Great start from the End
For more great holiday ideas, see page 39
hotels can be old-fashioned, food uninspiring and overpriced. But the islanders themselves make happy-go-lucky hosts. And their laid-back vibe is infectious. Flying time to the likes of Antigua is nine hours and temperatures are in the upper 20s. GO: Jamaica’s main resort is Montego Bay. Here the Sunscape Splash hotel sits at the back of white sand beaches and has daily live music and local entertainment. Seven nights, room only, costs from £1,199. See holidayplace.co.uk.
Wild times The Gambia: hotter
This tiny sliver of an English-speaking country is pretty much as tidy as Africa can be.
On Africa’s west coast, six-and-a-half hours from the UK and surrounded on all sides by French-speaking Senegal, it does not have a lot in the way of resources, so tourism is very precious SOUTHEND airport is r eally taking off with a mountain of major improvements this yea year.
R Runway resurfacing is under w way so the Essex airport will b be able to accept a wider v variety of aircraft. Ryanair i is to start flying lying from there here. Weather is extremely consistent, with daily temperatures in the early 30s. There is no malaria. The beaches are good and the food is westernised but the hotels can be a bit rough at the edges.
This is not the Africa of safaris and Attenboroughs but once you get out along the banks of the Gambia river the wildlife makes its presence felt – particularly the wonderful birds.
GO: The perennially popular Kombo Beach hotel sits right on the beach. A week’s stay, B&B, costs from £515pp, including flights. ghts.
See gambia.co.uk.
Hippy vibe Goa: hottest
A beach holiday in India might sound an unlikely choice for a winter escape. But the originally Portuguese with three aircraft serving 11 new routes from spring.
There are also plans to extend the terminal, introduce a self-service bag drop and incr ease the food and drink outlets for passengers. enclave of Goa – on the west coast of India, south of Mumbai – has beaches that should be the envy of the world.
And a growing middle class in India is making the main resorts of Anjuna and Calangute Beach increasingly upmarket, although there is still a hippy, backpackerish vibe found right all along the coast if you fancy that.
In winter there are direct flights from the UK to Goa’s airport Dabolim, a flight that takes ten hours. Her Here the temperatures can shoot straight up to t the early 30s.
Apart A from the beach action, there are terrific te flea markets and street stalls and slices sl of Portuguese colonial architecture a you can enjoy.
GO: A week’s stay in the three-star R Resort Lagoa Azul, which is a short walk fr from the beach, costs from £670pp on a B& B&B basis, including direct flights.
See thomascook.com.
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