We went to Fuertaventura a few years ago. We really enjoyed it; sat on the beach Christmas Day enjoying barbequed seafood. Dont think I could persuade hubby and son to go again though .

i've done that in spain and it is nice to be able top sit out in better weather etc.
however i found a few bits that put me off doing it again as a holiday

like the uk, the pubs and restaurants are either fully booked or closed. they tend to close on christmas night and boxing night as well.
the hotels which were open all did "gala nights" where instead of self service you got waited on at the table -i think some hotels in costa brava are cutting back on this now. this is great if you want that sort of thing, but if you just want fed, or a choice, you dont get that option so you have to eat on christmas eve/christmas day and new years eve when the hotel decides and like it or lump it.
not everyone is going to get away from christmas, although a lot are, and so you get a mix of those that want a british christmas abroad and those that are trying to escape(but cant).
now if a hotel did anti-christmas..................................

Following on from Jims posts, about the kind of deals you get. I think you need to check the small print in whatever package you book regarding things like 'gala meals' some places in Sharm for example charge a hefty extra supplement for these meals which is compulsory, also dodgy things like 120GBP for a bottle of champers on new years eve or if you have the initiative to buy yours on the plane still charge 18GBP corkage. I guess it's a matter of just doing your homework. If you go SC lots of places that are not all year round, like say the Algarve will have very limited places where to eat out, not the huge choice you get in summer, so that can be restrictive, and you would probably need to book a meal prior to leaving UK.

Doe

I've never actually been away at Christmas, just immediately before and another time I went away on the 27th so was away over the New Year. If you go to somewhere long haul ( I was in Thailand both times)to a non Christian country then restaurants, shops etc., are all open. It seemed a bit strange though to be in Bangkok in December in temperatures of 30c and see lit up Christmas Trees, Santas, Reindeers etc., especially as the majority of the Thai people are Buddhists.

jimd-f wrote:

i've done that in spain and it is nice to be able top sit out in better weather etc.
however i found a few bits that put me off doing it again as a holiday

like the uk, the pubs and restaurants are either fully booked or closed. they tend to close on christmas night and boxing night as well.
the hotels which were open all did "gala nights" where instead of self service you got waited on at the table

We go away for Xmas every year to either the Costa del Sol or Benidorm and that's not my experience. Almost all the bars and restaurants are open right through with only a few British ones closed. However last year on Hogmanay night, a lot of the bars we passed at midnight were dead.

This year we are going AI which is something we very rarely do. However there is a supplement for Xmas Day lunch which is €82.50 pp. We are intending going to a local restaurant instead, although someone mentioned that the hotel should still feed us even if it isn't Xmas Day lunch as we are AI.

luci

I've spent Christmas 'abroad' a few times now, 30 years ago in Rochester in New York State, which was turkey but with all sorts of different trimmings .. candied sweet potatoes are still in my memories as being a bit bizarre, in the snow, then 20 years ago in Nairobi eating a very late turkey lunch at 5 pm because of an electrical power cut, and everyone rallying round to cook the various dishes on gas stoves, solid fuel stoves and barbecues .. it was so strange to be eating this heavy food in 30 °C and it didn't feel at all Christmassy despite Christmas trees and a white Father Christmas amongst so many black faces. Even Christmas Eve service in the Anglican cathedral felt a bit 'unreal' in the heat! About 15 years ago we spent the period between Christmas and New Year in Morocco. It was a relief to get away from the stereotypical hype with palm trees and very few, if any decorations. We were in Mexico City 10 years ago, and again it felt very strange to be eating a typical turkey dinner in the heat, with everything imported including crackers and Christmas pud.

Speaking from personal experience, it can be cold or wet and damp in Alsace at Christmas and although there are many visitors for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in the hotels, it is a question of booking restaurants beforehand and accepting set menus often at inflated prices. Christmas here is really a family celebration ... and it's on New Year's Eve that folk push the boat out with long dinners often with half an hour between courses and lots of dancing, fireworks at midnight, onion soup at dawn and then ... not a cat stirs on 1 January whilst they sleep it all off!

Great replies people

I honestly had never thought that christmas abroad would be so fraught with hidden extras?and problems

Wow Lucy 82.50 supplement for a probably sub standard turkey roast is astonishing

Maybe a January break would be more realistic for us.

On a different note I have read that flights on christmas day can be very cheap due to lack of demand, The planes need to keep moving or they end up in the wrong place I suppose ??? I would imagine this is scheduled flights in question.

We actually flew out on Xmas Day last year. There were only 4 flights from Glasgow that day so the airport was practically deserted.

It certainly wasn't a popular day to travel as they consolidated the GLA and MAN flights.

We have gone on holiday several times in January and it's quite a cheap time to go. We have gone to Tenerife, Gran Canaria and the Costa del Sol.

luci

We spent Christmas in Portugal 6 years ago as our 2 grown up children were visiting friends in Chile and Madrid.
It was the worst holiday I have ever had in my life and it was that bad we got our money back thanks to Ros Fernihough
Having said that I would chance going abroad again and make sure the hotel wasnt being rebuilt and the resort was open.

I've been away at Christmas & New Year for the last 8 years and before that we took my late mother away a few times for Christmas to Tenerife.
A couple of years ago we flew on Christmas Day from EMA and it was just a totally different experience from the cattle herding that goes on every other day/week of the year.
The airport was nearly empty, there were only about 4 flights during the entire day, the plane wasn't delayed because everybody wanted to get to where they were going or home, the plane was half empty so most of the passengers had a row of seats to themselves...bloody civilized.

Spain is a 'funny' place for Christmas and it really does depend where you stay.
If you go to a resort that is a 12 month resort like Benidorm and you stay in a hotel which caters for British being the majority of its clients, then you're amongst your own and the food is geared to your palate....with a twist of España thrown in for tradition, such as the cava and twelve grapes to deck down on every strike of the clock at midnight on New Year's Eve....usually followed by fireworks.

The gala meals are far removed from a bit of substandard roast turkey, depending on the hotel, they usually consist of 5 courses and they start with soup, then something like fresh salmon, then a lemon sorbet to cleanse your palate, followed by the main meal, followed by a postre (dessert), followed by an assortment of small ‘cake like' sweets that the Spanish reserve for Christmas called turrón...and during the gala meal which will last a few hours, there's usually bottles of red & white wine being replenish all the time, plus water.
Each to their own, but I like waiter service for these two special gala meals.

The last time I stayed in the Hotel Los Dalmatas in Benidorm, after the gala meal (I can't remember if it was Christmas or NYE or both), the bar was open and free, so you could have what you wanted and drink yourself under the table...the latest I've ever managed is nearly 3 am and some people were still going strong.
I've never had to pay for the gala meals separately, they've always been included in my package, but I know they do charge if it's not, and whilst it seems a lot of money, if anybody can find me a place where I can have all the above including a free bar for £80 on Christmas Eve or NYE"¦please tell me.

On Christmas Eve the streets will be deserted, the shops close early because the Spanish want to go home and enjoy the traditional big meal with all the familia, so if you're not in an hotel, you'll be very lucky to find a Spanish place open which is owned and run by the Spanish"¦.the Brit bars will be.

So when choosing a holiday in Spain at Christmas, be very careful because if you book a hotel that normally has predominately Spanish or International clients, you will not have the meals that you may be expecting (one woman made a big deal out of the fact there were no sprouts) and if the resort is not a 12 month resort and it's really a seasonal resort, it may be lacking in numbers and places open.
Tenerife, whilst we enjoyed the sunshine and it is a 12 month destination, IMO: I look upon the holiday as a winter sunshine holiday rather than a Christmas holiday because the atmosphere in the resort was sadly lacking compared to mainland Spain.( Does that make sense?)

Tomorrow (Sunday) it's 12 months since we went to Australia, I wish I was going this year, but we are having this Christmas at home because my son is coming home from Hong Kong.
It feels strange being at home, after going away for so many Christmases.
Whilst I'm ecstatic that he's coming home, I know after he has left on the 28th to go to Paris for the New Year and then back to Hong Kong, both me and Dave will look at each other and say "is that it".? A lot of stress and running around like a headless chicken, when I could be walking on the promenade wearing my 'Santa hat'.

Sanji

Good point Sanji. We have always had Gala meals included, even at the Madeira Centro where it stated that the Xmas Day lunch was compulsory at a supplement of around €60.

Last year we really scored as we arrived in time for Xmas Day lunch and also had the NYE Gala Dinner the day before we flew home.

Will have to remember to ask at check in on Xmas Eve whether we get the Xmas Day lunch despite their email saying it was a supplement.

luci

We had one christmas day away and I said never again. I was wishing and praying to be back home, so were the children.

So the year after we had christmas at home with the traditional dinner and festivities. Then we flew out of the UK on Boxing Day. Was very quiet at the airport and the flights were also cheap to Puerto Rico which made a change

Lots of times until daughter came along. Once she is older and the Christmas magic has gone we will be using the Christmas break for a long haul 'summer' holiday.

Never spent Christmas away, when the girls dad was here we were going to try Cuba but cancelled it for a summer holiday. I'm not sure it would feel like Christmas if I was lead on a beach??? When you think Christmas you think cold/warm&cosy. Would love to do NYC at Christmas though!! or somewhere lovely like Paris.

CourtneeLouise xx

We've done New Year's in the Canaries twice now - La Palma and Gran Canaria - and we loved both holidays, even though it is odd seeing giant snowmen etc everywhere when it's so sunny and warm. We booked La Palma through Thomsons and GC through Thomas Cook and the NYE Gala dinners were included in both packages. NYE on La Palma was particularly memorable as my now husband popped the question at midnight - the following year in GC I drank too much wine before dinner and was asleep well before the fireworks went off at midnight. We'd have loved to go abroad again this year but prices are too high. Maybe next year!

Like Sanji, we spent last Xmas in Oz. It was nice and warm, but not the same.
Seafood and salad for dinner. An hour down on the front at Caloundra taking pics for the folk back home wasn't the same as being with the family.
Would I go again? No - it's too far - for the missis.


Signed,

Miserable owd git from Yorkshire.