Adventure

A trip to Brighton's pebbly beach and famous pier can be whatever you make it. Goggle at the bizarrely Taj Mahalesque Pavilion or have a debauched night out in one of the many bars and clubs. Brighton attracts different tribes: there's a thriving gay scene, it's a hub for stag and hen parties and a strong 'alternative' element makes its presence felt through amazing health food and hippy shops.

"Drive it like you stole it," reads the slogan on the barman's t-shirt, a message that seems to sum up Beirut's chaotic driving culture, where traffic lights are ignored and seatbelts are for wimps.  Traffic-choked it might be but the multi-laned highways are loaded with flashy and retro rides: think Ferraris, Lamborghinis, 1960s Cadillac's and Chevys.

Pristine snow-capped peaks spread out on all sides as the ski lift takes us higher and higher up into the French Alps. The mountains are grand, stunning and peaceful all at once, but stunning and peaceful all at once, but their impressive size is making me feel like a tiny ant beneath the Eiffel Tower. After all, these are some of the highest in Europe with 80 per cent of the ski area above 1800m.

Set in the valley of Zillertal in Tirrol, Austria, is the scenic town of Mayrhofen;  a top destination for the ski season, and a delight during the summer months, thanks to an abundance of flora and fauna.

Japan is a land of great natural beauty and there are plenty of remote walking trails to get you amongst it all. The Kunisaki Trek is one of the best: you can follow in the footsteps of Monks who have wandered the mountains of the Kunisaki Peninsula for more than 1,000 years.

Home to surfing communities, rugged mountain ranges and one very famous opera house, New South Wales (NSW) encapsulates all that's great about life Down Under. And this time of year is when it really shines, with a rich calendar of events to enjoy. the main focus is a culinary one, with no fewer than six dedicated food and drink festivals taking place, including the city-wide Sydney Good Food Month throughout October (www.goodfoodmonth.com/sydney).

Scorchio in summer, Morocco cools down for its autumnal peak season. Space is already limited for October half-term but specialist operator Naturally Morocco can tailor-make a three-stop itinerary beginning in the High Atlas mountains south of Marrakech. There you'll undertake a soft trek - with mules for the kids to hop astride when needed - to salt-mining villages and passes that will leave you gasping. Next comes a chance to ride camels along sand dunes around seaside Essaouira, before two days in Marrakech itself.

A monsoon deluge broke as we approached the emerald rainforests of Ubud, sending a family of chattering monkeys, some holding each other's tails, scampering for the sanctuary of the sandalwoods trees.  It was that bewitching hour in the tropics when day turns rapidly into bible-black night, as if a curtain has dropped, and driving through plantations of coconut, mangrove and banana we plunged ever deeper into the verdant, virgin valley where far below the vodka-clear Ayung river gurgled over rocks.

There's nothing quite like a family road trip, and one of the best ways to see France at its fiest is behind the wheel. What is surprisingly is how much of the country's most traditional attractions - gourmet food, the world's best wine, astonishing history and stunning architecture - are within a doable drive from the Eurotunnel Le Shuttle terminal in Folkestone.

We set off from Hampshire - and after a short dash on the other side through pretty Normandy, crossing some incredible viaducts over gaping valleys, found ourselves in Rouen.

At this time of year many skiers and snowboarders start booking and planning their ski break, with most of us heading to Europe in search of winter adrenaline thrills. This year we need not waste the airfare, as Scotland can offer good to excellent skiing experiences, which comes wrapped in some of the finest mountain scenery anywhere in the world.