August Suggestions

MoneySpendingExpert888

2 Adults + 1 Child (5 Years old)

Looking to go on a 7-10 day holiday from anytime between 25 July - 10 August.

Past few holidays have been mainly city based and doing alot of sightseeing, so looking for a more relaxed holiday this time around, especially if its going to be sunny in most places.

At the moment we are thinking of possibly the resort option (european beach, all inclusive, family-oriented etc) but as we have never been to a resort before we dont really know what we are looking out for and how to compare prices etc

The main things i think we are looking at are:

1 - Some form of entertainment for kids
2 - decent sized swimming pool
3 - considerably close to beach (5-10 min drive)
4 - Flight time upto 4 hours from Manchester
5 - Good Food (can be within the resort or within the local area)

The resort option is only our first thought, we are open to other options e.g. villa + car hire etc but we just arent sure where to start looking and if we can get a better type of deal if we book at the last min as we arent really too fussed on the actual location.

Having read some of the advice on the MSE travel posts it would seem that package holidays get cheaper as it gets closer to the time (a few weeks before). Has anybody had experience of this and can recommend any websites to keep a track on etc?

Thanks in advance for any advice given

aaroncaz

MoneySpendingExpert888 wrote: »

2 Adults + 1 Child (5 Years old)

Looking to go on a 7-10 day holiday from anytime between 25 July - 10 August.

Past few holidays have been mainly city based and doing alot of sightseeing, so looking for a more relaxed holiday this time around, especially if its going to be sunny in most places.

At the moment we are thinking of possibly the resort option (european beach, all inclusive, family-oriented etc) but as we have never been to a resort before we dont really know what we are looking out for and how to compare prices etc

The main things i think we are looking at are:

1 - Some form of entertainment for kids
2 - decent sized swimming pool
3 - considerably close to beach (5-10 min drive)
4 - Flight time upto 4 hours from Manchester
5 - Good Food (can be within the resort or within the local area)

The resort option is only our first thought, we are open to other options e.g. villa + car hire etc but we just arent sure where to start looking and if we can get a better type of deal if we book at the last min as we arent really too fussed on the actual location.

Having read some of the advice on the MSE travel posts it would seem that package holidays get cheaper as it gets closer to the time (a few weeks before). Has anybody had experience of this and can recommend any websites to keep a track on etc?

Thanks in advance for any advice given

I doubt the main holiday period will get cheaper if anything availability is more limited, my own holiday has now sold out.

Maybe Spain could be an option for you, you could combine beach with some sightseeing? All inclusive does tie you to the hotel but can be good for kids, no dipping in pocket for drinks all day long etc...but if you were to do Greece it's great eating out, Spain is good for AI.

Costa Daurada has lots of choices from Salou to the quieter Cambrils..................most hotels geared up for the kids plus Portaventura theme park.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Costa_Daurada

And not as hot as the south, Malaga etc.... also Cyprus is very hot in July/August. Majorca also is nice and a short flight as is Costa Daurada.

Moto2

AI doesn't tie you to the hotel necessarily.

You can still wander out and buy meals etc. lots of people do it if the numbers work out.

Alan_Bowen

Last minute bargains are likely to be few and far between in peak season this year unfortunately. Because of problems in Egypt, Tunisia and Turkey, bookings have gone through the roof to Spain and Portugal. There is already evidence of overbooking in Majorca right through to September, this means the hotels have taken more bookings than they have rooms and people are being pushed out to hotels they don't want to go to.To give you some idea, bookings to Spain are between 30-40% up on this time last year, Turkey is down around 50%, although some say the fall is much greater than this.

Leaving it to the last minute is always a risk because you get what others didn't want to buy earlier in the season but this year that is compounded by the security issues, Bulgaria will be available, but I couldn't recommend it, although others love it, Croatia may be an option but sandy beaches are a little thin on the ground, perhaps look at the canary Islands which will be on the edge of your 4 hour flight limit but likely to be more expensive due to the flights.

I assume your dates are fixed because those are the most expensive dates in the whole year, perhaps look at the Manchester Airport website and see what direct flights operate on the day you want to travel, if you are not booking a package holiday with everything included in one price, then do not book flights without having established that accommodation is available, to give you an idea of air fares at the moment, return for the 3 of you to Palma Majorca from Manchester departing 25th July returning on 3rd August would be £858 with Jet2.com without luggage charges!

richardw

Look at package holidays to Minorca with Thomas Cook and Thomson.