Looking forward to Christmas? No, us neither. So why not escape on one of our giftwrapped get-aways? Some offer a complete break from the seasonal nuttiness; others come with turkey, tinsel and all the trimmings. The choice is yours.

Unless stated, package prices are per person and include flights from London and transfers; for regional departures, ask the tour operator

FAMILY CHRISTMAS

Everyone knows that there’s only one real Father Christmas, and that he lives in Lapland, but there are imposters there, too: for a reliably twinkly trip, book with Santa specialist Canterbury Travel (01923 822388, www.santa-holidays.com). On its five-day trip to Olos, you’ll be hunting for the bearded wonder by snowmobile, husky and real-life reindeer; from £1,305 in a log cabin (£1,205 for under12s). It offers shorter trips in the Christmas run-in.

For all the snow, but less schmaltz, join the cosily traditional party at the Hoteldorf Grüner Baum (www.hoteldorf.com), in Austria. The hotel stands in a private Alpine valley an hour from Salzburg, where the scintillating yule market will this year run right through to Boxing Day. The Angertal ski resort is on hand, and on Christmas Eve, your kids will help to decorate an enormous tree, join the candlelit procession and coo over the live-animal Nativity play on the snowy terrace. Eight nights, from December 19, cost £984, half-board (between £56 and £384 for children up to the age of 12, depending on their age. Swiss (www.swiss.com) flies to Salzburg; from £300. Made to Measure (01243 533333, www.mtmhols.co.uk) offers an eight-day family ski package at the same hotel: £1,400 (children £950), departing on December 19.

If you fancy a splash about in the sun, Club Med’s revamped resort at La Pointe aux Canon-niers, in Mauritius, promises a poolside Nativity, a Christmas Eve beach party and Santa arriving without antler assistance: he’s on a parachute instead. A week in a deluxe sea-view room, from December 20, costs £3,058 (£2,809 for children), including flights from Heathrow (0845 367 6767, www.clubmed.co.uk). A bit cooler, but with similar Christmas capers, is Club Med’s resort at Opio en Provence, near Nice: £829 (children £539).

Or swap turkey with the inlaws for T-bones with the outlaws at White Stallion Ranch, in Tucson, Arizona, where a week-long, novice-friendly cowboy experience, starting on December 19, costs £5,299 for a family of four, including flights, a Christmas Day ride and Yankee-style yule trimmings, with American Sky (0870 904 0920, www.americansky.co.uk).

Bah, humbug: surely you don’t want your little pixies to miss Christmas altogether? If you do, disappear on a family overlanding expedition in India with Dragoman (01728 861133, www.dragoman.com ), featuring elephants, camels and rickshaws – but emphatically no reindeer. Christmas Day promises tiger-hunting at Ranthambore and a curried-goat dinner; 10 days, departing on December 19, start at £1,025 (children £925), plus about £500pp for direct flights to Delhi with British Airways (www.ba.com) or Virgin Atlantic (www.virgin-atlantic.co.uk).

ROMANTIC CHRISTMAS

Winter cities don’t come much more romantic than Bruges, its cobbled streets and squares clacking with picturesque ponies and traps, its gabled guild houses iced all over with lights. This year, the city’s suite of Christmas enticements – loved-up canal rides, chocolate shops and oaky, poky taverns – is swelled by two yuletide markets and a month-long Snow and Ice Sculpture Festival glittering with 300 tons of frozen art (www.bruges.be/winter). Railbookers (0844 482 1010, www.railbookers.com) has three nights from December 24 at the four-star Oud Huis de Peel-laert Hotel from £469, including train travel, champagne breakfasts, Christmas dinner, tours and treats, A cheaper option, with fewer trimmings, is a two-night break at the Hans Memling, which costs £199, also including rail fares, through Great Getaways (0871 222 1008, www.greatgetaways.co.uk).

If one city just isn’t enough, consider a seasonal river cruise with APT (0845 603 6738, www.aptouring.co.uk). Its 10-day Christmas Time cruise casts off from Prague on December 18, taking in Europe’s oldest festive market in Nuremburg, and tying up in Vienna for Christmas Eve dinner and midnight Mass; from £995.

Or perhaps your idea of Christmas romance is a glitz-free escape to the sea. You’ll find windswept beach walksà deuxat the boutiquey L’Hôtel de Toiras, on the Ile de Ré (00 33 5 46 35 40 32, www.hotel-de-toiras.com), a favourite holiday haunt of chic Parisians, with its whitewashed hamlets, sailing boats and bike rides. For Noël, the hotel is all elegance, with fires roaring and a harp twanging in the dining room, where traditional French Christmas dinner is served; doubles from £195, dinner from £65. Ryanair (www.ryanair.com) flies from Stansted to La Rochelle; from £180 for December 23/27 flights. Or take the train from London; from £150 return with Rail Europe (0844 848 4070, www.raileurope.co.uk).

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