Ideas for New Year 2026 please!

[NorthernLass]

I’ll bear all these in mind, but this needs to be no more flights than MAN-LHR-XXX or we’ll spend too much of the trip travelling.

@SamG, it’s not my first T-355 rodeo 😂. I love the Canaries (ACE booked for October ’25), but the weather looks grim just now!

[Erico1875]

Qatar would do MAN DOH GOX

[NorthernLass]

Not with a 241, and in under 10 hours 😂

[TravelsWithMyHP]

I’m with @AJA, it’s a little over 10 hours flight but Copacabana Beach on new years eve is an unbelievable experience. Plenty of other sights in and around Rio too all with a time difference which is less than the east coast USA.

[NorthernLass]

Rio for New Year sounds wildly exciting, what’s the diving like?!

[masaccio]

Apparently there is scuba – https://www.padi.com/dive-sites/state-of-rio-de-janeiro/.

Looks like it’s a day trip with a very early start at 5am and back for 4pm, but it does look like a good day.

[NorthernLass]

Well now I’ve realised the time difference is only 3 hours, it’s on my list as a serious contender, for a future trip if not this one! Not forgetting those cheap return surcharges as well … 😂

But it’s another one which seems to be getting a fair bit of rain just now 🙁

[meta]

Colombia via Madrid could be an option. It will require an internal flight though to get to scuba diving spots.

[Gordon]

meta wrote:

Colombia via Madrid could be an option.

T-12 days and counting 😎

[Gordon]

simonbarker wrote:

Does the Mombasa coast line tick all those boxes? It’s where we are aiming to spend Christmas and New Year next year.

We were in Kenya a few months ago for a safari, then onto Mombasa for a relaxing beach stay, I would recommend it, cool in Nairobi, but very hot in Mombasa.

[NorthernLass]

Hi @Gordon, this was suggested upthread but 3 flights each way would be too many. We did visit Mombasa twice in the 90s when there were direct flights from MAN (the golden age of regional travel!), including for our honeymoon – I have very fond memories of watching the sunrise over Kilimanjaro from our safari lodge 😀

[Gordon]

NorthernLass wrote:

Hi @Gordon, this was suggested upthread but 3 flights each way would be too many. We did visit Mombasa twice in the 90s when there were direct flights from MAN (the golden age of regional travel!), including for our honeymoon – I have very fond memories of watching the sunrise over Kilimanjaro from our safari lodge 😀

Ah, sorry, missed that! That’s the problem with not being within the catchment area of London airports, I’ve read many bad experiences regarding to longevity in getting back to MAN or GLA for example, tbh I don’t think I could cope with that, my wife definitely not!