It’s cold, it’s wet, it’s dark, Downton’s over, work starts tomorrow and you desperately need something to look forward to.
Do not fear, help is at hand. Starting today and every Sunday following, we promise to bring you 10 of the best ways to lift your spirits by booking a break that help banishes those Sunday blues.
1 Where it is hot right now
Forecast: Saturday, 29C; Sunday 29C
Antigua is the archetypal Caribbean island - sun-drenched, fringed with dazzling white sand and set by a warm jade and aquamarine sea. There are some excellent hotels, and increasingly villas, and the island has a long tradition of sailing, both in historic association with Britain (Horatio Nelson was stationed here) and sailing in its modern form. However, it is for the easy life and friendly islanders - and the wide variety of beaches - that most people visit.
• Heat seeker: where it's hot right now
2 The UK retreat
Preview Michael Wignall’s new menu at Gidleigh Park
A Telegraph favourite, Devon’s Gidleigh Park ushers in a new era in 2016, welcoming two-Michelin-starred chef Michael Wignall as executive chef. Readers will have the chance to be among the first to sample Wignall’s creations from January 22. The new, 10-course tasting menu will feature colourful, textured and technically accomplished dishes for which Wignall has become renowned. The two-night package includes the 10-course dinner, a wine-tasting experience, full English breakfast on each morning and a morning tea tray and newspaper to your room.
Our expert says of Gidleigh Park: “For nearly 30 years Gidleigh Park has been the quintessential country house hotel. It is low-key but glamorous, and attracts wealthy city dwellers and helicopters landing on its lawn for lunch.”
From £750 per room (two nights). Book by January 31 for stays between January 22 and April 30 (Sunday to Thursday only) Quote “TELP”; 03300 291 062; http://ift.tt/1kxQm5I.
3 The perfect beach
Viveiro, Galicia, Spain
Most of Spain’s best beaches are on the northern coast. Using the small town of Viveiro (population: 16,000) as a base, you could go to a different one every day of your holiday, driving for less than an hour, too. The ideal spot for friends and family to descend upon en masse in the summer months, this is hometown Spain, a far cry from the country’s glitzier resorts. Area beach is a tantalisingly long strip of sand a few miles from Viveiro town and the harbour in Celeiro. Area is totally unspoilt and backed by low dunes with a cluster of vines growing on them. There are two hotels set back from the beach, a couple of dozen houses, a youth hostel and that’s about it.
4 The Med escape
La Pérouse, Nice
Though minutes from the centre, La Pérouse seems slightly withdrawn, in a private stretch of Provence where comfort, politeness and flowers hold sway. Built up and around the rocky headland, the hotel winds hither and yon to fool the brightest GPS. At some stage, it will release you to the loveliest hotel terrace in Nice where pool, bar and restaurant are found in a setting not unlike a Provençal village square. The sea views are startlingly good.
Read the full review: La Pérouse
•The best hotels in Nice
5 The family resort
Cavalaire-sur-Mer, Provence, France
Cavalaire is the family person’s St Tropez. It’s nearby, shares the same sun, sea and insouciance, but with no hint of excruciating A-list exclusivity. Granted, Cavalaire’s not quaint – it’s mainly post-war – but palms, pines and sunlight attenuate the effect.
And the splendid three-mile beach is a family magnet. If teenagers are not knocked out by nightfall, they’ve not been trying. The Maison-de-la-Mer, between the beach and port, is the one-stop shop for information. It offers offer kayaking, sailing, windsurfing, snorkelling and every other maritime activity short of whaling.
And should your adolescents tire of Cavalaire beach, take the free shuttle along to Gigaro beach and the coastal path through wild Med scenery. Or climb into the Maures hills directly behind. Evening-tide has its moments, too. The best beach restaurant is the Terre de Sable off the Avenue de St Raphaël; the best restaurant is Fabien Trivero’s Delicatessen on the Promenade de la Mer. Look out, also, for concerts and shows through the summer.
- Stay at the Camping de la Baie –unusually for a campsite, it’s in the centre of town; a four-person mobile home is from £49 a night (camping-baie.com).
• Europe's top beach resorts for teenagers
6 The ski break
San Cassiano, Italy
Anyone who loves dramatic scenery should have the Sella Ronda on their shortlist. It’s an astonishing circuit of intermediate pistes set in the striking Dolomites, and linking the resorts of Arabba, Val Gardena, Canazei and Corvara. The last of these is in the Alta Badia region, which has built a reputation for fine food, and the heart of that reputation lies in the traditional village of San Cassiano with which Corvara shares its slopes.
A cluster of Michelin stars
For some years Norbert Niederkofler has been the doyen of the Alta Badia gourmet scene at the St Hubertus in the Rosa Alpina hotel, which has two Michelin stars. The six-course tasting menu may be a bit much but there are satisfying single dishes to be had, such as beef cheek with celery.
It is absolutely worth sampling some other places, in particular two that have Michelin stars. Just up the road in Armentarola is the one-star La Siriola , in the hotel Ciasa Salares, where Matteo Metullio creates innovative dishes – suckling pig cooked three ways, say. Ask to visit the chocolate room to taste from 40 different types on offer before matching the chocolate with wine or spirits in the adjacent tasting lounge. A bit further in the other direction, in the hotel La Perla in Corvara, is the one-star Stüa de Michil – enjoy exquisite dishes, such as roe deer loin in a pine-nut crust, in one of the intimate panelled rooms.
• The 40 best mountain restaurants
Where to stay
The five-star Rosa Alpina is not only home to the area’s most ambitious restaurant, but also an exceptionally welcoming hotel that understands the appeal of eating out – so most guests stay b&b. Snow-Wise (snow-wise.com) has packages from £1,950.
7 The ultimate tour
The Danube with Aled Jones
Readers can take advantage of a £300 reduction from the original price of a Telegraph Tour along the Danube in the company of Aled Jones and our classical music critic Ivan Hewett. Run by Scenic, the 8-day voyage has two April departures. April 6 -13 April 11-18, from £1,495.
• Why the Danube is ideal for your first river cruise
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