...to try to book a naice summer beach holiday in Europe at this late notice?

[JandLandG]

Hello there

My other half is determined to find us a sunny summer beach holiday somewhere in Europe this summer and am looking for some help please.

It's not normally our thing - we usually might do chambre d'hôte in SW France or hire a villa with friends - but we know enough I think, so we can probably safely manage to avoid Magaluff. Ha!

Children are 12/9/7 and will like a resort and hotel with pool type of set up but it would be nice to have a bit of added value in terms of extra pleasantness within reach.

Friends recently went to Turkey (Cirali) and had self catering chalet type things which sounded nice (naice!) and there were lovely ruins nearby and they swam with turtles etc.

That sounds terrific but is super pricey booking for late August.

So any other thoughts/ideas/suggestions please?

I'd love to snorkel with turtles of go to a secret cove on a boat and dive into turquoise waters if poss.

Anything else wonderful would be a bonus.

So any thoughts? We'd be really grateful. Budget? About £2k ish for a week for the five of us, I reckon.

Ok, I'll leave it with you but many thanks in advance.

You've posted the same query in chat and travel over the last few days. Did you see those replies?

Oh lord help us, why do you care, I have posted on two boards a few times when in need of help and both boards, have procuded very helpful answers! go and get a life

Bloody hell, that was quick, ape.

And brilliant.

I was told Croatia was too expensive for us.

I usually do the set h but have outsourced it this time. May we'll be time to re-inspurce to get it sorted.

Thanks so much for firing my imagination...it is naice though, isn't it? ;-)

Wow ape. That looks beautiful!

I suppose it might be allowed but it tends to annoy people. I certainly can't be bothered to report and it annoys me and others when people care about this....minty if you wanted urgent help on something I wouldnt care two million hoots if you posted in two places?people only do it when they need too.

Oh yes, Croatia is very naice. You can get vaaaair naice ham, called Prsut (which is prosciutto to you and I). Not many yobs in Croatia, and there definitely won't be any oiky types inland. Note: I am not a snob. Just running with the theme.

I get peed off seeing these 'oh there's NOTHING for under a million quid' type responses. It's a right load of bolleaux.

I work in a job which involves finding information really, really quickly from the internet and elsewhere, which is a major boon when it comes to looking for holidays ;)

Yes, for really urgent things like booking a summer holiday! I'll be sure to remember that next year when I fancy someone else doing the work for me.

it will be AMAZINGLY hot in croatia then,

(and no sandy beaches ...)

I spent about 20 hours this week searching for a naice last minute holiday, op. It is a terrible chore, I agree.

Owners Direct drives me NUTS! You can't start off with your dates, afaics, so you have to click through two pages on hundreds of properties to see if they are even available.

One day I'm going to become a millyonair by devising a website to find a holiday easily.

Good idea Mintyy :) Can I join your enterprise?!

No sandy beaches bothers some, but it does make for very very clear sea, and great snorkelling. I have one child who hates sand so it suits us There are a few sandy beaches but the ones I can think of tend to be in Dalmatia and the flights to Dubrovnik/ Tivat/ Podgorica are always really expensive.

It won't be cheap when you get there, mind. The war was a long, long time ago and coastal croatia is very much on the up these days. But I still absolutely love it.

Mintyy you should do that. I get so frustrated trawling loads of crappy cottage websites. What we need is Rightmove for holidays. Owners Direct and the other ones are all shite

Ape and Iaza.

What's the Croat and Italian for "Magnifico?"

I think it's mega, or superbo, or something like that.

Either way, I salute you. That's what social media and just talking and communicating with other people in General is all about, isn't it?

Pooled resources and knowledge to overcome the power of The Man.

It might be a trivial little thing like hols, or something more important...for example, if you're a miserable sod and you you need a rocket up your backside to help you over come it.

Either way, the miracle of human contact has worked once again.

And the miracle of the internet too. I'm sat in a hotel room in Budapest sorting a family holiday out just twenty mins after booking an AirBnB in Sussex for the races next week!

A charmed 21st century life I lead.

Tis a mahvvvvelos thing. What did we do before it?

Agree that Owners Direct is shit. You have to keep reinputting info. HomeAway was a lot I think

Italian: fantastico!
Cro: Prekrasna!

I don't know your nearest airport but in skyscanner you can put in the departure airport, dates, no of people and it lists all possible destinations by price. So if you are willing to put up with night flights the five of you can fly gatwick to Ibiza for £500, going on 12 August, back 19th - and I would imagine you head out to quiet, naice Ibiza with ease for £1500.

I find best thing to do is search using google images foreg. 'Villa' and place name.

Try ' on the beach' and 'travel republic' look at albufeira in Portugal. Really good for families.

i liked Holiday Lettings when I booked two ace places in France

I can't work out your nickname either Ape, but keep the wisdom and mellowness coming!

Now then, we're going to the Edinburgh fringe in Aug too. I want a top ten recommendations for shows to delight all the family within the next 15 mins.

(Just my little joke for those have difficulty with humour, fun, enjoyment. Pleasantness, those types of things ;-)

I have to say www.teletextholidays.co.uk/ is absolutely GREAT. Have a peep on the last minute sections on there.

I would in particular recommend the range of all inclusive Mitsis hotels across Greece. They're all 4 to 5 star and just me and the boyf went to one last year and it was lovely. No turtles, but it kept the costs down and there were many many things for children to do.

Fred.

That sounds promising as well. I didn't know you had that function on Sky scanners. Will check.

Where are you all now, ye naysayers?!?!

I knew inspiration would arrive from somewhere!!!

apermanentheadache Please, PLEASE could you do similar for me?
AM utterly fed-up, as mintyy says- all the sites I look on say- oh yes stunningly beautiful holidays are available... but they're never available to book when you click through

Has to be UK though (all ID has expired )...
So- 2 adults, 2 children, UK beach holiday, somewhere naice (we're not Blackpool or Butlins types), we're in the midlands, so the sea is equidistantly far away we have to go between 02/08 and 12/08, would prefer a week. Budget not too restrictive- availability is our difficulty.

Oh, A permanent headache!

Ha, only just seen it!

Doh!

Double doh, in fact!

Owners Direct and the other ones are all shite

never had a problem with their website and the value for what you get is good, no massive mark ups like other places where your paying loads to middle man.