Tunisia
Stand in the gods at El Djem and you can almost smell the blood lust. Some of the stones have been filched to build walls in the surrounding town, but the huge Roman arena remains one of the most impressive sights on the tourist trail. Go to the ruins of Carthage and, in the capital, Tunis, to the Bardo museum with its unrivalled mosaics; stroll above the Mediterranean and sip mint tea at a terrace café in the blue-and-white painted suburb of Sidi Bou Said. Take in the troglodyte caves at Matmata, where part of Star Wars was filmed, and head for the edge of the Sahara at Nefta. Be very discreet in Kairouan, the holy city, where the army of Islam first made camp among the Berbers, but go there for its many-columned Great Mosque and its medina. Tunis or the coastal resort of Hammamet make good bases.
Getting there: Cadogan Holidays (023 8082 8302) can offer a week's B&B at the Royal Azul in Hammamet for £391 until the end of November. Panorama (01273 427777) has eight-day desert safaris taking in El Djem and the Sahara, starting in the resort of Monastir, for £494 with a flight from Gatwick on December 9. Wigmore Holidays (020-7836 4999) is offering a four-night break at the five-star Residence Hotel (20 minutes from Tunis airport and with thalassotherapy spa) from £589pp for travel before December 13, including return flights and transfers and B&B accommodation.
Foreign Office advice: caution and extra vigilance outside main tourist areas in case of heightened tension, but it says that while there have been a few demonstrations there have been no reported attacks on or harassment of Britons that could be linked to the bombing of Afghanistan. Avoid public political gatherings and demonstrations.
Turkey
A place to tread watchfully, perhaps, but Istanbul is an ideal place to absorb a sense of lavish, brutal history. Start in the gloomy vastness of Aya Sofya, the basilica built by the Emperor Justinian in 548 that became a mosque in 1453. As it survived the looting of Constantinople by soldiers of the fourth Crusade, so its stunning mosaic of Christ Pantocrator survived under Islam.
Nearby is the magnificent Blue Mosque, named for the colour of its tiles.
There should be plenty of opportunities to haggle in the labyrinthine Grand Bazaar and ample elbow room at the Topkapi museum in the Ottoman Palace complex. Leave time for the Chora church, with its mouthwatering Byzantine mosaics and murals; shop in the Spice Market beneath the massive city walls, breached only twice in 15 centuries; try to ignore the traffic as you stroll by the Bosphorus, where fishermen cook their catches on portable barbecues.
Getting there: Travelscene: (0870 7774445) offers four nights' B&B at the President Hotel for £484 this month and next, including flights from Heathrow and a one-way transfer from Istanbul airport on arrival. The package costs £20 extra over Christmas.
FO advice: as for Tunisia but Turkey has suffered ongoing incidents involving the Kurdish PKK. Officials add that there have been sporadic bomb attacks in the city in recent weeks. These have been targeted primarily at security authorities.
Egypt
Nobody should put away their passport for good without once seeing the treasures of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, the Pyramids and Sphynx and the tombs and temples of Luxor. The infuriating paradox of Egypt is that while attacks on tourists there have been among the world's bloodiest, its people can be among the most endearing. Cairo is by and large an unprepossessing city, choked with traffic. The museum's collection, however, is unarguably one of the world's finest. The star crowd-pullers, of course, are the contents of Tutankhamun's tomb, the young Pharaoh's mummified body and the gold funerary mask inlaid with lapis lazuli. Negotiating the passages and chambers inside the pyramids of Giza should be more relaxed with fewer sightseers about, as should progress through the Valley of the Kings at Luxor, where one can linger over the riveting tomb paintings and reliefs. On no account miss the obelisks and statues of the east bank temple complex. Take a Nile cruise, visit Abu Simbel, and the Great Temple of Ramses II. Round off by scuba diving or snorkelling at a Red Sea resort.
Getting there: Bales (0870 2413208)is offering a nine-day Treasures of the Nile tour departing November 21 from Heathrow for £1,040 (£1,225 going December 19). Includes four nights in Cairo, four nights on a Nile cruise to Luxor. Thomas Cook (0870 4434443) has a one-week Nile cruise with two nights each in Cairo and the Red Sea resort of Hurghada for £1,460 departing November 19 from Heathrow or £1,275 departing December 17. Both of these packages include B&B except on the river boats, where full board is provided.
FO advice: as for Tunisia but adds that there may be a risk of disturbances in response to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and says officials believe that the United Arab Emirates are among a number of countries where there is an increased threat to visible British institutions and organisations from global terrorism. There is, in any case, a heightened police presence.
Dubai
As a destination to catch some winter sun, stay in unashamed sumptuousness and do a little duty free shopping, Dubai is hard to beat. And there are still a few traditional wind towers in tow and wooden dhows moored along the Creek which bisects the city. A crop of new, luxurious hotels includes the spectacular Jumeirah Beach, shaped to resemble a breaking wave and part of a resort which includes the Wild Wadi Water Park. Among other things, the hotel offers scuba diving and snorkelling on a specially-constructed reef. Choose from 18 bars and restaurants with cooking from Argentinian to Asian. Browse in what is left of the old gold, perfume and electronics souks. Take a camel ride or a four-wheel-drive safari into the desert dunes or try sliding down them on a kind of snowboard.
Getting there: Arabian Odyssey (01242 224482) can offer a week's B&B at the Jumeirah Beach, with overnight flights on Emirates from Heathrow, for £1,330. The price covers departures until December 15. Just Dubai (020-8385 9002) is offering three nights room only at the Golden Sands in Dubai for £499 this month with flights from Gatwick, Birmingham or Manchester.
FO advice: in relation to events following September 11 and the Israel-Palestine crisis are as for Egypt.
Morocco
In Marrakech all human life is to be found on the vivid, noisy market square of Djemaa El Fna. Take coffee or dine at the Mamounia, where Churchill loved to stay when he came to paint. Eat tajine or pastilla, with pigeon, almonds and saffron. Shop and bargain in the souq. Perhaps take in Rabat, with its ancient walls and beautiful, tranquil Kasbah des Oudaias, the minarets of Meknes - and Fes, where you will think you have travelled back to the Middle Ages. In the south there is superb winter walking through the rugged, barren Atlas mountains in reliable sunshine and temperatures ranging between 70F and 80F.
Getting there: Simply Travel (020-8541 2212) can offer one week's B&B at the Hotel Tichka in Marrakech for £495. That covers flights from Gatwick between November 17 and December 12 and transfers. Worldwide Journeys and Expeditions (020-7386 4646) can offer walking trips the southern Jebel Sahro for £828, including flights from Heathrow, half-board hotel accommodation in Ouarzazate and five nights' trekking with catered camping.
FO advice: as for Tunisia.
