The Great 'Holiday Inspiration' Hunt

shiyzer

hello everyone, this is my first time doing this - so here goes...... i have just had a very enjoyable holiday to italy. we are a family of 4 and we stayed in a big walk in tent with venueholidays.com we went from 23 may to 1st june and it was half term. this period was the cheapest time of year to go. it varies depending on when you want to go and where. we stayed at the campsite ca savio and it was very good and very clean. very close to the beach and plenty of pools on the campsite for the kids. the tents sleep 6 but it would be a squash but you pay the same price whether it's 2 adults and 2,3 or 4 kids. we took sleeping bags for the kids only and hired bedding and towels for ourselves for £20. it's completely self catering but all you need is provided except for food of course. the campsite shop sold local wine for 85c per litre! in total the whole holiday cost - including absolutely everything (flights, insurance, car parking, food, travel, day trips etc etc) £1250. which i think is extremely good value for money. if you want to know more go on the website or ask me some questions and i'd be happy to oblige.

shiyzer

jojo2004 wrote: »

I hate to make you feel bad about your bargain, but last time I went to Egypt (I'm an Egyptologist in training) it cost me £560 for six weeks. That's flights, accommodation, food, spending money, travel once there, insurance etc. That's by staying in local, Egyptian run hotels, NOT I repeat NOT rip-off European chain hotels. The one we stayed in in Luxor was £1.50 per person per night for an en-suite, air-con, twin room, incl breakfast. Egypt is CHEAP!!!!!
xx

now that is absolutely amazing. how can it be that cheap - what is the catch? are the hotels clean and what is the quality of food like? i would love to go but i want to see it all including the pyramids and tombs and the nile but i would not know where to start. my children would love it as they are learning about the egyptians at school. how do you get the bargains and when is the best time to go - i.e not too busy and not too hot? thanks for any info.

Lomond12

We've just come back from 5 day trip to Berlin. In spite of strong Euro/weak £ it's still amazing value for money. Accommodation is good and reasonably priced and eating out and sightseeing good value. We took a 3 hour river cruise through the centre of Berlin and past the main sights - costing just 12 Euros each. We then went to Copenhagen for 5 days and found exactly the opposite. Berlin has plenty of accommodation but very few non-German tourists, yet lots to see and it's a very green and open city.

As we're both retired now we can travel mid-week. Next holiday is 1 week Wed to Wed in St Johann in Austrian Tirol at end July for £252 per person. I'm a member of WEXAS and booked through them. Hol includes: return flight Gatwick to Salzburg; transfers; 7 nights HB accom in 'traditional Tyrolean houses' (think it's a bit like B&B) with evening meal in local restaurant; excursion to Achensee; walking guidebook of area. As we both enjoy walking this is an ideal hol for us. Oh .... and it's the Lederhosen Festival while we're there!!!

Deals_2

where is it located?

cautiouskate wrote: »

I am a single mum with two children, I haven't a hope of taking them abroad. I recently took my children for a short break at Ribby Hall Village. I also took my friend and her two daughters. We booked a six birth bungalow, there was loads of space and we both got the holiday for half price as we split the cost down the middle. The activities there aren't too expensive. My children and I all put a little money away each week to pay for the activities and we stuck to our budget. We had a cheap, action packed holiday and returned home exhausted with money left in my purse, big smiles and happy memories!! If you've got good friends - share your holiday and the cost with them!!

mummytofour

I love this thread! Now I wanna go all over the world.Thanks so much people.

MissBehaving

filippo1bo wrote: »

Folks,

One of the best and cheapest places to go on Holiday is Sicily, Italy.
In particular these small islands off the west coast of Sicily , Egadi Islands.
A paradise like Maldives.

http://www.regione.sicilia.it/turismo/web_turismo/sicilia/uk/mare_index.html

Can you recommend a hotel in that area?

cheekyvimto13

Where is the hotel in Luxor for £1.50 a night looking at Egypt for winter (cheap) break.

thanks in advance.

Breakfastbar

For a selection of very good deals on Ingham holidays take a look at "http://www.lastminute.com." I booked 7 nights half board to St Wolfgang in Austria departing Manchester on June 25th for £199 per person (including a half day excurion) when the brochure price is £552 per person

TWR88

I have just returned from Tunisia for what in my opinion was a very good deal. Original idea was to go to Europe but was put off by high prices, meaning the Eurozone was out of the question, and Tunisia was even better, and you cant do camel rides in the Sahara in Europe!

Royal Kenz adults only 4* hotel, which was very nice, double room for 1 week £250 booked hotel only with Thomson
Flights £190 return per person with FirstChoice
Total Cost £315 per person

I was quoted £720 for 2 people if booked as a package, but as the hotel is very close to the airport taxis were £10 each way. So dont rule out the traditional tour operators straight away, they can still do good deals but shop around and book seperatly.

Alot of the cheaper holidays I saw advertised looked good but usually despite having high star ratings the hotels had poor reviews online, always check reviews on tripadvisor.com before booking!

jojo2004

shiyzer wrote: »

now that is absolutely amazing. how can it be that cheap - what is the catch? are the hotels clean and what is the quality of food like? i would love to go but i want to see it all including the pyramids and tombs and the nile but i would not know where to start. my children would love it as they are learning about the egyptians at school. how do you get the bargains and when is the best time to go - i.e not too busy and not too hot? thanks for any info.

Well, the best time for cheapness is July-early Sept, but of course that's the hottest time too!!
If you are sun-bunnies, Sept is bearable - especially if you start at the top and move down, as it gets cooler earlier on the further north you are.

So, if you flew to Cairo in Sept (can be done for £230 rtn last time I checked - this can involve booking two legs of the flights yourself, as usually flights that break in the EU before flying to Cairo are cheapest - try travelocity, sky scanner, lastminute - that's where I've got flights before), spent a few days in Cairo (there are lots of hotels in Cairo, recommend the Pension Roma if you are feeling a little more splashy (about $25-40 per night) - the Egyptian run hotels in Cairo are not as great as elsewhere in terms of value for money), then took the train to Luxor (there is a £5 fare available, but you have to argue for it, as they want you to travel $50 sleeper-class! Get the taxi driver to argue on your behalf - for a small reward), you'd get there as the temps start to fall to early-to-mid thirties (celsius) rather than being 40 degrees!

Then in Luxor, you can't beat the Happyland Hotel (can give you contact details, pm me), which is £1.50 per person per night (well it was last time I was there - that was a couple of years ago though), for a spotless, twin room, marble floored, with an ensuite bathroom, air-con, shuttered windows (essential), towels and linen supplied, breakfast on the roof, or to take away, and they can sort out trips for you - we went to Dendara and Edfu for £8.

We went on to Aswan from there, at the recommendation of the Happyland's owner, and stayed in their sister hotel there, £4 per person per night, and as nice, if not nicer. They organised a felucca trip back upriver to Luxor for us, which as I recall was about £20 for two nights and three days (but be warned, it's BASIC - no loo stops unless the captain needs to go, sleep on deck under blankets, no showers!!).

From Luxor/Aswan, you can do a flight to Abu Simbel for around $60, or a hellish bus ride for about £10 (the way back is usually around 4 hours in the heat of the day, and even on the air-con buses this isn't fun).

We went on by bus from Luxor to Dahab (19 hours, stops in Hurghada - you can fly, but the bus is £4.50), on the Red Sea coast - I think it's now more touristy, but it was a peaceful backpacker oasis, where snorkelling and diving were about the only things to do. We lasted one night in a "beach hut" (concrete oven) for 70p per person, and upgraded to a hotel with pool for £4 per person per night.

Anyway, in brief (!honest) the tips are:
1. Don't stay in any European run hotels. Find a good Egyptian run one when you get there. Unless you fly in at 4am, there will be a million people waiting at the airport, trying to recommend you places. Pick one (the least dishonest looking one), tell him you'll give him a small amount (7-10 LE - Egyptian Pounds - (70p-£1) is ample IF you like the place he takes you. Then, follow him, have a look around, and if you don't like it, odds are there will be six more across the road - this is particularly true in Cairo, round Midan al-Tahrir. Say politely that you were looking for something else and leave. Most Egyptians in my experience are persistent but polite - they'll try and convince you they can offer what you want!

2. If you fly to Cairo, think about booking the two legs of your flight yourself (you won't get a direct flight for under £300, I guarantee it - and if you do, let me know how!!) - usually they fly from places like Geneva, Frankfurt, Paris etc, with carriers ranging from EgyptAir (not that bad...), to KLM.

3. Travel inside Egypt can be incredibly cheap. Get trains long-distance - ask for first class, DON'T accept the tourist class sleeper tickets (and take a coat, the air-con is fierce); you'll be woken occasionally by the mint-tea man passing, and have to sit upright in armchairs, rather than lie down, but have much more fun. Also, ask around about buses.
In Luxor, hire a bike. Taxis to the West Bank (Valley of the Kings etc) are expensive, and make you come back to them at a time of their choosing. By bike - if you set off early (dawn), and take the ferry over (5-10p depending on how hard you haggle for the local rate), you can cycle up while it's cool, then free-wheel down once it gets too hot to stay; go back to your hotel, rest, then go out again later.

4. Once you've found one good cheap place, ask for their advice; generally they can point you in the direction of other good cheap places. Fellow travellers are a good source of info in these places - the good places get well known. Try Thorntree forum on the Lonely Planet website for people in the know (who may have been more recently than I)

5. Haggle. It's a way of life, and not to do so is rude. Accepting cups of tea etc whilst haggling is usual. If you are considered a prime target, they may pull down the shutters of the shop whilst they try and get you to buy. A 50% reduction on starting price is easy to get, a real bargain begins at around 70-80% off the starting price. If your hotel owners are friendly, ask them to help you if you want to buy something expensive. Don't forget to haggle for taxis as well; and the most powerful bargaining tool is to walk away, with a smile. If they don't chase you, the next person to come along might well agree to the lower price!

6. Eat. Local food. Everyone goes on and ON about hygiene etc etc, but to be honest, you'll get a little "indisposed" unless you live in an hermetically sealed bubble. Drinking only bottled water, using it to brush your teeth, and avoiding salads/uncooked veg (washed in local water) is all very well, but all plates, cutlery, glasses etc ARE washed in tap water (which is clean, but very heavily chlorinated). The quicker you get used to it the better - though bottled water tastes a lot nicer than tap! I've had ice-creams there (gasp of horror from hygiene freaks) and lived....
The easiest and cheapest thing to eat is Kushary - kushary joints can be found EVERYWHERE. It's macaroni pasta, and lentils, with a red (tomato based) spicy-ish sauce, and crispy dried/fried onions. It's surprisingly tasty, and costs about 7p a portion. Same goes for falafel in pitta with various sauces and salad options.

I'll be honest - cruises are probably very luxurious, but to me, the idea of "doing" Karnak temple/the Valley of the Kings (now 60 tombs) in two hours, is claustrophobic! Take off on your own - you'll find so much more, i promise!!
Phew. Longest post ever. Sorry! If you want more (seriously?) info, happy to pm anyone.
xx