First, the bad news: Christmas is less than six weeks away. Now the good news: it’s not too late to book a festive getaway, and our advice is to forget building your own itinerary and book a package. Tour operators who once delighted in inflating prices at Christmas are now slashing hundreds of pounds from package holidays. Here’s the best of what’s left.

Unless stated, prices are for seven nights over Christmas and include flights from London.

Christmas in the snow from £339

If Christmas isn’t Christmas without the white stuff, you need to be in the Alps, where there are outstanding deals for the festive week. The family ski specialist Esprit (01252 618300, www.espritski.com) has a host of offers, including a saving of £850 for a family of four staying at Chalet Ourson, in Peisey, France — now £1,799 for two adults and two children. Crystal (0871 231 2256; crystalski.co.uk) has the three-star Chalet Annie, in Zermatt, for £658pp, and Ifyouski.com (0844 371 7733, ifyouski.com) is offering the Clubhotel Le Grand Aigle, in Serre Chevalier, for a crazy £339pp. VIP (0844 557 3119, vip-chalets.com) has cut £430 from catered breaks in Val d’Isère: the six-person Larch suite at Aspen Lodge is now £999pp. Also in Val, Snowline (0844 557 3118, snowline.co.uk) is offering one free child place per family — worth £1,039 — at Chalet Elena. Further afield, Ski Dream (0845 277 3333; skidream.com) has whacked £550 off a Christmas week at the luxury Westin in Beaver Creek, Colorado — now £1,699pp.

Christmas at home from £290

The award-winning Grove hotel, in Hertfordshire (01923 807807, thegrove.co.uk), becomes Narnia for the holiday — a two-night luxury break is £815pp and £395 for kids. Otherwise, try the medieval-style Bailiffscourt Hotel, in West Sussex, where a three-night house party costs £785pp, including carol singers, a champagne reception and midnight Mass in the local church. Book through Pride of Britain Hotels (0800 089 3929, prideofbritainhotels.com).

Prefer to baste your own turkey? Travelsmith (01621 784666, travelsmith.co.uk) has cut Christmas rates by more than 20% — four nights from December 23 at the Beachcombers Apartments, sleeping four and overlooking Watergate Bay, in Cornwall, are £290. Need something bigger? How about Treetops, in Salcombe, a five-bedroom house that costs £1,950, including decorations and tree, with Coast & Country Cottages (01548 843773, coastandcountry.co.uk)? Or St Michael’s, a 200-year-old farmhouse in Cornwall, with sensational sea views? Sleeping 11, it costs £1,518 for the Christmas week with Hideaways (01747 828170, hideaways.co.uk).

Christmas in the sun from £1,149

Long-haul winter sun has never been so cheap, even at Christmas, according to Steve Garley of Tropical Sky (0870 907 9600, tropicalsky.co.uk): “In essence, you can get a holiday for the price of a Christmas scheduled flight.” He’s slashed £650 off a week at the all-inclusive Almond Casuarina Beach Resort, in Barbados, now £1,599pp.

Just Grenada (01373 814214, justgrenada.co.uk) has a week at the barefoot retreat of La Sagesse, in Grenada, for £1,435pp, and Kuoni (01306 747002, kuoni.co.uk) is offering Christmas in Bermuda, at the Coco Reef Resort, from £1,425pp. British Airways Holidays (0844 493 0758, www.ba.com) has four nights at the Wave, in Miami, for £927pp. Anatolian Sky (0845 365 1020, anatoliansky.co.uk) — perhaps the only operator with flight availability for the Red Sea — has reduced its seven-night Nile cruise from £1,345pp to £1,149pp.

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