European Island holidays

[TW]Fox

[TW]Fox

[TW]Fox

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Quick and simple one.

Considering a super cheap week away in November. Has to be bargain basement as my main trip to California in September is where most of my focus is, but I've noticed that in November time £150 per person gets you flights and average accomodation for a week in somewhere like Cyprus or Malta. But I've never been anywhere like this and I've no idea which places to consider and which to avoid. I've been to Madiera and liked it, so something similar but loads cheaper. I wouldnt normally bother with two holidays but these seem so ridiculously cheap it seems daft to waste annual leave sitting around at home when for 150 quid you could be somewhere else!

Not a beach fan, would be nice to hire a car (Though I notice I'm going to end up with a Fiesta for 200 quid a week, ouch) and check out some cool scenery, nice towns, blah blah.

Where have you been and did you like it?
 
i went to split, in south croatia and caught a ferry to the island havar. it was awesome. don't know if it would be 'cheap' though as it was part of my european travels
 
I guess another thing to bear in mind is weather. I would imagine November in Mainland Europe would be full of snow, wheresa November in Cyprus is about 70c.
 
Have heard a lot of good things about Cyprus but I will throw a curveball and suggest Barcelona if you haven't been already. LOTS of things to do there and close by, could probably get there for close to your budget but not sure if accommodation would be included in that price.
 
Sadly there are few places the GF has not already been and Barca isnt one of them. Shame as there is much of mainland Europe I'd love to do.

Tenerife any good? Cheap rental cars as well..
 
Go down your local agency and grab a few books for the area(s) in question. Might help give you some ideas.
 
Good idea.

Am I missing something here? At the moment I am absolutely amazed it seems possible to get a holiday for a week for 150 quid a person including flights and a weeks accomodation. How is this possible? I'm booking up places for my America trip at the moment and £150 gets me 3 nights in a hotel let alone everything else!

Why is it so cheap? Whats the catch?

Is a trip like this on a budget really possible?
 
Yeah, I'm all paid for in Magaluf for a week for <£250 (self-catered).

I think it works in terms of the agencies buying bulk places (hotels, flights), then selling them at cost closer to the time, etc.
 
Tenereife is not bad actually and plenty to do there. The problem with Europe at the moment is the Euro. Once they get you there it is almost the same price, if not more expensive than being in the UK. Be very wary of going places that are isolated as they will completely stitch you.

In America, you will be paying circa 5 quid for a HUGE breakfast at places like Dennys and 20 quid for Steak and Lobster but alcohol is expensive in the bars whereas in Europe it can be cheap to drink...
 
It's cheap because it's out of season (isn't it? lol, I'm not even sure), and without selling at a low price I would assume there will be hotels lying empty and bargain airlines operating with almost empty planes.
 
[TW]Fox;17008777 said:
Good idea.

Am I missing something here? At the moment I am absolutely amazed it seems possible to get a holiday for a week for 150 quid a person including flights and a weeks accomodation. How is this possible? I'm booking up places for my America trip at the moment and £150 gets me 3 nights in a hotel let alone everything else!

Why is it so cheap? Whats the catch?

Is a trip like this on a budget really possible?
Click to expand...

..no your booking getto :p
 
[TW]Fox;17008777 said:
Good idea.

Am I missing something here? At the moment I am absolutely amazed it seems possible to get a holiday for a week for 150 quid a person including flights and a weeks accomodation. How is this possible? I'm booking up places for my America trip at the moment and £150 gets me 3 nights in a hotel let alone everything else!

Why is it so cheap? Whats the catch?

Is a trip like this on a budget really possible?
Click to expand...

Its out of season, most of these holidays appeal to young ones wanting to party and family's.

Unfortunatly most can't afford a family so close to xmas, or the young uns want to go when there will be loads of other young uns there.
 
Cyprus is nice when you get out of the tourist areas and a lot cheaper too, malta is very small and not as far south (i dont think there much in it) so wont be as hot.

In both english is spoken if thats your thing.

Cyprus has some good dirt roads for the hire car, which is nice. Just get maxium insurance and whach out for the sump. Though there were deals to hire hilux cheap when i was there but all out of stock, popular with the squadies i think or some like that.
 
If you go to Tenerife you'll want to head up the the coast a bit towards Costa Adeje (west of las Americas), away from the trashy places in Playa de las Americas. It's a much nicer area with better hotels IMO and is not as busy as the main resort. Hiring a car and visiting the rest of the island would be a good idea although I've never done it. I think the Northern area of the island is a lot less touristy than the South if you plan on doing that.

Not sure what the weather's like at that time of year, something to research though.

I was there for the first week in July for a quick/cheap break in the sun with the girlfriend and had a good time. We stayed at El Duque aparthotel which we were very happy with.
 
Tenerife is ultra touristy in the South around Playa De Las Americas. Driving up the Mountain is a good day out, Los Gigantes if you like cliffs, there are waterparks and stuff also.

I've been too many times (family there) and I would not go back for a holiday.

DO NOT fly into the North Airport, crazy dangerous with high accident rates.

You could come to Jersey if you fancy some WW2 crap, wont be particularity cheap though :D
 
Going away at that time of year I would stick to the Canary Islands, we've been to Costa Adeje for the last few years for our winter sun, it's fantastic. I can recommend the Iberostar Grand Anthelia and for All Inclusive Bahia Principe in Adeje.

I've stayed in some crappy low budget hotels in my time and would never do that again, if you're going to go away pay that bit extra and get somewhere decent.
 
We spent a day couple of days La Palma ages ago, there is some beautiful scenery if you fancy a drive up up volcano to the Observatory and the architecture in the port is very nice too. We also took a taxi and asked the driver to take us to see some sights, there was a stunning little Roman Catholic church, you would never find it without some local knowledge but is was a beautiful little building.

Not sure if you could stretch it out for a week but we loved what we saw.

I just found this....

http://www.pietvandermeer.nl/la palma.htm
 
Sin_Chase said:
Tenerife is ultra touristy in the South around Playa De Las Americas. Driving up the Mountain is a good day out, Los Gigantes if you like cliffs, there are waterparks and stuff also.
Click to expand...

Tenerife could be nice, but my god their are some really really chavy areas. Wall to wall tat and greasy spoon restaurants filled with idiots.
 
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