A December break - Mousehole or Mogan (Gran Canaria)

Most people seem to think that December is all about getting ready for Christmas and it is often overlooked as a month to travel but it can result in a great value trip when resorts are often a little quieter than they are in the summer months. A short break before the festivities start can be just the tonic.

I originally wrote this blog for my Facebook page contrasting the two breaks that I took a year apart at the same time of year.. In December 2019 I stayed in the resort of Puerto Mogan in Gran Canaria in a one-bedroom apartment just a short walk from the beach and pretty harbour where there was a great selection of bars and restaurants to choose from. The sun shone and temperatures reached in to the mid to high 20C’s. We took a ferry trip along the coast, went fishing for the day and saw dolphins playing and hired a car for a tour round the island climbing high into the hills and even spending time in the capital Las Palmas. The holiday was actually a twin centre trip as I split my stay between the apartment in Puerto Mogan and a hotel in the Maspalomas - The Seaside Palm Beach - so I got to see two very different resorts as Maspalomas is very much about the beach back by sand dunes. Part of the beach and dunes are popular with naturists so don't make the mistake my husband and I made of going off in search of birds of the feathered variety with the binoculars....

My recent stay in the southern Cornwall village of Mousehole in a delightful one up one down terraced cottage was no less enjoyable. The village is charming and although the Christmas lights for which they are well known were conspicuous by their absence this year we were treated to an outdoor carol service on the harbourside. We took a drive to St Ives for walk on the beach and through the town, took a drive along the coast towards St Just – we did not go as far as Lands End this time or visit the Minack Theatre or the Telegraph Museum at Porthcurno, which my son loved so much when he was small, preferring instead to have a delicious seafood tapas lunch in Newlyn and a walk round the working harbour before heading back to Mousehole for hot chocolate overlooking the sea. Sunday was spent snuggled up in front of the log burner with the papers before heading to the local pub for fabulous roast dinner.

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