Holiday ideas for September

While it’s true that the landscapes of the Lake District remain as impressive and humbling under dark clouds or a shroud of mist as under sunshine, let’s be honest – for your walking holiday, you’d probably prefer the latter. What makes September a good month to visit the Lake District is that the weather is usually more settled, meaning that, with luck, you’ll get to see the scenery that inspired the likes of Wordsworth, JMW Turner, Beatrix Potter and Arthur Ransome of Swallows and Amazons fame at its very best.

Being Yorkshire folk ourselves, we tend to think that any time of year is a good time to visit ‘God’s own county’, but, if we had to be specific, September is a good choice, as late summer and early autumn bring the most settled weather. Our Yorkshire Dales walking holiday explores Wensleydale from east to west, starting in Middleham, with its ruined castle, and taking in photogenic Aysgarth Falls; Bolton Castle, where Mary, Queen of Scots was imprisoned; Hardraw Force, England’s largest single-drop waterfall; and a section of the Herriot Way, named after the famous vet.

For the people of Ludlow in Shropshire, early September is synonymous with the Ludlow Food Festival, a three-day celebration of food and drink from the Marches held within the walls of the town’s imposing castle. Billed as ‘the original festival for food and drink lovers’, it features tastings, talks and demonstrations, as well as dozens of stalls run by local producers. Even if you can’t time your break to coincide with the festival, September is nevertheless a very pleasant month – perhaps even our favourite – for a walking holiday in Shropshire.

Ask anyone who lives in the Alps which month they recommend for walking, and the answer will be September, thanks to the fine, settled weather, the gorgeous golden colours, and the clear views, so why not follow their lead? We have a wide range of walking holidays in Austria, Italy, Germany, Slovenia and Switzerland to choose from, ranging from moderate to challenging.

September is all about grapes in the regions which produce Portugal’s two most famous exports: port and Madeira wine. As you walk through the richly coloured, panoramic hills of the Douro Valley upriver from Porto, you see hundreds of locals in the vineyards picking grapes and maybe even treading them the old-fashioned way – by foot – in granite lagares at the quintas. This bustling scene is repeated on Madeira, with colourful celebrations in Porto da Cruz on the first weekend of the month adding to the special atmosphere.

This part of the Pyrenees is on an important migration route for thousands of raptors and other birds as they fly north in spring and south in autumn – a fantastic sight, even for non-bird-watchers. The autumn migrations start in mid-August, beginning with black kites and honey buzzards, followed by black storks, ospreys, hobbies and marsh harriers in September, then red kites and sparrowhawks in October.

Autumn is probably the best time for a cycling holiday in France’s wine regions: the vines hang heavy with ripening fruit, the leaves are starting to turn gold and red, and there is a pleasant buzz as the wine producers prepare for the impending grape harvest. Choose from Alsace, with its fairy-tale villages of half-timbered houses; gastronomic southern Burgundy; the château-studded Loire Valley; or Bordeaux with its fortified hill-top villages and fascinating history.

It’s tempting to say that our cycling holiday north of Copenhagen has everything. It’s the equivalent of a mouth-watering Danish open sandwich, piled high with fresh crab, juicy gherkins and creamy mayonnaise. You’ll find picture-perfect villages of thatched houses, expanses of white sand with brightly painted beach huts, wide-open skies, cosy-yet-stylish hotels, superb seafood and highly enjoyable cycle routes. What’s more, by travelling in September you’ll find that it’s still warm, yet pleasantly quiet.