Beyonce Knowles is planning a relaxing Christmas cruising around the Mediterranean.

The R+B star is making sure her first holidays as a married woman are as stress-free as possible.

She says, "I'm taking the whole month off - the end of December and the first week of January. I wanna travel, I wanna go to the South of France.

"I wanna relax and maybe go on a boat and stay away from the cameras.

"You feel like you're in your own world, you feel like you're protected from everything and you're right in the middle of the ocean.

"It's the only time I can really relax, because then I have no excuse; I'm stuck and I have to take care of myself and eat good food... I can't escape."