Where to go in July?

unstoppable

Hi,

Me and my wife are looking to go on a holiday for 4 nights in July. I'm looking for suggestions on destination.

We would like a combination of relaxation at the beach and site-seeing/excursions - probably a 50/50 split.

Budget is £1000 - this should include everything.

I welcome any advice :-)

Thanks

DomRavioli

What do you mean by "everything"? What board would you like for that budget? Hotel grade?

What airport/region are you flying from? Where in the world would you like to fly to for four days (Europe, further afield etc).

Barcelona has a beach and plenty of sightseeing. Tourist-type places in mainland spain (Malaga area - Benalmedina, Fuengirola, Nerja, Mihas might be your best bet for the mix of beach and tourism) will be in budget with plenty of trips and places to eat. Some of the larger Greek islands may be good, as well as Malta, Cyprus, Majorca/Ibiza (plenty of sightseeing on both), French Riviera, Amalfi Coast in Italy, then you have Copenhagen (pretty warm in summer), Turkey, Portugal, Canaries (long flight for 4 days), Madeira, Sicily, Dubrovnik, Split and a fair few others.

Perhaps you need to narrow down at least which country (or countries) you might want to visit - there's most of Europe in there, and if you could let us know about the questions in the first part of my reply, that might narrow things down a bit (but you need to decide exactly what you want from a destination, as most places in Europe cater to beaches and sightseeing).

unstoppable

Hi DomRavioli - some very good suggestions and indeed very good questions!

Here're the answers:
* Flying from Manchester Airport.
* Budget of £1000 is for flights, hotels, all the food/transport and site seeing.
* Hotel should be 4 star minimum (Hilton is a good benchmark) and should include breakfast as a minimum. Won't mind half or full board (depending on available food options in the area).
* We want to fly to ideally within Europe because we don't have too many days to cater for a long flight!
* Our interests are architecture, experiencing culture, shopping, site seeing, and experiencing local food (to an extent) - we are not really party animals or night owls. Would be good to combine this with a beach/relaxation element.

Similar destinations we have already been to include Barcelona and Istanbul (though we didn't really do much relaxing!) so I would discount these two.

Thanks.

sophieautreche

Hi DomRavioli,

This may sound a little odd but have you ever gone to Jersey in the channel islands? The beaches are beautiful especially this one called St. Brelade and it was the only part of Britain that was occupied during the war so you can do some site seeing by going to the underground war hospital the Germans built or going into some German bunkers. Depending where you fly from you can get a return ticket in July for about 60 quid and so you can splash out when your there! Plus not being charged for currency exchange because it uses the pound. Think about it.

DomRavioli

unstoppable wrote: »

Hi DomRavioli - some very good suggestions and indeed very good questions!

Here're the answers:
* Flying from Manchester Airport.
* Budget of £1000 is for flights, hotels, all the food/transport and site seeing.
* Hotel should be 4 star minimum (Hilton is a good benchmark) and should include breakfast as a minimum. Won't mind half or full board (depending on available food options in the area).
* We want to fly to ideally within Europe because we don't have too many days to cater for a long flight!
* Our interests are architecture, experiencing culture, shopping, site seeing, and experiencing local food (to an extent) - we are not really party animals or night owls. Would be good to combine this with a beach/relaxation element.

Similar destinations we have already been to include Barcelona and Istanbul (though we didn't really do much relaxing!) so I would discount these two.

Thanks.

My neck of the woods then - I'm on the flight path, I'll wave as you go over!

you might struggle to get all that and spending money for £1k.

I can only suggest Travelrepublic, put in a couple of places, pick your flights, and your hotel and see where you go to get an idea of prices. You can get Fuengirola for £483.76 flying 15th July coming back on the 19th 4 days later on the cheapest flights (no transfers or bags inclyuded apart from hand luggage). That's at the Mainare Playa, which is 8.1 out of 10 on there, 4/5 on tripadvisor (https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g315915-d4583397-Reviews-Hotel_Mainare_Playa_Fuengirola-Fuengirola_Costa_del_Sol_Province_of_Malaga_Andalucia.html) and looks pretty nice and just off the prom.

Transfers are £6.74 each way per person (just under £30) on shuttledirect for a shared coach transfer, and £55 return for both of you on a private car transfer. you can also catch the train from Malaga city centre, its quite a nice ride and last time I checked was fairly cheap and a nice way to see the country.

Trip wise, you can do Morocco, Seville, Malaga, Granada, Gibraltar (don't see the monkeys), Mijas and there is a lot of good shopping locally. You can also take a boat if you liked and the usual touristy bits.

Hope that helps a bit! Let me know if you need any more help

bigadaj

unstoppable wrote: »

Hi DomRavioli - some very good suggestions and indeed very good questions!

Here're the answers:
* Flying from Manchester Airport.
* Budget of £1000 is for flights, hotels, all the food/transport and site seeing.
* Hotel should be 4 star minimum (Hilton is a good benchmark) and should include breakfast as a minimum. Won't mind half or full board (depending on available food options in the area).
* We want to fly to ideally within Europe because we don't have too many days to cater for a long flight!
* Our interests are architecture, experiencing culture, shopping, site seeing, and experiencing local food (to an extent) - we are not really party animals or night owls. Would be good to combine this with a beach/relaxation element.

Similar destinations we have already been to include Barcelona and Istanbul (though we didn't really do much relaxing!) so I would discount these two.

Thanks.

Italy sounds the obvious choice with those preferences. Combining a beach could be a bit tricky but for the rest you're spoils for choice, Sicily, Naples, Venice, Genoa, Tuscany, or possibly the Adriatic, I thought Ravenna was fantastic but it's a bit of a trek from Bologna as the nearest airport, though Rimini could also be an alternative.

Moto2

Easyjet fly direct to Athens from MAN

Obviously plenty of culture and good food, take the Metro to Piraeus for some beech time as well as more culture