Unless you have been living under a rock (and if you have – Dose of Mild Covid-Era Humour Alert – you’ve started early, because the under-rock-living requirement doesn’t kick in until later in the week), we are about to enter another national lockdown. As of November 5, if you live in England, it’s back to working from home and not going out beyond essential shopping and exercise. And with this, as of Thursday, holidays of any sort are also banned – whether that be a weekend in Norfolk, or a fortnight in Barbados.
Of course, if you want to look on the bright side (apparently it still exists somewhere; have you checked behind the sofa?), this also means that you have two days to get up, out and away. The officially sanctioned “travel corridors” allowing for breaks that do not require two weeks of quarantine on return will still be in play until lockdown officially begins – and if you are (really) quick, you can still make a dash for the beach before the shutters come down. The new restrictions permit tourists to conclude their holidays and fly back to the UK on their intended dates – as long as they have left before this Thursday.
In other words, if you have the time, the inclination, and the desire for a spot of sunshine, you can still go abroad. At time of writing, the following six packages are all possible. But don’t delay. Never has the old phrase “last-minute booking” been more appropriate…
Rhodes
Greece has been gloriously resistant to Covid travel restrictions all summer, and while some of its islands were subject to UK quarantine requirements for a short time, the whole country is currently available to British travellers. Although temperatures have obviously dipped, you can still expect warmth of around 20C on the Aegean islands in November.
A seven-night all-inclusive getaway to the five-star Labranda Blue Bay resort, at Ialyssos, on the north coast of Rhodes, flying from Manchester tomorrow (November 3), starts at £345 a head, with Olympic Holidays (020 8492 6868; olympicholidays.com).
Kos
As the above price for a week in Rhodes surely indicates, there are bargains in the offing if you know where to look. And if you are going to flee Britain’s imminent lockdown at short notice, you may as well do so for a fortnight as a week.
A 14-night all-inclusive stay at the four-star Blue Lagoon Resort, at the north tip of Kos, flying from Gatwick on Wednesday (November 4), starts at £513 a head through TUI (020 3451 2688; tut.co.uk).
