Winter is the ideal time to visit Morroco: gone is the blood-boiling "chergui" wind that blows in off the desert during summer months; instead temperatures in the lowland and coastal areas average a bone-warming 20C. After the sun goes down, the temperature drops to around 9C.
Marrakesh is truly magical during the winter. Ramadan allowing (something approaching a public holiday-style shutdown lasts one month from November 27), Christmas shopping in the medina, backed by the snow-dusted Atlas Mountains, is an unforgettable experience.
Stay within the hallowed walls of La Mamounia hotel, in Marrakesh, famed as much for being Winston Churchill's favourite bolthole as for its 17 acres of orange-scented gardens and art-deco luxury. For departures on December 2, Elegant Resorts (0870 3333370) offers seven nights in a Park View twin room, overlooking the gardens, from £1,350 per person, based on room-only accommodation, return flights and private car transfers.
A new and long-awaited addition to the hotel A-list in Marrakesh is the Amanjena , built to resemble a traditional Moroccan Palace. Located 7km outside the city, it comes complete with steaming hamman, library, guestrooms with open fires and plush suede furnishings, so it's likely you'll never make it beyond the palace gates. The Best of Morocco (01380 828533) offers one week at the Amanjena, departing between now and December 12, priced at £2,238pp, based on two sharing room-only accommodation, and including return flights and transfers.
With temperatures well into the 20s throughout December, January and February, the Canary Islands are northern Europe's preferred winter sun spot. Guaranteed to get you to parts of the Canaries that other companies can't reach, though, is Canarian Dreams (01326 317506; www.canariandreams.com) which offers luxury and private villas in rural settings along with a range of walking and wildlife holidays. On the wild west coast of Lanzarote, near the fishing village of Famara, it offers offer accommodation at the Villa Taguera. Located on the island's longest stretch of beach, the villa has a solar-heated outdoor swimming pool set beneath a 2,000ft mountain range and overlooks three offshore islands. The price for departures in December is £695 a week, based on two sharing the villa, which sleeps six (additional guests are charged a supplement of £75 per person, a week).
Something a little more alternative is the Canary's second smallest island (after El Hierro), La Gomera, 20 miles west of Tenerife. Stay at Argayall (Place of Light), a traditional finca and centre for meditation, relaxation and natural healing. The full-board daily tariff is £35 per person (based on two sharing a double room with private bathroom). All food is organic, picked and cooked fresh from the villa gardens. Both prices quoted do not include flights but they can be arranged (from around £130 return).
Madeira is blessed with a close-to-perfect climate, never suffering from either extremes of hot or cold - temperatures rarely dip below 20C throughout the winter. However, the mercury drops swiftly with altitude and winter holidaymakers can enjoy the novel experience of taking a morning climb to the snow-capped Pico do Arieiro at 1,810m, before returning to the hotel pool for an afternoon's sunbathing. Mountain trekking, in particular walking the levadas (some 2,150km of irrigation canals that weave their way through the humpback terrain) is becoming increasingly popular with tourists.
Those travelling in December can expect the pre-festive excitement to mount from December 8 onwards when every tree, house and garden shed in the capital of Funchal is illuminated with thousands of coloured bulbs; a forerunner to the pyrotechnics that make up Madeira's legendary New Year's Eve festivities.
For departures during December, Crystal Premier Cities (0870 8880022) offers two nights in the sunny south of the island from £255pp, based on two sharing, including return flights and B&B accommodation at the three-star Hotel Do Carmo, in Funchal. This price also includes a comprehensive guided tour of the island.
With average temperatures in the mid-teens, Majorca enjoys the same mild winter as much of southern Spain and this is perhaps the best time to don hiking boots and head into the pine-scented trekker's paradise that is the Sierra de Tramuntana mountains.
Liberated from the beer-fuelled stampede of the 18-30s package tourist, the island's capital, Palma, offers civilised sight-seeing (art galleries, Renaissance mansions, Moorish hammam and a Gothic cathedral), and is home to cafés that retain their stronghold over the pavements throughout the winter months.
One of the cheapest options is to fly to Palma with easyJet (0870 6000000; www.easyjet.com ), which offers returns from £40, or £35 if booked online. For accommodation, Sovereign (08705 768373) offers four nights in Palma at the superior two-star Hotel Horizonte, from £259pp, based on two sharing, including return flights and car hire.
Another more rustic option is the Ca'n Gaia, a traditional 18th-century Majorcan country house, located in S'Horta, just north-east of Palma. Prices are from £409pp for four nights, based on the same Sovereign inclusives and departures from January 1.
Unless you enjoy temperatures that top 50C, the northern European winter is the best time to visit Egypt where the average daily reading in the south of the country is well into the 20s. But even in the scorching south, temperatures drop as low as 8C during the winter nights. Between December 11 and 24, British Airways Holidays (0870 2424245) is offering seven nights at the Luxor Hilton, located in peaceful gardens beside the Nile, for £417 including return charter flights, transfers and hotel accommodation with breakfast.
For those seeking an active holiday, Discover Red Sea (020-7407 2111; www. discover-redsea.com) features dive sites in Sharm el-Sheikh, Dahab and Eilat with a selection of shore diving, boat diving and PADI courses throughout. Three days guided shore diving starts from £75pp and includes tanks, weights, guide and transport. Beginners can take the five-day PADI Open Water course, which involves classroom tuition, swimming-pool instruction and diving in open water, from £185pp.
The Azores are not a traditional winter sun destination - temperatures hover around the mid-teens and they are prone to variable weather sequences - but winter is perhaps the best time to explore the islands' volcanoes and untrammelled hinterland.
Destination Portugal (01993 773269; www.destination-portugal.co.uk) offers a 10-day tailor-made multi-centre holiday beginning with three nights on the island of São Miguel, staying at the Terra Nostra hotel, set in the middle of sub-tropical forest complete with botanical gardens and hot springs. The next stop is by plane to the island of Faial for two nights, at the Hotel Horta set in a buzzing fishing village. The final part is by boat to Pico island for two nights, staying at the Aldeia manor house, where hiking, biking and flora and fauna tours are the speciality, before returning to Faial for the last three nights. For departures in December, the price is £519pp based on two sharing, and including all flights, boat travel and accommodation.
