Britain’s 25 favourite winter-sun destinations – and how to do them better

From Madrid to the Maldives, Morocco to Mexico, our writer explains how to maximise your next search for sunshine

I think we can all agree that 2024 has been a bit of a damp squib. An extremely soggy spring followed by an unsettled, underwhelming summer, followed by yet more rain. So, if ever there was a winter to escape from in favour of warming rays, this certainly feels like it.
Not that us Britons need much of an excuse to start packing our cases as the days get shorter. We love the winter sun. We love jetting off in our gloomiest season for a dose of mood-boosting heat, light and vitamin D, not to mention a chance to save on our astronomical energy bills.
There are some long-standing favourite destinations that we return to again and again at this time of year; nailed-on winners – from Dubai to Thailand to the Canary Islands – where we know fun and sun are guaranteed. But it’s easy to fall into the trap of doing these classics in bland and clichéd ways. That’s not to say we shouldn’t visit them anymore; these are favourites for good reasons. But could we – should we – try to change things up a bit?
We’ve compiled a list of the top 25 winter-sun destinations – based on data from analytics company OAG Aviation Worldwide – which shows the number of air tickets purchased in the UK for travel taking place last winter (between December 2023 and February 2024). We’ve assessed each one and suggested ways that you might enjoy them differently this winter. That might mean staying in a hot city’s hippest new neighbourhood, exploring a little more on foot, combining your old reliable with somewhere new, being more mindful of environmental issues, leaning into an emerging trend or even getting there by train.
It’s all about visiting the same great places, but with a totally fresh take. After all, why swap out a destination you dearly love when you could simply do it better?
247,481 tickets
Only seven hours away, 20C heat, dazzling beaches, Michelin stars… It’s little wonder that Dubai comes out on top for winter sun. For an alternative Emirates break, use Virgin Atlantic’s new daily Heathrow-Dubai flights (October-March), and then look beyond the skyscrapers.
Join an Old Dubai food walk, filled with tales and tastings (£90pp), before plunging into the desert at Bab Al Shams. Only 45 minutes away, it offers immersive experiences such as falconry and camel trekking. Stay in one of its luxe Desert Pool Villas, new this winter.
Kenwood Travel (020 3813 9361) offers five nights at Bab Al Shams from £1,476pp including B&B accommodation and flights.
130,006 tickets
This year saw thousands of Tenerifians protest against mass tourism – so tread mindfully when visiting this winter. Seek sustainable accommodation in the less-visited north, such as Macaronesian Eco Suites.
This cave-like home on a village farm is well placed for hikes into Anaga Rural Park, and rates include a donation to a local donkey charity. Or give more back on GVI’s Sustainable and Ethical Ecotourism volunteering programme, collecting data and analysing human impact on Tenerife’s cetaceans.
Macaronesian Eco Suites cost from £145 per night and sleep four. GVI (01727 250250) runs programmes from £1,645pp (for one week) to £6,595pp (12 weeks), including accommodation and food, excluding flights.
105,138 tickets
The Costa Blanca conjures images of tourism at its ugliest, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Alicante itself, oft-bypassed for the nearby mega-resorts, has plentiful charm, great food and lovely hotels – try Hospes Amérigo, a plushly converted convent. Or discover an alternative side to the coast on a leisurely cycle to vibrant Valencia via back roads and greenways, bird-filled wetlands, dramatic mountains, rice fields, Roman ruins and fishing villages.
Hospes Amérigo (0034 914 363478) offers doubles from £113 per night. KE Adventure (017687 73966) offers a seven-day self-guided Alicante to Valencia cycle from £1,385pp including B&B accommodation, excluding flights.
95,412 tickets
Malaga is another Spanish hotspot struggling with overtourism. So avoid the crowds by heading inland instead. Cortijo Don Cristobal is a rustic-luxe villa 40 minutes away, rising amid olive groves and grape vines – the owners make Amorous Goat red wine, which you can sample on a vineyard tour.
There are 360-degree views to the Torcal de Antequera nature reserve and Sierra de Malaga, both good for further exploring. And do visit Malaga too: its sparkling Christmas festivities (Nov 25 2024 to Jan 5 2025) are some of Spain’s best.
Olivers Travels (0333 888 0205) offers stays at Cortijo Don Cristobal from £4,090 per week and sleeps 10.
92,519 tickets
February 2025 marks the 25th anniversary of The Beach, the film that caused so many set-jetters to visit Koh Phi Phi Leh that it had to close to recover. The third season of White Lotus, out in 2025, may provoke the same surge to Koh Samui and Phuket. So avoid the crowds and head north instead. British Airways has relaunched a direct Gatwick-Bangkok route this winter, as well as through-tickets from London to jungly Chiang Mai, the perfect base for temples, hill tribes, elephants and sunshine, but with fewer tourists.
Original Travel (020 3582 4990) offers an Uncovering Thailand’s History trip from £3,330pp, including B&B accommodation, activities and flights.
79,958 tickets
Lanzarote is one of the most-visited Canaries, with dramatic terrain and dreamy beaches. But for a different take, combine it with one of the least explored: little La Graciosa. Only a short ferry-hop north, it’s a car-free, laidback time-warp, sitting within Europe’s largest marine reserve.
Stay in an artist-designed casa in historic Teguise, a good base for exploring Lanzarote’s unspoilt north coast, then hop over to Graciosa to do very little at all.
Cachet Travel (020 8847 8700) offers a 14-night twin-centre trip from £1,525pp including self-catering accommodation, Lanzarote car hire, ferry and flights.
72,178 tickets
Lisbon is lovely in winter, with fewer tourists and highs around 15C. But for something even more refreshing, add on Cascais. Only 40 minutes and a £2 train ticket along the river Tagus, this Portuguese Riviera town is all winding streets, grand villas and pastry shops, spritzed by Atlantic air.
Take a surf lesson (available year-round; €40), graze local goodies at the Mercado da Vila and visit the fairy-tale palaces of nearby Sintra. Stay at Artsy Cascais, a design-led hotel overlooking the bay.
Artsy Cascais (00351 210 132390) offers B&B doubles from £166 per night.
64,220 tickets
Many Mumbai-bound travellers will be seeking sun farther south on Goa and Kerala’s beaches. But if you’ve resolved to holiday more mindfully this winter, look to Village Ways. The award-garlanded sustainable tour operator works with small communities to immerse visitors in real rural life. Its Karnataka trip travels from Mumbai to Hampi’s magnificent ruins, and then on to a guesthouse in the Western Ghats, for gentle forest walks, forts and temples, spice garden strolls and mouth-watering food.
Village Ways (01223 776045) offers a nine-night Spice, Temples and Coast of Karnataka trip from £830pp, including accommodation and most meals, excluding flights.
64,077 tickets
It might not be that warm in winter, but Madrid is still a hot choice: great Christmas markets, the massive Three Kings Parade (Jan 5) and the gloopiest hot chocolate. But do it differently by reaching Spain by train. The country has the world’s second-longest high-speed rail network, with new routes being built apace. For the most enjoyable trip, flight-free specialist Byway recommends stopping off in foodie Bordeaux and San Sebastian on the way out and resplendent Roman Nîmes on the return.
Byway (020 4525 6215) offers a six-day trip to Madrid from £814pp including B&B accommodation and trains.
62,513 tickets
This winter, stay at Singapore’s hottest new ticket: The Standard, opening December 2024. Near Singapore’s Unesco-listed Botanic Gardens, it’s an urban oasis, with a secret garden pool and floor-to-ceiling windows looking onto the surrounding greenery. Use it as a base to graze a city so foodie that even hawker stalls win Michelin stars.
For more insight, join a culinary adventure with Tribe Tours; its Zero to Hero Food Sustainability Tour explores the eco efforts within Singapore’s old wet markets and forages for veg waste (£35pp).
The Standard (0065 8468 8561) offers doubles from £158 per night, room only.
52,012 tickets
See an alternative side of this Caribbean classic by heading east, to the island’s wilder Atlantic coast. There’s interesting eco stuff to visit, from Coco Hill Forest, an agritourism project where hiking trails wend through sustainably grown fruit trees, to PEG, a biodynamic farm and nature reserve restoring land damaged by centuries of sugarcane.
Stay at the Eco Lifestyle Lodge in Bathsheba, a boho retreat overlooking the Caribbean’s best surf break, serving organic farm-to-table food.
Turquoise Holidays (01494 678400) offers seven nights at Eco Lifestyle Lodge from £1,999pp, including flights.
51,173 tickets
Orlando is the United States’ most-visited destination, welcoming 74 million tourists in 2023. Avoid some of them by staying in Winter Park instead. Just 20 minutes north, it was founded in the 19th century amid a chain of lakes, and is home to some of the area’s best restaurants – such as the Bib Gourmand-awarded Ravenous Pig – as well as sidewalk cafés, a huge farmers’ market and small, quirky stores. It’s also home to the Alfond Inn, a hotel-meets-gallery filled with the Alfond Collection of Contemporary Art.
Purely Travel (0844 804 4480) offers seven nights at the Alfond from £1,695pp including accommodation, car hire and flights.
50,066 tickets
This winter, go to the inland Algarve. Just launched, the 2024/25 Algarve Walking Season promotes hiking festivals across the region’s lesser-known reaches, including the Monchique Walking Festival (Nov 29 to Dec 1) and a new event in Santa Barbara de Nexe (Feb 7-9).
The latter is a short drive from the Viceroy at Ombria Algarve, which opened in October 2024. This sleek, village-like resort tumbles down hills, 30 minutes from Faro, and offers immersive experiences, from pottery workshops and olive oil tastings, to walks with shepherds and beekeepers.
Viceroy at Ombria Algarve (00351 289 078300) offers B&B doubles from £450 per night.
46,367 tickets
Ferry travel is having a resurgence – according to September’s Ferrystat report, 23.5 million UK passenger crossings have been made in 2024 so far. So take this trend to Gran Canaria, a good starting point for a multi-Canary-Island-hop. Combine Gran Canaria’s volcanic ridges – great for hiking – with popular neighbour Tenerife (60 minutes by ferry) and lesser-visited La Gomera (50 minutes), where you’ll swap crowds for deep ravines, lush laurisilva forest and black-sand beaches.
Inntravel (01653 617001) offers a 14-night Canary Islands Experience from £2,400pp including B&B accommodation, some meals, ferries and Tenerife car hire, excluding flights.
46,196 tickets
Go long-haul but low-cost this winter. Cape Town was named best-value destination in the latest Post Office Holiday Money Report, thanks to a weaker rand, and this October, Norse Atlantic Airways launched Gatwick-Cape Town flights from £499 return. Also just launched is an Uber Safari day-trip, including Cape Town pick-up, lunch and Big Five game drive, from £152 for up to four (available to late January 2025). Jardin D’ebene, an old Cape Dutch guesthouse, offers a central, characterful and inexpensive stay.
I-escape (0117 946 7072) offers B&B rooms at Jardin D’ebene from £85 per night.
44,895 tickets
Why confine yourself to one idyllic Indian Ocean atoll when you could cruise around several? Seeing the Maldives by a small, traditionally crafted liveaboard boat is a great alternative to being stuck on one speck of sand with a herd of honeymooners. Plus the winter months offer the chance to sail into prime spots for snorkelling with whale sharks, turtles and manta rays.
Exodus Adventure Travels (020 3411 673) offers an eight-day Marine Wildlife of the Maldives gulet cruise from £2,999pp, including full-board accommodation, excluding flights. The best departures for manta rays are Jan 26, Feb 16 and 23, and March 9 2025.
41,773 tickets
Miami’s coolest months (which still reach mid-20C) are an ideal time to hit its coolest neighbourhoods. Take Wynwood, for example: transformed in past decades into a vibrant arts district, centred on mural museum Wynwood Walls; funky Moxy Wynwood, opened in August, fits right in.
Just north is Miami’s Design District, another regenerated patch, home to the Institute of Contemporary Art and the Moore, a 1920s icon turned cultural hub, with a Zaha Hadid sculpture in the courtyard; a boutique hotel just opened on the top floor.
Virgin Holidays (0344 472 9646) offers a four-night stay at Moxy Wynwood from £1,237pp, including flights.
41,205 tickets
The whole of Fuerteventura is a Unesco Biosphere Reserve. So make the most of mild winter climes to wander away from the beaches to see what else it offers. The GR131 trail traverses the island north-south, avoiding tourist sites. Hike it across Isla de Lobos, around La Arena volcano, into beautiful Betancuria village and up the most impressive peaks. Alternatively, try Fuerteventura’s newest excursion: a day trip into the desert, walking with goats (£50pp).
Headwater (01606 720199) offers a seven-night self-guided Fuerteventura GR131 trip from £1,479pp, including B&B accommodation and flights.
40,762 tickets
Most of those flying from London to Athens last winter were probably hotfooting it immediately onwards to the Greek islands – but this year, they should reconsider. This is the season to stay in the city. Not only is Athens less crowded, but every first Sunday of the month, November-March, major sites are free.
There’s also still time to catch the National Gallery’s timely Democracy exhibition (until Feb 2). Stay in buzzy Psyrri, once down at heel, now Athens’s hippest district, bursting with street art and pavement cafés. It’s home to Monument, an elegant hotel in a neoclassical building, with a warming sauna (should the temperature drop).
Monument Hotel (0030 21 0324 1425) has B&B doubles from £260 per night.
37,239 tickets
Gladiator II hits cinema screens in mid-November and so, therefore, does Malta, where the movie was filmed. Locations include Fort Ricasoli and Valletta’s Grand Harbour (an uncanny stand-in for Ancient Rome) – ideal for inspiring a history-focused visit. Malta is one of the cheapest winter sun destinations, so find a good-value stay in Valletta, then invest in a knowledgeable guide: Victoria B, for instance, who has led more than 800 Malta tours, and offers options including an Ultimate Grand Harbour Tour (£300 for up to four).
EasyJet Holidays (0330 551 5160) offers seven nights at Valletta’s Grand Hotel Excelsior from £467pp, including accommodation and flights.
35,905 tickets
Add extra spice to your Indian Ocean trip by taking on Wix Squared’s new Sri Lanka Challenge. Inspired by increasing demand for more meaningful adventures and the popularity of the BBC’s Race Across the World, this joyous journey is enriched by fun, bonding tasks such as wildlife photography challenges, blind tea tastings, hikes on the Pekoe Trail and treasure-hunting by tuk-tuk.
It also includes a stay at Uga Halloowella, a colonial tea estate transformed into six luxe suites, opening in December.
Wix Squared (0203 808 6383) offers a 10-night trip from £4,730pp, including B&B accommodation, some meals, activities and flights.
35,486 tickets
You’re not the only one wanting to migrate to Mexico this winter – millions of monarch butterflies and 26,000 grey whales do too, meaning that between December and March, there are few better places for sun-seeking wildlife-buffs. For the monarchs, make for the highlands of Michoacan to ride into the butterfly reserve on horseback and listen to their beating wings. For grey whales, enjoy intimate encounters in Baja California’s San Ignacio Lagoon.
Wildlife Worldwide (01962 302086) offers a five-night small-group Monarch Butterfly trip from £5,295pp, including full-board accommodation and flights (December 2024 to March 2025). Its nine-day tailor-made Grey Whales trip costs from £4,195pp (February-March 2025).
32,720 tickets
Why flop on a beach when you could conquer North Africa? For a winter break with a touch less heat but an off-the-scale sense of achievement, head into the Atlas Mountains from Marrakech to tackle 4,167m-high Mount Toubkal over a tough-but-terrific long weekend. An experienced crew will provide training, ice axes, crampons and hearty home-cooked food; the group will provide encouragement and camaraderie. A great option for winter-active solos.
Much Better Adventures (020 3966 7597) offers a four-night small-group Winter Toubkal trip from £438pp, including riad and refuge accommodation and most meals, excluding flights.
31,832 tickets
For Mauritius with a twist, add on another isle and steer away from big resorts for a lower-key adventure. Mauritius is only a 45-minute flight from rugged, rainforested Réunion, a great place for canyoning, hiking and panoramic paragliding. On Mauritius itself, you can river trek, horse ride and learn to kite surf. Responsible Travel’s dual-centre trip puts the emphasis on activities, supporting small, local-owned businesses and staying at family-run guesthouses, homestays and mountain gites.
Responsible Travel (01273 823700) offers a 15-day Mauritius and Réunion trip from £3,042pp, including B&B accommodation, car hire and activities, excluding flights.
30,129 tickets
Fly cheap, sleep smart. In December, Ryanair will launch its first UK-Turkey route from Stansted to Bodrum (from £29.99 one-way). It’s the budget way to reach “Turkey’s St Tropez”, where you can stay in sleek spots such as the Caresse. Alternatively, embrace the chill. Somewhere Wonderful has a small-group trip to Istanbul and snow-dusted Cappadocia – explore the sites crowd-free and warm up in log-fired caves and steamy hammams.
Caresse (0090 252 311 3636) offers B&B doubles from £206 per night. Somewhere Wonderful offers an eight-day Istanbul and Cappadocia trip from £2,600pp including accommodation, meals and activities, excluding flights; Feb 9 2025.