We can only get away in October and are looking for somewhere like Mark Warner, Sunsail etc for 2 weeks from October 20 this year, however everything I've looked at so far closes around October 27 so we could only get a week and I need a longer holiday! Our kids will be 3 and 6 - can anyone recommend this type of holiday that is open into November, ideally without having to go long haul? Thanks

I know the Sunsail places in Turkey keep open that much longer - the programme they had on the TV recently about Sunsail showed them having Halloween in the new Turkish resort at Phokia, and there were loads of kids so it must have been UK half term. Also, Neilson has now this year opened in Dahab, in the Red Sea Riviera, and that of course is ideal for our winter months. They do sailing and windsurfing, and are excellent for children's activities, but you'd need to check if yours are old enough yet,and if they have a creche club for the youngest. The Red Sea is only about a five hour flight, so not much further than Turkey. Also, further, and definitely a LOT more expensive, is the Caribbean, where for example Sunsail do a resort on Antigua, and on St Lucia, the hotel of Windjammer Landing is always being praised for its childrens clubs. It's a shame these activity holiday companies don't operate in the Canaries, which would be ideal for our British school holidays, which mostly seem to occur in bad weather!!! However, there is a company called Extreme Holidays which operates in Fuerteventura, and takes you and the children off surfing and windsurfing, from a range of accommodation. However, again, your children need to be a few years older yet for it to be worth while for you. Really, though, the only non-long haul (ie, six hours or less, if that counts!) for us Brits in winter are the Canaries or the Red Sea. Would North Africa be warm enough, though the likes of Mark Warner are not there. Of course, theres' always Disneyland Paris! Or Centerparcs!