Off to Boa Vista Cape Verde shortly and a Caribbean cruise in the new year have also done Egypt and Fuerteventura in the past.

Goa is popular. I am going there- but not till beginning of April. When we were there last April there were loads of retired folks who had gone over in November to escape the whole winter

hi phil we normally do our holidays in jan time and have been to cuba,mexico,egypt,gambia,Caribbean cruise,goa,kenya and sri lanka.
this year doing Dominican republic for xmas.

Have also been to Thailand, Barbados, Penang and Rio for some sun.

usually go to the canaries for our winter sun fix between xmas and march for a week , once to egypt in march, once to costa del sol march, this year february went to dominican republic, next year february going to jamaica.

Hi Phil, last year went to Gran Canaria Christma Eve - which I was going again this year, but no time off work

don't always do winter sun but we are off to gran canaria the 5th nov for 11 days 1st time there

When we lived in UK we always took a short holiday around 10th December for a week or 10 days as I hated the lead up to Christmas....

We used to go to the Canaries (sometimes to join up with my parents if they were there too), Tunisia a number of times and mainland Spain (Benidorm mostly). But once we went to Malaga and we had terrible weather for most of the week we were there... If we came to Cyprus it would usually be late October/early November or in the February half term holiday and we always got nice weather.

My very first holiday to Cyprus was for 3 weeks at the end of November and I was sold. We booked it through Stuart Hall Travel when he had one of his shops on Market Street in Manchester. It cost us 189 GBP each for flights with Cyprus Airways and for 4 of us sharing a 2 bedroom apartment just off Limassol seafront near what was Woolworths (now Debenhams) and the Petrolina station.

One February we took my stepson on a Learn to Ski week to Borovets in Bulgaria. I was kicking myself for months after booking it and swearing to myself how mad I must be because I really don't "do" cold... We had a brilliant time! It was freezing cold but my biggest worry that I would be cold inside the hotel never came to fruition.

We also went to India on the Golden Triangle Tour as a belated 40th birthday celebration one March and had the extra week in Goa at Bogmalo Beach. One year too, when I was employed at First Choice we got a great deal on Jamaica so we switched our week in Benidorm to the Club Caribbean and gave longhaul All Inclusive a bash. An experience we wouldn't really care to repeat due to the lack of spontaneity for anything. You had to pre-book every single activity which was a pain in the backside. We did escape a number of times and climbed Dunn's River Falls and also did the Blue Mountain bike trip which was a wonderful experience and well worth the 50USD each we paid to evacuate the AI prison for the day.

So, all enjoy your hols. Currently, we're still in mid to high'ish 20s here in sunny Cyprus with very light winds and absolutely gorgeous clear blue skies. Let's hope they take us through to the other side of Christmas.

We have had Xmas away for the last 16 year or so. First time we decided on Northern Cyprus which was nice but was freezing on an evening and with hindsight ( this was before the internet was a firm fixture for everyone) we should have picked a different hotel we were stuck a few miles out with not a lot around, but it did give us the taste for being away at Xmas.

The year after we booked for Goa we had previously been there 10 year earlier and although we loved it found it a bit too quiet we were a lot younger then lol. Goa hooked us this time and we have been back every year since, of course flying anywhere over Xmas is more expensive and to squeeze the most out of our holidays we usually have to leave either Xmas eve or Xmas day, but we usually manage to find decent priced flights.

This year I am lucky I also have a week in Sharm to look forward to in November this was a rather tipsy decision made a few weeks ago going with my two sisters I think the excuse we made it was to celebrate one of their 50th's. They have both been a few times but it's a first for me, first time staying all inclusive too, never really fancied it before but I have to admit I am really looking forward to it.

If I had to choose between a winter and a summer holiday I would go for a winter one everytime there's something extra special about being in the sun when you know it's freezing an dark and wet etc back home

Last couple of years - Kenya in early November, Caribbean in "Spring" (or late Winter as it's more correctly named ) -nothing arranged this November or next Feb/March cos the OH is going skiing in February!!
Previous years we have been to South Africa and on a Nile Cruise -won't be doing that again,unfortunately I've always fancied spending Xmas on a beach somewhere but the wife won't leave home,even less likely now we have our first grandchild!!

We used to go away for Christmas & once spent a month over the holidays in Tenerife. We spent the Millennium at Gran Canaria & have also stayed on Lanzarote. One of the best winter holidays we had was when we went to Florida as there was a lovely Christmas spirit there.

My ideal winter break though would be somewhere with snow and log fires.

My ideal winter break though would be somewhere with snow and log fires. :tup

You could be lucky Glynis and get that this winter in the UK if we get the snow and the power cuts

Australia, New Zealand, India, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Kenya, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Cuba, Mexico,
Oman, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Florida, Hawaii, Canaries, Tunisia, Morocco. Eygpt.

Any of the above I would be happy to return to during our winter months to tank up on some sunshine.

As has been mentioned the ski resorts can have lovely sunny days. But it's a different kind of sunshine when you are in the mountains, the air is cold and it's only really comfortable to sit outside if you are in direct sunshine. Having worked as a ski instructor for a number of years I must admit that it's not always picture perfect blue skies and pristine white snow. Sometimes it rains, sometimes it's grey skies and temperatures of -20c. That's when you retire to the ski lodges and drink glühwein relaxing by a large open fire.

We've been to the Canaries a few times for New Year but the weather has never been quite as good as we were hoping. We've also been to the Gambia, Egypt, Cuba and Costa Rica - I'd like to try somewhere like Thailand or MExico next.

Indian Ocean (Maldives / Mauritius) or Caribbean for me.

Darren

South East Asia for us. Our winter holiday is our main holiday but we don't just want the beach - but its a good area to go if you want some proper winter sunshine. Chiang Mai Krabi and Bangkok for us this winter. Last winter Thai beaches and Singapore. Other visits have been to Malaysia (peninsular and Borneo), Cambodia. Used to go to the Caribbean but prefer the lure of the east these days.

Used to be Goa but then back to Thailand but Cambodia side - Ko Samet, Ko Chang.

Couple of years ago we did Cambodia - Siem Reap, Sihanoukville, Phnom Penh.

Earlier this year we did Vietnam - Ho Chi Minh - Can Tho - Ben Tre in Mekong Delta ...then onto the island Phu Quoc.

This thread serves to show how widely travelled the HT contributors are; I thought I'd been to a few places in my life but some of you leave me in awe!!

brewerdave wrote:

This thread serves to show how widely travelled the HT contributors are; I thought I'd been to a few places in my life but some of you leave me in awe!! :cheers

Me too Dave, I feel quite boring