The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - Travel
FOR THE GRINCHES
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MADEIRA ON FOOT
If a good walk is a great escape at any time, it’s especially so at Christmas. Consider the benefits of a walking holiday, taking in the crinkle-cut valleys, muscular coast and mossy laurel forests of east Madeira. You’re self-guided (no group sing-alongs), temperatures average 20C (no festive jumpers required), and because you’re here for a holiday, not an ordeal, distances are doable (four to ten miles a day) and taxis transfer luggage between small family hotels. So while Britain slumps into a food coma on Christmas Day, you’ll be ambling happily through sub-tropical beauty. The return is on New Year’s Eve, so you can avoid that too.
Seven nights’ B&B costs from £1,059pp, including flights and transfers with Walks Worldwide (01962 302 085; walksworldwide.com)
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BETTER IN BHUTAN
Do they know it’s Christmas time at all?, asks the classic pop song. Not in Bhutan they don’t. The Land of the Thunder Dragon has always been a place apart. At Christmas – a celebration unknown to the Buddhist nation – it could be another planet, especially as this short private trip explores themes of spirituality and contentment. Beneath prayer flags in the mountains of Punakha you’ll experience the Palace of Great Bliss; in the Paro valley you’ll discover some of Bhutan’s oldest temples and hike to the Tiger’s Nest Monastery, pilgrimage site and national icon. Local guides explain all, none sing carols. Eight nights’ B&B, including flights and transfers, costs from £5,895pp with Original Travel (020 7978 7333; originaltravel.co.uk)