The best-value flights over Christmas and New Year

Exclusive: Bristol to Venice available for just £62 return

Tickets are going cheap for Bratislava, Slovakia (Getty Images)

As air fares soar ahead of Christmas and the New Year holiday, The Independent has identified pockets of good value for travellers seeking a European break in the last week of the year.

Flying from Gatwick to Malaga on Saturday 21 December, the cheapest fare on easyJet is £217 one way, with the lowest inbound trip on the route in the first weekend of 2020 costing £175.

The journey of only 165 miles across the Irish Sea from Manchester to Dublin on Ryanair, involving little more than half-an-hour in the air, has only one seat left as low as £115 on 19 December, and a maximum of three seats at the same fare a week later.

But travellers who can travel outbound from the UK on Boxing Day will find some excellent deals.

The best prize is probably on Ryanair: a fare of just £75 return from Stansted to Faro on the Portuguese Algarve, going out on the evening of 26 December and returning mid-afternoon on 30 December.

Ryanair from Bristol to Venice at dawn (7.05am) on Boxing Day, also returning on 30 December at 10.10am, is another appealing deal. The fare is just £62 return.

On the same dates, Eurowings from Manchester has a deal to Dusseldorf for £98 return, if you return on 29 December. The Rhine city is a rewarding destination in its own right, and Cologne is just 20 minutes away by fast, frequent and cheap train, giving two city breaks for the price of one.

A different tale of two cities is on offer from Birmingham with Ryanair: a return flight to Bratislava, for £85. The Slovakian capital is only 40 miles from Vienna.

British Airways, which has a very generous cabin baggage allowance, is selling many flights from Gatwick and Heathrow to Madrid for £121 return between Christmas and New Year.

To Barcelona, easyJet has a combination of flights connecting Luton, Southend or Gatwick with the Catalan capital for £128 return.

All prices researched on the morning of 11 December direct with the airlines’ websites