Help me budget for a beach holiday

YORKSHIRELASS

Hi all

Just throwing this out there for ideas. Due to our son's health we haven't been abroad for years, however this year we could go. My ideal scenario would be somewhere hot and sunny where we could do a bit of sightseeing but also do a fair bit of lazing by a pool. It would be for myself and DH (we are in our late 40s) and possibly our 17 year old.

Prepared to be very flexible. My only absolute no-no would be a party resort full of drunken 20 year olds!

We would be looking to go early/mid July before most English schools broke up.

So, first of all what would be the minimum that we could hope to pay per adult for a cheap and cheerful beach holiday?

Secondly if we leave it last minute is this the cheapest way to book?
We know of a family who claim they trawl high street travel agents a few days before they are booked off work and find amazing deals. It always sounds to good to be true but is it possible?

I am a bit out of touch so any advice welcome.

richardw

YORKSHIRELASS wrote: »

...We know of a family who claim they trawl high street travel agents a few days before they are booked off work and find amazing deals.....

Do they also catch the big fish?

Consider a cheap flight to Reus or Girona and stay in an apartment at one of the nearby resorts.

Mint1955

What airport is nearest to you?

Tabbytabitha

How far are you from the Channel ports?

Pollycat

What is your budget?

Olympic Holidays have some good deals to Greece if you're OK with basic self-catering accommodation.

In fact we've just booked 2 weeks in Greece - flights, accommodation & transfers - for a smidge over £1k for both of us. That's departing 24/8.
We've stayed at this place before and know it's basic (but clean and kept clean) but I won't even switch the kettle on. It's right where we want to be.

Ganga

Pollycat wrote: »

What is your budget?

Olympic Holidays have some good deals to Greece if you're OK with basic self-catering accommodation.

In fact we've just booked 2 weeks in Greece - flights, accommodation & transfers - for a smidge over £1k for both of us. That's departing 24/8.
We've stayed at this place before and know it's basic (but clean and kept clean) but I won't even switch the kettle on. It's right where we want to be.

Great price for an August 14 day holiday,even better as you know what you are getting having been before.:)

Pollycat

Ganga wrote: »

Great price for an August 14 day holiday,even better as you know what you are getting having been before.:)

It's probably because on that date you can't get 2 full weeks in before the schools start back.
We often get deals during this period.

And there was an offer for £150 off over £1K holidays which worked well for us.

YORKSHIRELASS wrote: »

Prepared to be very flexible. My only absolute no-no would be a party resort full of drunken 20 year olds!

As for this part of the OP - we went to Malia :eek: (that was my OH's reaction when I told him I'd found a great deal) early September a few years ago.
I'd read that there was an old village with some recommended restaurants and unless you actually went down the 'strip' (we did one evening and it was dire) you wouldn't have known you were in one of the Greek party capitals at all.
We had a great holiday with great food and the opportunity to visit Knossos and Spinalonga under our own steam using public transport.

OP - if you might be considering Greece, I can give you some pointers.

Ganga

Pollycat wrote: »

It's probably because on that date you can't get 2 full weeks in before the schools start back.
We often get deals during this period.

And there was an offer for £150 off over £1K holidays which worked well for us.


As for this part of the OP - we went to Malia :eek: (that was my OH's reaction when I told him I'd found a great deal) early September a few years ago.
I'd read that there was an old village with some recommended restaurants and unless you actually went down the 'strip' (we did one evening and it was dire) you wouldn't have known you were in one of the Greek party capitals at all.
We had a great holiday with great food and the opportunity to visit Knossos and Spinalonga under our own steam using public transport.

OP - if you might be considering Greece, I can give you some pointers.

We have also visited Kavos and Ipssos in Corfu during the day,different place when the sun goes down and the party animals wake up:rotfl:

z1a

Portugal is very cheap for food and drink if you go self catering.

YORKSHIRELASS

Hi all

Thanks for all the helpful comments. We are in Yorkshire, so a long way from the Channel. We have neighbours who camp in the South of France but you need more than a week off work and all that driving reallly does not appeal.

Your comment is interesting Pollycat/B] because a work colleague said today that many of the beach resorts suffer a fair bit of bad behaviour/drunkeness in parts - and its not always teenagers. I suppose you have to do your research.

Would travel from any North/North East airport - so Leeds, Hull, Niewcastle would be great.

Basic but clean self catering sounds perfect for us. Would be interested to know how much you budget per adult for spending money too.

Pollycat

YORKSHIRELASS wrote: »

Hi all

Thanks for all the helpful comments. We are in Yorkshire, so a long way from the Channel. We have neighbours who camp in the South of France but you need more than a week off work and all that driving reallly does not appeal.

Your comment is interesting Pollycat/B] because a work colleague said today that many of the beach resorts suffer a fair bit of bad behaviour/drunkeness in parts - and its not always teenagers. I suppose you have to do your research.

Would travel from any North/North East airport - so Leeds, Hull, Niewcastle would be great.

Basic but clean self catering sounds perfect for us. Would be interested to know how much you budget per adult for spending money too.

I don't self-cater at all.
A lot of the apartments we've stayed in have very limited cooking facilities - maybe a couple of electric rings, a couple of pans and enough knives, forks & spoons for the number of people staying in the room.
A couple have had toasters and sandwich makers and one had a full kitchen and you could have cooked a full Sunday dinner.
But lack of cooking facilities doesn't bother us because all we do is prepare fruit for breakfast.
We like self-catering because you get a fridge - handy for water and white wine.
We eat out lunch and dinner. We used to buy fresh bread, olives, & tomatoes but the bread and olives aren't that cheap.

Typical costs:
lamb & potatoes 11 euro
moussaka/pastitsio/soutzoukakia 8 - 9 euro
Greek salad 6 euro
Mussels saganaki or in white wine 11 euro
liver with onions 8 - 9 euro
whole fish (dorado) 11 - 12 euro

half carafe of local wine between 4 and 5.50 euro, maybe a little cheaper if you buy a carafe but we drink white wine in Greece and like it cold so are prepared to pay a little premium and order half a carafe at a time.
Big beer 3 euro

Some places do a 'deal' with moussaka (or similar), small Greek salad, beer/soft drink/glass of wine for 10 - 12 euro

Eating on a budget, you can get gyros (like kebab meat - lamb or chicken - but very different to what we get in chip shops here) wrapped in a pitta bread with a bit of salad and a few chips for around 2.5 euro.

In the 2 resorts we go to most often, we find we are offered a free half carafe (actually, they don't offer anymore, just plonk it on the table with a smile and a 'yamas' ) and sometimes a free sweet too.

It's probably not a cheap way of holidaying but we like the freedom to decide where, when and what we want to eat rather than queuing up for a buffet at an All-Inclusive hotel.

One of the places we go to often is a predominantly Scandinavian resort.
The other is reasonably close to ferry links from Italy and is very cosmopolitan.
No bad behaviour at all.
We do tend to choose resorts where there's a mix of nationalities rather than predominantly Brits. No boards offering 'Sunday lunches' or 'English breakfasts' where we go.

We usually fly from Manchester.

Check out reviews for potential accommodation on Tripadvisor before you book anywhere.
Ignore reviews that complain that there's no 24 hour reception or similar ridiculous expectations.
Expect to pay maybe 10 euro per week for a safe deposit box and quite a lot more for air conditioning.
We never bother with A/C - I have a small electic fan from TJ Hughes which we find is sufficient.

If you're booking a package and transfers are not included, check out the costs as it could add a significant amount onto the holiday cost.

Hope this helps.