Fancy a week away with the GF in Jan or Feb to somewhere nice and sunny.
Preferably all-inclusive and with a good beach where I can swim in the sea

Not done this kind of holiday before so wouldn’t mind some STW knowledge of recommendations (and places to avoid)

thanks

Jan or Feb? Alps!
I know it’s not what you wanted but hey, thread bumped 🙂

cheers shifter, but no alps this year.
Need a beach and cocktails and my missus in her bikini

Depends on how much you want to spend but for me you can’t beat the Caribbean at that time of year, especially the more Southern islands

South Africa?

£600-£700 each maybe?
Haven’t got a huge budget for this unfortunately

Caribbean is great at that time of the year, but high season so prices are quite high and it’s never the best value for money anyway. Mexico tends to be a bit more affordable that the West Indies.

Same goes for the Maldives – great time to go, but expect to pay full whack.

Depending on budget I’d suggest Mauritius – it’s warm and sunny at that time of the year but you can get a bit of rain – which tends to fall on the east coast, so head for the west coast and it’s great. Way more value for money to be had there.

All subject to how much you want to spend of course – shorter-haul beach holidays at that time of the year are tricky, best options probably Egypt or the Canaries, but neither likely to be scorching hot.

Far East is another option where you’ll get loads for your money – Thailand is good in Jan/Feb on both coasts, but very few all-inclusive options and probably not the best way to do it anyway.

thanks drover, really useful advice 🙂

I’ve been to the Canaries a couple of times in winter, and while it’s a lot nicer than Madrid (or Yorkshire I imagine!) at that time of year it’s not scorching hot – t-shirt weather during the day, but you’d need a light jacket at night. You could swim in the sea, though.

I’d definitely go again, the weather was very pleasant, but then I’m not hugely keen on baking myself on a beach.

We went to Cuba a couple of years ago in December and would seriously recommend this place in the Holguin province:
Hotel Paradisus

It was a 2 hour flight from Havana but I’m not sure if you can get there directly or even if it’s in your budget… Cubans are lovely people though so if you’re heading to the Caribbean, Cuba is worth a look..

Australia, it’s summer here

Australia, it’s summer here

Been before, it’s full of bloody ex-pats

You’ll struggle to get hot at that time of year if you are in the northern hemisphere, unless you head close to the equator.

Canaries, Middle East e.g. Dubai/Abu Dhabi/Qatar, Mexico, Florida. Some of those you’ll struggle to get in your budget, so you’ll need to shop around.

I would have said Oman (great snorkelling/diving/culture/desert trips) but I think your budget won’t stretch. You may find a deal in Dubai (which I found soul-less).

I think Canaries etc will not be warm enough. Middle East is the closest and Carribean the next obvious choice. TYou may find a deal in South East Asia eg Thai Islands, Vietnam, Malaysia but the cost of the flight will probably make it too pricey