Where to spend Christmas?

[Clariman]

Master C and his family won't be with us this Christmas so it gives us the opportunity to do something different. Does anyone have any recommendations of nice places to go at that time of year where Christmas day itself could be nice and classy?

Or any other options for dealing with a quiet Christmas.

Thanks
C

[tjh290633]

Have you looked at cruises? You can participate or not in jollifications, and the food will be good.

TJH

[Sobraon]

Just spent a week touring central Spain and staying at the Paradores. So if it was me I would have Christmas week staying in the Parador de Granada on a half board basis and spend time visiting the Alhambra and nearby cities.

[Clariman]

Tehran would be nice at Christmas time.

I'd be worried about getting Trumpled on.

[redsturgeon]

Ski resorts can be fun, you can usually count on a white Christmas.

John

[tsr2]

Master C and his family won't be with us this Christmas so it gives us the opportunity to do something different. Does anyone have any recommendations of nice places to go at that time of year where Christmas day itself could be nice and classy?

BC (Before Children) when both sets of parents were elsewhere for Christmas we had a really good Christmas at The Castle Hotel, Taunton. I can't promise that it's still good, but I imagine it will be.

[AsleepInYorkshire]

Master C and his family won't be with us this Christmas so it gives us the opportunity to do something different. Does anyone have any recommendations of nice places to go at that time of year where Christmas day itself could be nice and classy?

Or any other options for dealing with a quiet Christmas.

Thanks
C

Canaries - only been once at Xmas (Gran Canaria) 70 degrees on Xmas day

AiY

[Howard]

You could join us for a glass of champagne, roast chicken with a glass or two of fine claret followed by a snooze on the sofa.

Bliss!



Howard

[BrummieDave]

Just spent a week touring central Spain and staying at the Paradores. So if it was me I would have Christmas week staying in the Parador de Granada on a half board basis and spend time visiting the Alhambra and nearby cities.

I can vouch for the quality of that parador, and would add the one at nearby beautiful Ronda too.

And if you like the Alhambra, you'll also enjoy the Real Alcazar Palace in Seville, another beautiful city and attraction, just a comfortable train ride away.

[barchid]

Have you thought of S Africa ?
Great hotels, cheap currency, overnight flights with only a 2 hour time change so no jetlag & great weather.
Beach or wild life, take your pick.
Christmas there can be as conventional as you wish it to be, Cape Town tends to be very busy then but Port Elizabeth area has some superb beaches & malaria free wild life with in an hours drive.

[stockton]

The Gambia.I remember the "security guard" who was trying to prevent some locals crashing the Xmas celebrations in our hotel pointing out that his day job was chief of police.

[BrummieDave]

Have you thought of S Africa ?
Great hotels, cheap currency, overnight flights with only a 2 hour time change so no jetlag & great weather.
Beach or wild life, take your pick.
Christmas there can be as conventional as you wish it to be, Cape Town tends to be very busy then but Port Elizabeth area has some superb beaches & malaria free wild life with in an hours drive.

I flew to Cape town on Christmas Day a few years ago, few days there, then a safari near Port Elizabeth. Absolutely fantastic.

Think I've written about it previously on LF, so searchable or ping me a PM if interested in details.

[jaizan]

Thailand
Cambodia (Angkor Wat)

[Clariman]

Still haven't decided where to go. I'm tempted by somewhere warm like the Canary Islands but have never been. From our provincial airport we can fly to Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote or Fuertaventura. Which ones do you rate for being a nice place to stay - some decent food, nice hotels, a bit of culture or history, nice villages or places to visit. We aren't ones for lying on the beach all day or for doing adventurous things like sky-diving etc.

Any specific recommendations for places or hotels (or for ones to avoid)?

Thanks
Clariman

[PinkDalek]

... Lanzarote ...

We've only been the once (and not at Christmas) but Clitheroekid would appear to have enjoyed the recommended hotel (on the outskirts of Playa Blanca) in early February:

Lanzarote (with images on page 2)
viewtopic.php?f=38&t=9715

Would you be hiring a car?

Topic located via google using site:https://www.lemonfool.co.uk/ "Lanzarote". There are other TLF threads found there on Lanzarote. You'll know why I resorted to an external search.

[bungeejumper]

It's been a long, long time since we spent the week before Christmas in Tenerife, but I don't suppose the weather's changed that much in the meantime? We hired a villa well away from the usual gorblimey haunts, and hired a small car, which proved to be essential. And came home with Christmas suntans, and everybody hated us.

'Culture' is not normally the first word that comes to mind with the Canaries. Or not classical culture, anyway. The interior lands are often poor, barren and volcanic, although the coasts are generally fine except for the obvious tourist fly-traps. If you have the means to get away from the madding crowd, that makes all the difference.

One island (I forget which one?) still has a half-active volcano where a friend says you can toast marshmallows over a metal grille. Generally, though, it matters a lot whether you're on the north, south, east or west coast of your chosen island. Weather differences between locations are considerable. And so is the strength of the wind. Should be easy enough to research.

BJ

[PinkDalek]

[One island (I forget which one?) still has a half-active volcano where a friend says you can toast marshmallows over a metal grille. ...

Quite possibly at the Timanfaya Natural Park in Lanzarote, as mentioned in the thread I linked to, which I'm sure you read.

They put on a regular show outside and, separately, it looks like one can use the heat from below to grill food in the El Diablo Restaurant.

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g1800432-d1498570-Reviews-El_Diablo_Restaurant-Tinajo_Lanzarote_Canary_Islands.html

There are other active(?) Volcanoes in the Canary Islands, such as at Volcan El Teide, Tenerife. No idea if anyone cooks up there but apparently there's a cable car in good weather.

[scrumpyjack]

Still haven't decided where to go. I'm tempted by somewhere warm like the Canary Islands but have never been. From our provincial airport we can fly to Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote or Fuertaventura. Which ones do you rate for being a nice place to stay - some decent food, nice hotels, a bit of culture or history, nice villages or places to visit. We aren't ones for lying on the beach all day or for doing adventurous things like sky-diving etc.

Any specific recommendations for places or hotels (or for ones to avoid)?

Thanks
Clariman

We have twice stayed at the Elba Palace in Fuerteventura

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Rev ... lands.html

Absolutely lovely hotel in the middle of a Golf Course. It's built like a Moorish palace, excellent food, staff etc, very large high quality rooms.
No children
etc etc

It helped that both I and my wife play golf.

It's only a 15 min taxi ride form the airport

[PinkDalek]

From a random website:

Fuerteventura in December - Generally speaking, Fuerteventura is a windy island. Over the course of the month, typical wind speeds range between light to moderate breezes rarely rising to become strong.

https://www.holiday-weather.com/fuertev ... /december/

Lanzarote in December - Wind Over the course of a typical December, wind speeds range between 2 m/s (light breeze) and 8 m/s (moderate breeze), rarely rising above 11 m/s (strong breeze)

https://www.holiday-weather.com/lanzaro ... /december/

We liked the look of Fuerteventura*** but didn't manage to make the 3 hour ferry trip from Lanzarote.

*** Not least using the scroll function here:

https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1yJkPh8wNkFzXzog-eHw5OXktFJ8&ll=28.59091227657124%2C-13.339537328502956&z=9

One matter not mentioned so far, I think, is sunshine hours on both those islands are said to be only six hours daily. This might be longer though than the Claripeople are used to in the UK!

[scrumpyjack]

We've been there twice in November with no wind problem but of course fuerteventura means strong winds in Spanish! The weather was lovely both Novembers