Jan Holiday

[yizzy]

Hi Friends 50th birthday in Jan and looking for somewhere warm , maybe in America She likes to relax and a bit of sightseeing, she also loves USA shopping outlets, any ideas please

[FredPuli43]

West coast USA. Los Angeles has minimum temperature of 15C low and 18C high, with one day in ten falling to 14C or rising to 25C in January. And California has a great array of sights, from giant redwoods in the north, to the Big Sur coastline, Hollywood, San Francisco and much else.

[jno]

for the USA, California and Florida are your best bets (and Hawaii), much of the rest of the country tends to get buried under blizzards. Not much further north than LA, though; San Francisco barely averages 10 degrees. There's a huge discount mall a few miles east of Fort Lauderdale

http://www.simon.com/mall/sawgrass-mills

and of course plenty of non-discount ones that often have January sales.

North Africa's mostly ok in daytime, chillier at nights, and lots of stuffed camels and metalwork to buy, but hardly as good as a US outlet. Canaries and the Gambia more reliably warm.

[Clanad]

Thankfully, jno isn't on the speed dial list for the Tucson and Phoenix, Arizona Chambers of Commerce, else he'd be visited at midnight... While evenings can be brisk, southern Arizona is very pleasant throughout the winter months with the added enjoyment of taking a day's drive up to Flagstaff where it can snow 2 feet overnight!

Lot's to do, as well, nearby, what with the old Yuma Territorial Prison, the Saguaro Desert and specatacular nights looking at stars like you've never seen them, except from a desert... Some of the best Sonoran Mexican cooking available... Look up the address for 'Tequila Mockingbird', if you want a recommendation!

[spudqueen]

Florida was traditionally a winter resort for rich Americans as it is nice and warm. It was considered too hot for a summer holiday!

[jno]

true, Clanad, I was forgetting the south west - I think the main entry point from the UK is Phoenix. All the same, my recollection is that it can be a bit nippy early in the year? It's a very long time since I was there in winter, and perhaps I am misremembering.

[yizzy]

Thanks everybody, would never have thought about Arizona , will be looking at all your suggestions

[237SJ]

Have you thought of San Diego? That`s quite nice.

[jno]

there's also Las Vegas, I think Virgin fly there. It's not really warm (average in the high 50s, I think, cooler at night) but it's okay and there are things to do in town. Not a lot of sightseeing nearby, however, driving out into the desert and back again. But you can do longish day trips to Grand Canyon and the Hoover dam.

[237SJ]

If you want warmth in the US in January, the only place you are going to find it is Florida TBH