Middle East

Jordan
Travel to the Middle East is inevitably a victim of the current crisis over Iraq, so watch for special deals. Petra may also be less crowded than usual. The first sight of the ornate, superbly preserved Nabataean Treasury in the morning light is one of travel's most indelible memories.

Arabian Odyssey (01242 224482, arabianodyssey.co.uk) has reduced the price of a five-night B&B package by £75 to £499 for travel until July 15 (April departures carry a £50 supplement, including excursions to Madaba, Mount Nebo & Kerak).

Egypt
While the Pyramids and Sphynx are Cairo's star attractions, the Egyptian museum, with its astonishing gold funerary mask, throne, sarcophagi and other treasures is unmissable. Take a felucca ride on the Nile, or shop in the Khan al-Khalili bazaar.

Until the end of March, Cheapflights (cheapflights.co.uk) offers five nights, room only, at the Ramses Hilton, including flights with Olympic Airways from Heathrow via Athens, for £354.

· Away from hectic, traffic-clogged Cairo is the five-star Marriott Beach Resort in Egypt's Taba Heights. With great diving and swimming in the Gulf of Aqaba, the hotel has a half kilometre of private sandy beach, a large, outdoor freshwater pool, waterfalls, cave, Jacuzzi, swim-up bar, a children's pool and a health club and spa.

Peltours (020-8371 5200, peltours.com) has cut the price of a week's half-board in a sea-view room by £74 to £365 with flights from Gatwick on March 3, 10 or 17. And if you can get away that soon, the same package with a flight from Manchester on February 27 will cost £339 - down from £429.

India

Goa
It starts to get very hot and sticky in Goa in April but the rains don't begin in earnest until June, and the prospect of an average 10 daily hours of sunshine may appeal after a British winter. Set in eight acres of gardens, the three-star Paradise Village is in North Goa, a short walk from peaceful Candolim Beach. Hang out by the sea, take a dolphin-spotting boat trip or head inland, perhaps to the former Portuguese churches and cathedrals of once-magnificent Old Goa.

Goaway (020-7224 7070, goaway.co.uk) offers seven nights from £434 - which, it says, is a £165 reduction. That includes breakfast for two sharing a simple en suite apartment with fan, safe box and mini bar. Flights are from Gatwick on April 4, 18, 26.

Caribbean

Barbados
With its balmy climate, sheltered west-coast beaches and rough eastern coastline, Barbados attracts more British holiday-makers than any other Caribbean island. Silver Sands is a medium-class hotel on a white sand beach, 12 1/2 miles from Bridgetown, with freshwater adult and children's pools.

Kuoni offers one week, room-only deals at the Silver Sands with British Airways flights from Gatwick between March 11 and July 10 from £475, reduced by up to £423. Free connecting flights are available from regional airports. Kuoni (01306 747008, kuoni.co.uk).

Greece

Levkas
The use of a small motorboat comes with each of the 20 rooms at the waterfront Cleopatra Hotel, about three miles from Nidri on the Ionian island of Levkas (also known as Levkada). Cast off from the hotel's private jetty to find quiet coves or visit local tavernas. Grapes and seasonal vegetables grow on the plains, and inland, mountains rise above 1,000 metres.

Travelux (01580 765000, travelux.co.uk) has knocked £198 of a week's B&B between May 21 and July 16, reducing it to £499, with flights from Manchester or Gatwick.

Kefallonia
The little port of Fiscardo is named loosely after the Norman Robert Guiscard, who conquered this, the largest of the Ionian islands, and died there in 1085.

Greek Options (020-7233 5 233, greekoptions.co.uk) offers a week in a one-bedroom villa with a sea view and shared pool, including flights from Manchester or Gatwick on May 3, for £249 - under half-price.

Sailing
Or why not explore more of the archipelago in a crewed, 27ft yacht?

Sailing Holidays (020-8459 8787, sailingholidays.com) has cut the price of two weeks afloat, departing on May 11 from Gatwick to Preveza, from £695 to £496.

Golf

France
Napoleon III built the Biarritz villa that became the Hotel Du Palais as a summer palace for his empress Eugenie. Royalty from Queen Victoria to Elisabeth of Austria were among its guests, then Stravinsky, Ravel, Ernest Hemingway and, much later, Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby and Jayne Mansfield. It has a heated, outdoor, salt water pool, fitness centre and direct access to the beach.

French Golf Holidays (01277 824100, frenchgolfholidays.com) is offering three-night deals until the end of April for £490 including flights from Stansted to Biarritz or Bordeaux, a hire car and a round at each of two local courses. The normal cost would be around £620.

Spain
The La Manga Club is built on a Murcian hillside with views of its three golf courses and lagoon. To be on the safe side, book a round there and time on the tennis courts in advance. The resort has a wide selection of restaurants and bars.

Barwell Leisure (020-8786 3000, barwell.co.uk) has reduced the price of a week's B&B at the Hyatt Regency Hotel there in March by £118, to £490. That includes British Airways flights from Gatwick or Manchester and use of the resort's gym and spa.

Cruising
Join Greek Easter celebrations, sail through the Corinth canal and go ashore at ravishing, walled Dubrovnik and Durres in Albania, on a half-price Mediterranean cruise.

Voyages of Discovery (01444 462150, voyagesofdiscovery.com) offers nine nights on the MS Arion, with flights from Gatwick to and from the starting point at Alexandria, for £499, down from £1,059. The deal includes all meals with wine. Departure is on April 24.

City breaks

Lisbon
The city evokes images of graciousness and faded gentility - this is not one of Europe's most frenetic capitals. Ride the trams, eat in superb fish restaurants, listen to fado. Best of all, take the funicular to the Bairro Alto and stroll narrow streets where the facades of houses are made singular by those magnificent tiles called azulejos.

The Sheraton Lisboa Hotel and Towers is a stiff walk from the old town and the shopping area, but there is an underground station nearby.

Cityvacations (0870 2420241, cityvacations.co.uk) offers three nights' B&B for the price of two until March 31, including British Airways flights from Heathrow, for £239.

Paris
Picasso, Matisse and Cocteau stayed at the elegant Hotel Lutétia on the boulevard Raspail in Paris. Général de Gaulle's bride-to-be Yvonne booked it for the couple's honeymoon.

VFB (01242 240 310, vfbholidays.co.uk) offers four-night breaks from £299 until the end of next month (£389 for first-class travel), a reduction of £141.

Hong Kong
Claustrophobic, overcrowded but unfailingly fascinating. Bargain-hunt in Stanley Market, share the locals' passions for horse-racing, ride the Star Ferry across the busy harbour, take the tram to Victoria Peak for the view, and eat dim sum, Sichuan, and Cantonese delights.

Trailfinders (020-7938 3939, trailfinders.com) offers five nights at the City Garden Hotel on Hong Kong Island for £489, including Lufthansa flights via Frankfurt from Heathrow, Manchester, Glasgow, Leeds or Edinburgh. The deal must be booked by February 28 for departures between March 1 and 20, and your stay must include a Saturday night.

Quebec City
Spend a night sleeping on ice under fur pelts and drinking vodka from an ice glass. Visit the Plain of Abraham, where Wolfe defeated Montcalm's French army, explore the steep streets of old Quebec City and indulge in excellent restaurants, where North American ingredients and French flair combine.

Lower air fares have enabled Frontier Canada (020-8776 8709, frontier-canada.co.uk) to offer two nights at the city's Chateau Laurier and one at the nearby Ice Hotel, with flights from Heathrow to Montreal from Heathrow and transfers, for £499.