Sophie Lam, travel editor: Menorca, Barcelona, Nimes, Paris
Partly inspired by a motorhome journey we made in Québec last summer, and partly by a family fondness for Race Across the World, we’re going on a slow beach-and-city break.
I recently snapped up cheap easyJet flights to Menorca for mid-August – £43pp – so we’re spending a week on the island, then catching the ferry to Barcelona. It will be the first time my kids have been on a proper car ferry, so they’re excited. I’m curious to find out how eight hours will pass.
From the mainland, we’re using Interrail passes to make our way home via France. We’ll spend a couple of days enjoying Barcelona – the Sagrada Familia, the beach and quieter neighbourhood highlights recommended by a colleague with family in the city – then hop on a fast train over the border to Nimes to spend 24 hours admiring the city’s Roman remains. Then it’s on to Paris, and the Eurostar home.
How to do it: Ryanair has one-way fares from Stansted from £17 in June. Interrail passes from £185 for up to four days of travel in one month. Ferry from £28 one way.
Cala Mitjana is one of Menorca’s many beautiful coves (Photo: Razvan Ciuca/Getty Images)Tamara Hinson, travel writer: Tirana, Albania
I’m just back from Tirana. I booked return Ryanair flights from Stansted for £46 and accommodation for two nights for £54. The airport bus to the city cost me £3.50.
Much of the capital isn’t polished or glam – I’m not sure I’ve ever been to a city where more people smoke. If you order a beer in a bar it’s likely you’ll get it in a can, and at the bar of one five-star hotel I waited 30 minutes for a glass of Coke, the reason being that “drinks are stored on the top floor”. However, I found it to be free of pretension, friendly, safe and definitely one to watch (make a beeline for the art-filled bunkers).
How to do it: Wizz Air has return fares from Luton from £36 in June.
A bar in central Tirana (Photo: Sonia Bozzo/Getty Images)Georgie Duckworth, writer: Belfast and the Causeway Coast
In summer, our family tends to wilt like neglected houseplants as soon as the thermostat rises, so when I spotted bargain easyJet flights from Bristol to Belfast in late August – £66pp return – it seemed like the perfect getaway. Northern Ireland may be blessed with sea, sand and sights, but it’s not known for its heat waves.
Our first stop will be Belfast’s Titanic Museum, which a friend told me is unmissable. From there, we’ll hit the road in a hire car and spend three days following the coastline anticlockwise, from Belfast to Bushmills, staying in B&Bs and farm-stays, before finishing up with a visit to the Giant’s Causeway and the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge.
With Atlantic air in our lungs and the soulful soundtrack of Van Morrison, we’ll be soaking up coastal views, sandy beaches and quaint harbour villages. I’m most looking forward to a pint of Guinness and some folk music in a traditional pub. Sláinte!
How to do it: easyJet has returns from Luton from £64 in late August.
Georgie Duckworth is the author of Wild Swiming Walks, Bristol and Bath (Wild Things Publishing, £11.99)
The Carrick a Rede rope bridge on the Causeway coast (Photo: Keith Steele/Getty Images)Sarah Holt, travel writer: Occitanie, France
Searching for flights using Skyscanner’s fly to “everywhere” tool, I found a return fare to Beziers with Ryanair for less than £50 this July. Around two hours’ flight from the UK, it’s an effortless short break.
The plan is to mooch around the old town, spend some time in the food market – which is classed as one of the prettiest in France – and then take a day trip out to nearby vineyards in the Faugères region of the Languedoc. I found plenty of affordable and central accommodation in the city, with rooms available for around the £100 a night mark.
How to do it: Ryanair has return fares from Stansted from £38 in July.
The old town of Beziers looks over the river Orb (Photo: Sen Li / Getty Images)Jane Anderson, travel writer: Umbria, Florence, Zurich, Vienna, Munich
I’ve enticed my newly adult kids (aged 19 and 22) to come on a summer villa holiday with me, bringing along their partners and a few friends. In late June, we’re heading to a villa near Todi in Umbria. I managed to find Ryanair flights to Perugia for £74pp, one-way including priority boarding and two cabin bags. Departure is 6am so we’re going to have to factor in an early start.
After a week in the villa my daughter is heading to Bologna to see friends, and I’m going on a rail trip to European cities including Florence, Zurich, Vienna and Munich using an Interrail pass.
How to do it: Ryanair has return fares from Stansted from £37 in June.
Piazza del Popolo in Todi, Umbria (Photo: Lorenzo Di Cola/NurPhoto via Getty Images)Tracey Davies, travel writer and comedian: Kavala, Greece
Thanks to their love of the movie Mamma Mia!, my 20-year twin daughters, Nancy and Lola, have a fascination with Greece.
We’ve been several times – Kos, Corfu, the Pelion peninsula – but I’ve promised them one more trip together before Lola heads to Australia on a year’s working holiday.
This July, I’ve bagged £50 return flights with Tui to Kavala, a seaside city in northeastern Greece with a 16th-century aqueduct, medieval fortress and ancient ruins of Philippi. I’ve found a good-value Airbnb in the city, too.
How to do it: Tui has return flights from Gatwick from £50 in July.
The old town and aqueduct in Kavala, north-eastern Greece (Photo: Oleg P / Getty Images)Emma Henderson, travel writer: Syros, Greece
I’ve been meaning to go back to Greece since I first went three years ago. I don’t know why it took me so long to get there, and why it’s taken so long to go back.
I found return flights for £88 to Mykonos using Google flights with Wizz Air for the week before May half term, which are usually at least £250. I’ll get the ferry over to the island of Syros as a foot passenger. It’s the capital of the Cyclades archipelago, but isn’t as well known as the other islands like Santorini, Mykonos or Milos. It’s smaller and much quieter.
The main town Ermoupoli looks like a coastal town in Italy. It was an important Venetian trading port in the 19th century and has lots of pretty, pastel-coloured, grand neoclassical buildings. I’m most looking forward to the small family-run vineyard I’ve found to visit.
How to do it: Wizz Air has return fares from Luton from £74 in June.
How to protect your holiday this summer
The fuel blockade in the Strait of Hormuz means that there is a risk of some disruption to travel during the peak summer weeks.
However, airlines have been urging passengers to book with confidence. For example, easyJet has said that it intends to run a full schedule across its network this summer.
Abta, the travel association says: “UK airlines are operating normally and fuel supplies remain stable. No flights are being cancelled due to fuel shortages.”
In the event of cancellation of a flight departing from the UK, passengers are entitled to a full refund within seven days, or an alternative flight at the earliest opportunity (this could be with another carrier). You can also request to be-routed at a later date, subject to availability. Passengers whose flights are cancelled as a result of fuel shortages are unlikely to be able to claim compensation. Package holidays offer the financial protection of the whole cost of the holiday, so if your flight is cancelled and you can’t reach your destination, you should be reimbursed for the total amount. If you book a flight and accommodation separately, consider a rate that offers flexibility in case you need to cancel, curtail or delay your stay at short notice. Keep up-to-date with your chosen airline and holiday providers, and take out travel insurance as soon as possible, paying close attention to the detail. You may want to look at whether cancellation and disruption are included in the policy.Hence then, the article about the summer holiday bargains our experts have snapped up and how to do it too was published today ( ) and is available on inews ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
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