Florida: the ideal winter destination for a villa holiday

With energy prices hitting new highs, now is the ideal time to think about getting away this winter and saving yourself a bomb on heating and lighting. One villa holiday destination where you won’t need to worry about wrapping up warm with a hot mug of tea is Florida.

Thanks to its tropical climate, Florida enjoys year-round warmth, with the mean average daily temperature remaining between 16 and 28 degrees. Even in winter, you can expect daily highs to get into the mid-20s, with lows in double figures, so there’s never a month where sunbathing isn’t possible.

Winter is also the driest time of year to visit and is outside the hurricane season, which runs from June to November, so you shouldn’t need to worry about any adverse weather affecting the activities you want to try.

Speaking of activities, Florida is somewhere you won’t have any trouble making the most of the good weather. Let’s take a look at what you can get up to on a villa holiday in the Sunshine State and then click here to book.

Theme parks

In the UK, major attractions such as Thorpe Park and Alton Towers close for the winter due to the cold weather, but in Florida there are no such climatic restrictions, meaning that most of the theme parks stay open all winter.

The only exceptions at Walt Disney World are the two water parks – Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon – but their opening hours alternate, so you should be able to enjoy a splash at one of them during your stay.

Magic Kingdom and Epcot stay open all year round, including on Christmas Day, so you can experience some festive Disney magic.

This year, kids can take part in Mickey Mouse’s Very Merry Christmas Party, which is being held on select evenings when there will be live entertainment, festive fireworks and a holiday parade.

Beaches

Of course, cheaper and simpler pleasures are also on offer in the form of beautiful beaches. The whitest ones are found on the Gulf Coast, but you’ll also find plenty of sand, as well as some waves, on the Atlantic Coast if you are staying on the eastern seaboard.

Pleasantly, sea temperatures on the Gulf Coast remain above 20C even during winter, so it’s always warm enough to go for a dip or do some snorkelling.

Cities

Of course, cities never sleep, and in Miami you’ve got one of the liveliest cities in the USA, which is packed with nightspots to keep you entertained once the sun has gone down. If the weather’s particularly good, you might even come across a pool party or two where you can really make the most of the sunshine.

Other big cities include Orlando and Tampa, where you’ll find the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino – Florida’s premier gambling hub.

Everglades & Keys

In the south of Florida, you can experience a thrill ride with a difference: airboating through the Everglades, which is a vast expanse of tropical wetlands inhabited by huge alligators.

The scenery here is completely different to that of northern Florida and escaping into the wilderness can make a real change from the crowded tourist hotspots in Orlando.

Even further south, you’ll find the Florida Keys – a coral cay archipelago linked by enormous road bridges suspended above the water.