Going where the sun shines best

WINTER SUN:Had enough of winter already? Escaping to the sun in January could be just the ticket. SANDRA O'CONNELLhas some suggestions

LOUNGING IN LANZAROTE

Average January temperature: 21 degrees

Lanzarote is the old reliable for Irish winter sun-lovers, indeed summer ones too, and with good reason – the weather’s great. Once you pack a jumper for the evening chill, there’s not much between winter and summer here at all, except that in winter it’s never going to get too hot, and that’s a bonus. On the downside, all that winter sun means you pay peak season prices so here’s hoping you get money for Christmas. Even at this late stage there are good deals to be found. Falcon Holidays has a week’s half board at the Los Fariones Hotel, the island’s Irish HQ in Puerto del Carmen, priced from €1,139 per person, flying out on St Stephen’s Day. With breakfast and dinner sorted, you shouldn’t have to put your hand in your pocket all week.

The same company has, at the time of writing, five rooms left for an all inclusive stay at Los Zocos Club Resort too, a three-star complex with good sports facilities in Costa Teguise, in central Lanzarote, priced from €968 per person.

falconholidays.ie

HOLIDAY LIKE AN EGYPTIAN

Average January temperature: 21 degrees

If it’s value you are after, check out Egypt. The country’s tourist industry was hit hard by the Arab Spring, with visitor numbers down around 13 per cent.

It looks like things are on the way back up now so if you’re in the market for a bargain, it should pay to go sooner rather than later.

Sunway currently has five-night mini breaks to Egypt staying in Cairo, from €724 per person. Combine it with a Nile cruise and it makes a great way to see the Pyramids, the temples at Luxor and Karnak, and the Valley of the Kings.

Or take the fly and flop option with a Red Sea resort instead. Falcon has a great range of all inclusive deals here, including two weeks at the four-star Holiday Village Red Sea in Sharm El Sheikh, from €1,300 per person, departing December 29th.

Sharm is the best known and most developed tourist resort in these parts, famous for the fantastic coral in the Ras Mohammad Marine Park nearby.

For total luxury, however, opt for the super swish Ritz Carlton in Sharm, which the same company is offering for€2,000 per person, for two weeks, staying on a BB basis (for an extra €450 you can go all inclusive).

sunway.ie

DO DUBAI

Average January temperature: 23 degrees

At the height of the chimera that was the Celtic Tiger, Irish people flew to Dubai for three reasons – to shop, to buy property, and to say they were flying to Dubai. You don’t hear too much of that any more. If you’re genuinely looking for a concentrated dose of midwinter vitamin D, however, its appeal hasn’t changed.

Get a quick burst of sun with a four-night break at the Arabian Courtyard hotel in Dubai, a four-star hotel and spa, on a BB basis, for €879 from Caribbean Collection.

An Emirates hotel, located in the Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve, it is modelled on a Bedouin encampment but that’s about as close to the common man as things get here because the entire establishment is devoted to, as it puts it, “discreet opulence”. This translates as everything from 300 thread count sheets to rooms with their own private pool. The rack rate is a very Celtic Tigerish €1,400 a night.

caribbeancollection.ie, al-maha.com

LIBERATED IN CUBA

Average January temperature: 21 degrees

Compared to other Caribbean island holidays Cuba offers good value. Tropical Sky has a 14 night stay, all inclusive, at the Arenas Doradas, a three star property, priced from €1,519. Or you can opt for the five star Melia Cohiba, on a BB basis, for €80 more, if you stay between January 1st and 19th.

The Arenas Doradas is the edge of Varadero Beach, laid out around a pool with sunken bar in what is the Caribbean’s largest resort, situated on a stunning spit of land that stretches 20km out to sea.

The Melia Cohiba by contrast is a 22 floor city hotel in Havana’s Vedado area, overlooking the Malecon seafront boardwalk, with its own outdoor pool, sun deck, gym, and squash court.

tropicalsky.ie

MADE UP IN MOROCCO

Average January temperature: 20 degrees

Okay, so if you’ve ever been in Morocco in January, you’ll be on to say that the temperatures were a lot colder than that, but who am I to argue with tourist websites keen to bring winter trade to town?

And let’s face it, even if temperatures fall down to the late teens, that’s still positively toasty compared to what’s going on back home. What’s more, as in all areas affected by political unrest earlier this year, the prices will warm your wallet.

Sunway is currently offering seven nights, all inclusive packages at the four star Iberostar Founty Beach Hotel in Agadir, from just €587 in January, with golf packages available for an extra €250 (for three rounds) and spa pamper packages for an extra €150 (for nine treatments).

The hotel is stylish and modern, consisting of three blocks overlooking the promenade and sands of Agadir beach. It has a good entertainment programme, a great seafront location and shops and restaurants nearby.

sunway.ie

FUN IN FLORIDA

Average January temperature: 23 degrees

There isn’t an inner child among us that doesn’t harbour dreams of getting to Disneyland. Go to this part of the world and Disney is only the start of it, what with Universal, Sea World, Islands of Adventure, Busch Gardens and all the rest.

But even if theme parks don’t roll your coaster, and water parks fail to float your boat, Florida is worth visiting for the weather alone, just ask any senior citizen there. It’s why the Sunshine State is the retiree capital of the world.

If you do fancy visiting a theme park or two, and you’d be mad not to, James Villas has a range of villas for rent close to Disney, priced from €886 per person based on four sharing, including flights from Dublin. Each has its own private screened pool and is available for seven nights from January 17th.

jamesvillas.ie

SUNNY SYDNEY

Average January temperature: 25 degrees

Yes it will cost you the best part of a grand to get there and back, and yes, you’ll be doing tai chi in the aisles like everyone else to make sure your legs still work but it will be so worth it when those same legs are out and about in shorts while everyone back home is swaddled in thermals.

And if you’re clever about where you stay, it doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg to stay here. Roomorama.com has furnished apartments in Sydney, sleeping two, from around €60 a night. Or act smart and stay on campus while students down under are still on their Christmas break.

You can stay in halls of residence (nice, modern, clean apartments, not dorms) at a range of campuses belonging to the University of New South Wales in Sydney, including Macquarie University Village, 15 minutes drive from the city centre. At the time of writing, campus accommodation is available in late December and early January from just €41 a night. And the sunshine comes free.

clvsmartstays.com

LAID BACK IN LAMU

Average January temperature: 27 degrees

The Lamu archipelago, off the coast of Kenya, has seen its tourist industry collapse in the wake of two recent, but isolated, crimes against foreigners. Given that the islanders here depend almost entirely on tourism revenues, it represents disaster heaped on tragedy.

For years before this, however, Lamu was the go to place for Kenya’s expat community, and the more intrepid winter sun adventurer from further afield. The appeal is clear, from its quaint colour-washed streets to its balmy climate and friendly people.

The Majlis, a boutique hotel on Manda Island, is currently offering five nights for the price of four for stays from January 3rd onwards. The 25-bedroom hotel is made up of three villas, each of which opens on to a glorious white sandy beach. Rates start at €480 for a double, per night, full board.

themajlisresorts.com