Warm European Destination at Christmas time

Well, obviously, the farther South you go in Europe, the warmer it will be but not necessarily sunny and dry. Southern Spain, including Mallorca, Portugal, Sicily, Greece could work. The islands on the West Coast of Africa are popular vacation destinations for Europeans - the Canary Islands that belong to Spain and also Cape Verde, independent, a former Portugese possession and now beginning to cater to tourists. There may be numerous very advantageous travel offers, especially to Mallorca and the Canary Islands, without you having to join a tour group but getting a great air fare and hotel discount. My personal choice would probably be the Canaries. You could check them all out on the internet, get guide books from the library and check into British travel offers on the internet. I haven't checked into it lately but there used to be lots of apartments and studios for rent in the Canaries by British and German owners; perhaps by others, too, but those were my main focus.

I would guess anywhere south of Rome - which would include Southern Italy, Greece, Turkey, Spain and Portugal - would be a pretty safe bet.

My idea of warm is comfortable (not sweaty but don't need a sweater or jacket) while my wife's idea of warm is more like my idea of hot and miserable. How warm you want to be will tell you how far South you need to go.

Actually the South of England will be much warmer around Xmas than the North of Italy or Spain. If you really don't want snow etc consider Cornwall, Southern Ireland, the Costa de Sol and Costa de la Luz areas in Spain, Italy South of Rome, Malta, Cyprus, Crete, the Canary islands (will be windy though) or - outside of Europe but still very close - Morocco, Tunesia (esp. Djerba island) and Egypt. Also the flight time from London to Dubai is only an hour longer than to the Canary islands. And there it's gonna be really warm (plus American Xmas decorations in the shopping malls).

I really enjoyed Portugal (Lisbon and the Algarve) for Christmas 2007. It was 50s-60s during the day but quite chilly at night (especially in the Algarve). Last Christmas (2008), I was in Provence and the French Riviera, and it was sunny, but it wasn't as warm (but it was still warmer than Michigan). This Christmas, I'm thinking of southern Spain, but I'll have to see how the budget is a bit closer to December :)