Cheap winter sun from the UK
Real warmth in January without a long-haul flight or a long-haul budget. The places that actually deliver, and the ones to skip.
“Winter sun” is a phrase that hides a lot of disappointment — plenty of places sold as warm in January are grey and 16°C. If the point is genuine heat without leaving Europe or emptying your account, the short list is shorter than the ads suggest. Here’s what actually works.
Lanzarote
The most reliable winter sun in Europe. Black volcanic landscapes that look like another planet, ten minutes from the beach, and no high-rise sprawl. Short-haul prices, genuine heat.
Tenerife
Bigger and busier than Lanzarote, but you can climb Spain’s highest peak in the morning and be on black sand by afternoon. Easy, cheap, dependable.
Marrakech
A genuinely different world for the price of a Cornwall weekend. Souks, riads and mint tea on a roof terrace. Winter is the sweet spot — summer is brutal.
Madeira
Not a lie-on-the-beach island — a walk-the-cliffs one. Levada trails, peaks above the clouds and ocean pools, at prices lower than they should be.
Marrakech & the Atlas
If sun-lounger isn’t your thing, base in Marrakech and trek Berber villages an hour away. Warm days, crisp air, almost no crowds.
Krabi (long-haul)
The proper escape. Limestone karsts, warm sea and £1.50 pad thai. The flight is the only real cost — once you’re there, everything is cheap and warm from November to March.
The honest bit
For dependable short-haul warmth in deep winter, the Canaries win — they’re the only bit of Europe that’s reliably beach-warm in January, which is why they’re not the cheapest in peak weeks. Book a few months out and midweek and they’re very doable. Morocco is the value play if you don’t mind cooler evenings. And if you want the tropics-proper, you’re paying for the long flight, not the destination — Thailand once you land is astonishingly cheap.
Which of these fits you depends on your budget, how long you’ve got and whether you want a lounger or a landscape. The quiz sorts exactly that — twelve questions, one answer, no forty-tab evening required.