Holiday in December - where to go?

[Cloverbeauty]

It's a significant birthday for me late December, so I would love to go away for a week or a long weekend type thing. However have no idea where.

I would love to go to Rome, but the costs are looking like we can't afford it. I'm not too bothered about the weather, I just want somewhere with lots of interesting things to do and see, make it a memorable holiday/birthday.

Budget will only be about £1000 for flights and hotel. Can fly from most places in the UK, prefer Edinburgh or Glasgow but happy to drive to get to an airport.

Any ideas? It's seeming to be impossible from all of the many, many times I've checked online, but figured some other people might know of some good sites I've missed or can think of some places I haven't.

See if there are any city break deals on Jet2 city breaks. We were thinking of Berlin but have decided to go for the winter sun in the Canaries instead.

However if you're looking at Christmas and new year period that ups the cost significantly. Any chance you can go in mid December or early January instead? You'll have loads of choice on that budget - we got flights and a week's B&B in a nice boutique spa hotel for under £800 in mid December.

Anything over Christmas or NY pushes up prices a lot, sometimes the days inbetween aren't too bad. Cheaper normally to go earlier in December if that's possible. Ryanair does cheap flights to Rome from Edinburgh. Skyscanner is useful to have a look at all flights though I always book direct with airline not through agents.

I use Booking.com for accomodation. Is it just for you or what number of people?

What about Tel Aviv? Only a 5 hour flight.

Thanks all. 🙂 I had looked at canaries but couldn't find many decent deals sadly. Probably will just have to push it back a couple of months unless I spot a late cheap deal last minute.

Why not go to the other end of the weather spectrum and go to Iceland? With your budget you could go to Reykjavik for a few days, visit the blue lagoon and see the northern lights. Very special!

Copenhagen? The Tivoli gardens are lovely. Checked on Expedia and there are packages from Edinburgh

We have been to The Gambia in December and it wasn’t more than £1000. Great weather and plenty to do.

Can you go in January when it's cheaper?
I went to Rome 2 weeks after my 40th. It's an amazing place.

I went to Lisbon in December a couple of years ago, it was fantastic - lots to see, great food and nice sunny weather.

PMK as we want to go away.

@BarbaraofSeville. - will there be anything open in the Canaries in December? I’m presuming that all the Watersports activities will have finished for the season.

Of course the watersports activities will be open . The season is year round.

We scuba dive and have dived in Tenerife and Lanzarote in December and January on many occasions. We swim and snorkel all year round, but do wear wetsuits in the winter and there's always paddle boarders, surfers etc out on the water.

The weather isn't 100% reliable between about November and March, but we've rarely had rain and been on the beach in close to 30 C temperatures on many occasions.

Forgot to say that we do stay in the south of the islands, but outside the big resorts.

So we get the more reliable weather, but a nicer, quieter, more authentic experience, rather than the Brits on the piss, English breakfasts party resorts.

Avoid Cyprus. Right now they are having hale storms. There winter can be chilly. I was there for winter one year and it was 5c :)

I went to Prague in February for a significant birthday and it was really magical. There’s so much to do and see. We stayed for 5 nights and planned something different for each evening as well as lots of lovely things during the day.

*What about Tel Aviv? Only a 5 hour flight.8

Restricts future travel options unless you have 2 passports

Budapest? 3 nights from Edinburgh in December for around £500 with Jet2.

Krakow! Just won best city break for the third year I’m sure I read.

Istanbul is lovely in December

TUI has some cracking deals to Barbados