Christmas and new year are an awkward time to travel. In the run up to the festive season, flights are normally chock full and fares are at their highest. Hotel prices also shoot up for departures which include either of the main festivals.
But time your trip carefully, and go for the right sort of break, and you can still get away for at least part of the holiday season without paying through the nose.
Packages
Christmas holidays in the warmer parts of the Mediterranean don't attract quite as much of a premium as you might fear. Tour operators do push up their prices, but because the climate can't match the heat and sunshine of, say the Caribbean, you'll only pay perhaps £150-£200 per person extra. Take the Sovereign Winter Sunshine brochure for example. A stay over Christmas will cost between £800 and £900 for a seven-night holiday in a decent hotel in the Canaries, Madeira or Cyprus, compared with about £700 for the same holiday flying home before Christmas Day.
The premiums for travelling long haul are much higher because the pressure on flights is much greater, and demand for hotel rooms in the Indian Ocean and the Caribbean is so high. If you want good-value winter sunshine in destinations like these, travel in early December or early January and you can save £500 a head or more on Christmas prices.
France
Some of the best value over the festive season is in France. Not all operators offer their accommodation throughout the year, but those that do - Vacances en Campagne for example - tend to charge a mid-season price, as opposed to a top-rate for cottages and villas. That's about 30 or 40% less than you would pay in the summer peak. Of course you'll find the swimming pool empty and you would be wise to check that there is proper central heating, and ideally an open fire.
If you book the accommodation independently, you can also get some excellent deals on the ferries or through the tunnel. Eurotunnel for example has standard returns at £98 for a car plus passengers this Christmas, and P&O's start at £96. That's about a third of the price of the summer peak. Sadly, you can't take advantage of the really cheap day returns aimed at cross-Channel shoppers - the ferry companies monitor cars to make sure they come back within the terms of the ticket.
Airfares
The formula for getting a good value airfare at this time of year is simple. Book early and avoid the two or three days immediately before Christmas and new year. When we checked in late September, Ryanair one-way fares to Murcia for example were at £70 on December 20, but increased steadily to £120 by Christmas Eve (taxes and charges - about £22 for a return trip - are extra). There was no flight on Christmas Day, but on Boxing Day the rate was back down to £90.
EasyJet's fares to nearby Almeria followed a similar pattern - £62 single on December 20, but £112 by Christmas Eve. But plan your dates flexibly and you could get a really good return fare flying out on December 17 and back on Boxing Day for £81 return including taxes. If you came back on Christmas Eve, it would be just £61. (Of course all these fares are subject to change and are likely to increase the nearer you get to the departure date).
Skiing
This year is an awkward one because Christmas Day and New Year's Day fall on Saturdays, which is the normal changeover day for tour operators. Because clients are unlikely to want to travel on those days, operators have been forced to adjust their dates. For example, to some destinations, First Choice Ski is offering nine-night breaks over new year. They are still relatively expensive compared to other times of the year, but are roughly the same cost as seven nights at the same time last year, so they do look good value.
Talking to ski operators, I have heard that new year is not selling particularly well at the moment, so there may be some cheaper deals on offer if you still have nothing booked by the end of November. The other way to get a cheap deal is to book accommodation through a resort's home website (most in France have a central booking system for apartments), book a ferry (see above) and drive.
The UK
Prices for hotels and self-catering houses in the UK sky rocket over both Christmas and new year. The National Trust for example, charges its second highest rates of the year - second only to the summer school holidays. It's a similar story with more mainstream agents such as Country Holidays. There are likely to be some late deals on unsold accommodation from early December, so it may be worth waiting to see what comes up. But even if you have to pay the full rate, at least you will save on travel costs, and may feel after all, that the best way to spend Christmas is in front of a log fire.
