Capture autumn’s new season vibe with a great deal on your next break - The Times

As autumn approaches, change is in the air and our thoughts are turning to different kinds of holidays. Here are 12 that capture the new mood, including a couple for next year. In Cornwall you can snuggle up beside your beach hut’s wood-burning stove either side of clifftop walks and long pub lunches. In France, a chic cattle ranch in the Camargue offers a grandstand view of Europe’s migrating birds. And further afield, in Bali, a palatial five-star hotel is standing ready. They all have one other thing in common too: a discount of at least 15 per cent. So think of them as the new season’s low-hanging fruit and get plucking.

All recommendations within this article are informed by independent expert editorial opinion. This article contains affiliate links that will earn us revenue. Where a “Book now” button appears, it may direct you to our in-house travel agency, Times Holidays, or to one of our affiliate partners

With a wonderful restaurant, delicate arched windows and some of the prettiest wallpaper in Pembrokeshire, Penally Abbey is not your average Tenby-area hotel. And with clifftop walks beckoning in the national park next door, you’re not going to have an average winter weekend if you book it. So why not settle into one of sofas by the open fire and stretch your stay? Between November 1 and December 23 three B&B nights can be had for the price of two, starting from £330pp for a double (penally-abbey.com). That should leave you with the budget for one of its magnificent, £35 afternoon teas.

There’s a lot more to Cornwall than summer holidays, as you’ll discover if you book a discounted week at Three Mile Beach. A collection of posh two to four-bedroom beach houses just off Gwithian beach in St Ives Bay, they’re reduced by up 20 per cent before March 27 next year, with seven nights’ self-catering for four from £1,264 (threemilebeach.co.uk). Then it’s time to draw up a list of must-dos. A short landscape painting course at the Newlyn School of Art perhaps, or a clifftop foraging walk, interspersed with fireside pints at the Gurnard’s Head near Zennor, exhibitions at Tate St Ives and long, cosy evenings by your beach house wood-burner.

At the mouth of Loch Leven, looking east towards Glencoe, HF Holidays’ Alltshellach base puts some of Britain’s finest hiking terrain on your doorstep. What’s more, its guided itineraries allow you to explore it in several ways, with up to three levels of difficulty to choose from each day. The energetic will relish the chance to bag such eye-catching peaks as Sgorr Dhearg and Bidean nam Bian, while those with a head for history can walk to the MacDonald clan’s great rallying point at Signal Rock in Glencoe. From October 17, seven nights’ full board is down 17 per cent to £979pp (hfholidays.co.uk). 

October half-term may seem a little late for one of Mark Warner’s beach-club holidays at Paleros on the west coast of mainland Greece. But if you’re there for its mouthwatering array of complimentary activities, you’ll find autumn a much better time to be active than in high summer’s searing heat. Sailing, tennis, padel, cycling and yoga are all included in the price, along with buzzing kids’ clubs — and if you enter the LOYAL100 discount code when you book, you’ll get a 21 per cent discount too. From October 25, seven nights’ half-board starts from £1,124pp, including flights (markwarner.co.uk).

Book ahead for a taste of the North Atlantic next summer. On this Explora Journeys cruise, sailing from Reykjavik on June 2, you can explore Iceland’s wild Westfjords, go whale-spotting in the Faroes and wander both Lerwick and Edinburgh as you make your way to Southampton. For much of the time you’ll be in Viking country, and on board the luxury all-suite Explora IV you’ll put their feasting to shame with a choice of several bars and eight restaurants. Seven nights’ all-inclusive is down 25 per cent to £5,100pp. Fly to Reykjavik.

The weather’s finally cooling off in the Camargue, at the mouth of the Rhône in southern France. The autumn rains are coming too, while waves of migratory birds add to the restlessness. It’s a fascinating time to visit, and Le Mas de Peint is one of the region’s comfiest perches. Set on a 1,200-acre cattle ranch and rice farm, this small hotel offers horse riding, 4×4 wetland safaris and mountain biking, with the ancient town of Arles on hand whenever you need a change of pace. What’s more, until October 14 Kirker is offering four B&B nights there for the price of three, from £1,123pp, including flights.

For a growing number of British hikers, autumn is the moment to turn towards the Mediterranean, and this guided Walks and Coastal Towns of Croatia itinerary from Explore promises a rich taste of it. Travelling from Zagreb to Split, it explores some of the country’s finest landscapes over the course of five moderately challenging hikes, including the Plitvice Lakes, the toothy limestone crags of Dabarski kukovi and the deep chasm of the Paklenica gorge. Two forthcoming dates are discounted, with seven nights’ B&B from September 26 starting from £1,760pp — a £320 saving. Fly to Zagreb and from Split.

The luxury river-cruise specialist Scenic is shaving 15 per cent off the price of its April 12-19 Windmills, Tulips and Belgian Delights cruise, when the hyacinths are in bloom and the first of the tulips are starting to flower. Of course, there are plenty of other attractions, including a bike ride to the 19 windmills of Kinderdijk, Arnhem’s dramatic wartime history and Antwerp’s vibrant fashion scene. But there’s no doubting the main attraction — the tour of Keukenhof, home to seven million of the world’s favourite flowering bulbs. Seven nights’ all-inclusive starts from £3,081pp, including flights (scenic.cruises).

G Adventures’ upmarket Geluxe tours offer characterful accommodation and a gentler pace, which is just what you’ll want on this Botswana and Zimbabwe tour at the end of the dry season. The wildlife comes courtesy of Hwange and Chobe national parks, which are home to large elephant populations as well as big cats, wild dogs and impala and zebra herds. Meanwhile, an old-school tented safari camp on days six and seven provide your most distinctive overnight stay. Two November departures have discounts, with seven nights’ full board down 20 per cent to £3,519pp. Fly to Victoria Falls and from Kasane.

Check out the menu on Intrepid’s 11-night Moroccan Real Food adventure. Amazigh tagines, stuffed medfouna bread, Chefchaouen goat’s cheese, the sweet and savoury pastilla pies of Fez… over 12 days, as you circle from Casablanca to Marrakesh, you’ll try them all, along with locally grown almonds, figs and walnuts. There’s time too to comb the shelves of supermarkets and meet the farmers who fill the country’s larders. Five autumn departures are discounted right now, with 11 nights’ B&B from October 2 down 20 per cent to £927pp, including some extra meals. Fly to Casablanca.

A rich mix of landscapes awaits in southern Ontario. Niagara Falls and Algonquin Park are the obvious ones, the latter home to an incredible mosaic of lakes and forest. But book a Southern Ontario Highlights motorhome trip from Canadian Affair and you can also go wine-tasting in Prince Edward County and kayaking in the Thousand Islands National Park. Vehicle discounts are as high as 50 per cent at the moment and 14 nights’ self-catering from May 6 — just as the weather begins to warm up but before the mosquitoes arrive — starts from £956pp, including flights.

An early-winter trip to Bali looks like a canny option for bargain-hunters this year. Thanks to the super-sized El Niño, Indonesia’s November rains are expected to arrive later and be lighter when they do fall. To further sweeten the deal, Luxury Escapes is also offering big price cuts on the five-star Apurva Kempinski Bali resort. Marching down to the sea in a series of cliff-hugging suites, it looks more like a temple complex than a hotel. From November 12 seven nights’ half-board starts from £1,932pp, including flights — a 44 per cent saving.