October Holiday - Advice needed

kuczer2

I am planning to go away with my other half in early October 2005 as a treat. I have booked a two-week holiday from work to give me a time slot and will be able to depart from Manchester or Liverpool between 1st Oct - 8th Oct for a 7 night holiday.

My budget for the two of us is £400 tops for a SC deal as I can't possibly afford more. In fact, I am stretching it a bit at £400.

I would just like suggestions from anybody as to where would be the best place to go at this time of year. I have heard the Canaries are good and would be ideal but I am open to anywhere with a bit of fun and sun. My missus deserves a good holiday after a hard year.

Would I be best waiting until the last minute to pick off a deal? How late should I leave it?
Would I be best getting a package or booking flights, accommodation seperately?
Has anyone any experience as to how to pick off a good deal (Where to go, etc)?

I would especially appreciate it if anyone in the Travel Industry could give me some independent advice as to the best resorts, etc and whether or not my budget is sufficient.

Thanks in advance.

skr80ab

not in the travel trade, but £400 should give you a pick of package holidays if you book with about 4- 6 weeks before departure. Southern Greece was hot last October (Rhodes). Canaries are always warm - personally like correlejo in fuerteventura.

If you are booking seperately, suggest you look to book now - flight prices seem to increase closer to departure. Spain seems cheap at the moment (Almeria), as is car hire, and apartment stuff.

Somewhere different on your budget could be Egypt red sea area (sharm) - cheap when there and ususally with breakfast inc.

Cardew

skr80ab wrote:

not in the travel trade, but £400 should give you a pick of package holidays if you book with about 4- 6 weeks before departure. Southern Greece was hot last October (Rhodes). Canaries are always warm - personally like correlejo in fuerteventura.

If you are booking seperately, suggest you look to book now - flight prices seem to increase closer to departure. Spain seems cheap at the moment (Almeria), as is car hire, and apartment stuff.

Somewhere different on your budget could be Egypt red sea area (sharm) - cheap when there and ususally with breakfast inc.

The £400 is for 2 people(£200 each) I think they will be pretty limited on that budget to find many packages outside Spain/Corfu.

Probably best to find some SC accomodation in an area served by low cost airlines(Ryanair/Easyjet) and 'do it yourself'.

skr80ab

Cardew wrote:

The £400 is for 2 people(£200 each) I think they will be pretty limited on that budget to find many packages outside Spain/Corfu.

gotta disagree with you ---- reckon you can get to a load of places in October for a lot less than £200 each package wise, if u book around 6 weeks b4 hand...

kuczer2

Thanks for the advice so far.

If I booking everything separately now as advised it appears I could get a good deal to some resorts in Spain now. Eg. If I fly Ryanair and buy accommodation, car hire, insurance separately I can get a holiday to Salou (anybody know if weather is decent there in early October?) for around £340 for the two of us.

However, I am torn between doing this or waiting until the last minute to try for a deal to the Canaries, Southern Spain or Greece. I can literally wait until the night before if it pushes the price down as I am flexible with where to travel.

I still don't know quite what to do. At the moment I am favouring waiting for a last minute deal and taking the chance that I could go to a hotter place.

Any more advice that could tip the balance would be most welcome.

Thanks for the advice. You have been very helpful.

researcher

I'd wait and do it last minute. That way you can go where the weather is best. October is usually great, but can be changable. I'm not sure the canary islands are best, along with spain the prices can be pretty high if you're on a tight budget. I think Turkey offers excellent value for money, the package might cost you a little more but it's really cheap when your there and your money will go a long way. Egypt too I'm told, but I haven't been. Portugal might be worth a look with lots of bargains around in October. Checkout the tour ops web sites and get a feel for the different resorts and october prices, as no matter how cheap a holiday is, it's no fun if you don't like it where you are!

summerday

The canaries should still be pretty much guaranteed sunshine in October. I just got back from Tenerife and couldn't believe how cheap it was to eat and drink out there- Chinese buffet meals for 5 euros, during the day 1 pint of beer for 1 euro. If you can get any cheap deals to there then bear in mind that if you go to a cheap destination it helps you keep your spending money down.

Sarah

Felix

How about Portugal? I have a property in Vale do Lobo in the Algarve. You can see all details about it at https://www.madeirahouse.co.uk Price per week in October is £375 for up to 6 people but since it is just the 2 of you I can reduce this to £300. A list of airlines that go to Faro can be found here

budgetflyer

If its early october (outwith school hols) you should have no problem getting flights and accom within your budget

https://www.flightline.co.uk

has flights to Alicante,Malaga,Murcia,Palma,Faro,Ibiza, for under £100 each within your timeframe.

I would also use THIS SITES pricechecker

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/flightchecker

for alterative low cost flights to all the above destinations

https://www.hotelscomparison.com

has hotels/apts from £75 TOTAL per room /apt

BLACKHURSTM

Just got email from bmibaby
flights mid oct to palma from Man less than £60 inc taxes
You can stay in mallorca from £16 per night all inc thats ££112 for 7 days
alpharooms.com
You can hire a car at thet time of the year from £88 inc all insurance book in advance.

YOU WOULD NEED TO BOOK FLIGHTS NOW FOR BEST DEAL
BOOK HOTEL LATER ON (DON'T FORGET YOU DON'T HAVE TO STAY IN THE SAME HOTEL ALL HOLIDAY 3DAYS 1 PLACE 4 ANOTHER ETCBook car hire later no need to book more than 2 weeks ahead in the mid season
Carjet.com
recordrentals.com
Pm me if you need any more help I fly to spain 4 times per year in out of season.

kuczer2

I can't thank you all enough for giving me the help you have done so far.

I think with the wealth of destinations suggested at this time of year I have decided that I would be mad to plump for one now and book it out of impatience.

I am going to wait until the last month or so and try to pick a bargain by keeping my destination flexible.

Thanks a bunch.