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I've never been a big fan of Christmas, well, not since I was a young kid, and it's just got worse as I have got older.Â
Faced with the emotional blackmail from my mother to go back to the UK and a strong desire to stay at home with a two week supply of snacks and booze, I'm now thinking about a small mini-break over Christmas Eve, Day and Boxing day. Somewhere with sun, somewhere not lots of miles away, somewhere that will be open over the period.
Any ideas? Portugal might be an option if I can get a flight that is not fully booked by golfers, same with Spain. Malta?
Greece? Although most of the European Mediterranean is quite catholic so it'll probably be just as bad.
Morocco or Egypt and stay a bit longer?
Greece? Although most of the European Mediterranean is quite catholic so it'll probably be just as bad.
Yeah but they don't seem to go in for massive Boxing Day shopping binges, endless festive tat and gridlocked roads like the UK does.
I've done Christmas in Gran Canaria a few times, it's been pretty laid back. Cafes etc open as normal.
Malta?
I hated Malta. Busy, congested, polluted little island and insane levels of traffic with driving standards very comparable to the UK. Bits of it (like Mdina old town where there is very limited car access) are OK.Â
I'd love to visit Madeira. Lots of sun and they seem to have some festive cheer but not excessive. Might be worth a look?
Madera is lovely. We stayed about 20 minutes drive from Funchal. Didn't get out much as I'd 'un beknown to me' broken my pelvis and hip and was dragging myself about on crutches - managed the Taxi ride to Funchal half way through the holiday. Funchal was lovely - plenty of places to walk to. There is MTB'ing but it's a bit crap for road riding (according to the taxi driver)Â - stupid hills and roads that just go up vertically - the main route is basically a motorway.
Fella at work does tenerife every year, gets a villa, low key, no stress, xmas lunch in a seafood restaurant on the harbour. Next year for us will be similar. This year; mother in law and all the trimmings. Whoopandindeeddedoop :/
Malaga, Cordoba or Granada warm sunny weather (unless you're very unlucky) and most of the festivities tend to get saved for the Saints day early Jan. You can fly easily to Malaga from nearly all British airports in 2-2 and a half hours and you can get to Cordoba and Granada in an hour from there.
Tirana is very nice, weather looks ok for this time of year.
We did a week in February in Tavira (Algarve). Lovely little town. Fly to Faro then catch the train.
To be fair, for two/three days, Faro itself seemed pretty decent.
Tirana, huh. Had never considered Albania if I am honest, but it looks good and is right on the Adriatic coast. I've just always assumed that the Balkans just get cold in winter, despite having been to southern Croatia and seen how the climate is.
Algarve (Lisbon) or Spain (Malaga) are probably the easiest choices and the easiest to get to for me, but there is a direct sleeper train to Berlin from Stockholm and, despite not being "sun", I love Berlin.
My personal escape plan at Christmas involves the Alps and snow, I've yet to work out how to manage this though with a dog (who can't be vaccinated due to medical reasons so can't travel cross-border) and a wife who loves Christmas and seeing people/her family and we both have ageing parents too.Â
Do it...
All my best Christmases, I've got the **** out of Dodge...
One year got a last minute deal for 3 days all inclusive in Tenerife. Was nice just to be the hell outta here, and somewhere warm for a few days! Swimming in the sea on boxing day was quite cool too.
Alternatively, I have a friend who has a holiday rental cottage in Snowdonia that I've used a few times now, we did one Christmas there and it was superb... Walk on Xmas eve followed by a Pizza in Coed y Brenin, longer walk on Xmas day then back to a feast in front of the fire, another walk boxing day... The dog loved it too!
Only thing I'd be wary of if travelling abroad is to go either all inclusive, or make sure you're out there 2-3 days before hand so you can make your plans for what you're going to do for your dinner on xmas day, as most places will be closed of course...