Mediterranean
In all the popular resorts, the weather will be warm and mostly dry, and there are still packages in all shapes and sizes hanging from the travel agencies' racks.
First Choice (0870 7500001) has a week in Palma, Mallorca, from October 21 in "four-sun" self-catering accommodation (allocated on arrival) for £1,442 for a family of four, and a week in Zante for £1,284.
Crete is ideal for late-October sunshine. A week in one of Sunvil's (020-8568 4499) apartment complexes with pool, 15 minutes' walk from Kalives in western Crete, costs from £349pp based on a family of four, including flights.
The temperature in north-eastern Corfu reaches the low 70s by lunchtime, and al-fresco evening meals are still possible, although you may need a light sweater. Strongilo Villa from CV Travel (0870 606 0013) is on the hillside between St Stephano and Kerasia, has three bedrooms, a pool and fantastic views, and costs £365pp for the week based on a family of four.
Another CV villa, Anassa, up behind Kassiopi, sleeps 10 and would be perfect for two families or a group of friends, offering oceans of space and a pool. It costs £360pp for a week based on eight sharing.
Other Mediterranean villa specialists include International Chapters (020-7722 0722), Magic of Italy/Spain (020-8748 7575), Meon Villas (01730 230370), Owners Syndicate (020-7801 9801) and VFB (01242 240310).
There's no easier route to an activity-based family break than an all-inclusive club holiday. Club Med (0700 2582633) has space at two family holiday villages during half term. The Ibiza village welcomes children of all ages and costs £1,894 for a family of four for the week starting October 22, including full board with wine, most activities and children's clubs from four years. Kamarina in Sicily is similarly family-friendly. The same deal, same week, costs £1,802.
Malta's smaller, quieter sister, Gozo, has a spectacular rocky coastline, ancient hill top villages and steep inland valleys. It's a perfect island for gentle family walking, which Headwater Holidays (01606 813367) combines with plenty of relaxation. Its independent walking holiday is based at the five-star Ta'Cenc hotel with air-conditioned stone bungalows, two enormous pools, tennis courts and a private beach. The price for the week starting October 21 is £736 per adult, £496 for children under 12, including flights, helicopter transfers, and seven nights' half-board with five-course dinners.
Half-term demand has prompted Cadogan (023- 808 28313) to arrange nearly 1,000 additional charter seats to Tunisia. A week's half-board in a three-star hotel in Monastir costs £517pp, a four-star in Hammamet from £594.
Sailing
Several yachting companies still have berths on boats or beds ashore until mid-November. You can charter a bareboat yacht or join a flotilla with Sunsail (02392 222222) from Palma in the Balearics or St Raphael in the Cte d'Azur from £449pp based on four sharing a 30ft yacht (larger vessels also available).
If not all the family is keen on sailing, you may prefer Sunsail's Club holidays. All the Med Clubs are now full, but a week at Club Colonna in Antigua costs £695pp, two weeks £995. A week's Caribbean yacht charter costs from £549pp based on four in a 32ft boat.
Portugal
The Waterside Village Beachfront Apartments, part of the Luz Ocean Club Complex at Praia da Luz on the Algarve, have three pools and a five-court tennis centre with tuition available. One week with Sovereign (08705 768373) costs £1,477 for a family of four including villa, car hire and flights.
France
Children are welcome to help out with the chickens, ducks and geese in a three-bedroomed gte near Dol de Bretagne in Brittany, reference B12288 in the Brittany Ferries programme (08705 360360). A week starts at £69pp based on five sharing.
Similarly, a two-bedroom cottage (ref BM5219) sleeping four near Ploermel, also in Brittany, with a large garden and free rental of bicycles, starts at £92pp. Both prices include ferry crossings to St Malo with Brittany Ferries.
Spooky goings on are guaranteed at Disneyland Paris where the Halloween celebration will be in full swing. Frontierland, will be transformed into a ghost town of Halloweenland, with scarecrows and skeletons at every turn. As well as the nightly Halloween parade, children can enjoy a traditional Trick or Treat sweet hunt, or take part in face-painting, pumpkin sculpting, and costume- and mask-making workshops.
Special tickets for extra-spooky Halloween parties on the evenings of October 27 and 28 are available to guests booking Halloween packages.
A two-night Classic Package staying at Disney's Newport Bay Club starts at £281 per adult, £114 per child in a family room, with B&B, direct travel on Eurostar and unlimited access to the park. Details from Disneyland Paris (08705 030303).
Italy
Castellare di Tonda, in the heart of Tuscany, is a wine estate with 10 houses widely scattered among the olive trees and cypresses. There's plenty to do on the estate in the autumn sunshine, with tennis courts, mountain bikes, waymarked footpaths and a weekly guided walk. There's also a restaurant, bar and shop on site selling chianti and olive oil.
A four-person apartment for the week from October 21 costs £245 per adult (children free), self-drive with Inntravel (01653 629010).
Holland
As one of the most compact, lived-in and traffic-free capitals of Europe, Amsterdam is built on a scale that works well for kids.
The Saturday-morning farmers' gathering in the Jordaan, the New Metropolis science museum and Anne Frank's house can all be followed by a visit to a crafty little toy shop called Bell Tree and supper at the Pancake Bakery. Then there's a Puppet Theatre held on Dam Square on Wednesday afternoons, bikes for hire and museums and galleries galore.
But the biggest Dutch treat is the Kinderkookkafe, where children prepare and cook the food, serve drinks from the bar, wait on tables and present you with a bill at the end (book in advance on 0031 20 625 3257). Two nights in a two-star hotel with Amsterdam Travel Service (01992 456056) costs £199pp with flights, with longer holidays and self-drive/Eurostar combinations also available.
Middle East
The Hilton Dubai Jumeira, beside a white sandy beach, has everything for parents and children, including a health club, gym, kids club, pool, watersports and several restaurants. Golf, desert-dune safaris, scuba diving and dhow cruises can be easily arranged. A week's B&B with Classic Connection (0870 7519320) in a deluxe sea-view room for a family of four costs £5,043 in half term.
Oman is another hot possibility. Seven nights with Arabian Odyssey (01242 224482) at the four-star Plaza Hotel in Muscat, overlooking sandy Mina Al Fahl beach with the Hajar mountains behind, costs £815 per adult, £312 per child sharing the room, including flights and B&B.
And at home . . .
Don't dismiss Britain, now dressed in autumnal browns and golds. Take advantage of this seasonal magnificence in a self-catering cottage - all the major agencies have a few vacancies left on their books. For a full listing of companies and personally-visited properties, pick up a copy of The Good Holiday Cottage Guide 2000 - Britain and Ireland (Swallow Press, £5.95).
For a one-stop self- catering shop, phone UK One Call (01227 454563) who will check on the latest availability throughout the country.
