A sunny, beachside city break, Cyprus

Cyprus is one of the most popular winter sun destinations in Europe. In February it won’t be hot and the sea temperature will be a bracing 16C-17C but it’s a lot warmer than northern Europe and in many ways more pleasant without the summer crowds. Base yourself in Paphos and think of this as a sunny city break, rather than a week on the beach. The harbour city, in the west of the island, has a wealth of Greco-Roman and medieval sites including the Kato Paphos Archaeological Park, a fortress, and an old town that was revamped for the city’s stint as joint European Capital of Culture in 2017. Stay at the beachfront Amphora Hotel and Suites, which has views of the harbour and a pool and is within walking distance of the castle and other sights.
• £428pp for seven nights’ B&B including return flights departing Gatwick 11 February for 7 nights, book through onthebeach.co.uk

A family ski holiday with yoga and circus skills, Chamonix, France

Are you a single parent? New to skiing? Unsure whether you want to ski every day? Keen for your kids to have playmates? If you’ve answered yes to any of the above then Source Holidays has the solution: a group winter holiday in the Alps. Based in a former activity centre in Le Buet in the Chamonix valley, the week hosts 24 families and is very much a communal experience. Meals are taken together and activities are laid on, although each family has its own en suite room. Aside from skiing (a ski pass worth €250 is included in the price), there’s daily yoga, daily circus skills and outdoor fun such as igloo building and tobogganing. It’s brilliant for children, who get a ready-made group of friends, and adults who are happy to socialise. There are still spaces this half-term – with a discount of £300 for a party of six or £150 off for party of five.
• From 10-17 February; £795pp (from 12 years), £635 (children 5 to 11), £495 (3-4 years old), £165 (babies), including all meals and daily activities but excluding flights, sourceholidays.com. Visit Loco2 for trains from London to Le But.

Winter sports in the Black Forest, Germany

Another ski option – and alternative to the Alps – is the Black Forest in Germany. Its peaks can’t compare to the majesty of the Alps but with 60 lifts servicing ski and snowboard slopes, there’s more than enough for beginners, families with young children and families who want to try out a variety of activities. Visitors staying at one of 380 participating hotels receive a Red Inclusive Card, which gives a day ski pass for all ski lifts in the Black Forest Highlands and access to various activities and equipment including toboggan hire, cross-country skiing equipment hire, snow tubing in Lenzkirch-Saig and access to the Badeparadies indoor “tropical” pool complex.
• Flights from Basel to London with BA available from £165pp, then hire a car. From 10-17 February rooms for two adults and one child at the Hottel Waldeck in Feldberg start at €158 per night B&B (excluding visitor tax). More information at hochschwarzwald.de

Country house hotel where kids go free, Herefordshire, UK

Winter camping is becoming more popular, according to the Caravan and Motorhome Club, but pitching a tent in a field in February is not everyone’s idea of fun. For novelty glamping with heating – and hotel facilities on hand – try Brooks Country House. It has 22 rooms and three horseboxes, each sleeping four; kids will love the hanging bunk beds. Parents will love the fact that kids go free (throughout 2018). Guests staying in the horsebox can breakfast in the hotel and use its facilities including the games and cinema rooms. There are walks from the grounds, a Go Ape centre nearby and Hay-on-Wye is 30 minutes’ drive away.
• From £59 a room per night in February, brookscountryhouse.co.uk

Copenhagen city break

Copenhagen is an easy city to explore with children. It’s got a science centre, the world’s oldest amusement park, aquarium, planetarium, one of the world’s biggest open air museums (Frilandsmuseet, 30 minutes from the city centre) and of course, the Tivoli gardens, which this year will open in winter for the first time (from 2-25 February), to celebrate its 175th anniversary.

Keep costs down by staying at Steel House, a new luxury hostel just around the corner from the gardens, with private dorm rooms from around £70 a night. Save money on eating out by using the hostel’s kitchen. Unusually for a hostel it has a pool which costs around £2.50pp for up to two hours. The Copenhagen card gives admission to 70 museums and attractions, free use of transport and discounts in some restaurants (€53 adult, €27 child for 24 hours, €74 and €38 for 48 hours).
• Ryanair has flights from Stansted to Copenhagen from £53pp leaving on 12 February and returning on 16 February

Souk it up in Marrakech

A giant square that comes alive at night with storytellers, acrobats, musicians and food stalls, souks full of exotic foods and intriguing crafts, and twisting alleyways straight from a fairytale, Marrakech can be a place of wonder for children. Riyad El Cadi is a good-value option for families: under 12s stay free. Its maze of rooms and suites are spread over seven interconnecting houses and there’s also a pool. Check out marocmama.com – a blog by an American expat living in the city with her Moroccan husband and two kids – for tips on Marrakech with children.
• A three-night stay at Riyal El Cadi during February half-term costs £165pp based on a family of four sharing a junior suite through i-escape.com. Flights from Gatwick with easyJet, going out 15 February for three nights, cost £230 return

Fly and flop, Gran Canaria

If a city break feels like too much hard work and the UK is just too cold, the best bet for a warm laid-back escape is the Canary Islands, which is close enough for the flights not to be extortionate (last-minute long-haul flights cost thousands) and far enoug south to be t-shirt weather. Gran Canaria has its tacky side but its scenery is incredibly varied, earning it the nickname “a continent in miniature”, and it’s small enough explore these different landscapes. For example, head inland to the mountainous and undeveloped interior. The capital Las Palmas is also worth a visit. If you just want to fly and flop, the four-star Seaside Sandy Beach hotel in the south of the island has a central palm-ringed pool plus a kids’ pool, table football, ping pong and a tennis court. It’s 200m from Playa del Ingles beach and close to Aqualand waterpark.
• From £986pp for seven nights’ half board, including return flights with TUI and transfers, departing Manchester 17 February, tui.co.uk

Go wild in the forest, Northumberland

Dutch holiday park company Landal GreenParks opened its first UK sites in 2017: Landal Kielder Waterside and Landal Darwin Forest, and has a third planned for this year: Gwel an Mor, on the north Cornwall coast. All three have lodges and indoor pools plus various activities. At the Kielder Waterside park you’ll find a ‘fairy school’, water walkerz (giant plastic bubbles that float on water), fencing for kids, table tennis and access to the pool, steam room, sauna and gym. Some activities cost extra, such as archery (£15pp) and bike hire. The park’s lodges are set along on the shore of northern Europe’s largest manmade lake. Attractions in the area include an observatory, bird of prey centre, castle and mountain biking. Beyond the forest, there’s Northumberland national park, home to new discovery centre, The Sill at Hadrian’s Wall, and the castles and sweeping, empty beaches of the wild coast (90-minute drive).
• A four-night stay for a family of four, starting 17 February, from £368 in a “Hadrian” Lodge, landal.co.uk

Rent a cottage, UK

Hiring a cottage in the school holidays in the UK used to be the affordable option. With a proliferation of boutique self-catering options, a week in rainy Britain can end up costing well over £1,000. So hooray for the National Trust and its collection of cottages. For those who just want a warm, clean bed and don’t mind sharing a room after a day’s walking, Butter Hill Farm in north Devon, with its dorm room, is a bargain at £300 for five nights.

More idyllic country escapes include Bog Cottage in Warwickshire. Don’t be put off by the name – this is a lovely 18th-century house, with garden, in the grounds of Upton House (seven nights from £894, four nights £671 from 10 February, sleeps four). Or pretty Porth Farm House, a traditional Cornish farmhouse on the Roseland peninsula (£653 for four nights from 10 February).

For families in Manchester and Wales, where half-term is a week later, Gateway Cottage in Somerset is an option. This stylishly converted farmhouse attached to the gatehouse of the Holnicote Estate in Exmoor national park costs £874 for six nights from 19 February.
• nationaltrust.org.uk

Active in the Algarve, Portugal

With accommodation, flights and car hire included, this seven-night family holiday to the Algarve makes for a particularly easy last-minute escape. The clifftop resort of Pousada de Sagres looks over the ocean and is within walking distance of the fishing town of Sagres. The region is quieter than the rest of the Algarve, with dramatic beaches and scenery. The resort provides plenty of activities, from surfing and paddleboarding to mountain biking and there is also an outdoor pool and tennis court.
• From £804pp based on two adults and two children sharing a family room, return flights from Gatwick, departing 10 February, through sunvil.co.uk