There really is something for everyone in October. The Pilot team stumble their way through Germany’s raucous Oktoberfest in Munich then recuperate on the almost-forgotten waters of the Mediterranean around Croatia before staring history in the face at the re-enactment of England’s famous Battle of Hastings. Then it’s off to Mexico for the Day of the Dead festival and north to Canada’s remote island of Newfoundland.

Munich’s Oktoberfest is twelve days of craziness in which Germans throw off the shackles of their uptight stereotype with the help of millions of litres of beer. Justine Shapiro tries her hand as a barmaid at this massive event but fails; instead she joins the revellers for fun, fairground amusements and, of course, lashings of beer.

Bradley Cooper charters a yacht on the Croatian Mediterranean coast and discovers that its emerald waters scattered with over 1,000 islands are still largely overlooked by holidaymakers wary after the civil war. He sea kayaks through the Kornati Archipelago – one of the most beautiful sections – an ideal way of exploring some of the more remote islands.

English history was irrevocably changed by the Norman (French) conquest and the country remains obsessed with the year 1066. Justine Shapiro visits Hastings for an authentic re-enactment of the Battle replete with Norman and Saxon (English) encampments and gets stuck in herself.

If you think Halloween is a big celebration, see Mexico on All Hallows Eve. Ian Wright journeys to the traditional Indian village of Pazcuaro for a brush with the living and dead at this ancient pagan Day of the Dead Festival. He stocks up on sweet edible skulls and joins a Mexican family on the graveyard island of Lapacanda where they stage a touching all night vigil with the spirits of their ancestors.

Well before the British appeared on the scene another seafaring people, the Vikings discovered Newfoundland, a desolately beautiful corner of Canada. Bradley Cooper mounts his bike and follows their trail through the Gros Morne National Park where he marvels at the World Heritage listed, the rugged results of continental plate shifts.