winter sun!

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LB25

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Christmas has always been a stressful time for my family due to lack of money...this year, since I'm all grown up (although maybe without a grown up pay check!) I'd like to take my mum and sister away for a week in or around Christmas. My mum is in her fifties and my sister is 19. My budget is minimal as I'd need to pay for flights, accomodation and possibly spending money (who'd be the eldest?!).
So something cheap, cheerful, either sunny (anyone been to Egypt?) or snowy but defintely good value, pleasant and relaxing.

Any ideas...?

Doesn't need to necessarily be anywhere that actually celebrates Christmas...
 
If you're flexible on dates, you may find that the cheapest dates are approx 1-2 weeks before Christmas as people generally don't go away on those weeks!
 
We went to tenerife in january,it was nice there not too hot.For a family of 6 we paid €1800 s/c in playa las americas
 
first of all i want to say what a nice thing you are going for your family. fairp play to you

in winter in europe you are limited to the canaries for sun unless you are able to go farther afield
 
Just want to 2nd Spursmans comments, what a really lovely thing to do for your Mam and Sister.:)

Also on the Canaries being the closest for Sun at that time of the year. I would imagine Egypt would be quite a bit more expenseve and also the flight is considerably longer which is a factor when only staying for a week.

I reckon Christmas away this year should be bit less expensive than previous years as demand may be down. I am starting to look at options for my own family over the next few weeks so will post as I come across stuff.
 
Can I 3rd the comments above, Wow "So shines a good deed in a weary world." fair play to you LB25.
Personally speaking I'd go for Lanzarotte, not too hot/cold and if you opt to stay in the harbour area ( old side of town ) it's quite relaxing.
Enjoy your hols, and I hope some good Karma comes your way :)
 
Thanks to all of you for the replies!

thedon and manta356 can I just ask...for Tenerife and Lanzarote would you recommend a package deal? can I ask what company you used or did you do accomodation/flights seperately?
 
LB25 said:
Thanks to all of you for the replies!

thedon and manta356 can I just ask...for Tenerife and Lanzarote would you recommend a package deal? can I ask what company you used or did you do accomodation/flights seperately?
Click to expand...

Hi

We went to Maspalomas, Gran Canaria 2 years back for New Year. Cost us €2,800 for 2 adults and 2 children - very nice accomodation that was recommended. We did have a bit of rain, but generally is was nice. We were considering returning this year and the cheapest quote we've got to date is approx. €570pp for 7 days departing on 20th Dec. to Lanzarote - Not sure what the accomodation is like. Prices have come down, but not too much.

I'm sure you could book your own flights and accomodation, but don't know to much about that to comment. There were certainly lots of appartments/houses displaying 'for rent' signs last time we vistited.

Try Falcon/Club Travel/Sunway - Good Luck in your search - Nice idea by the way
 
I think it's always worth comparing package holidays versus booking flights & hotel separately. Out of curiosity I had a look at a couple of websites including Aer Lingus which would be about €165 pp to fly out to Tenerife on Tue 15 Dec & back on Tue 22, giving you enough time to do a bit of last minute Christmas preparation at home. It starts getting more expensive after that date. So approx €500 for flights for 3 people.

Then I had a look at hotels.monarch.co.uk - you could also try Thomas Cook - and found Castle Harbour apartments in Los Cristianos (which I thought was a very nice resort although it's a while since I was last there) for £350 approx for a studio apartment for 3 people. Had a quick look at TripAdvisor and 89% of reviewers recommended the apartments.

Also you'd need to pay for taxis (I'd guess about €30 each way), so for less than €1,000 you'd have flights, accommodation and transfers. But don't forget about getting insurance which you'd also need to sort out separately!

It took me less than 5 minutes to check out the above so with the incentive of saving money you'd be well able to do a more detailed search.

That's a lovely thing you're doing for your Mum and your sister and I hope you have a great time.
 
Hi LB25,

Went with Budget travel 3 times.
Stayed in Puerto Carmen apartments, fine, nice pool, bit loud, on old side of town so quieter than new side which I like.
Can't remember the others but could look them up if you wish.
Most of the cheaper priced one's on budgettravel.ie are the very basic apartments ( nothing wrong with them ) however for an extra 70/80 Euro per person you can stay in something a bit nicer ( 2 or 3 star ).
Really they are all of a standard basic setup so you can't really go wrong as long as your standards are set according to price you pay.
You can get cheaper deals by booking separately ( flights and rent villa/apartment ) but they wont be bonded the same way your package will be.

Have a look at the following threads:


http://www.askaboutmoney.com/showthread.php?t=115983

Do a search for Lanzarotte in the search link at the top of the page for more info.
 
LB25 said:
Thanks to all of you for the replies!

thedon and manta356 can I just ask...for Tenerife and Lanzarote would you recommend a package deal? can I ask what company you used or did you do accomodation/flights seperately?
Click to expand...

We checked our holiday with 2 travel agents and they both quoted €2450 for the week.I then went home and got the same holiday online direct with budget travel for €1800,same appartments ,flights and all
 
Would recommend this place in Gran Caneria
[broken link removed]


We booked it directly with the hotel and the flights with Aer Lingus. Think the accommodation was about 180 a night for the room. Can't remember the flight prices. Packages tend to be 7 or 14 days and if you book direct you can go for 5 which might better suit your budget

Great hotel, lovely location, fantatic spa,,,,
 
If you're thinking Lanzarote this post might be helpful. Weather mild, you won't likely get sunburnt at that time but lots to see/do. Good place for a ladies only group too. While the christian Christmas is celebrated there it's around 6th January the Feast of the Kings that is their main celebrations are at that time.
 
well there are very cheap flights to girona in spain with ryan air you could rent a car or get a train down south and flights et al about €500 all in hotels very reasonable half board in spain, look up doyouspain.com car hire i got best deal off them last year
 
I would recommend Tenerife, it is the wamest of the main islands in the Canaries. You will get best value in the two weeks prior to Christmas. The Christmas period is very expensive. The couple of weeks ammediately after Christmas are usually more reasonable. Try Ryanair for flights they offer very good value some of the times. Try Trip Advisor for more information. Have a great holiday.
 
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