Destinations for christmas time winter sun holiday on a budget?

September 6, 2010 2:19 AM

Destinations for christmas time winter sun holiday on a budget?

My girlfriend and I (from London, UK) are looking to go on holiday somewhere hot and sunny over Christmas this year. We're both students so we're on a pretty tight budget, and ideally don't want to spend more than £300-400 each.

Things we are looking for:

Beaches
Interesting local culture, museums etc.
Good food

Things we are not looking for:

Lots of tourists!

All suggestions are welcome. Thanks in advance!

posted by FuckingAwesome to travel & transportation (8 answers total)

Within Europe, probably Spain and Portugal.

In the former, probably Seville and Granada for interesting sites. The south coast for beaches.
In Portugal, the Algarve works for beaches as well. Great food to be had in both countries.
posted by vacapinta at 2:40 AM on September 6, 2010

We are about to head off to Malta for a week, for about the same budget (about £500 each but you could trim a few things!). Feel free to MeMail me for specific details.
posted by ukdanae at 3:16 AM on September 6, 2010

Not sure Europe will be warm enough for beaches over Xmas. Egpyt and Morocco are cheap and sunny.
posted by turkeyphant at 4:14 AM on September 6, 2010

You should play with Kayak Explore.

Spain, Malta and Portugal are likely to be sunny, but may not be hot, except perhaps away from the coast in Andalucia. Malta is an incredible place, well worth the visit, but it's a small, wind-swept island is not hot in December.

The furthest south you can get on that kind of budget is Morocco, the Canary Islands or Egypt There's not a lot to the Canary Islands unless you're an astronomer or looking for a pool + beach holiday. Egypt is probably going to be the hottest of the three. Easyjet fly to a couple of places in Egypt for about £150 return. Marrakesh is probably the most interesting destination to do cheaply in ~1 week. Easyjet and Ryanair fly there for less than £100.
posted by caek at 4:55 AM on September 6, 2010 [1 favorite]

Vieques, Puerto Rico. Most amazing beaches. Super inexpensive. Try La Finca.
posted by scblackman at 6:32 AM on September 6, 2010

I went to Lisbon, Southern Portugal, in March this year and it was not that warm, nor even particularly sunny. I wouldn't recommend it if you're thinking to go in the real wintery months! Save it for spring or autumn - it's still well worth a visit.
posted by greenish at 7:14 AM on September 6, 2010

nthing the fact that southern Europe is sometimes not warm enough to actually swim have good beach experience in the winter. (I've been to Cyprus, Southern Italy, Southern Spain, Portugal the Baleares and the Canaries in winter)

Going by your criteria AVOID at all costs the Canaries, southern Spain and Portugal (it's quite windy & can be cold). For culture, Granada Cordoba Sevilla cannot be beaten but for heat it will have to be something like Marrakesh I think.
posted by Wilder at 9:28 AM on September 6, 2010

Morocco (Fez, Casablanca) or Turkey (Bodrum, Antalya)
posted by BusyBusyBusy at 10:20 AM on September 6, 2010