Who does not lengthy for sunshine at this time of 12 months, particularly after the glacial temperatures of early January, with weeks of wind, rain and extra deep freezes stretching interminably forward?
The drawback is that whereas we’re craving blue skies overseas, this time of 12 months is peak season for winter solar – which implies excessive prices. Few of us can afford to fork out £8,000 for a week in the Maldives.
What’s extra, many destinations claiming to have winter solar aren’t that scorching in January and February.
So the place are you able to go in the subsequent few weeks that is not going to break the financial institution however will allow you to top up your Vitamin D? In greater than three a long time of travel writing – nearly a third of which as a travel editor – I’ve been fortunate sufficient to tick off a huge quantity of winter-sun destinations. Here are my top 22 places to go.
Under £1,000
Lovely Lanzarote
It feels a million miles away from cheesy Tenerife on the Canary Island of Lanzarote, the place buildings are restricted to 4 tales and should be painted white. Architect Cesar Manrique was accountable for the protecting legal guidelines on this volcanic island, the place he crafted gardens, sights and lookouts. February temperatures hover round 20C.
Top tip: Take in the lunar panorama of the Timanfaya National Park and eat a meal cooked by volcanic warmth in the Manrique-designed El Diablo restaurant.
How to do it: Seven nights’ B&B at Seaside Los Jameos with flights leaving Gatwick on February 3 prices from £806pp, saving £371 per couple (tui.co.uk).
Seaside Los Jameos in Lanzarote boasts solar-soaked rooms and a giant swimming pool
Cut-price Orlando
Florida’s theme parks are significantly nice to go to at this time of 12 months, with temperatures in the low 20Cs. Whether you need to see Mickey Mouse or discover the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, you may preserve prices low by staying central in an International Drive resort. The Rosen Inn International has complimentary shuttles to Universal Orlando, the place you will get discounted meals and merchandise.
Top tip: Try indoor skydiving at iFLY, which can be on International Drive.
How to do it: Seven nights’ room solely with return flights from Gatwick prices from £749pp, with a saving of £225pp, based mostly on a household of 4 travelling in February, together with half-time period (ocean-florida.co.uk).
At Florida’s Universal Orlando, you may see Mickey Mouse or discover the Wizarding World of Harry Potter
Barbados on a funds
The magnificence of Barbados is that whereas it is very best for basking in the Caribbean solar, it is also nice for browsing. You can check your expertise on a surfboard while you keep at the self-catering Ocean Spray Beach Apartments in the south of the island – the place the waves are mild. Book classes subsequent door at Zed’s Surfing Adventures. For a calmer sea, Barbados’s Miami Beach is simply a brief bus journey away.
Top tip: Go in mid-February for the week-lengthy Holetown Festival commemorating the island’s first English settlement.
How to do it: Seven nights’ self-catering in a studio and kitchenette with flights leaving February 9 and transfers prices from £809pp (loveholidays.com).
It’s surfs up at this time of 12 months in Barbados, the place the calmer seas might be present in the south
Exotic Morocco
It takes simply three-and-a-half hours to attain Morocco and its February temperatures in the 20Cs. To actually take pleasure in the tradition, keep in a riad – a conventional home with an inside courtyard. The ten-room Riad Al Ksar & Spa with its swimming pool and flower-stuffed patios with solar loungers is like an oasis of calm in the joyful insanity of Marrakech, with its souks and Jemaa el-Fnaa market sq..
Top tip: Visit the Art Deco and Moorish Jardin Majorelle created by the French artist of the similar title, which was later bought by Yves Saint Laurent.
How to do it: Seven nights’ B&B with flights and transfers prices from £675 (easyjet.co.uk).
The ten-room Riad Al Ksar & Spa has a swimming pool for the complete household to take pleasure in in the solar
Quieter Canary
You might be far-off from the vacationer hordes that flock to the Canaries for winter solar at La Gomera however nonetheless profit from temperatures touching 20C in February. What’s extra, this little island has dramatic surroundings, with volcanic plugs rising from the floor, laurel forests topping vertiginous hills and pastel-colored homes clinging to impossibly steep slopes. After exploring the inside, loosen up on the island’s comfortable black sands.
Top tip: Trace Christopher Columbus’s footsteps in San Sebastian, the place he stayed earlier than crossing the Atlantic.
How to do it: Seven nights’ B&B at Bancal Hotel and Spa in San Sebastian prices from £758pp with flights from Gatwick and ferry transfers (firstchoice.co.uk).
Traditional meals is in abundance in the Canary Islands, which floats round a heat 20C in January and February
Amazing Abu Dhabi
With its mixture of desert, seashores and Emirati tradition, Abu Dhabi already makes an attention-grabbing combine. Now add the water and theme parks on Yas Island. Ride the quickest coaster in the world at Ferrari World, meet everybody from Bugs Bunny to Batman at Warner Bros World and whoop your method down the rides and slides at Yas Waterworld, with the tastefully themed Warner Bros resort, the WB Abu Dhabi, close by.
Top tip: Visit the Abu Dhabi Falcon Hospital for a fascinating perception into the birds of prey.
How to do it: Three nights’ B&B prices from £759pp, or seven nights from £1,189pp, with flights (southalltravel.co.uk).
Abu Dhabi’s Ferrari World comprises a racecar-themed rollercoaster – the quickest on the planet
Under £1,500
Sri Lankan solar
It’s a minimal 23C in Bentota, Sri Lanka, in February – and that’s at night time. In the day, you are wanting at 30C. It’s very best climate for lounging on the seashore, maybe driving a jet ski via the waters, stress-free by the pool or taking a boat safari via wild mangroves to spot crocodiles. The Thaala Bentota Resort Hotel, initially designed by architect Geoffrey Bawa to resemble an 18th century Dutch village, is shut to the Beruwala Lighthouse.
Top tip: Visit the close by turtle hatchery to study their conservation efforts and to see day-outdated child turtles.
How to do it: Seven nights’s B&B at Thaala Bentota Resort Hotel with flights and transfers prices from £1,449pp (tropicalsky.co.uk).
The Thaala Bentota Resort Hotel was designed to resemble an 18th century Dutch village with Sri Lankan seashores on the doorstep
Koh Samui craze
Thailand’s scorching proper now – and we’re not simply speaking about the tropical temperatures. The newest collection of The White Lotus was partly filmed at the Four Seasons resort on the unique island of Koh Samui. Just alongside the coast, the inexpensive however nonetheless sensible Mai Samui Beach Resort makes a nice base for excursions to the Big Buddha Temple, the night time markets and to discover the surrounding islands.
Top tip: Take a boat journey to Koh Tao and then go to Nang Yuan, a cluster of three scenic islets with rocky outcrops.
How to do it: Seven nights’ B&B at Mai Samui Beach Resort prices from £1,287pp, with flights through Bangkok (thomascook.com).
Thailand is a fashionable place to travel to proper now, and it is little surprise when the island of Koh Samui is so interesting
Mauritius for a snip
With its clear waters, sandy seashores and swish inns, Mauritius is the good fly and flop vacation spot. Lie again and take pleasure in temperatures of 27C on the Indian Ocean island feeling smug that you have bagged a 30 per cent low cost on the worth and been upgraded to all-inclusive. The Radisson Blu Azuri Resort & Spa on the north-japanese coast has seashore yoga and kayak mangrove safaris for those that are a bit extra lively.
Top tip: Visit the Sagar Shiv Mandir Hindu temple by itself island surrounded by mangroves and the lagoon.
How to do it: Six nights’ all inclusive with flights departing February 11 prices from £1,484pp (southalltravel.co.uk).
Enjoy the Indian Ocean on a winter break to Mauritius, the place temperatures attain 30C
Unsung Emirate
If you have carried out Dubai, it is value taking a look at one of the different Emirates. Ras Al Khaimah has the similar lovely seashores however they’re backed by mountains, providing some enjoyable actions. It’s additionally residence to the new Rixos Al Mairid Ras Al Khaimah, which is all-inclusive, so you may management your funds. The sprawling resort has 5 swimming swimming pools and 4 eating places.
Top tip: Take an tour to the world’s longest zipline, Jais Flight, the place you may attain speeds of 90mph as you zoom alongside its 1.76-mile size.
How to do it: Seven nights’ all inclusive prices from £1,022pp, with Emirates flights leaving February 3 (tui.co.uk).
The new Rixos Al Mairid Ras Al Khaimah resort is the place to keep in the Emirates if Dubai does not take your fancy
Beaches of Vietnam
It’s often called the seafood capital of Vietnam, however Nha Trang can be residence to infinite seashores and has the most sunshine in the nation. Go snorkelling in the bay, dotted with greater than a dozen islands, go to the fishing villages, take pleasure in a mud bathtub and make a journey to the Long Son Pagoda with its 78ft-tall Buddha statue.
Top tip: Take a boat journey to Hon Mun island, half of a marine protected space with clear waters and some of the richest marine biodiversity in Vietnam.
How to do it: Seven nights’ B&B with flights and transfers prices from £1,289pp (tropicalsky.co.uk).
Vietnam’s Nha Trang is residence to infinite seashores and has the most sunshine in the nation
Under £2,000
Poolside in Dubai
An straightforward seven-hour flight away, Dubai offers you just about assured sunshine on its Arabian Gulf seashores, in addition to improbable meals (there are 19 eating places with Michelin stars) and very good inns. Among them is Raffles The Palm Dubai, on the man-made Palm Jumeirah, with its Cinq Mondes spa and artwork-stuffed rooms. If you may tear your self away, Dubai has the whole lot from the largest fountain in the world to the world’s deepest pool.
Top tip: Visit the 656ft-excessive Aura Skypool, which has 360-diploma views of Dubai’s landmarks, together with the Palm Jumeirah and the Burj Al Arab resort.
How to do it: Five nights’ half board with flights leaving January 26 prices from £1,551pp (britishairways.com).
Raffles The Palm Dubai, on the man-made Palm Jumeirah, treats guests to metropolis views
Divine Dominica
One million metaphorical miles from the Dominican Republic, the tiny Caribbean island of Dominica, with its lush rainforests, cascading waterfalls and volcanoes, feels straight out of Jurassic Park. Whales hang-out the waters off the seashores fringing its coast. Hike in the inside, go river tubing or attempt sea kayaking. Stay at the self-catering Sea Cliff Eco-Cottages in the island’s north east, with seashores, eating places and the founder’s gin distillery on its doorstep.
Top tip: Take a rowing boat journey up the enchanting Indian River and see the picket hut utilized in Pirates of the Caribbean.
How to do it: Seven nights’ self-catering with flights through Barbados prices from £1,957pp (sunvil.co.uk).
Sea Cliff Eco-Cottages are quiet and understated – a good way to take pleasure in Dominica’s attraction
Caribbean cruise
Why confine your self to one Caribbean island when you may go to a choice, seashore hopping in Barbados earlier than exploring Curacao’s quaint capital of Willemstad, with its Dutch and Spanish colonial structure, and snorkelling in Bonaire’s marine park. Other ports embody St Vincent, Grenada, St Lucia, Antigua and Sint Maarten. P&O’s Britannia is a suitably elegant method to island hop, with its various eating places, leisure and kids’s membership.
Top tip: Take a cookery lesson in the on-board faculty. Some cruises have classes taught by chef Marco Pierre White.
How to do it: A 14-night time cruise departing February 21 prices from £1,779pp in an inside cabin, together with full-board and flights (pocruises.com).
Beach hopping in Barbados is the place you will begin your not-at-all-wintry Caribbean P&O cruise
Marvellous Muscat
Gentler than Dubai, Oman is a good spot for a simple metropolis break on the coast. In the capital of Muscat, the place to keep is the beachfront Chedi, with the Al Hajar mountains rising behind. Make forays to the souk and the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque with its Persian carpet that took 600 girls greater than 4 years to weave. Then return to the resort’s three swimming pools and a spa.
Top tip: Go dolphin watching in the Gulf of Oman, and preserve an eye fixed out for whales.
How to do it: Five nights’ half-board with flights from Heathrow on February 5, together with a 25 per cent low cost, prices from £1,964pp (bestattravel.co.uk).
Muscat’s Chedi resort is the good place to keep in Oman if the nation’s seashores draw you in
More than £2,000
Reef and rainforest in Belize
Not solely is the Central American nation of Belize English-speaking, but it surely’s additionally straightforward to take pleasure in each reef and rainforest together with some spectacular Mayan ruins. Take in the 140ft-tall Mayan temple at Caracol, one of the largest man-made buildings in Belize, earlier than going tubing in the rainforest. There’s a lot of time to loosen up on Ambergris Caye, the place you may go snorkelling, diving or take boat excursions.
Top tip: Don’t miss the Actun Tunichil Muknal caves (aka the ATM Cave), with its Mayan relics and skeletons.
How to do it: Nine nights’ B&B with flights and an additional night time in Miami plus transfers and some excursions prices from £2,727pp (journeylatinamerica.com).
English-speaking Belize is residence to vibrant huts that overlook crystal-clear waterfronts
Maldivian marvel
There’s no want to fear about losing interest in the Maldives while you keep at Siyam World. As effectively as the common white seashores towards the bluest of seas, the island’s sights embody a horse ranch, floating water park, go-kart monitor and full-measurement soccer pitch. Unlike another all-inclusive resorts, it isn’t nearly the buffet – there is not any cost to eat and drink in 16 bars and eating places, from Italian to Indian.
Top tip: While you are ready for your seaplane, take pleasure in a complimentary therapeutic massage in Sun Siyam’s lounge.
How to do it: Seven nights’ all inclusive with worldwide flights leaving January 29 and seaplane transfers, with a saving of £2,800 per couple now prices from £3,699pp (trailfinders.co.uk).
Siyam World in the Maldives boasts the common white seashores towards the bluest of seas
Stunning St Lucia
With its snaggle-toothed twin peaks often called the Pitons and its rainforest-stuffed inside, St Lucia is ridiculously scenic. It additionally provides a lot to preserve you busy, together with making your individual chocolate bar at the Hotel Chocolat, a drive-in volcano with sulphur springs and zip wiring. Or you could possibly simply hit the resort spa and sit back on the seashore.
Top tip: Don’t attempt and climb the pitons; take a nature stroll at their base to get the best views.
How to do it: Seven nights’ B&B at The Landings Resort and Spa in the north west of the island is from £2,850pp, together with flights (virginholidays.co.uk).
The Landings Resort and Spa in St Lucia is completely positioned for those that need to take pleasure in calm seas and island adventures
Family Seychelles
While the Maldives wows with its azure seas, the Seychelles islands have extra attention-grabbing interiors. On Praslin, take the kids to meet big tortoises and allow them to giggle at the backside-formed coco de mer in the Vallee de Mai. Raffles Seychelles on the island has a kids’s membership and 40 per cent off its swish villas above the seashore.
Top tip: Take a boat journey to the island of La Digue, the place you may hike or bike via coconut and vanilla plantations earlier than stress-free on the seashore with its rounded granite boulders.
How to do it: Seven nights’ half-board prices from £2,775 per grownup and £2,285 per little one beneath 13 sharing a room, with flights on February 4 with Qatar Airways (kenwoodtravel.co.uk).
Dramatic surroundings bordering blue seas is a component and parcel of a journey to the Seychelles
The Nile in type
It’s value forking out to cruise the Nile, however first it is best to take time in Cairo ticking off the pyramids, the Sphinx and the new Egyptian museum. Then fly to Luxor for a leisurely river cruise. One Traveller charters its personal boat for solo travellers, who take pleasure in single occupancy of a double cabin. Enjoy morning excursions to the Valley of the Kings and waterside temples, then loosen up on deck and drift via 5,000 years of tradition.
Top tip: It’s effectively value taking the optionally available tour to the Temple of Abu Simbel, devoted to pharaoh Ramses II.
How to do it: Ten nights, together with meals and entrance tickets plus drinks on the cruise, prices from £4,990pp with flights leaving February 19, and a free switch to Heathrow inside 100 miles (onetraveller.co.uk).
Travel to Egypt this winter for the Pyramids, Sphinx and the new Egyptian museum in Cairo
South African safari
For cheap safaris in South Africa, go to the Kruger. But for one of the best safari experiences I’ve ever had, head to the little-recognized Madikwe Game Reserve, with straightforward viewing of the massive 5 (African bush elephant, rhinoceros, African buffalo, lion and leopard). As an additional bonus, it is malaria-free. During this time of the 12 months, it is calving season, so the predators are on the hunt. Bookend your safari with time at Johannesburg’s Saxon Hotel, Villas & Spa.
Top tip: Take a strolling tour of graffiti and road artwork in Johannesburg.
How to do it: Two nights’ B&B at The Saxon and 4 nights’ all-inclusive in Madikwe Safari Lodge with recreation drives, transfers and all flights prices from £4,201pp (yellowzebrasafaris.com).
The little-recognized Madikwe Game Reserve is ideal for getting up shut and private with unique Safari animals
Florida fly-drive
It’s laborious to suppose of a higher fly-drive in the solar than the Florida Keys’ Overseas Highway
There is not a higher fly-drive in the solar than the Florida Keys’ Overseas Highway, that includes the iconic Seven Mile Bridge. After a few nights in Miami, take a brief flight to Key West, America’s most southernmost mainland level, the place you will expertise wonderful sunsets. Tour Ernest Hemingway’s outdated residence earlier than following the 150-mile route again to Miami. Visit Marathon’s turtle hospital, attempt to fish for your dinner and see the underwater statues at John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park.
Top tip: The best key lime pie you will get is at Kermit’s Key Lime Shop in Key West. Try it in cordial kind or frozen on a stick, dipped in darkish chocolate.
How to do it: Ten nights’ room solely with flights and automobile rent prices from £2,995pp (bon-voyage.co.uk).
