WE'RE more than halfway through January, but there’s still a lot of winter to come. So where to escape those winter blues?
Well, if you can travel during the next couple of months thus avoiding school holidays, prices will still be keen — and you can choose your preferred New Year pick-me-up, from sun swept beaches on the Mediterranean to bracing cliff-top walks in Cornwall.
Malta
Malta during the winter months has a typical Mediterranean climate, with temperatures reaching a very pleasant 20 degrees — so, very clement, but not exactly basking-in-the-sun weather.
But Malta has much more to offer than just a lyin’ and fryin’ holiday. The country, which is English-speaking, boasts Italian charm and laidback Mediterranean hospitality. But with its strategic position between Europe and Africa the island boasts a long, fascinating history — the Greeks, Romans, Phoenicians, Arabs and British have all had a hand in shaping the culture of this island.
So picturesque is the ancient capital of Mdina that it stood in for the city of King’s Landing, in the first series of the television fantasy drama, Game of Thrones. Plenty of historical nooks and crannies are worth a nose round, there are more seafood restaurants than you could shake a fishknife at and a range of hotels from the budget to the baroque. The Xara Palace (www.xarapalace.com.mt), a 17th-century palace, is now a five star boutique hotel. Doubles are from €310.
At the other end of the market www.travelsupermarket.com currently has breaks starting at £149 per person, including flights from British airports.
Kefalonia
The Greek islands during the winter months are an ideal destination for a break, with comfortable temperatures, dramatic beaches, and an infrastructure that is well accustomed to entertaining visitors without fleecing them.
Kefalonia, the largest of the Ionian islands in western Greece, is home to three beautiful bays and a number of quaint secluded fishing villages. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin — Louis de Bernieres’ best-selling novel — put Kefalonia firmly on the tourist map. But in truth, this island needed little help from the world of literature. It’s an astonishingly varied, jaw-droppingly beautiful and almost completely unspoiled corner of Greece — especially if you head to the north.
Kefalonia is home to the idyllic Myrtos Beach — a place that regularly appears in ‘top 10 beaches in the world’ features. It’s not difficult to see why — a secluded bay, deep turquoise waters, a dramatic backdrop of cliffs, and an immaculate curve of white sand. A little further north, an equally beguiling view will stop you in your tracks.
The Assos isthmus — try saying that after a few carafes of Kourtaki, the local hooch — takes you across to an immensely atmospheric and unspoiled little fishing village with a handful of cafes and tavernas.
Most package deals here start April/May, but many hotels have offers from February onwards. www.visitgreece.gr
Dubai
Dubai invented underwater hotels, skiing in the desert and seven star hotels, so it’s no surprise that today it’s the jet-set bling capital of the world. Beyond the dreamy glimmer of the city’s now famous Riviera, lies a world of exotic cafes, crowded souks and magnificent malls. Shopping, is what Dubai is all about — this island sheikdom is a retail paradise. In malls such as Emirates Towers Shopping Boulevard opulence is the norm and credit cards melt with over-use.
To get your breath back head into the desert on a 4WD dune safari to watch the sunset, followed by a sedate camel ride to a Bedouin tent for dinner.
Hotels are easy to come by; but for many of them you’ll need very deep pockets. However, the four-star Ocean View Hotel overlooks the Arabian Gulf and Dubai’s man-made island, the Palm Jumeirah. There’s a free shuttle to the city’s air-conditioned shopping malls.
For the financially carefree the Burj Al Arab, jack-the-lad architecture writ large, is the world’s first seven star hotel. Dubai wanted something to rival the Eiffel Tower (not to mention Dublin’s Millennium Spike) so came up with this sail-shaped structure some 1,000 feet high and set on its own artificial island.
Dubai is not a cheap destination — hotel and flight at this time of the year is unlikely to come in at less than £1,000. www.lastminute.com
Explore the Souks in MoroccoMorocco
Agadir, on Morocco’s Atlantic coast, boasts a sunshine record of 300 days a year. Even better, the resort has nine kilometres of soft powdery sand, so you can lie at your ease in temperature of over 20 degrees while Europe shivers in Arctic temperatures.
The beach at Agidir is well stocked in the watersports department, too. Wind and kite-surfing are the two big past-times, thanks to the westerly trade winds blowing off the Atlantic. Just behind the sands, seafood stalls serve out ocean-fresh sardines and barbecued prawns, and chilled drinks available throughout.
There’s nightlife aplenty with clubs, cafès, hotels and restaurants. A beautiful waterfront promenade, some 5km long, accommodates locals and visitors alike. The evening stroll is part of Agidir society.
For a break from lazy days by the sea, the ancient walled city of Taroudant is about an hour’s drive away. Looking like a smaller Marrakech, it is ancient, beautiful and markedly more hassle-free compared with other North Africa souk towns.
About two-and-a-half-hours up the coast is Essaouira, a seaside town with a bohemian, hippy vibe.
Prices are very keen at this time of year. Try First Choice, currently offering some great deals. For instance, if you and your partner fancied heading off this week (January 26) from Gatwick, you could have three nights, full board, free alcoholic drinks included, at Agidir’s Caribbean Village Resort — for £174 each.
Cornwall
Few better ways exist of clearing your head than a cliff-top walk in the bracing winter weather — particularly one that blows in off the Atlantic and hits Cornwall at full tilt. You might even eschew the walk, and instead soak yourself in a heated tub while being served prosecco — on that very same clifftop, if you happen to be staying in the Scarlet Hotel, Mawgan Porth.
This is England’s top eco-friendly hotel, where relaxation both organic and organised is available in spades. The hotel, grafted expertly onto the cliff face, is some 73 per cent more carbon efficient than a conventional hotel of the same size.
Its 37 rooms, all with sweeping views of the Atlantic performing its jacuzzi party piece, are beautifully furnished. A full range of spa treatments, holistic, ayurvedic and meditative treatments is also on hand.
The hotel is currently offering three and four night spa packages, which include B&B every night and dinner on two nights.
Full use of the spa facilities is included, with morning and evening spa classes such as yoga and pilates. Prices for three nights starting from £505 per person.
Visit the picturesque island of Lanzarote for a short-breakLanzarote
The volcanic island of Lanzarote has the Canary Island full house of sun, sea and sand. The resorts are tailor-made for languid days on the beach, while cheap ’n’ cheerful revellers gather in Puerto del Carmen, the island’s biggest resort.
Now, you probably won’t use this as a chat-up line in the nightclubs of Playa Blanca, but Lanzarote is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. A quick drive into the extraordinary volcanic eco-wilderness of the Montanas del Fuego in the Parque Nacional de Timanfaya will take you into 20 square miles of stark rocks and mineral deserts. Lanzarote-beyond-the-resorts is stunning.
The most northerly of the Canary Islands is home to our nearest desert — head due south from London and you can’t miss it. Lanzarote comes fully equipped with postcard-grade villages such as Femes, La Geria and El Golfo. The unfussy Moorish-influenced architecture of the island is dotted with a palm tree here and a windmill there, and by virtue of a variety of local by-laws, remains remarkably unsullied by tourist detritus or local exploitation.
Thomas Cook is offering seven nights self-catering at Costa Teguise on Lanzarote, leaving January 25 from London, £168 per person.
Ireland
Not everyone wants a winter holiday that includes sun and surf. Winter can be the ideal time to visit to some of Ireland’s more iconic sights — you’ll likely have the place near enough to yourself, and to be honest, some of the country’s more atmospheric places can actually gain from winter weather.
The Giant’s Causeway is a very fine example of that. Go in the middle of summer and you’ll have to battle against hordes of tourists — especially since the influential travel magazine Condé Nast has just named this spectacular rock formation in the top 20 of the planet’s most scenic world heritage places. But if you go this month or next, you’ll virtually be alone, and can truly experience the wonder of this unique site on Ireland north coast.
For accommodation nearby, nowhere better than the Bushmills Inn, an irresistible place to stop for the night. A 17th century pub, it’s the perfect place to sit yourself in front of the fire, and sample a wee dram from the distillery just up the road.
The inn is currently offering a two night winter break. This includes two nights’ accommodation (Friday/Saturday or Saturday/Sunday) with full Irish breakfast a dinner á la carte credit of £50 per room on one evening. Cream tea is included on Saturday afternoon by the loft fire, followed by a movie in The Still Room cinema.
Florida
There’s much, much more to Florida than the Walt Disney World Resort, although to be fair, this is the world’s largest vacation resort in the world.
But the ‘Sunshine State’ has the longest coastline in the contiguous US. This includes not just the likes of Miama Beach and West Palm Beach, but the Florida Keys, a hundred-mile string of islands known for sport fishing, coral-reef diving and magnificent drives.
West from Miami is the Everglades, a spectacular area of tropical wetlands. Once Seminole territory, today it’s a magnet for travellers with in interest in wildlife. Alligators cruise through mangrove swamps and waterways that thread the huge expanse of wild nature. You could be a million miles away from Mickey Mouse.
Virgin Holidays are offering seven nights self-catering at the B Ocean Resort in Fort Lauderdale (on Hollywood Beach) for £1,115 per person, including flights from Heathrow. There’s a departure scheduled for next week, January 25 if you’re eager for the sun.
