While the rest of the UK marks December 25th under a blanket of frost and cloud, you could be doing things differently. Make the most of the glut of bank holidays and your quiet work inbox to escape to the sun-drenched tropics. Whether you want alternative Christmas celebrations or none at all, space for families to roam, or a sophisticated haven for adults only — we’ve found a Christmas week package to suit. Just book soon, as while at the time of writing all had availability, it might not stay that way for long…
Nihi Sumba, Indonesia
Best for: Dodging the crowds.
Average December temperature: 30C
While neighbouring Bali packs out over the holidays, remote Sumba — an island twice the size, with a fraction of the visitors — provides secluded tropical bliss via empty golden beaches, stunning waterfalls and indigenous Marapu culture. One of few resorts on the island, thatch-roofed Nihi Sumba is wrapped in birdsong-punctuated jungle and flourished with vivid purple blossom. Here your usual festive routine is swapped for holistic wellness experiences, stand-up paddle boarding on the Wanokaka River and horseback rides on a mile-and-a-half of beach. In the spirit of Christmas giving, every stay includes a donation to the hotel’s charity, supporting local economic and social upliftment.
Book it: 6 nights over 25 December from £15,225pp, including flights, with Scott Dunn. scottdunn.com
Islas Secas, Panama
Best for: Island-hopping bliss.
Average December temperature: 26C
If money is no object for your tropical getaway — but bragging rights are a must — this ultra-exclusive private archipelago on Panama’s Pacific coast provides eco-conscious adventure, discrete luxury and highly-tailored experiences in Central America. There are 14 pristine islands to discover and stunning nature-themed accommodation to unwind in, including Tented Casita, a one-bedroom indoor-outdoor stay with soaking tub and four-poster bed. All is included, from meals to Chrstmas Eve fizz, snorkelling trips to epic diving, spa treatments to daily yoga classes. You’ll feel as though the London Christmas rush couldn’t be any further away.
Book it: 7 nights over 25 December from £14,889pp, including flights, with Abeona. abeonatravelco.com
Time + Tide Tsara Komba, Madagascar
Best for: Wildlife
Average December temperature 30C
Whale sharks and lemurs, turtles and chameleons — Madagascar is a biodiversity wonderland, with the added bonus of exceptional beaches, lush volcanic topography and vanilla-scented traditional villages. Just opened this July with eight suites, Time + Tide Tsara Komba is accessed by boat, offering adventure from the moment you arrive, including scuba diving, nature walks and sand-side picnics. Tie in a stay with a visit to Time + Tide Chinzombo in Zambia’s South Luangwa Park — home to unique Cookson’s wildebeest and Thornicroft’s giraffe, and you’ll have a wildlife-packed Christmas holiday that also includes restorative lounger time.
Book it: 9-night safari and beach trip with 5 nights at Time + Tide Tsara Komba over 25 December from £7,200pp including flights, with Mavros Safaris. mavrossafaris.com
Le Tikehau by Pearl Resorts, French Polynesia
Best for: Overwater serenity
Average December temperature: 29C
If the scenes of Tahiti on-screen during the Paris Olympics appealed — the French Polynesian isle hosted the surfing competition — then make your way to private island neighbour Le Tikehau. Thatched villas with glass-floor sections are suspended over shallow crystalline waters of dappled turquoise, punctuated by reefs coloured with flitting fish. Unlike at Tahiti’s Teahupo’o, where heavy rollers draw a surf crowd, here it’s honeymooners slipping into a still lagoon off the pink-sanded shores, and sipping sunset-hued cocktails after gardenia-scented massages in the on-site spa.
Book it: 8-night French Polynesia holiday including 4 nights at Le Tikehau over 25 December, plus flights, from £7,645pp with Turquoise Holidays. turquoiseholidays.co.uk
Calabash Hotel, Grenada
Best for: Foodies.
Average December temperature: 30C
Compact Grenada brims with farms growing nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves and ginger — the most Christmassy of aromas —– making it a natural pick for culinary-inclined travellers. The Island of Spice is also home to lush green hiking trails, lovely beaches and the Calabash Hotel, a family-run stay with just 30 suites but three restaurants. All the stops are pulled out for the Christmas menus, with an epic spread on 25 December followed by a Boxing Day rum tasting. The hotel can also arrange visits to cocoa estates, markets and a local’s home for a garden-to-table lunch the Grenadian way.
Book it: 7 nights over 25 December from £7,395pp, including flights, with Elegant Resorts. elegantresorts.co.uk
OUTRIGGER Koh Samui Beach Resort, Thailand
Best for: Set-jetters.
Average December temperature 29C
Remember how everyone went to Sicily after White Lotus Season 2? Get ahead of the curve with a trip now to Koh Samui — the confirmed filming location for season 3. Overlooking Lamai beach, OUTRIGGER has activities galore to keep everyone busy: a waterslide and laser tag for the kiddos, or Muay Thai boxing lessons, infinity pool floats and beachside massages for grown-ups. Between 21 December and NYE the fun levels up further with live music, alfresco barbecues and carolling sessions.
Book it: 7 nights over 25 December, including flights, from £6,855pp with Destination2.co.uk (destination2.co.uk).
One&Only Mandarina, Mexico
Best for: Alternative festivities.
Average Dec temperature: 27C
Maybe you still want plenty of holiday cheer but of a different flavour, in which case this luxe stay at Riviera Nayarit on Mexico’s Pacific Coast delivers with its special December events calendar. Choose from restorative yoga or tortilla-making, barista workshops or temazcal cleansing ceremonies in a traditional Mexican sweat lodge. That is, if you can pull yourself away from your treehouse base, set above a jungle and marine panorama and with private deck plunge pools. In these surrounds, rather than partridges in pear trees, expect exotic avians nestled in towering higueras.
Book it: 7 nights at One&Only Mandarina over 25 December, including flights, from £9,002pp with Expedia. expedia.co.uk
Veranda Tamarin, Mauritius
Best for: Cultural immersion
Average December temperature: 27C
Mauritius might be chock-full of brilliant beaches and upmarket resorts, but this friendly Indian Ocean isle is also famed for its Creole culture. Get stuck in at centrally placed Veranda Tamarin, near capital Port Louis and Black River Gorges National Park, where you can spend mornings visiting coffee and rum makers, and evenings catching storytelling sega dances. When you aren’t exploring, lie by the pool fringed in palms or snooze in affordable rooms of floaty white fabrics and sunshine bursts of colour — forgetting all about the dreary UK climes.
Book it: 7 nights over 25 December, including flights, from £2,210pp with TUI (tui.co.uk).
Hermitage Bay, Antigua
Best for: Child-free festivities.
Average December temperature 30C
For those keen to steer clear of the Christmas chaos wrought by overexcited kiddos, an adults-only resort is the answer. Just re-opened following a grand face-lift, Hermitage Bay is an all-inclusive tropical haven spread over 140 acres of garden on Antigua’s sunset-facing white sands. Instead of childish Father Christmas kitsch you’ll toast the holidays with rum punches and lobster at the new beach club, stretch out in modernised suites with new private pools, or unwind with private meditation sessions in the picture-perfect spa.
Book it: 7 nights over 25 December, including flights, from £11,250pp with Best at Travel. bestattravel.co.uk
Bawe Island, Tanzania
Best for: Something brand new.
Average Dec temperature: 28C
Cast off from Zanzibar, just a 15-minute speedboat ride from Zanzibar’s historic Stone Town, this new 30-hectare private island resort has been upping the luxe level in Tanzania since it opened its doors this June. Epic indoor-outdoor villas with private pools ring the island — just the place to ring in Christmas Day — while DJ-soundtracked sunsets at the bar, multiple restaurants and top-notch diving are there to tempt you off the sun deck.
Book it: 7 nights over 25 December, including flights, from £6,900pp with Aardvark Safaris. aadvarksafaris.com
JW Marriott Maldives Resort & Spa
Best for: Families
Average December temperature: 29C
Dreaming of whisking the fam away to a heavenly castaway isle this Christmas? The Maldives brings the white sands, rustling palms and azure waters — and the JW Marriott a family-friendly atmosphere that keeps the kiddos occupied for a full week in the sun. Besides the rambling duplex beach villas and vast kids’ club with 13m-long pirate ship, there’s a raft of special festive events. Among them, ornament-making workshops and a Christmas Eve fire show beneath the stars.
Book it: 7 nights over 25 December, including flights, from £7,710pp with BA Holidays. britishairways.com
