Dear Emma,

I can't face another family Christmas at home. Where could we go, and is it possible at this late stage to create a family holiday over at least some of the Christmas period? I am open-minded about location. The family enjoys beach and skiing as well as possibly a cultural visit. My main challenge is finding something that meets the needs of my 15-year-old daughter and my 5-year-old son. How to bridge the gap? The budget is about £2,000 and we have tried Mark Warner, but are tired of the formula. Lisa Robinson, via email

Family travel expert Emma Mahony (middle in picture above right) responds:

Of the Sunday Times 15 Christmas and New Year Breaks featured on Sunday 4 November, there are three that fit your bill . Two are city breaks - one to Rome for traditional markets at the Piazza Navona and to hear the Pope's Christmas message, staying at the four-star Hotel Nazionale for three nights from £335 including flights.

Or go ice-skating at the Rockefeller Center and keep your teenage daughter happy shopping with a package to New York , departing 23 December from £659. For something more romantic, the walled city of Carcassonne in France, the largest medievel citadel in Europe has the sumptuous Hotel del Cite built in to its walls.

It's Christmas package includes a gala dinner and a classical concert on Christmas Eve and there is always plenty of wandering minstrels and entertainment drawn to this mystical place for teenage people-watching. The three-night package for two people is £935, not including flights with Ryanair.

If you want to head North to the snow, a tour operator called Travel Mood has some interesting packages with a trip-of-a-lifetime twist. You could head up to Iceland on their Seriously Super Jeep trip from December 23rd to 26th to see the Northern Lights and spend Christmas Dog sledding or Skiddooing in the snow from £535 for adults, £475 for children.

Or the Winter Wilderness adventure in Norway is a 5-dat trip from December 23rd, costing £649 for adults, £569 for children. Or an 8-daty Family skiing package to Bulgaria over Christmas, leaving December 22 will cost only a little more at £729 for adults and £509 for children.

These packages aren't on their website so call 0800 2989811 to find out more. If you are prepared to book independently, and call up a few operators for last-minute deals, our budget hunter Sean Newson locates the best tour operators for ski holidays with your kind of budget

For more luxurious beach deals, currently being reduced at short notice, see the Sunday Times December's best deals. Many of these are long-haul, so perhaps not ideal with a little one, but call if any catch your imagination. For shorter haul and guaranteed sun, you are looking at Madeira or Egypt with 4 to 5 hour flights.

Madeira has some elegant hotels such as the Choupana Hills Resort and Spa, described by writer Chris Haslam as "a distinctly Asian-looking collection of temples to self-indulgence that somehow suit their lush, jungle-like setting high above Funchal. Designed by Kerry Hill, it’s all Zen this and feng shui that, with trickling water, wind chimes and fat little buddhas peeping out of the undergrowth. You can get a week’s R&R from £885, with Classic Collection Holidays (0870 402 0126, www.classic-collection.co.uk).

Alternatively, in Egypt near Hurghada, there is plenty of snorkelling and guaranteed sun. Chris Haslam recommends the following operators that should offer deals in your bracket. The twist In Marsa Alam, at the wild southern end of the riviera, try the vast Port Ghalib resort: three five-star hotels, set around the second-largest sea-water swimming pool in the world.

Built by the company behind South Africa’s Sun City, it’s new this winter, so likely to be a little rough around the edges, but deals are to be had. Thomas Cook (0870 750 5711, www.thomascook.com) has a week in the five-star Sahara Sun Oasis from £599.

Happy Hunting, and here's hoping you get some ho-ho-ho this Christmas.

Times recommends

• Travel advice: what to do if your flight is disrupted
• Top 10 unmissable events in 2010
• Seven spa breaks for January