Did you know that the best time to travel is between September and November? Because it is. Be it a visit to Cambodia, Cornwall or the Canaries, and whether you call it autumn, fall or an Indian summer, this is the season when the savviest globetrotters stuff their suitcases and pen their postcards. Here are 10 places at the peak of their powers in autumn.

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Tuscany's great in September and October for a few reasons: it's still hot; the Italian tourists have disappeared; and the much-anticipated annual wine harvest is taking place. That means Tuscany's pastoral landscape is coupled with lively grape festivals and a tipple or two of the region's most famous wine - the full-bodied, yet entirely quaffable Chianti. La vendemmia is celebrated like no other event in the life of Italian farmers, and the harvest takes on an almost ritualistic meaning for the Italians who participate. Try the Chianti Grape Festival - Tuscany's historical harvest homage set in Impruneta, a tiny village between Florence and the Chianti region. Held on the last Sunday of September, this festival features wine-tasting, offering nearly 800 wines, music and dancing, and many locals wear medieval costumes.

VFB Holidays (01452 716837) offers seven nights' self-catering at the three-bedroom Borgo Chianti apartment, situated in a hamlet in Chianti with typically Tuscan views, from £1,140 per week (sleeps six).

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Marrakech is too hot in summer, especially its frenzied souks where the haggling, hubbub and heat can summon sweat from even the most blasé Berber. Better to go in autumn when breezes blow down from the Atlas Mountains. It'll still be tan-tastically hot, but bearably so. Stay at Tigmi, a boutique hotel an hour outside the city on Atlas foothills. Regularly used for photoshoots, the hotel's a converted mudbrick Berber hamlet turned warren of curved white walls, eucalyptus and banana trees, towers, terraces and tortoises, with cushions and cubby holes galore. There are also two pools, a spa and a fine restaurant, but the real lure is the total serenity on offer. And whenever you feel like a dose of Marrakech's medina, palaces or lush gardens, thrice-daily free shuttles will oblige you. 

The Best of Morocco (0845 026 4588) has five nights' half board at Tigmi, including flights (London) and private transfers, from £700 pp in October.

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Travel to Egypt during autumn and potter around the wondrous sites without the summer crowds. In particular, visit Luxor's west bank, a sprawling, mind-boggling archaeological site which includes the Valley of the Kings, the Tombs of the Nobles and the excavated village of Deir el-Medina, home of the workmen who built and decorated Egypt's mysterious catacombs of pharaonic mortuaries. Stay at the exotic Al Moudira hotel, reminiscent of 1001 Nights and situated just 4km from the Valley of the Kings. Each of the 54 suites is individually designed, most boast dome-ceilinged hammam-style bathrooms, and family suites are available. Refreshing mint tea and cocktails can be enjoyed in one of two bars and a combination of Mediterranean and Eastern flavours are served at the Poolside Pavilion and the atmospheric Great Dining Room.

Costs from £1,150 pp (two sharing) with Tapestry Collection, (020 8995 7787, www.thetapestrycollection.com) including flights (Gatwick), transfers and seven nights' B&B.

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November sees the biggest and most spectacular event of the Cambodian calendar. The Water Festival sees up to a million people flock to the banks of the Tonle Sap in Phnom Penh to watch huge dragon boats race for the honour of their village. Fireworks light up the night sky and the party lasts for three days. The festival marks the changing flow of the river as it randomly reverts to its normal downstream direction. Yes, you did read that correctly - the river flows upstream during the rainy season! There is often a parallel festival at Angkor Wat, while neighbouring Laos offers a similarly watery event in October - Boun Awk Phansa, featuring a colourful boat race in Vientiane.

South East Asia specialist Faraway Holidays (01249 467163) offers seven nights' B&B at the Phnom Penh Hotel in Cambodia from £949 pp (two sharing) including flights (London) and transfers. It can also tailor-make itineraries to Laos.

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Truly one of the natural world's most spectacular sights, the Great Wildebeest Migration - from Tanzania's Serengeti to Kenya's Maasai Mara - takes place annually from July to October. It's one of the highlights of an exclusive 10-day expedition led by TV presenter, Benedict Allen. Run in partnership with the Born Free Foundation, the trip also includes a visit to Elsamere, the former home of George & Joy Adamson, whose devotion to Africa's wildlife inspired the famous ‘Born Free' books and films. And, as if all that wasn't impressive enough, enjoy unsurpassed opportunities to spot the Big Five during game drives in East Africa's national parks including Amboseli and Tsavo West.

Departing 30 October, Baobab Expeditions (0844 826 8550) offers this trip from £3,682 pp (two sharing) including airport transfers in Nairobi, nine nights' accommodation, most meals, park/conservation fees, game drives and a donation to the Born Free Foundation. Excludes international flights, airport taxes and visas.

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The crowds slowly start to calm, the heat starts to cool and the seductive sunsets are at their best - Santorini is indisputably sublime in September. With the community of Oia renowned as offering the world's best sunset, Santorini is Greece's glamorous and must-see island, making it expensive and tough to find a room in August. Opt for September and you won't be disappointed - Santorini is one of Greece's most southerly islands and the temperatures still reach the mid-20s. For the sheer spectacle of it, a hotel carved into the cliff face overlooking the caldera - and obligatory sunsets - is a must. Try the four-star Pegasus Suites (with pool) at Imerovigli, situated a couple of miles north of Fira: it enjoys the same dramatic views as the capital minus the hubbub.

Sunvil Holidays (020 8758 4758) has a week there from £941 pp (two sharing) in late September, including flights (Gatwick) and transfers. Children under 13 are not allowed.

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During summer, the Canaries are besieged by both serious heat and seriously strong trade winds, which make a mockery of hats and hairstyles.  But by autumn not only will the winds have disappeared and the heat relented (expect 20-25ºC), but the sea will be at its balmiest, after many months' microwaving. Hiking specialist Explore (0844 499 0901, www.explore.co.uk) operates small-group tours to Gran Canaria, on which you can decide daily whether to walk or wallow. Each day brings an optional stroll though steep gorges, banana-tree valleys and hillside villages, or the chance to relax at your hotel or on the beach. Try not to miss hikes to the Maspalomas Sand Dunes or up Viso Peak, which affords stunning views over the Atlantic. 

Departing 17 October and 7 November, the tours cost from £771 pp, including flights (London), all transport seven nights' B&B in a comfortable hotel and guiding.

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The start of West Sweden's lobster season on 27 September means lobster safaris - in which you catch, cook then feast upon the delicacy - are available up and down the picturesque Bohuslan coast. Lobster also takes pride of place on menus across the region, making September and October are the best months to go for food fanatics: they offer the earliest opportunity to taste the new season's fresh fish and when conditions at sea are good.

A two-day safari from Handelsman Flink hotel (+46 304 550 51, ) costs SEK 3,500 (£315) pp including a welcome lunch, safari boat trip, use of the Jacuzzi and sauna, lobster dinner and a night's B&B. Visits to the hotel can be combined with a stay in Gothenburg for the full West Sweden experience - and even more great food. For more information about the lobster season and West Sweden, go to www.westsweden.com.

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Cornwall, quieter after the school summer holidays and with seas at their warmest, is wonderful for surfing in September and October. Sennen, in the far west, is a picturesque place to paddle out to the waves, and the Sennen Surfing Centre enables beginners to hone their skills if needed, too. Autumn is also the time to feast upon the West Country's fine local produce including the unmissable Falmouth oysters.

Stay at Higher Treluswell Barn, three pretty miles away, a detached cottage with high-beamed ceilings and a secluded deck-area overlooking local farmland.  A week there from 9 October costs £84 pp based on six sharing (£504 total) with Classic Cottages (01326 555 555). 

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If there's one place synonymous with autumn, it's New England. A cluster of states in America's north-east, New England is famous for the riot of fire-coloured foliage that erupts during "Fall". Farms brim with blueberries, pumpkins and corn on the cob, and it's all such a big deal that several states publish weekly-updated foliage maps, with a guide to where's crimson, where's amber and where's still green. October's the best time for Massachusetts, the focus of a seven-night fly-drive itinerary from New England Vacations (01582 469771) that promises all sorts of auburn vistas. The trip begins in Boston, an effortlessly pretty city of colonial buildings, cobblestones, fine dining and great shopping. From there, you'll cross the Appalachian Mountains' forests and sweeping valley views to the rugged Maine coast, with its islands, lighthouses and lobster towns.

"Boston and Beyond" costs from £1,285 pp in October, including flights (London), car hire and stays (mostly B&B) in nice hotels.

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