Advice on winter warmth, please

GDB2222

My darling wife and I would welcome suggestions about where to go in January/February for a bit more warmth and sun than we are likely to get in the UK.

We were thinking of going for 3-4 weeks, so preferably not somewhere too expensive.

We like:
We like warm (70F, say) not boiling hot.
Walking, not lazing by the pool.
Activities, eg fitness, gym, scuba.
Countryside, not towns.

We don't like long plane journeys, so would like to keep it under 5 hours.

You may have guessed that we are getting on a bit, so not looking for rave parties and all night dancing.

z1a

One of the quieter resorts in the Canaries, 4 hour flights.

Doshwaster

If you want warm and short-haul at that time of year then you are pretty much limited to the Canaries. It would be busy time of the year but if you were to hire a car you could explore the lesser visited parts of the islands and 4 weeks would give you time to visit more than one. Maybe split the trip with a week in Morocco?

GDB2222

Thanks. Interesting that you both think that the Med won't fit the bill. Do you think it will be quite cold?

z1a

Unlikely to match Canaries for weather at that time of year, will be better than UK, but I'd be expecting high twenties at least in Canaries.

TheShape

z1a wrote: »

Unlikely to match Canaries for weather at that time of year, will be better than UK, but I'd be expecting high twenties at least in Canaries.

Surely you mean high teens at least for January/February in the Canaries?

Pollycat

TheShape wrote: »

Surely you mean high teens at least for January/February in the Canaries?

According to TUI website, average weather in Puerto De Santiago, Tenerife is 22 degrees in Jan & Feb (I was browsing a holiday).

cubegame

You've described Madeira.

PompeyPete

Even if you find winter mediterranean sun during the day, it can get cold very quickly from say 1500 each day until about 1000 the following morning, so you'll need central heating.

Due to that I'd avoid self-catering, apartments, or any cheap looking hotels which don't guarantee central heating as being part of the deal.

Personally, I'd be looking at South East Asia or the Caribbean, but the flights may be too long for you. If you were prepared to go for longer flights, you could Use Emirates, fly to Dubai, have a break for a couple of nights, then continue on to somewhere in SE Asia. That'd require a bit of homework to decide on what might suite and how brave you are if you wanted to go down the D-i-Y route.

Just in case you fancy SE Asia, here's an excellent link, which you can play about with, in order to see which parts of the Region are best at the time of year you want to visit...

https://www.selectiveasia.com/asia-holidays/weather/january

...find somewhere, come back to the forum, give a bit of more info, and you should get plenty of advice and opinions.

GDB2222

I think Cube is probably right about Madeira. I was hoping that somewhere like Minorca might be fun out of season, but We wouldn't want to freeze at night.

bradders1983

Word of warning about Madeira - tricky for planes to land due to the terrain and the wind, quite often they get diverted, this is likely to happen more in winter.