Christmas 2024

[Menstrualcycledisplayteam]

Hello, advice appreciated 😊. For the first time in forever, DH and I will both have Christmas off in 2024 and are planning on going away for Christmas and New Year.

Things that we would like are sun, a beach, some history and activities for our DC who is 8.

Any ideas? So far, it looks like Mexico is the frontrunner, but I wondered if anyone had been away in December and could give some recommendations for me to look at?

Thanks a million!

A hopeful bump?!

Have spent Christmas in Queensland and it was lovely to spend Christmas Day on the beach, the weather is lovely there in December. There have been a lot more storms there at that time of the year over the past few years though!

Have also been to Tenerife for Christmas and that was also lovely with pleasant temperatures of around 23° and plenty to do with all shops and restaurants open as usual on Christmas Day.

However my favourite Christmas abroad was a road trip to Bavaria, Innsbruck and the Dolomites - it was just so much more Christmassy with the snow and decorations and markets!

If you want a warm Christmas consider Thailand or the Maldives. I love Mexico too but haven’t been in December before.

We did a beach holiday in Dubai this December and it was fabulous, temperature was perfect and so much to do.

Indian Ocean.

Mauritius perhaps? Family friendly ? History

Dubai is very aspirational. But Abu Dhabi has warner bros world etc which dc will love.

Maldives may fall short in history but looks amazing - may be wasted on an 8y old

We are hoping to get to India- older children.

We’ve just got back from Costa Rica and it has loads to offer. We’ve also been to SriLanka at Xmas and again, it was great. Both tick all your boxes and more.

Cape Town. You can't go wrong

Wonderful, thanks all.

Our 8 year old loved the Maldives, lots of activities if you choose the right resort: snorkelling (with turtles and sharks), paddle boarding, kayaking, swimming, kids club et. But obviously more history in Mexico (Chichen Itza is amazing and the cenotes).

@Sonora25 where would you recommend in Mexico and Maldives? We’re also looking for December 2024.

to OP Mauritius is great - very relaxing, lots to do, and much beloved by 8 year olds.

We were in Antigua before Christmas and it was weird hearing Christmas carols in what felt like a nice summer's day.

I'm trying to convince DH to go somewhere snowy instead

Cape Town - sunny, warm, people go out for the day on Christmas. Loved it!

Cape Town has terrifying fires at the moment.

We did Cuba - a split between Havana and Varadero. Havana was amazing. - beautiful buildings, Bacardi building, cigar factory, Club Tropicana. Varadero was obviously more beach, but we did some good excursions.

I did Mexico for NYE two years ago and the weather was great. Was so nice having sun and heat.

How does this help the OP?

Cape Town is wonderful OP. Maldives also great but may be boring for an 8 year old.

It shows the potential weather issues. A bit like people suggesting California to people in our summer. Have they taken note of the very common wildfires?

I’ve been to Mexico at Christmas, fab weather. Highly recommend Barbados or Thailand at Christmas, my daughter and I did white water rafting, zip lining and visited monkey island on Christmas Day, it was amazing! :)

Thanks everyone, all very helpful and definitely some places I hadn't thought of (Thailand, Mauritius and Sri Lanka, for instance). In an absolute ideal world, looking for a direct flight from Birmingham but some of these suggestions are definitely worth the extra driving time to Heathrow!

I'm there - no it doesn't !

Apologies - I wasn’t specific enough - I mean specifically in the simonstown area. Since the 20th December - see links below:
https://news.sky.com/story/amp/cape-town-hundreds-of-firefighters-battling-blaze-in-south-african-city-13034680

https://www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/firefighter-injured-while-battling-blaze-along-mountain-slopes-in-red-hill-cape-town-20240109

my friends there were a bit worried watching the helicopters with water fly over and had go bags packed.