Flights to winter sun destinations in Southern Europe are a real boost to semi-serious sportsmen and women from more northerly European countries. Islands such as Tenerife, Lanzarote and Majorca are now all offering facilities and services designed to attract athletes from different disciplines during the winter months.

Winter used to be down-time as far as serious training was concerned for most amateur athletes. Without the financial backing to take time off work and fly off to Australia for a southern-hemisphere summer, many athletes were forced to do the best they could with indoor facilities or brave the chills of a typical winter. But that seems to be improving year on year with the number of low cost of flights during the off-season increasing to places like Tenerife and Palma, Mallorca.

Many hotels still shutdown for the winter and remain closed until the Easter tourist trade kicks-off, but for those that stay open, and base their offerings around the needs of the amateur sports enthusiast, there are plenty of visitors to cater for. A recent poll of some of the popular sports hotels on Majorca showed many to be fully booked up until Easter. The needs of athletes are easily catered for: comfortable, clean accommodation, a varied choice of healthy, well cooked cuisine and one or two easy to provide add-ons like cycle storage or daily transport to a swimming venue are all it takes. No need for anything fancy, the athletes will be out and about most of the day and looking for rest and relaxation when they return.

The Canary Islands also have two specialist sports training centres. On Lanzarote, a favourite destination for swimmers, runners and cyclists alike, the famous Club La Santa has enjoyed 25 years of success already, while on Tenerife the brand new T3, or Tenerife Top Training, is hoping to replicate the Club La Santa success story. T3 opened in October 2008 and has no less than three swimming pools including an Olympic 50m outdoor pool.

Both resorts are located only a short distance from the main airport on their respective island, making transfer times very short and convenient. Incoming flights to Tenerife land at the Reine Sofia International airport. While flights to Lanzarote, which take only four hours from the UK, arrive at Arrecife airport located centrally on the East coast of the island.

During the months of January to April the island of Majorca becomes a Mecca for cyclists from countries such as the Germany, Austria, Denmark and the UK. The roads are quiet, local residents are used to seeing groups of riders and the terrain is varied enough to include both quiet country lanes and high mountain passes. Every town centre seems to have a choice of cafes and the scenery around the coastline and up in the mountain areas is often spectacular.

So join the increasing band of amateur sports fans and take a flight to a top winter training destination this year.