When the world is your oyster, where do you start looking for the pearl? Is your ultimate mid-winter treat to ride the rapids of the Zambezi or learn to cook an exquisite soufflé in a Scottish retreat? Will you treat the kids to Disney World or tee off in Dubai? Whatever your desire, the choice for getting away mid-winter has never been greater.
If your dates are flexible, you can save substantially by waiting for last-minute offers. But if you are planning a family ski holiday for the February half-term, it may already be too late. Destinations in Europe are often substituted for hotter climes, but winter is an excellent time to explore cities that are overcrowded in the summer.
Venice is particularly moody. Uncrowded churches, art galleries and fine restaurants easily compensate for the damp days of winter. A visit to Venice can even be combined with a ski holiday. Some tour operators with ski weeks to resorts such as St Moritz, Bormio, Madonna di Campiglio and Cortina d'Ampezzo offer day trips to the city.
The Italian and French Riviera may not be warm enough to tempt you into the sea, but they often have clear, sunny days. Treat yourself to the Hotel Splendido in Portofino, an elegant and understated former monastery where Ava Gardner used to stay. Or book into its sister hotel, the Splendido Mare, which opened for its first winter this year.
For thinning down or chilling out, there are health spas and yoga retreats. The ultimate rejuvenating experience, which will also leave your wallet a little on the thin side, is the US "holistic wellness spa" Miraval near Tucson, Arizona (001 520 825 4000). With the motto "Life in balance", the philosophy here is new age and based on Eastern concepts. Expect a timetable of massages with warm lava rocks, meditation, yoga and Tai Chi. For the more physical, there's also horse riding, a climbing rock and challenge course, kayaking, hiking and skating. The setting is magnificent - 130 acres of desert below the Santa Catalina mountains with adobe-type buildings set amid the sage bushes and cacti. At night, you can hear the baying of coyotes.
For the more adventurous, there are tiger safaris in India, desert camel trekking in Morocco, floating down the Nile in a felucca, or mixing with the animals in Africa 's game reserves.
Dubai has some of the finest golf courses in the world, but if you require something a little more active you will find as much adrenaline as you can cope with in Queenstown, New Zealand, one of the capitals for extreme junkies.
The home of bungee-jumping has marked the map by developing other adrenaline sports such as base-jumping and sky-surfing - jumping out of a plane with a board attached to your legs to ride the thermals.
Equally active are some of the clubbing holidays dreamed up by radio station Kiss FM, such as the first weekend cruise to Hamburg. The itinerary goes something like this: leave Harwich, club all night Friday, arrive Hamburg, four hours in town, return to boat for all-night clubbing while sailing back to the UK. (February 11-13, with four sharing a standard cabin costs £79 each. For details, telephone 01255 244377.)
