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Click, pack and go: our pick of the week’s travel deals

Sophie Lam
Wednesday 06 January 2010 17:48 GMT
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The snow may be coating January with equal measures of traffic chaos and wintry appeal, but once the powder turns to sludge and ice, you may start yearning for brighter skies.

If you fancy a change of scene, but not time zone, then Fleewinter is offering you the chance to sample one of its brand new villas just outside Essaouira in Morocco. Just 100m from a long expanse of sandy Atlantic coastline, the Rebali Riads ( rebaliriads.com) come with swimming pools, contemporary styling and a hammam. Fleewinter ( fleewinter.com) currently has a half price offer at the riads: £60 per person per night with breakfast for a three-night break taken before 28 February. Flights are additional but easyJet ( easyJet.com) currently has returns to Marrakech from Gatwick for £64.

The temperature is pleasingly warm in Cuba at this time of year, and The Holiday Place ( theholidayplace.co.uk) is offering a 13-night twin-centre holiday that takes in the beaches of the east coast with Havana, for an impressive £629 per person. The price includes flights departing Gatwick on 13 January, transfers, 10 nights’ all-inclusive at a three-star beach resort and three nights’ B&B at a four-star hotel in Havana.

It’s high summer in South Africa too, and with the football crowd not due to swarm into the country for several months yet, you can enjoy the stunning coastline for £679 through Trailfinders ( trailfinders.com), which is offering a week’s fly-drive for the price, with flights departing Heathrow on 31 January and a week’s car hire. Accommodation is extra.

Tourist numbers are on the rise again in Sri Lanka, but for now you’ll still be able to enjoy this captivating country in relative seclusion. Virgin Holidays ( virginholidays.co.uk) is offering an eight-day tour of the island’s highlights for £909 per person, including flights departing Heathrow between 18 February and 24 March, mixed board accommodation and transportation.

If the forthcoming celebrations to mark what would have been Elvis’s 75th birthday this Friday have got you into the Elvis swing, you could celebrate by making a pilgrimage to Memphis, Graceland, Nashville and Sun Studio on a trip offered by Archers Direct ( archersdirect.co.uk). Costing £989 per person, it departs Gatwick or Heathrow on 10 February and includes return flights, seven nights’ room only accommodation, transfers and a tour guide.

Finally, you could embrace the winter weather and shun the ski resorts of the euro-zone for Scotland. Base yourself in Braemar – where Britain’s lowest temperature of the winter has been recorded, a chilly -18C – at the Highland Aisle apartment and you’re within 14 miles of Glenshee Ski Centre ( ski-glenshee.co.uk). The apartment sleeps two in a converted Victorian church and costs just £275 for a week through Ecosse Unique ( unique-cottages.co.uk).

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