Where to start ?

GA7_2

Never gone on a holiday where I've had to organise it so I haven't got a clue where to start. My friend and I want to go to Portugal from between September 2-15 (for about a maximum of 5/6 days including travel). No particular reason for Portugal. Just that we're hoping for good weather and my friend says it's cheaper than Spain. Therefore I don't even know what there is to do in Portugal, or where good places to visit could be. But anyways all I need help with is where I'm meant to be looking for cheapish deals if possible. Can someone give me a quick intro into this? Much appreciated, thanks.

Lissyc1

Hi have had a quick nosey and nothing for those dates or amount of nights on Thomson or Thomas cook. late deals.com have one for £271 from Birmingham not sure what sort of resort you after but have a nosey there I have posted the name below. May be worth ringing up local travel agent tell them your dates and where and get them to call back with quotes you can then google the accommodation names and see what you think before you book takes some if the leg work out for you!!

Mirachoro II And III Apartments In Praia da Rocha, Algarve | Hotel information provided by Travel Wasp
From
£270.48

Good luck

Lissy

ethelmary

I would take a look at lastminute.com - you can search for Portugal holidays without specifying which resort you want, enter your dates and see what comes up.

Portugal always strikes me as somewhere to go for a quiet holiday, although I could be wrong. If you're looking for something lively I think Spain would be better. I also would have thought the price would be much of a muchness.

It would probably be easier for you to book a package as you've never organised a holiday before, but if you wanted to put the time and effort it, booking flights and hotels separately could be cost effective. Easyjet fly to Portugal so you could start off there and then use a site like Expedia for the hotel. Remember you'd also need to think about transfers to and from the hotel if you don't book a package holiday.

Red_dog_Sam

For a first DIY I'd recommend something with an easy transfer at the other end so not too far from an airport e.g. Fly to Faro and visit Albufeira. That way you can book a cheap bus transfer service or taxi won't cost too much. A shorter distance to travel also makes being late for a return flight less of a concern as you can always hop in a taxi at relatively low cost.
First step is to find some cheap flights to Portugal - so look on Ryanair , Easyjet , Jet2 for availability and price. For 5\6 days you could keep costs down by going hand luggage only (10kg on Ryanair) which also avoids check-in queues and luggage conveyors at the airports. Think about flight times \ travel to departure airport \ parking etc and factor that in to your choice. Play about with dates as midweek travel is often far cheaper than weekends if you are flexible. Try Hotels4u.com or hotels.com to find somewhere to stay over the dates that match your preferred flights - I like hotels4u as you can select Half Board \ All Inclusive etc in the search - it's Thomas Cook but usually cheaper than the TC site. Tripadvisor forums will give you reviews of the hotels and google maps\streetview can tell you a lot about location and area these days. They will also have advice on the cost and length of taxi transfers or availability of public transport. ResortHoppa or A2B transfers are reliable and good value options for transfers too. You can also get this sort of package through alpharooms.com who just pull the same pieces together for you and see how the price compares and benchmark against that. I used them this year as the hotel rate they offered was better than I could get elsewhere. Alpharooms will specify "budget airline" but not say which one - but if you've already checked out the airline sites you'll know by the flight times.
Do you have travel insurance already (try flexicover \ postoffice if not). Make sure you buy the insurance before you buy the flights and hotel or you're not covered for them. Got an EHIC card? Order it free online via directgov if not.
Many of the sites mentioned above can also attract Quidco cashback and discount codes. Debit card payment doesn't afford the consumer protection that a credit card can but it does avoid additional transaction charges.
You do need to surf through the options to pick up the best flight or accomodation prices but in my experience this formula has always worked out well:
Ryanair+hotels4u+A2Btransfers+Flexicover+Quidco = Cheap Holiday

GA7_2

Thanks alot for replies! Will look into it.