UK Edition
How to maximise your annual leave in 2016
Nothing makes us dream of warmth and escape more than the dark days of January and February. Christmas is long gone, the summer seems a vague, distant concept, and rain is once again pounding at the window. A lounger, a lounger, my kingdom for a sun-lounger.
This sense of winter gloom is exacerbated by the fact that we Britons enjoy less time away from the workplace than some of our European cousins. While our – on average – 26 days of paid holiday per year have us feeling more relaxed than employees in the USA (15 days) and Japan (20 days), they also leaves us almost a week worse off than our counterparts in France, Spain and Germany (30 days) when it comes to fleeing the office.
It's easy to turn your meagre allowance into something far longer Photo: AP/FOTOLIA
All the more reason, then, to make the most of your bank holidays. Every British worker-bee can expect eight of these precious nuggets of downtime – nine if you live in Scotland; 10 if Northern Ireland is home. And with a little planning, these can be used to create a year of getaways which stretch that meagre allowance of 26 days to something far longer.
• What travel trends can we expect in 2016?
Of course, should you attempt to book off every weekday on either side of Easter, the May and August bank holidays, and Christmas, you run the risk of your colleagues hating you for the rest of eternity. But then, undying enmity may be a reasonable price to pay for a lengthier spell on the beach. And with the first major public holiday of 2016 – Good Friday – fast approaching (ignoring dear New Year’s Day, which we’ve already used up on our assorted festive hangovers), now is the time to consider making good your escape.
The five UK-wide bank-holiday windows are detailed below, with a long- and short-haul destination and deal suggested for each. Get those time-off request forms in forthwith.
Easter
Turn eight days off into 16
Bank holidays: March 25 (Good Friday); March 28 (Easter Monday)
Take off: March 21-24; March 29-April 1
Overall holiday window: March 19-April 3
Easter is the prime moment to be creative with your holiday calendar, thanks to the four-day weekend which frames Christianity’s main religious festival – affording those who plan ahead the chance to grab a two-week break for only eight days away from their desk.
Long haul: March is a fine juncture for a trip to the Caribbean. The peak travel months for the region – January and February – have passed, and even if the appearance of Easter in the diary can cause a spike in prices, the islands’ reliable weather should be adequate compensation. Antigua is always a pleasing choice – a country small enough that it feels charming, but big enough that its coastline is host to (according to repute) 365 beaches. You would struggle to see them all in a year, let alone a fortnight, but it is certainly worth seeking out Deep Bay Beach, which lurks on the west coast in the shadow of Fort Barrington. British Airways Holidays (0344 493 0787; ba.com/holidays) can provide 15 nights at the four-star Nonsuch Bar Resort (on the east coast), flying from Gatwick on March 19 (landing back home on the morning of April 3), from £3605 a head, room only.
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Short haul: Tenerife. The biggest of the Canary Islands is simmering towards a wholly pleasant temperature come March, with the thermometer pestering the low Twenties Celsius – and the warmth of the sea not far behind at around 19C. Not bad for a four-hour flight from the UK. Thomas Cook (01733 224 808; thomascook.com) can offer 14 nights at the five-star Bahia Principe Costa Adeje, on the island’s west coast – from £1251 a head, all inclusive, flying from Manchester on March 20 (and back to the UK on April 3).
• Northern Tenerife: the island reveals its quieter side
Tenerife is already simmering come March Photo: ALAMY
Early May
Turn four days off into nine
Bank holiday: May 2
Take off: May 3-6
Overall holiday window: April 30-May 8
Barely has Easter faded in the mirrors than May Day appears as a use-four-get-one-free offer that turns a working week into a beach break via an easy 20 per cent time discount.
Long haul: Often mistaken for a far-off fragment of the Caribbean, Bermuda is a more northerly beast, sharing its latitude with South Carolina. At 20 square miles in area, it can certainly be seen in a week – and with May bringing temperatures in the mid-Twenties, it has much to offer as a pre-summer destination (including, for those who can rouse themselves to activity, the British colonial heritage of the Royal Naval Dockyard, at its north-west tip). Prestige Holidays (01425 480 400; prestigeholidays.co.uk) sells breaks to the elegant Coco Reef Resort, on the south coast. An eight-night stay, flying from Gatwick on April 30, costs from £1881 a head (two people sharing on a room-only basis).
Bermuda's capital, Hamilton
Short haul: Sicily. The largest Mediterranean island may be at its most idyllic in May, its olive groves whispering in woozy low-Twenties heat. The Thinking Traveller (020 7377 8518; thethinkingtraveller.com) offers a range of Sicilian villas – such as Casa delle Sirene, which lurks close to Italy’s southernmost point near the small town of Ispica. Equipped with a garden which opens onto beach dunes, it sleeps up to four people in two bedrooms, and is available in the week beginning April 30 for £2018 in total (villa only).
• Gourmet Italy: what to eat and drink in Sicily
Vineyards in Sicily Photo: AP/FOTOLIA
Late May
Turn four days off into nine
Bank holiday: May 30
Take off: May 31-June 3
Overall holiday window: May 28-June 5
The Spring bank holiday offers another opportunity to make a long escapade of a four-day week. Carpe diem – this is the last public holiday before the dying embers of August.
Long haul: Florida. The Sunshine State has not hit its summer peak in May, but can still boast temperatures in the high Twenties. That, and a fabulous cocktail of scenery, history and beaches – as befits a place which has 1350 miles of coastline on the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico. America As You Like It (020 8742 8299; americaasyoulikeit.com) sells a nine-night “Undiscovered Florida and Georgia” road trip which would neatly fit this holiday window – a jaunt which charts the north-east of the state, taking in St Augustine (the oldest city in the USA, founded by Spanish settlers in 1565), the less-seen metropolis of Jacksonville and the seaside calm of Ponte Vedra (as well as the pretty mysteries of Cumberland Island in Georgia) – from £1282 per person, including flights, car and hotels.
Miami Photo: Ap/ Fotolia
Short haul: Cyprus. May is an ideal month for a getaway to the Mediterranean’s third largest island, with the mercury creeping into the upper Twenties, and the warmth of the sea not far behind at 24C. Sunvil (020 8568 4499; sunvil.co.uk) can offer stays at Villa Byzantino – which, nestled at Aghios Georgios, close to Paphos on the west coast, sleeps up to five people in two bedrooms. An eight-night break for two adults, flying from Manchester on May 28, costs £1,138 a head, including hire car – on a self-catering basis.
August
Turn four days off into nine
Bank holiday: August 29
Take off: August 30-September 2
Overall holiday window: August 27-September 4
The closing Monday of August is a last glimmer of public-holiday light before Christmas – and a final chance to create a week away from four days before winter drifts into focus.
Long haul: The Seychelles. September is a firm friend to this famously verdant Indian Ocean archipelago. The islands witness little in the way of rain during the ninth month of the year, humidity is moderate, and temperatures hover happily in the upper Twenties. Destinology (01204 821 210; destinology.co.uk) offers holidays at the Constance Ephelia Resort – a fabulous five-star which sits between two soft beaches on the west coast of the main island, Mahé. A nine-day break, flying from Birmingham on August 27 (changing in Dubai), costs from £1606 per person – with two adults sharing, on a half-board basis.
Short haul: Greece. Zeus’s greatest creation is at its most photogenic in August, the sun dancing across shimmering waters. And not least on Santorini, the volcanic crescent of an island which rises from the Aegean as the towering-cliff centrepoint of the Cyclades archipelago. Sovereign (01293 733 114; sovereign.com) can arrange stays at the five-star Hotel Katikies, at Oia, on the island’s north-west edge. An eight-night escape, flying from Gatwick on August 27, costs from £2795 a head – including breakfast and transfers.
Christmas and New Year
Turn three days off into 10
Bank holidays: December 26, 27; January 2
Take off: December 28-30
Overall holiday window: December 24-January 2
The festive period is a gifthorse in 2016. Because Christmas Day falls on a Sunday, the following Tuesday becomes a public holiday in lieu – with Monday January 2 following suit in compensation for New Year’s Day also taking up a Sunday. The airport beckons.
Long haul: The Caribbean can be oversubscribed and overpriced during the Christmas window – but the Latin edge of the region offers enough hotel capacity to offset these concerns. And Mexico’s Riviera Maya certainly counts as the Caribbean, this warmest of seas lapping at the beaches of Cancun and Playa del Carmen – while the sun toasts the land into the upper Twenties during December. Throw in a dose of local history – the Mayan citadels of Tulum, Coba and Chichen Itza, all within day-trip reach of the big hotels – and you have a compelling reason to fly west. Virgin Holidays (0344 557 9275; virginholidays.co.uk) sells breaks at the five-star Dreams Riviera Cancun Resort & Spa. An eight-night stay, flying from Heathrow on Christmas Eve (and back on New Year’s Day), costs from £2848 per person (two sharing), with transfers, on an all-inclusive basis.
Cape Verde has a tropical hinterland that attracts hikers Photo: ALAMY
Short haul: Cape Verde. A search for winter sun in December may mean stretching the concept of “short haul” to incorporate the six-hour flight necessary to reach this sunny African archipelago from the UK. Cape Verde comprises 10 main outcrops, dotted in the Atlantic some 350 miles west of Senegal – with Sal beaming brightly on the map as the 10 per cent of the group most suited to fly-and-flop tourism. The Cape Verde Experience (01489 866 969; capeverde.co.uk) can organise a festive break at the four-star Hotel Morabeza, near Santa Maria, on Sal’s south coast. A seven-night package, flying from Manchester with Thomson on Christmas Day (and back on New Year’s Day) starts at £1739 per person (two sharing), including breakfast – or at £1984 per person, full board.