Taking a winter sun trip feels a little like discovering a cheat code. While your nearest and dearest are looking out their big woolly jumpers and scraping the ice off their car windshields, you're digging out your swimsuit and wondering if Boots still sells suncream in December.
Don't get us wrong. Cosy winter nights and warm fires are great (genuinely delightful, even). We love the snowy crunch of a snowshoe and a sparkling dark sky as much as the next adventurer, but the ability to leave it all behind for a week - or even a few days - and escape to warm water, Vitamin-D, sunny mountains and spot elephants? Well. There’s just something special about it.
So, where’s best to head off to if you do want to catch some winter sun rays?
We’ve got a few ideas, from hiking in the mountains of Gran Canaria to surfing in Taghazout, Morocco, walking to the ancient site of Petra in Jordan, wild swimming in the Maldives or exploring the glowing deserts and deltas of Africa:
- Acatenango, Guatemala
- Gran Canaria, Spain
- Taghazout, Morocco
- The Jordan Trail, Jordan
- Kakum National Park, Ghana
- Sinai Desert, Egypt
- South Ari Atoll, The Maldives
- Desert to Delta, Namibia and Botswana
- The Great Dahar Crossing, Tunisia
- Viñales, Cuba
Here are 10 of the best destinations in the world to catch some winter sun.
1. Acatenango, Guatemala
- Duration: 9 nights
- Difficulty: Challenging
- Best for: Summit baggers
What's warmer than a volcano? Head to Guatemala and climb to the summit of Acatenango - a mighty 3,976m (13,044ft) high - and you can witness the incredible, world famous eruptions of Fuego, the most active volcano in the country. Now, you're not going to want to get too close to the fiery volcanoes of Guatemala for extremely obvious reasons, but you can actually camp near the summit of this particular one, a few hundred metres down, still in sight of Fuego, which is only 2.5 miles (4km) away. You'll enjoy dinner around the campfire watching the fumes and lava spouting into the night sky. Talk about winter heat.
Read more: A Guide to Climbing Acatenango Volcano in Guatemala
2. Gran Canaria, Spain
- Duration: 5 nights
- Difficulty: Challenging
- Best for: Winter sun in Europe
Surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, this Spanish archipelago is made up of seven main islands, and owing to the fact that it's actually closer to the northwest coast of Africa than to the Spanish mainland, it's an ideal place for winter sun.
The terrain is so varied here that Gran Canaria is often known as a 'continent in miniature'. There are lush green forests, while you'll also find rugged, rocky mountains and sand dunes around the islands. Now, the archipelago is known for its flop and fry tourism (the likes of Tenerife and Lanzarote), but in winter, there are less crowds, and on the remarkable hiking trails, even fewer yet.
Head to the summit of Pico de las Nieves, the highest point on the island, walk the Caldera Blanca hike on Lanzarote or walk the GR131 on La Palma.
Read more: 10 of the Best Hikes in the Canary Islands
3. Taghazout, Morocco
- Duration: 3-7 nights
- Difficulty: Moderate
- Best for: Catching waves
What's more summery than spending time on the beach and catching waves on a surfboard? If you want to forget about the very existence of winter, this one is for you. Head to Taghazout, a laid-back, sleepy surf town on the west coast of Morocco well-known amongst European surfers. Here you can learn the techniques needed to paddle, pop up, ride and turn on the board. While all of your pals are back home warming up with a cup of tea, you'll be out in the waves of the North Atlantic.
Read more: Chasing the Swell: Learning to Surf in Taghazout
4. The Jordan Trail, Jordan
- Duration: 7 days
- Difficulty: Moderate
- Best for: A cultural adventure
The Jordan Trail is a 420-mile (675km) route which runs from the town of Umm Qais in the north of the country all the way to Aqaba in the south.
Along the way, the route passes through the capital city of Jordan, Amman, as well as the legendary city of Petra, the otherwordly desert of Wadi Rum and its sandstone monoliths, before finishing at the Red Sea.
This route is great for cycling or hiking, and crucially - you don't have to do it all.
Bite off a week-long chunk and you can pedal at all the spots listed above, passing through UNESCO-protected landscapes and combing culture with adventure.
Read more: The 675km Hiking Trail Through the Heart of Jordan
5. Kakum National Park, Ghana
- Duration: 10 nights
- Difficulty: Moderate
- Best for: An immersive west African adventure
Ghana sits on the west of Africa, and while it's well renowned for its cultural offerings, with some of the best music in the world coming out of the country, the adventurous aspect is a lot less known. Overland from the mighty, wide Volta River to the pristine forests of Ankasa and Kakum National Park, where canopy walkways and dense rainforest waits. Climb to the highest point of Ghana, Mount Afafjato (885m/2,903ft) and swim beneath the tallest waterfalls in West Africa - in a habitat home to rare birds and pangolins. This is a full on, life-changing getaway.
Read more: 10 of the Best Things to Do in Ghana
6. Sinai Desert, Egypt
- Duration: 6 nights
- Difficulty: Moderate
- Best for: Climbing and snorkelling
Keen to climb? Learn the ropes (literally) on an adventure-packed journey from the Sinai Desert to the Red Sea in Egypt.
This is the sort of place where you can find yourself climbing a 4b-7b single pitch in the morning, having lunch in the wadi (a word meaning a canyon which is typically dry outside of the rainy season) and then spending the rest of your day in a local hangout ideal for snorkelling above a vibrant coral. Look out for lionfish, octopus and moray eels. The canyons are deep and dramatic, the water is clear and alive with life - and there's plenty of hiking here too. Make time for a hike out to El Hadudeh, Sinai's largest sand dune, and explore the sandstone beyond.
Read more: How Bedouin Culture is Shaping Tourism in Egypt's Sinai Desert
7. South Ari Atoll, The Maldives
- Duration: 7 nights
- Difficulty: Easy
- Best for: A dreamy island getaway
The Maldives is one of the world's legendary spots for winter sun. But on this dreamy archipelago of coral islands and atolls in the Indian Ocean, not all tourism is born equal. It's easy to find all-inclusive, flop and fry tourism in the Maldives. But this typically doesn't benefit local life, nor give an authentic experience.
Instead, head to South Ari Atoll and discover the real Maldives. Snorkel through reefs teeming with marine life such as sharks, manta rays and turtles. Immerse yourself in daily life; learning how local 'dhoni' boats are built. Take a speedboat out to a secluded sandbank, surrounded by picture-perfect turquoise water and spend the day snorkelling and swimming in the sun. Walk long, dreamy islands and head out to try and see - and if you're lucky, swim with - the friendly giant of the ocean, the whale shark. It is the biggest fish in the ocean.
A perfect trip to the Maldives combines snorkelling, sailing, SUP and a whole lot of sunshine. The only problem is readjusting to the winter conditions back home.
Read more: The Rise of Community Tourism in the Resort-Dominated Maldives
8. Desert to Delta, Namibia and Botswana
- Duration: 13 nights
- Difficulty: Easy
- Best for: Wildlife watching
Why choose one winter sun spot when you can combine two? Head to Namibia and roam the enormous dunes of the coastal Namib Desert, the oldest desert in the world, then head further inland to wild camp beneath starry skies around the Spitzkoppe Mountains. Head on to one of the finest wildlife watching destinations in the country, Etosha National Park, to spot elephants, rhinos, lions, giraffes and more, and then cross the border into Botswana and enter the Okavango Delta, a UNESCO-protected river delta for all of the above and so (so) much more.
Read more: Hiking Among the Wonders of Namibia: A Photo Story
9. The Great Dahar Crossing, Tunisia
- Duration: 7 nights
- Difficulty: Moderate
- Best for: Intrepid hikers
The Great Dahar Crossing is a historic trail - not just because it will take through ancient towns drenched in Tunisian culture - but because the 120.5 mile (194km) route across the remote Dahar region is the country's first official long-distance trail.
The trail begins in Tamazrat, a village inhabited by the indigenous Amazigh people, who live in underground troglodyte homes carved into the rock. It then winds across the stony ‘hamada’ desert and over ochre-coloured peaks, passing through small Amazigh villages surrounded, passing date palms and olive groves, ancient fortified granaries known as ksours (or ksars), and even fossilised dinosaur footprints.
It's a 12-stage route all-in-all, but on a seven-day visit you can get an excellent feel for it, and find time to immerse yourself in the culture too.
Read more: The Great Dahar Crossing, Tunisia's Newest Trail
10. Viñales, Cuba
- Duration: 10 nights
- Difficulty: Easy
- Best for: An immersive multi-activity getaway
The colourful streets of Havana are famously home to classic cars from the 1950s, and alive with live music and the best mojitos you'll drink in your life. You'll likely start and end your adventure there (we recommend staying in a typical casa particular homestay), but there's also so much more to Cuba beyond the capital.
Swap the city sights for emerald beauty by driving west to the UNESCO-protected Las Terrazas Biosphere Reserve, deep in the Sierra del Rosario mountains, then continue on to Viñales, famous for its mogotes, the enormous rounded karst monoliths that jut out of the landscape, otherwise covered in tobacco plantations. The Acuaticos Trail will take you up these mogotes on old farmers tracks.
There are also cave networks and white sand beaches to explore around here, while in Soroa, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve beyond, you'll find 'the rainbow of Cuba' and the Zapata Peninsula, a low-lying wetland teeming with birdlife including the adorable zunzuncito, a bee hummingbird which is the smallest bird in the world.
We've only touched on what you can do with 10 days in the accidental Eden of Cuba. There's also kayaking in n Salinas de Brito, the Guanayara Trail in Topes de Collantes National Park, the cobbled streets of Trinidad to explore and
Read more: The Charm and Enchantment of Cuba's Casa Particular
Inspired? Check out our full range of winter sun adventures now!