1) Caravanning
Ageing easy riders may prefer to thrill to the open road and the smell of hot tarmac from the comparative comfort of a motorhome. The Alan Rogers guides have long been regarded as the bible of the caravanning crowd, with details of 1,700 sites around Europe. Further afield, Discover New Zealand does a three-week motorhoming holiday with return flights and a two-berth Cruise New Zealand Rover on hire from £1,125 pp.
2) Educationals
Can you teach an old dog new tricks? It would seem so, given the popularity of self-improvement holidays. Saga even runs beginners courses in computing: a seven-night residential at Bishop Burton college in Beverley in Yorkshire, including tuition and half-board, costs from £319. Sunvil Greece runs special interest tours teaching photography and Greek cookery to the remote and traditional Cycladic island of Amorgos - 13 nights costs from £1,265 pp.
3) Flora ...
Think countryside rather than cityscapes - though even a beautiful garden can be attraction enough for Titchmarsh fans. The lush islands of Capri and Madeira are perennial favourites. A week at the four-star Regency Cliff costs from £211 pp this summer, excluding flights.
4) ... and fauna
With the kids finally out of home/uni/rehab, older parents may find sudden reserves of cash and time, or even feel a strange hankering to find equally wild and inexplicably loveable offspring-substitutes. An upmarket safari can be comfortable enough even for creaking bones - Classic Safari Camps of Africa offer 10 nights all-inclusive in three luxury camps in Zambia from $2,945 (£1,777). Seeing a whale is becoming an increasingly widespread urge: Discover The World runs a short break to the Norwegian Arctic to watch Orca whales swimming in 1000-metre deep fjords, departing in October or November. Prices start from £775 pp.
5) Birdwatching
Anything relating to birds in a brochure description is a sure sign that other tourists of advancing years will flock there. Explore Worldwide's 16-day Quetzals of the Rainforest trip to Costa Rica promises 800 species of bird (and also includes another ultimate pensioner bell-ringer, over 1,200 species of orchid). From £1,539 pp.
6) Cruising
The sinking of the Titanic in the formative years of our most senior generation hasn't put them off boats. The industry has tried to sex up its image, but the ocean cruise ship remains the stamping ground of the older, slippered foot. Nearly 80% of all cruise passengers in 2001 were older than 45. Saga even has two boats of its own. This October, the Saga Pearl sets out from Tenerife to Buenos Aires via Senegal, the Gambia, loads of Brazil and Uruguay. Twenty-six nights including flights and meals from £3,199.
7) Coach tours
Mankind has two ages of coach travel: at the beginning and end of adulthood. Escorted discovery tours tend to be a world away from student Eurolines hell, though: a comfortable way to uncover a new country's heritage. VFB Classic Interludes offers 13-day tours of Morocco in 4- and 5-star hotels, departing September from £1,495.
8) Coastal breezes
The English Riviera, the Channel islands and Gibraltar all prove that you don't need the sandiest beaches to attract older visitors enjoying the sea air. Britons on holiday are more than twice as likely to be more than 65 years old if they are heading to rocky Malta. Five nights in a luxury hotel in San Anton near Valetta this summer costs from £485 with Bridge Travel, tel: 0870 191 7293.
9) Rest and recuperation
Flying beyond the American sunspot of Florida, large numbers of older British folk head for baking Palm springs for dry heat, golfing and spas. The four-star Wyndhams boasts the largest pool in town and is next door to the original spa. From $75 pp per night in a double in September - or cheaper in the roasting months of July and August.
10) Soft activity
You don't have to be old to want someone else to carry your luggage, and on many walking holidays bags are transported from hotel to hotel while you make your way on foot. One such is Headwater's week-long stroll around Pont Aven in Brittany, with the added advantage of being relatively close to home. From £469 in September, including ferry crossings and six nights half board in family run hotels.
And one that sounds a little bit niche to make the top 10 ...
Growing old disgracefully
While E is more likely to be echinacea in most pensioners' pill pockets, a Club 55-80 break in Leeds will equip ageing would-be hipsters with everything they need to enjoy the nightlife. Starting with professional dance lessons in the latest moves, a fitness and grooming session and a briefing on the meaning of the likes of garage, new metal and rare groove, guests then enjoy a night on the town, including visits to no fewer than four types of club. At 6am they will catch a cab back to the hotel for breakfast. £150 per person including B&B at the Village hotel and leisure club, Leeds.Tel: 0113 278 1000
