Flights to Morocco are almost embarrassingly cheap this winter. Even the hardest of hard-nosed tour operators are throwing their hands in the air and admitting that they can’t compete with the no-frills airlines.
Sun-seekers should avoid the cool, breezy Atlantic coast and head inland to the desert. Return fares to Marrakesh can be had for less than £100, with no fewer than six airlines scrapping it out for passengers. Choose between Atlas Blue (www.atlas-blue.com), British Airways (0870 850 9850, www.ba.com), EasyJet (www.easyjet.com), Royal Air Maroc (020 7307 5800, www.royalairmaroc.com), Ryanair (0871 246 0000, www.ryanair.com) and Thomsonfly (0870 190 0737, www.thomsonfly.com).
Second-time visitors to Morocco might be tempted instead to head for Fez on Ryanair’s new route from Luton.
Don’t listen to the twits calling Fez “the new Marrakesh”: it’s almost 300 years older and a fascinating, gritty city that makes few concessions to western tourists. Rather than chichi French boutiques, for example, you’ll find working tanneries and butchers’ shops with camels’ heads hanging outside. And, whereas Marrakesh has more than 500 foreign-owned riads, Fez has no more than 20. Michael Cullen, of the hip-hotel website i-escape.com, has just returned from a trip to see them all. He recommends the American-owned Dar Roumana, where you’ll be greeted with lavish interiors, panoramic views of the medina and palatial suites (from £70, B&B).
Another gem is Dar Seffarine, which has a house-party vibe and rooms for £43, B&B. To book, call 020 7652 4625 or visit www.i-escape.com. The total price for a week in January is about £250.
KENYA
The climate along Kenya’s coastline makes it ideal for flying and flopping: highs of 34C, 10 hours of sunshine per day and barely a whiff of rain. Competition is also heating up between tour operators, with new MyTravel charter flights to Mombasa helping to drive down prices.
It doesn’t take long to track down bargains. Cosmos (0870 443 1823, www.cosmos.co.uk) has sliced more than 50% off prices at the Scorpio Villas Hotel, in Malindi — where you’ll find rustic thatched cottages and three swimming pools set in fragrant tropical gardens. A week, half-board, departing on December 9, is down from £730 to £349.
At the three-star Mombasa Beach Hotel, a week, half-board, is down from £589 to £349, including flights from Gatwick or Manchester on December 12, with Iglu (020 8544 6389, www.iglutropical. com). Or spend 13 nights at the highly rated Watamu Beach Club Hotel for £481, full-board, with African Safari Club (0845 345 0014, www.africansafariclub.com).
Page 2: Egypt, Grenada, Cape Verde
Page 3: Goa, Thailand
Page 4: Tobago
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EGYPT
Ask any travel-industry expert where is cheap this winter, and the reply is likely to be the same: Egypt. The Red Sea resorts — including Sharm el Sheikh, Hurghada and Taba Heights — have always given good sunshine to the pound, but this year the prices have got plain silly.
“We’ve had a week in a five-star hotel, including flights, for as little as £199,” says John Bevan, travel director of Lastminute.com. “I’ve just taken my own family to Sharm el Sheikh. There is such a glut of supply in Egypt right now that customers can book a couple of days before they fly and take their pick.” One specialist operator tells us hotel rates are on average 25%-30% lower than a year ago.
Several factors have combined to cut prices this year. A building boom along the Sinai coast has created an oversupply of high-class hotel beds, while a price war among charter airlines has brought down the cost of flights. Add to that the lingering fears over terrorism, and the introduction of direct scheduled flights to Sharm el Sheikh by British Airways, and you have all the ingredients for an irresistible bargain.
This is not a holiday to self-package. For a start, you simply won’t get close to the late deals offered by tour operators. What’s more, resorts such as Taba Heights — which is on a beautiful but isolated stretch of the coast — are served by neither buses nor taxis. Even flying into Sharm without a prearranged transfer can leave you stranded.
With prices low across the board, you might as well aim for the top. Longwood Holidays (020 8418 2525, www.longwoodholidays.co.uk) has a week, half-board, at the five-star Hyatt Regency in Taba Heights, departing on December 11, for £339, including a free room upgrade and drinks discounts; or a week, B&B, at the five-star Renaissance Sharm el Sheikh, departing between November 30 and December 10, for £325. In January, a week at the five-star Hilton in Hurghada costs £355.
Other operators include Cosmos (0870 443 1823, www.cosmos.co.uk), Lastminute.com (0870 443 9902, www.lastminute.com), Libra Holidays (0871 226 7825, www.libraholidays.co.uk) and Thomson (0870 550 2555, www.thomson.co.uk).
GRENADA
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Like Tobago, Grenada is often neglected in the rush for familiar (and overpriced) destinations such as Barbados. One of the prettiest and least spoilt islands in the Caribbean, Grenada has worked hard to recover from the devastation caused by Hurricane Ivan in 2004.
If you get there before Christmas, you’ll find deals aplenty. Again, it’s a simple question of supply outstripping demand, with new flights being added by Excel Airways, and Virgin Atlantic responding by slashing the rates quoted to tour operators.
The best of the packages is a week, room-only, at the Grenadian by Rex resort for £432, including flights on December 7, with XL.com (0870 320 7777, www.xl.com). How good a deal is this? Well, Trailfinders (0845 058 5858, www.trailfinders.com), which is no slouch at digging out low air fares, says that its cheapest flight to Grenada, with Virgin Atlantic in January, would cost £418. So, if you book the XL.com package, you can almost regard the four-star hotel room as a free gift.
CAPE VERDE
Cape Verde, a necklace of tiny islands off the coast of Senegal, is now just six hours away on a new direct charter flight. Powdery white-sand beaches, a handful of stylish hotels and a local culture that combines flavours of Brazil, Portugal and West Africa have had many tour operators licking their lips in anticipation. But opinion among Sunday Times Travel writers is divided, which suggests that the destination may have been oversold. Certainly, the paying public has not taken the bait, and that means holidays this winter have had to be reduced in price.
An all-inclusive week at the five-star Riu Funana, a beachfront hotel on the island of Sal, is down from £874 to £699, with the Cape Verde Experience (0845 330 2071, www.capeverdeexperience.com). On the same island, a week at the four-star Morabeza Hotel can be had for £725 through Lastminute.com (0870 443 9902, www.lastminute.com). Both deals include flights, departing on December 7.
But if you want a real cheapie in Cape Verde, wait until February, when Thomson (0870 160 4529, www.thomson.co.uk) touches down there. So excited is the operator about the destination, it has brought forward its launch date from May 1 to February 12 to grab the winter-sun market. It has an all-inclusive week at Riu Funana for £575, departing on February 12.
Page 3: Goa, Thailand
Page 4: Tobago
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GOA
There are few better places to escape to in the depths of winter than Goa. Feel the soft sand between your toes, eat delicious fish curries, watch the sun set over the Arabian Sea and — if the fancy takes you — lose yourself at a trance club.
The cost of living is extremely low, and winter holidays are also going for bargain prices, as airlines compete to offload seats. There are no direct scheduled flights to Goa, but there are plenty of overnight charters, the best of which is with First Choice Airways (generous legroom, wide seats, individual screens).
Indian law prevents operators from selling you a seat-only charter flight, but they get around this by offering flights with one night’s accommodation thrown in. You are not expected to use it — it is allocated on arrival and might be for any night during your stay. On this basis, return flights with First Choice, departing on January 14, for a week, were available last week for £424. Because of the loophole involving the accommodation, you can book this fare only by telephone (0870 850 4301).
Dig around online and you’ll find plenty of interesting places to stay. One of the best selections is at i-escape.com, which has Kerkar Retreat, in Calangute, a friendly guesthouse decorated with contemporary art, for just £23 per night for two people, room-only. Or splash out on the Beach House, an isolated beach villa near Mandrem that was rented recently by Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. It has three bedrooms and costs £182pp per week, based on six sharing. Total price: £606pp.
Packages are also good value. Kuoni (01306 747008, www.kuoni.co.uk) has a week at the four-star Majorda Beach Resort, departing between December 2 and 15, for £579, saving £219. Thomson (0870 160 4529, www.thomson.co.uk) has the Fort Aguada Beach Resort, in Sinquerim, where a week, departing on January 9, costs £714, reduced from £799.
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THAILAND
Warm smiles, hot, spicy food and scorching sunshine — Thailand is the perfect antidote to a miserable British winter. The region to head for is the Andaman coast — Phuket, Khao Lak and Krabi — not just because the climate is perfect, but because the price of both flights and hotels is low. Even though most resorts have fully recovered from the tsunami of two years ago, many tourists appear reluctant to return. This is a pity for the locals, who rely heavily on our business.
Flights are cheap because of intense competition. Both Thomson and MyTravel are running charters into Phuket this winter, and scheduled fares are being driven down by Gulf-based airlines such as Etihad, Qatar and Emirates, all of which offer deals into Bangkok.
If you plan to spend a week or two at a beachfront hotel, you’ll struggle to beat the prices being offered by tour operators. This is because hoteliers are not keen to advertise just how cheaply they are selling rooms during high season, so are offering them only through third parties.
Patong Bay is the busiest resort in Phuket — it’s not the most peaceful place to stay, but it’s great for shopping, nightlife and eating out. One of Patong’s finest hotels — overlooking the beach, just a short walk from the centre — is the Diamond Cliff. A week, room-only, can be had for £534, through Thomson (0870 160 4529, www.thomson.co.uk), including direct flights on January 8.
Also in Patong, a week at the four-star Royal Paradise Hotel costs £549, including flights on December 4 or 11, through Lastminute.com (0870 443 9902, www.lastminute.com).
If you splash out a bit more, you can treat yourself to a stay on a stunning seven-mile beach in Khao Lak at the five-star Sarojin, which was named Asia’s best boutique hotel at this year’s World Travel Awards. With Tropical Sky (0870 907 9600, www.tropicalsky.co.uk), a week costs £989, room-only, including flights on Thai Airways up to December 9, or £1,199 in January. We tried hard to beat the package on this one, but the best price we managed to get by booking the hotel and flights separately was £1,342 — without transfers.
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TOBAGO
By rights, Tobago ought to be prohibitively expensive. It’s a beautiful, friendly, compact Caribbean island of lush volcanic hills, soft coral beaches and quaint fishing villages. The reefs are alive with fish, the forests are protected by law and the winding roads are free of traffic.
In fact, the cost of living is low, and this winter — for the first time — it’s cheap to fly there. Several airlines have got themselves entangled in a ferocious price war, escalated this month by the introduction of new flights from Gatwick on Excel Airways. Some fares have dropped as low as £190.
It’s not just a glut of seats that is bringing down prices. American visitors are staying away, partly because of the weak dollar and partly because of hurricane jitters (Katrina and Wilma are still fresh in the collective memory). Furthermore, British tour operators say that some of their regular clients, who normally travel to the Caribbean in January, are delaying their trips to coincide with the cricket World Cup in March and April. January it is, then.
Only a mug would pay published brochure prices. Instead, go to a late discounter such as Tropical Sky (0870 907 9600, www.tropicalsky.co.uk), a firm that combines discounted air fares with job lots of unsold hotel rooms and puts them together in hard-to-beat packages. It has a week at Tobago’s most luxurious hotel, the Coco Reef, for £829, departing on January 8 or 31.
Some of the best deals are with XL.com (0870 320 7777, www.xl.com), which is understandably anxious to fill seats on its own Excel flights. It has a week, room-only, at the Rex Turtle Beach resort for £573, flying on December 16.
You can put together your own package to Tobago, but this really makes sense only if you plan to stay at a small, independent guesthouse or B&B that falls under the radar of the big tour operators. In January, you can find flights at XL.com for £269, which you could combine with ecofriendly self-catering cabins overlooking Minister Bay Beach; £53 per night with Responsible Travel (01273 600030, www.responsibletravel.com). The total price for a week is £454.
If you’re determined to buy a hotel and flights separately, check out the prices at Hotels.com (0871 200 0171, www.hotels.co.uk). Last week, it had the Tobago Hilton for £150 per night, and the peaceful Blue Waters Inn — ideal for divers and beach bums — for £97, both room-only. However, by the time you’ve paid for transfers, you’ll struggle to beat the package prices.