Where to go to escape winter

December 8, 2018 5:43 PM

Hi. I’m looking for somewhere to go that is WARM (at least 70 degrees) and CHEAP for a long weekend in January. Preferably somewhere with a short travel time from Maryland. Budget is ~$1000 for me, a friend, flights, and 2 hotel rooms. The only goal is to sit outside and soak in heat and synthesize vitamin D. We looked at Vegas and Miami but they were too pricey and we don't really care about amenities (beyond a pool) or stuff to do.
posted by a strong female character to Travel & Transportation (11 answers total)

While I put on my internet travel agent hat, just want to make sure I understand here.... you want to fly 2 people somewhere sunny and warm, have two hotel rooms at your destination, for a long weekend in January, with a short travel time... Flying out of Baltimore. Right? And you want the whole thing to cost $1000? So two roundtrip airline tickets, two hotel rooms, food/drinks budget, etc is ~$1000.

How short of a travel time? And do you have passports?
posted by erst at 5:58 PM on December 8, 2018 [3 favorites]

Hey from treasure island florida where southwest and allegiant fly (tampa and St Pete) and it's currently 71 degrees at 9pm. It was 80 today.
posted by chasles at 5:58 PM on December 8, 2018 [1 favorite]

I just plugged Tampa, FL into Kayak.com and it seems like there are some pretty cheap flights, so that might work.
posted by needs more cowbell at 6:00 PM on December 8, 2018

Tucson looks like it might work, if that's not too long a flight for you. It's not guaranteed to be 70 degrees or more in January, but it often is.
posted by Redstart at 6:33 PM on December 8, 2018

It's really cheap to fly to Mexico! From Cancun you can bus (~$5) to Tulum or Cozumel (via a $12 ferry) and not pay much for a hotel. Everyone speaks English around there and white sand beaches are so nice.
posted by ananci at 6:46 PM on December 8, 2018 [1 favorite]

Anywhere MLB teams have spring training will have a lot of hotel rooms that won't be occupied until the last week of February and will be pretty cheap in January as a result! The Grapefruit League is in Florida which is a closer flight to you; the Cactus League in Arizona is farther but may be cheaper for the hotels since there aren't as many year-round attractions.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 8:13 PM on December 8, 2018

cheapcaribbean.com has a bunch of all inclusive stuff and lets you search by departure airport. Looks like there are plenty of Riviera Maya (Mexico) options.
posted by fingersandtoes at 9:01 PM on December 8, 2018 [1 favorite]

If you go to Mexico, you can stay in a hostel for ~$15/night each. In some parts of Florida you might find a bedroom to share on AirBnB for only a bit more than $30/night, actually.
posted by amaire at 9:20 PM on December 8, 2018

How about San Juan, Puerto Rico? No passports needed and you will be pretty much guaranteed temps over 70 degrees. If you have any flexibility at all around your definition of a long weekend (like departing on Wednesday) it looks like there may be some flights in the $300-$350 range. 2 hotel rooms might be tough on the budget you mention. Would a multi room airbnb work? (maybe something like this?). Take a look at the Condado or Ocean Park areas of San Juan. You can be close to the beaches and soak up the sun.
posted by thatquietgirl at 10:51 PM on December 8, 2018

Response by poster: Thanks all, we decided to go to Tampa, super cheap flights there.
posted by a strong female character at 8:34 AM on December 9, 2018 [2 favorites]

Drop me a memail if you want to have a mini meetup near the beach somewhere!
posted by chasles at 6:04 AM on December 10, 2018