Where would you go in December DURING Christmas?

[TwoBoysTooMany76]

Single parent, two boys aged 8 and 9 then. Confident travellers, we have travelled lots of places, long and short haul... no family in the U.K. So want to get away at Christmas itself.

Was considering New York at Christmas but looking at £2.5K for a decent hotel and flights for 7 nights. Am I missing something? Does anyone have any suggestions that would be considerably cheaper, and open over Christmas where the three of us can just relax and have fun? Only 7 days so long haul is not really feasible I guess for cost reasons as well!

Help! Thank you!

How about Morocco? I've been there 5 times (once over New Year) and never had a bad holiday.

I'd also say Morocco. I've spent 6 Christmas holidays there and it's always wonderful.

Really? Thanks. I wouldn't have considered Morocco for Xmas but always wanted to go... any recommendations for hotels? Best to stay in town or out? I know there are some big resort hotels out of the city but would like to see the sights as well... any recommendations for what to do?

I would also look at the Canary Islands.

Iceland? It's dirt cheap at Christmas because there's almost no daylight. But you get to swim in hot springs under the stars, catch the Northern Lights and see volcanos and geysers that shoot sprays of bubbling boiling water 30 ft in the air.
Reykjavik is lovely in winter - lots of cosy cafes and twinkling fairy lights everywhere. Took my sons a few years ago at Christmas (back before Christmas Day though, and they loved it. Loads of high quality air bnb and great (but expensive) excursions, though all the outdoor swimming pools of naturally hot water are so cheap they're almost free. (Except The Blue Lagoon which I think is well worth the expense but lots of people don't. Depends how much you love lolling around outdoors in hot water and caking yourself with white clay.)

We spent Christmas 2016 in Egypt. Was bloody fab. We went for 10 days, but 7 would be fine. We went to Makadi Bay, 2 adults I child 5 star AI, waterpark, sports, shopping and beach for 2.5k

Have been to both Tenerife, Fuerteventura and The Gambia at Christmastime - loved all three.

I wouldn't travel to Egypt or Morocco at the minute

I'd go to lapland or another ski resort for a week with inghams or crystal? just book a ski package without the ski - much cheaper.

I'm not sure I can afford Iceland, it sounds incredibly expensive. I had a quick look at Marrakech and there are some bargains out there! Is Morocco really unsafe? A friend of mine told me Egypt is amazing and great to go at the moment as there's hardly any boats now on the Nile. So sad for the Egyptians but am unsure I would risk Egypt. I would rather do warm than cold TBH... will the Canary Islands be warm in December?

Thanks for all the suggestions, helping me see beyond New York and the possibilities...

We went to Tenerife this Xmas it was 20+ and beach weather. They don't make a big fuss on Xmas day but if you're not bothered about that it's nice.

Hurghada airport (30 mins from Makadi Bay) is the safest, most secure airport I have ever been in, including airports in U.K. Makadi Bay is a purpose built 'village' of shops and hotels that is guarded and 'closed' after midnight to all but staff and guests.

But saying that, downtown Hurghada is perfectly safe as well, we had loads of fun and spent time in both tourist and local areas.

I used to go away every Xmas and now we go every other year. We have mostly gone long haul though but in case any of these are useful, the best ones have been

Cambodia
India
South Africa
Belize
Egypt
Morocco
Turkey
Indonesia

Thanks. Really liking the sound of Morocco or Tenerife as never been to either... any recommendations or suggestions for either for hotels or who best to book with would be great! I was in Phuket two Christmases ago and the constant playing for Xmas songs on loop in 30 degree hear almost drove me mental!

We stayed in los cristianos - you will want the south of the island at that time of year to be warm enough.
We stayed here. www.booking.com/hotel/es/aguamar.en-gb.html?aid=311076;label=hotel-94572-es-A03wlBOsrGgtgBtuVH1w3ASM11107945020%3Apl%3Ata%3Ap1%3Ap2%3Aac%3Aap1t2%3Aneg%3Afi%3Atiaud-146342136310%3Akwd-258347459%3Alp9045999%3Ali%3Adem%3Adm;sid=763ab3a9951f715e45bbb10ce232a05c;room1=A%2CA;dest_type=city;dest_id=-389931;m_occ=2 They were nice but pool not really warm enough to swim in. 10 minutes walk to beach. There's a water park nearby which is supposed to be very good for older children

TwoBoys We spent a week in Iceland, including flights, accommodations, food, drinks, meals out and some very expensive sightseeing trips for well under £2k for two adults and two teens. For you and your boys, you could probably do it for a grand all in, if you didn't go overboard on the sightseeing trips (we did.)

Los Gigantes in Tenerife. Done it twice & loved it. The street parade & parties on the 6th Jan are also good, if you have longer

We are booked to go to Hurghada in Egypt this Xmas. Weather is lovely (25 degrees) during the day but does get very chilly at night. Will be our 4 time going to Egypt for Xmas but have also been to the Dominican republic and the Maldives at Xmas.

@Loyly what are temperatures like when you’ve been?

This thread is 8 yrs old !