Bailout bliss

GO LONG TERM:With things about to get a whole lot wintrier round here – and we're not talking just about the weather – Sandra O'Connellhas rounded up some places where the living is easier, the climate milder, and the talk cheerier

Spain

These days it isn’t only retired folk who have time on their hands for an extended winter break, unfortunately, but this one is strictly for over 55s.

The Spanish government, in a bid to make use of all the hotels standing idle off-season, is this year continuing with its subsidised winter vacation scheme.

Holidays can be taken any time between now and April and a package with John Galligan’s Travel’s Senior Programme, for example, will bag you a month’s holiday, full board, in a four-star hotel, for just €953 – around €238 a week. Both Rathgar Travel (rathgartravel.ie) and King Travel (kingtravel.ie) are advertising the same packages, based on two sharing, with a single supplement of €15 per day on top for solo travellers.

For that you can choose from a range of four-star hotels in Andalusia, Costa Valencia or the Balearic Islands.

Younger travellers can accompany someone over 55 at the same rate, if sharing a room. The price includes round trip airfare with Aer Lingus or Ryanair, one check-in bag per person, airport transfers plus, at the hotel, full board including beverages with meals, a daily entertainment programme and two tours in the area.

If you’re too young to qualify for a subsidised holiday, there’s great value with ordinary packages to Spain too. If you fancy skipping off for both Christmas and New Year this year, and who would blame you, Budget Travel has a 21-day self-catering option departing December 15th to Benidorm for €540 per person, including flights.

That works out at around €160 a week. Go after Christmas, departing December 28th, and the price falls to €483 per person.

jgt.ie

budgettravel.ie

Canary Islands

Unfortunately the Canaries isn’t included in the Spanish government’s subsidised scheme, presumably because it’s high season there all year round. That means cheap accommodation is harder to come by but, for anyone determined to avoid the dark days of winter back home, it can be done.

UK firm Travel Click has last-minute deals for long-stay winter packages in the Canaries which, at the time of going to press, included a self-catering, 28-day option, departing this week and staying near the beach in the Sol Lanzarote, a four-star property in Matagorda, for £600 per person (around €700), departing London.

Or, if you can root out a cheap flight yourself, book your own apartment in Cotillo, a working fishing village in the northwest of Fuerteventura, with weekly rates for a two-bedroom apartment starting at just €210.

holidayswinter.co.uk cotilloholidays.com turismodecanarias.com

Portugal

With temperatures of 17 and 18 degrees not unusual during winter months, Portugal’s Algarve is a great value option for those looking to avoid the big chill.

Stein Travel has a number of long-stay options, including a 28-day self-catering package in the tourist resort of Vilamoura, departing January 10th – breaking the back of winter for you – for just €340 per person sharing, including flights and transfers. Alternatively, stay in Albufeira on the same basis for €376 each.

Budget Travel has 28-day holidays to the Algarve too, departing February 1st, for €399 per person.

Again, book a cheap flight yourself and check out Irish golfing holiday specialist Oceanico which has studio apartments at its Estrela da Luz property, in Praia da Luz, for €45 a night during winter.

Alternatively, if you prefer a little more space, UK firm Independent Villas has long stay winter villa rentals on the Algarve from £250 (€295) a week based on a minimum four-week stay.

If there’s a gang of you making a break for it, £350 a week (or just over €100 a week each) will get you a newly built, three-bedroom villa close to Lagos and within driving distance of all the golf courses you could wish for.

steintravel.ie

budgettravel.ie oceanicoresorts.com

independentvillas.co.uk

Malta

Temperatures here range from 10 to 16 degrees, with plenty of bright sunshine all round, making for a gentle winter option that’s great value too.

For example, UK firm Choice Holidays Direct has long-stay holidays at the Bella Vista Hotel, in St Paul’s Bay, near Qawra and Bugibbba, the island’s largest seaside resort towns.

Flying from Birmingham, departing January 12th and staying 35 nights on a half board basis, the cost works out at about €640 in all which, my calculator assures me, amounts to €18 a day.

If you prefer to travel home grown, Budget Travel has a 28-day option staying at the three-star Dragonara Court, on a self-catering basis, departing January 21st, for just €402 per person – or €14.35 a day.

Even better value, for €407 stay at the Qawra Point Holiday Complex, also three-star, and get breakfast thrown in too – that’s 28 breakfasts for a fiver!

choiceholidaysdirect.co.uk

budgettravel.ie

Florida

The Sunshine State has been catering for overwintering Yanks for yonks, and if there’s one thing Americans are good at, it’s getting value for money, so it’s no surprise prices are pretty low round here.

Specialist website extendedstayhotels.com, for example, has studio apartments in the St Petersburg/Clearwater area, with great beaches, restaurants and nightlife, from €18 a night based on two sharing, if you stay for January.

Each unit comes with its own fully equipped kitchen so you can keep your living expenses low. On top of that you get – for an extra fee – the amenities of a hotel, including gym, swimming pool and laundry service. Nearby attractions include Busch Gardens, the Sunken Gardens and the Florida International and Salvador Dali museums, and you can expect temperatures in the 60s in which to enjoy it all too.

extendedstay.com

Thailand

You can live like a lord in Thailand for very little money. Accommodation is cheap, food is cheap (and terrific), and public transport is both cheap and efficient.

Not only is the weather hot (very) all year round, but the cost of living is so low that, once you’ve taken the flight element out of it – currently as low as €670 from Dublin – it’s a very cheap option indeed.

For example, a serviced apartment at the Viangbua Mansion in Chiang Mai, sleeping two, will set you back 12,000 Thai bahts a month, or €299. Or how about a serviced apartment, with swimming pool, in Koh Samui, for a three-monthly rate of 30,000 Thai bahts – that’s just over €8 a day.

And if it turns out to be so good you don’t want to leave, chances are anyone over 50 won’t have to.

Once you have proof of the equivalent of €20,000 in the bank, plus an income of at least €1,600 a month, you’re eligible for a one-year retirement visa and they’re positively delighted to have you.

apartment.chiangmai-thai.com

thailandservicedapartments.com

Australia

Not only is Australia a world away from our troubles but it is summer there too. Around a grand will get you return airfare to Sydney and, once you land, one of the cheapest options we’ve found has to be staying on a university campus while the students are, conveniently, on their hols.

Campus Summer Stays has accommodation in 14 locations across Australia, from now until mid February. Depending on what part of the country you choose, you can get a studio apartment from AUD 55 a night – that’s €20 a night each, based on two sharing.

Or how about touring the outback in a camper van? Camper Travel has budget vans for AUD 2,808 for a month’s hire, that’s about €2,000 a month, including insurance, or €250 a week each, during which time you get to cross the country from Sydney to Cairns.

If you simply want to stay put and explore Sydney, you can get a house in Surry Hills, within walking distance of Darling Harbour and Chinatown, for around €500 a week based on a four-week stay on the Short Stays website, and save money by eating in.

clvsmartstays.com

campertravel.com.au

shortstays.net

Cruises

Finally, seeing as how we’re all at sea here anyway, how about heading off on an extended cruise? It’s hard to think about economic woes at an all-you-can-eat buffet.

For a mid-priced option, Holland America Lines has a 30-day voyage which transports you not just to a different time zone, but to a different time, exploring the wonders of Machu Picchu in Peru.

Departing from San Diego, California, passengers also stop off in Mexico, Guatamala, Panama, Costa Rica and Ecuador.

The round trip cruise, which sets sail on February 2nd, includes extended calls at Acapulco and Puerto Vallarta too.

Fares begin at $3,099 (€2,313) based on two sharing which works out at around €77 a night, with flights extra. Not exactly cheap but, then again, with all the goings on round here, what price sanity?

hollandamerica.com