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Whether you're running on empty already or hoping to hit the ground running this year, the Cyprus Marathon on Sunday 11th of March 2012 might be just the thing for you. Training up for this marathon will help you get in shape, deal with the stresses of everyday life better and give you more energy in general, while the winter sun in Paphos will do you a world of good too.

Continue reading... Put your best foot forward in Paphos

With snow slowly creeping across parts of the UK, what better time to escape in search of some winter sun? If you can't decide where to go, here are just a few suggestions.

Continue reading... Top 5 Locations In The World For Winter Sun

Paphos is one of Cyprus' most ancient towns and the backdrop of many a dream holiday because of its beautiful coastline and diverse landscape.Flights to Paphos only take four and a half hours, making it an easy get away from the UK. Here's our top 3 reasons to visit this dream destination this winter.

Continue reading... Three Reasons To Go To Paphos This Winter

Located on the Red Sea, the Egyptian resort of Sharm el Sheik has been developed to cater for all types of visitors. It's a very popular winter sun destination for families because its location means that the weather is still in the mid-20s at this time of year and because flights to Sharm only take five hours. If you do take the kids, you'll find there is plenty for them to do. To give you an idea, here are five of the best ideas for keeping them entertained:

Continue reading... Top 5 Kids activities in Sharm el Sheik

Scarily, Christmas is already just around the corner. If you're wondering whether you can afford to escape to some winter sun, you'd do well to consider going to Gran Canaria, where the temperatures are in their mid-20s. Flights to Gran Canaria only take about four hours, making it a really manageable winter destination.

Continue reading... December in Gran Canaria

Do you think that Lanzarote is all about cheap package holidays, sun, sea and sangria? Think again. This island paradise is quickly becoming a Mecca for Hollywood A-listers, bored with the usual glamour of Monte Carlo and the south of France. So what is it that's making this beautiful island so popular with the celebs as well as us 'ordinary people'?

Continue reading... Glamour on Lanzarote

While in the UK we may occasionally hang out a St George flag on April 23rd, that's about as far as our Saint celebrations go in this country. However, in Spain the Saints' days are a chance for Spanish people, Catholic and non-Catholic alike, to celebrate in style with a fiesta, festival or street party. The 8th December is one of the most important of these feast days - the Day of the Immaculate Conception. Jet off for a winter break with flights to Gran Canaria around this time of year and you can become part of one of Spain's most important festivals.

Continue reading... Day of the Immaculate Conception in Spain

The Greeks (despite their current financial worries) love a party. They'll take any opportunity to celebrate their identity and to finish it off with a firework display that lights up the entire Mediterranean. On November 17th, it's the kids' turn to party on Polytechneio Day - a celebration and a chance to remember the students who died during the Greek resistance to German occupation in the 1940s. Polytechneio day was founded in 1973 after a tank was driven in to the gates of the Polytechneio Polytechnic during the Greek military junta of 1967-1974. So although it does have a more sombre side, the Greek people hate being too serious about anything, so the day is now celebrated throughout the country as a public holiday.

Continue reading... Polytechneio Day in Greece

Remember last Christmas in the UK? Blizzards? Storms? Freezing temperatures? If you want to avoid that happening again this year, 'Playa' in the sun with a Christmas break in Playa De Las Americas. No, not in the US, but in gorgeous Tenerife, a destination that hardly ever sees five feet of snow and a wind chill factor of -20.

Continue reading... Christmas at Playa De Las Americas

More and more Britons are starting to see a week or two of winter sun as an integral part of the year. In theory, it's a great idea: the minute the leaves start to fall and temperatures start to drop, you recharge your batteries and top up your tan with a visit to sunnier shores. However, if you don't get your timing right, you could find yourself looking out of your hotel window at the downpours of the rainy season or travel too far and you could spend valuable time recovering from jet-lag. Here's our pick of where to go in winter:

Continue reading... Where to go to catch some Winter Sun

If you spend your lunch-break googling last-minute flights to Lanzarote and day-dreaming about that depressingly distant summer break, then it's time for you to think about getting a little winter sun this year. It's often more affordable to travel during the winter months, you see a different side of your favourite summer spots, and you'll even avoid the perennial airport queues. So if you're looking for the perfect way to relax on holiday, read on for a five step stress-busting guide to Lanzarote.

Continue reading... 5 activities that will help you relax and forget about stress during your holiday

Every year in October, a festival locally known as the Bodrum Cup is held to celebrate one of the Turkish city's most notable products, the "gulet", a kind of small, wooden yacht that is still made there today. Although the festival is becoming increasingly popular with travellers keen to see local colour and something truly out of the ordinary, it is nonetheless surprisingly economical to get flights to Bodrum in October and catch a little winter sun. So join the sailing enthusiasts, artists and travel photographers who head for the festival in droves every year, and go and see this singular event for yourself.

Continue reading... Wooden Yacht Festival in Bodrum October

During the winter period, flythomascook.com offers flights to Paphos in Cyprus from three UK airports, namely London Gatwick, Nottingham East Midlands and Manchester. Once we get to April, however, the schedule adds departures from a further seven airports and lots more flights. There are a number of ex-pats living in Cyprus, so flights from the UK are always popular, but Cyprus also makes a great destination for a winter or early spring break, particularly as the weather can be kind at that time of year.

Continue reading... Approaching Spring in Paphos

Well, for those looking forward to some winter snow, the UK was able to compete with the alpine resorts with their ample blanket of the white stuff during early January. If your preference is for warmer weather, then any of these flythomascook.com winter sun destinations would have provided a stark contrast. In the Gambia, the early January weather in Banjul was hot sunshine, day after day, and daytime highs of 34 degrees Celsius. Short flights to the Gambia from the UK make Banjul a convenient location for UK travellers who prefer to guarantee their winter sunshine, without having to fly to Australia or South Africa.

Continue reading... Sun Not Snow

Winter sun tourists quite often focus their attention on the popular resorts of the Canary Islands, the Red Sea beach resorts of Egypt or the slightly longer flight to the hotter climate of The Gambia. But there are also some nearer resorts like the island of Malta and the Monastir area of Tunisia that can also provide the sun and sand that many yearn for at this time of year.

Continue reading... Remember Monastir

If you've ever wondered what the main reasons are that make thousands of winter holiday fans book flights to Hurghada in Egypt, then you've probably quickly come up with sun and sand. And you'd have been right. So what else, if anything, does this resort have to offer that makes it stand out from other winter sun destinations?

Continue reading... Reasons to visit Hurghada

The rest of Europe may be settling back for a quiet few weeks to help get over the Christmas excesses but the Algarve region of Portugal is still busy at this time of year. The southern coast of Portugal is a long strip of beaches, holidays resorts and golf courses that attract visitors all year round and especially during January and February when its mild weather can provide a welcome break from the harsher winter days of the UK.

Continue reading... January Algarve Events

For an alternative winter sun getaway why not consider Funchal on the island of Madeira. The typical winter sun locations like Malta, Egypt or the Canary Islands like Tenerife, Gran Canaria or Lanzarote are all popular destinations for those seeking to spend a week or two escaping from the UK winter weather, but the island of Madeira is also a great option.

Continue reading... Funchal For February

If anyone doubted the importance to the Portuguese of sport and getting into the great outdoors, then a visit to the Algarve in Portugal during February will have put those doubts to rest. Of course the weather in the region is a crucial factor, with dry, mild conditions during the early part of the year permitting sporting events that could only take place during summer in the UK. Another factor is the attitude of the local communities towards sporting activities and events. Whether these be football tournaments, water sports events in the sea or motorsport competitions, there seems to be an endless stream of options for both spectating and taking part.

Continue reading... February Sports Bonanza on The Algarve

If we are talking about the January weather in the UK too much, it's because it seems to be the only talking point around at the moment but also because it provides a stark contrast to the conditions in many of our winter sun destinations.

Continue reading... A Far Cry From Fuerteventura

Dance music fans have their favourite venues around Europe where the world's top DJs and dance music performers typically appear. These include of course Ibiza during the summer months but also, in the earlier part of the year, several other holiday resorts get their chance to promote dance music events featuring the stars.

Continue reading... Dance Music in Malta, Sharm and Cyprus

The Egyptian resort of Sharm el Sheikh is best known as a winter sun destination and a favourite location for Scuba divers, but other, more unusual, events also find their place there.

Continue reading... Unusual Events in Sharm

Tenerife is dependent on tourism for much of its commercial activity and is working hard to overcome the issues presented by the recession. Resort improvements and hotel renovations are taking place all over the island. Reduced consumer spending power has meant a drop in tourist numbers for many destinations across Europe, with some places seeing as much as a quarter of previous trade disappearing.

Continue reading... Tenerife Counts Tourism Figures

As well as many tourists from Britain, the Canary Islands are also popular with Scandinavian visitors, who probably also value the region's mild winter weather as means of escape from their naturally cold climate at home. Take the Swedish for example who have a shorter working week than anywhere else in Europe and, according to a 2008 study, take an average 33 days annual leave each year, much higher than the European average of 25.2 days. The Danes and Germans are both calculated to have 30 days annual leave, while in the UK, workers have to make do with a meagre 24.7 days, ranking them only 13th in Europe. Estonia and Cyprus come bottom with only 20 days per year.

Continue reading... St Lucia Day on Gran Canaria

Discovering that you're one of the top ten contenders in line for Britain's most prestigious sports award might be enough to persuade most people to venture up the motorway to Sheffield. For Jenson Button and Mark Cavendish the journey to the BBC awards night was a little longer, as earlier in the month they were both on the island of Lanzarote getting in some warm weather training.

Continue reading... Sports Celebrities in Lanzarote

Winter breaks to the Egyptian resort of Sharm El Sheikh are proving very popular this season and flythomascook.com had some very competitive prices for journeys during January 2010.

Continue reading... Sharm Flights In January

If you travel to the island of Menorca during January for a quiet winter sun break and you may stumble across an unexpected national celebration.

Continue reading... Celebrate National Day On Menorca

The 17th December, was the shortest day of the year in Funchal on the island of Madeira in 2009, dusk arrived at 4 minutes to five in the afternoon only 600 minutes after sunrise. Compare that to London whose shortest day came a day or two later and was only 470 minutes long. So a winter break on the island of Madeira will not only provide more sun and warmer temperatures, but the days will be over two hours longer too.

Continue reading... Funchal's Shortest Day

While much of Britain still experienced cold, snowy weather and temperatures in Scotland plummeted to as low as minus sixteen, we thought a round up of the weather in our key winter sun destinations would warm you up a little.

Continue reading... Festive Weather Round Up

For the first time Banjul,in The Gambia, will host its Fine Arts Festival to run for two weeks from 4th January 2010. The organiser of the event, Yusupha Kula, claims to be taking a small, local art show and transforming into a fine art festival that will attract up to 150,000 visitors and showcase talented and emerging artists from all over the world.

Continue reading... Banjul Fine Arts Festival

If many resorts, even winter sun destinations, seem very quite during November and December, then those looking for a little more activity may be interested in a visit to Portugal's Algarve region. Although the weather there may not quite be able to compete with the Canary Islands or the resorts of Egypt and Gambia for reliable warm sunny days, it certainly will not be as cold or as wet as the UK during those months.

Continue reading... The Algarve During November and December

With the festive season just a few weeks away, plans for getting away for some seasonal sun may be uppermost in the minds of those who prefer to spend the period in a warmer climate.

Continue reading... Christmas Getaway

Cars of all shapes, sizes and age will depart Plymouth in England during December on a long journey to Banjul in The Gambia.

Continue reading... Plymouth Banjul Rally

FlyThomasCook have announced an additional weekly flight to extend the existing offerings to three flights per week between Manchester and Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands.

Continue reading... Extra Flights to Fuerteventura

Extra flights have been added to the schedules at FlyThomasCook which bring greater flexibility for passengers travelling to the island of Lanzarote from Manchester, East Midlands and Gatwick.

Continue reading... Extra Flights to Lanzarote