{"id":672010,"date":"2026-01-03T22:05:20","date_gmt":"2026-01-03T22:05:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/672010\/"},"modified":"2026-01-03T22:05:20","modified_gmt":"2026-01-03T22:05:20","slug":"the-island-thats-25c-in-january-and-direct-flight-from-manchester-airport","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/672010\/","title":{"rendered":"The island that\u2019s 25C in January and direct flight from Manchester Airport"},"content":{"rendered":"

Escape the chilly January weather with this sunshine getaway\"SantaSanta Maria is a resort on the soutern tip of Sal with golden beaches and turqoise waters (Image: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

As the UK is plunged into freezing-cold temperatures, the long sunny days of summer couldn\u2019t feel further away. The new year has certainly kicked-off with a chilly start and while you\u2019re defrosting your car on a morning or cranking up the heating, you may find yourself dreaming of a sunshine getaway.<\/a><\/p>\n

Traditionally long-haul destinations are a go-to option for winter sunshine, especially in places within the southern hemisphere where it\u2019s currently their summertime. Alternatively the Canary Islands are a good short-haul option, although they\u2019re usually not as warm as more far-flung destinations.<\/p>\n

However, there is middle ground. Cape Verde is an archipelago off the coast of Senegal which enjoys highs of up to 25C and around seven to nine hours of sunshine in January – not bad considering the UK\u2019s temperatures are struggling to get higher than zero right now.<\/p>\n

It takes around six hours to fly there from the UK, so a little longer than the Canaries but it\u2019s worth it for the warmer weather. In fact the islands have even been dubbed \u2018the new Canaries\u2019 thanks to their year round sunshine and mixture of African and European influences (the islands gained independence from Portugal in 1975).<\/p>\n

\"IfIf you’re after a relaxed island getaway Sal is the place to go (Image: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Search Cape Verde in January on Tik Tok and you\u2019ll find countless video clips showing sun-soaked beaches and scenes of relaxed island life. One user Maria Gacria posted a video showing palm trees and golden beaches with the caption \u201cyour sign to book a flight to Cape Verde during European winter.\u201d Another video has the caption \u201clittle escape to the sun in January\u201d.<\/p>\n

The archipelago is made up of ten islands (nine of which are inhabited): S\u00e3o Vicente, S\u00e3o Nicolau, Santo Ant\u00e3o, Santa Luzia, Maio, Sal, Boa Vista, Santiago, Fogo and Brava. Boa Vista and Sal are among the most popular with holidaymakers.<\/p>\n

Skyscanner shows direct flights from Manchester Airport<\/a> to Sal from \u00a373 one-way later this month, with returns from \u00a386. Although it\u2019s worth noting that these do not include baggage or seat allowance.<\/p>\n

\"BrightBright pastel coloured buildings in Santa Maria(Image: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

One of the most westerly islands, Sal features a rugged desert landscape and massive sandy beaches. In comparison if you head to Santo Ant\u00e3o or Santiago you\u2019ll find islands which are much lusher and green – but not as well served from the UK. At the southern tip of the island is the resort of Santa Maria, which has colourful buildings, a vast beach and bars which overlook the sea.<\/p>\n

But this is a place which is much more laidback than tourist resorts in Spain or Greece; here there aren\u2019t any high-rise apartments or bustling strips. Hotels are usually small and all-inclusive, with many located right on the beach so you don\u2019t have to go far for a dip in the sea.<\/p>\n

Sal is perfect if you\u2019re after a relaxing sun, sea and sand holiday, yet the island also offers several activities for those who are adventurous. Visitors can experience a quad bike tour of the Reserva Natural de Costa da Fragata and see the island\u2019s sand dunes or head to the appropriately-named kite beach, where you can learn to kitesurf.<\/p>\n

For more of the latest What’s On news, click here.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Escape the chilly January weather with this sunshine getawaySanta Maria is a resort on the soutern tip of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":672011,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8813],"tags":[748,393,4884,2406,2465,2314,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-672010","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-manchester","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-holidays","12":"tag-manchester","13":"tag-manchester-airport","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115833439938086956","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/672010","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=672010"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/672010\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/672011"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=672010"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=672010"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=672010"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}