for the same week at Confortel Beach Club, Son Parc, Minorca, is from £145, flying from Manchester. 0871 9110202

Anatolian Sky Holidays has cut the price of a week from September 21 at the boutique four-star Elixir Hotel with a pool in the pleasant resort of Kalkan, Turkey. The break now costs from £455 with B&B, a flight from Gatwick and transfers. 0845 3651011

A three-night break in Prague from September 19 is on offer from £199 with Cities Direct. Fly from Liverpool for B&B in the three-star Jurys Inn Hotel, a short stroll from the Charles Bridge and Old Town. 01242 536900

Seafarer, the flotilla holiday firm, has learn-to-sail packages on board its Ionian Islands fleet this month and next. Yachts will carry a professional skipper and up to five students, who will sleep on board and dine at waterfront cafés and tavernas. Prices for a week are £699 with flights from Gatwick and transfers. Single travellers pay the same price — if they sleep in the yacht’s saloon. 0800 4964670

Directline Holidays will whisk you from Luton airport to Cannes on September 18. It offers a week at the four-star Hotel Embassy — full of photographs of stars posing at the film festival — and flights for £479. The hotel lies behind the Rue d’Antibes, famous for its shops, and is a short stroll from La Croisette and the markets. 020-8239 3399

If you are looking for lively nights in the Algarve, rather than beaches or golf, then Albufeira is the place for you. Holiday Jewels has a week’s B&B at the four-star Hotel Real Bellavista, behind the resort, for £443, with a flight from Gatwick on September 22. 01293 533338

Long haul

An 11-day guided tour taking in the Big Apple and Boston and beginning on September 27 with Jetsave has been reduced to £995. The Contrasts of the East trip starts with a BA flight from Heathrow and includes two nights in New York before heading to Boston and a tour of the city’s historic sites.

Two nights in Quebec, one in Montreal and Ottawa and two in Toronto, all in good hotels, follow. 0871 6640293

Savings are also on offer with Hayes & Jarvis for a ten-night stay in Sri Lanka. The deal now costs £549 and includes a flight from Heathrow on September 29 and half-board at the Hibiscus Beach Hotel on the Kalutara coast in the south of the island and with two restaurants, pools and gym. 0871 6640246

Good deals to Grenada with flights from Gatwick on selected dates until early October are available with Tropical Sky. An all-inclusive week at Grenadian by Rex Resorts, beside Tamarind Bay and with tennis and watersports, is from £719. At the luxury LaSource resort, the deal costs from £1,239 and includes a free spa treatment and free dive each day. 0870 9079600

A fortnight in Thailand is on offer from £599 with Thomson Worldwide. Fly Thai Airways from Heathrow on October 4 for B&B at Kantary Bay Hotel, at the southern tip of Phuket Island with two restaurants, pools and fitness centre. 0871 6640273

All prices are per person and based on two travelling together and sharing a room unless stated otherwise.

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