Where to go for Summer 2016

dawyldthing

Egypt is fairly cheap to get to, has good diving at Sharm, ruins at the pyramids. I wouldn't recommend driving there but trips are fairly cheap including buggy / quad bikes

AlexMac

dangers wrote: »

We went to northern Spain this summer. It was beautiful and we saw very few Brits!

We went by ferry to Santander but you can fly to Bilbao as well.

I'd endorse northern Spain too; have a look at the wonderful website by Trip Advisor's expert 'RatonCantabria; https://ratoncantabria.wordpress.com/ including its advice on adventure holidays; and look at her posts on TA's cantabria forum,

and maybe lash out £7-8 on the little pocket-book 'landscapes of the Picos de Europa' http://www.sunflowerbooks.co.uk/product/walking-in-picos-de-europa/
I'm sure you'll find the geology attractive enough in the Picos, and on the adjacent Jurassic coast (where this summer, I stood in real dinosaur footprints in some coastal limestone near La Griega beach near Colunga, a few miles from the MuJa museum) Or head east to the Ordesa national park in the central pyrenees?

And if you do take the car from the UK, you'll be able to take more stuff, and booking early (usually Dec or Jan) with Brittany Ferries gets a big discount on joint ferry-accomodation packages which you can build yourself from their excellent map-planner hotel and cottage-finder. We paid under £1k for the crossings and a fortnight's B&B in upmarket hotels when touring this year by combininging both 'early booking' and 'holiday (Ferry & rooms)' discounts. Fuel or flights alone from the UK would have cost 30%-50% of that

gingerdad

Sweden - fantastic and no its not expensive

CharlotteBarnes

Kefalonia in Greece. A beautiful island that is affordable and has lots to do

BringMeSunshine

Thanks very much for your replies.
So my plan so far is to research:

Kefalonia/Santorini/Zakinthos
Northern Spain
Egypt - but isn't it dangerous, or am I just showing my ignorance?
Northern Portugal
Malta
Cyprus
Italy
Sicily

I did plan a great 10-day holiday in Italy for August last year but everyone I spoke to said it would be too hot. Crete wasn't too hot though.

Budget is fairly flexible as we have a fantastic, flexible, tiny interest mortgage that we've vastly overpaid into for years - so for a good holiday now, we can be flexible around budget. But there's only so much 'posh' I'm comfortable with. I like a good deal.

Blue264

BringMeSunshine wrote: »

Thanks very much for your replies.
So my plan so far is to research:

Kefalonia/Santorini/Zakinthos...


...I did plan a great 10-day holiday in Italy for August last year but everyone I spoke to said it would be too hot. Crete wasn't too hot though.

I adore Crete too, but have only been to the Western side so far...Heraklion, Rethymnon, Chania, etc and round the coast to Elafonissi.

Santorini can be incredibly expensive around Oia and Fira, but we stayed in an amazing 'apartment' last month that might interest you. It's definitely off the beaten track, and only accessible on foot or by donkey, but only 15 mins walk to Oia....

http://www.santorinilotza.gr/

We had the studio for 4 and were amazed at how this place actually under sells itself. It's sooo peaceful, perched on a hill in a little village (Finikia) with distant sea views.

You could also take a look at Evia, one of the largest Greek islands that still seems to only have Greek visitors. I've been there a good few times now as my OH's brother has a weekend home there. It's only one and a half hours from Athens by road, and still has all the charm of rural Greece.

Serendipitious

How about Corsica? Seems to have a lot that's on the list.

ibizafan_2

I definitely recommend Sicily. It ticks a lot of your boxes, and has Mount Etna to visit as well as plenty of historical sights. Eating and drinking is more reasonable than other parts of Italy.