February destinations - warm, 3 hour flight ish

[RockingMyFiftiesNot]

We've enjoyed February holidays in Madeira and Malta. Looking for somewhere similar for next year.

Criteria:
Good chance of it being warm (18 -19 degrees ok, low 20s even better)
Max 3 hour flights from UK if possible
Lots to see & do, not just lying by a pool.
Great food - so lots of restaurants open at that time of year.
Not so keen on the Canaries, unless you can persuade me there's lots of history/sites to see.
Greece possibly a bit far, but happy to compromise on flight time if all other criteria met (eg I understand a lot of restaurants close, but happy to be corrected!)
Obviously I know there are no guarantees weather wise but just beat chances of escaping our winter.
Thank you

Madeira I found very dull. We went walking but even then...

I can't understand this, it was so beautiful. We took tours of the east and the west, both very different: went in the cable car to the gardens; walked a lavada to Cabo de Lobos. We absolutely loved it and will go back. But I guess we all find different things interesting. Malta is similar. Some people love it, some don't, which I also don't understand (unless you're in one of the not very nice resorts). But I have friends who prefer to lie by a pool for 2 weeks and would hate our holidays. Good job we're not all the same tho else we'd never get booked in!

No we haven't - good suggestion tho. Will check it out. We don't need it to be steaming, just warmer than the Uk with less chance of rain. I know you can never predict these things tho

@RockingMyFiftiesNot you see I really didn't like Malta. Loved Valetta but just didn't get the rest of it. Madeira was beautiful and the walking was great. But ...I just didn't get it. Maybe we were staying in the wrong town?

. We hate sitting by a pool - love walking, love seeing stuff, great food, cycling - history..

It is good that we are all different. And tbf Malta was many years ago.

Anyway - to add to the above poster - Istanbul is amazing - yes the weather isn't guaranteed but it blew me away as a place to visit.

@BarrelOfOtters I don't know. We were in Funchal near the old town. Wasn't so keen on the hotel area up the other end of town but then a lot of people rave about it.
Malta i know is a bit marmite. Sometimes you just click with a place, sometimes you don't. We did!

Istanbul was somewhere we fancied quite a few years ago but at that point there were some question marks about safety. Time to reconsider I think! I can't imagine it would be freezing and even if it rained I'm sure there's plenty to see and do.

@RockingMyFiftiesNot Istanbul was a great east meets west - call to prayer and all that - but very westernised too with a good metro, cheap too!! Lots of interesting sites and amazing souk and there is an area in the old part that is very like being in Greece-

@RockingMyFiftiesNot recommend Turkish Airlines too- exceedingly nice flight -

We spent New Year in Seville. Low 20's. Sat in the park on NYD in t shirts drinking wine. Lots to see. One of my very favourite places.

Thank you, definitely somewhere I'd consider - although according to Google it's still quite cold in Feb. Maybe more for a spring break?

@RockingMyFiftiesNot You May be right which is why it wasn't my first thought- maybe April/May or Sept/oct. Think you would enjoy it though. It's a real gem and nicely exotic with the bobbing junk boats in the Bosporus. Lovely friendly people too (Greek vibe)

@cptartapp it's hard to beat really if you want a bit of winter sun but closeish.

Seville is amazing & Cordoba, Cadiz, Jerez etc. Would definitely consider revisiting in Feb if we don't come up with anywhere new!

If you are willing to stretch to 5 hours you can go to Israel. Tel Aviv, or if you go to Eilat you can go on trips to Petra in Jordan from there.

We went to Tavira in the Algarve this Feb half term and loved it. Great food, loads to do and we even swam in the sea ( with wetsuits!!)

Jordan via EasyJet. We went once in the Feb half term - warm during the day - able to sunbathe on the Red Sea coast and cooler at night. So much to see and do - Dead Sea, Petra etc

Not sure it's wise to guarantee on 20 degrees in Seville in February. We went in April one year and I had to go to El Corte Ingles to buy a proper coat, it was very cold and quite a shock! They told me that the previous week it had been 26 degrees.

Personally during that time of the year I'd go that bit further and go to Tenerife. Stay in a nice hotel in the nice part of Costa Adeje, near to La Caleta, a lovely little fishing village, and hire a car for a couple of days to do some day trips. Mt Teide is brilliant, the geography nd plant life of Tenerife is really interesting, and it feels more exotic than Spain. If you go up Teide you're so high up that it's like being on a plane, gazing at the layer of clouds beneath you, was so interesting to me. You an also do a night visit if you're into star gazing. Visit the north of the island - more history, more authentic. Visit Masca,on a guided gorge walk if you like hiking (nb we've only been to Tenerife once and diddn't get the chance to go, but it looks beautiful).

Too many people just go to the Brits Abroad, full English breakfast type of resorts and don't move off their sunbed, but they miss out on so much.

Be open minded and give it a go.

It snowed when I as there one February.

Thank you all, lots of lovely places to think about

Lots to do on Tenerife that's not just sitting by a pool. We've been a few times at that time of year and always had a great time (we love Madeira too)

Valencia is a really cool city - lots of museums and a lovey old town and market. Granada is awlways worth going to be it is in the mountains so is sunny but chilly.
Lisbon would be good, or Sicily. No guarantees with the weather but warmer than the UK.

February is carnival time in Tenerife, depending on your dates. Second largest carnival in the world after Rio.

There's several historic towns and cities in the North of the island, and if you fancied some island hopping you could get the ferry to La Gomera for a night or two for some nature?

We stayed in Estepona last February - visited Malaga and Gibraltar. Plan to go again next year.

Have had a few winter holidays in Nerja and a long weekend in Alicante .

I think you have to expect the weather to be variable if you are only going as far as Spain - but we have always managed to spend a few days in T shirts - and it was particularly warm last year .

Went to Marrakech beginning of Feb about 4 years ago and I’d say it was about 16 degrees. So not super warm. Certainly no one in the pool. All the Moroccans were dressed for the winter. We needed light jackets/shawl

Hi
we went to Tavira in the Algarve last February and had an amazing time. The weather was gorgeous, and lots to see and do, we did a boat trip of the ria Formosa, saw flamingoes etc and a boat trip further up the coast to see the amazing caves. Lots of beach walks and ben some bodyboarding. Tavira is a lovely old town with lots of history and a camera obscura. There is a fort at Sagres about an hour and a half away too. Food was AMAZING!

Thank you for all your suggestions, much appreciated,