Cheapest way to take a solo holiday in the sun?

[cushionfiend]

Hello - I'm a soon-to-be single 50-something. Imminent divorce also means money will be pretty tight in future. But I'd still like to hope that I could very occasionally get away for a week in the sun! I'm wondering if anyone has any hints and tips for the cheapest way for a solo person to take a wee holiday, somewhere quiet with a pool? I'm thinking booking my own flights and accom, and avoiding school holidays are the most obvious starting points - but maybe a package holiday is actually cheaper? Thanks.

Bumping because I'd like to know as well .

There’s a really good single women’s travel group on FB that may help you?

Be wary of single persons room supplements they can be a killer!!

Are SRS still charged? I had it in mind that they'd be abolished. AirBnB is a good option, no difference in occupancy rates.

Watching.

This is our regular go-to for a group of us, end of season is really the only time there is no single supplement though - Neilson Croatia, Club Alana

Bonus is that by this time of year it’s mostly single adults of similar ages…and quite social.

This one is October, usually an Indian summer weather wise.
The price is excellent - for what you get in resort including an inclusive spa.

https://www.neilson.co.uk/holiday_search/nsearch?depDate=2024-10-06&duration=14&holidayType=NBS1%2CNBS2&destinationType=resort&flexible=0&rooms=0&room0Ad=1&room0Ch=0&dep=LTN%2CLGW%2CSTN&resort=M20&productType=beach

Another option, for other places generally, if you have someone to go with but want separate rooms - during the online booking process, look carefully for the “add another room” option…..which can bring the price for both down.

Fuerteventura…if you keep looking each week there are also odd weeks that do come up as no single supplement…but you have to be on it.

Alana Croatia…

Depending on how important child free is to you, you may want to book adults only resort. A few of my friends went on various holidays during term time last year and the resorts were full of British families who’d taken their kids out of school for a week.

They are yes, especially on things like cruises. Also I sometimes take one of my kids with me when we go abroad and I get hit with a supplement as there is only one adult!!!
so annoying..

Get an apartment with a small kitchen that way you can make some of your own meals and save a huge amount of money. Make sure you are within walking distance of a supermarket though! Cheap package holidays don't tend to be to quiet places I find - unless they're somewhere isolated where it's difficult to leave the resort. We stayed at a Tui blue apartment for around £50 a night at Flamingo Beach, Lanzarote in October which we thought was a bargain. Generally though we find an Airbnb as that's pretty much always a quieter option than a resort.

Depends on how cheap you are looking for. Jet 2 has holidays from £600 for 7 nights.

You can go onto skyscanner, input your departure airport, then in destination, there's an option to go anywhere and it'll bring you up prices for a wide array of countries/ destinations for your dates.

Have a look on booking.com for cheap accommodation for one of the cheaper flight destinations. Don't book your flights until you know that you can get half decent and affordable accommodation.

That's what I used to do before I met my husband. I've had a couple of holidays in a few random destinations that I wouldn't have thought to go to, but flights were £19 or something crazily cheap, so took the plunge. Never had a bad holiday!

If you're not too fussed where you go then keeping an eye on google flights or sky scanner for cheap flights and then look for accommodation separately.

If you don't mind driving the Eurocamp can be a great deal and we love those kind of holidays, being able to eat out or cook as you please. Some of the locations in Spain you could actually do without a car if necessary.

What budget are you thinking?

Easyjet package holidays can be quite cheap even for single. You can find all inclusive from like £400 for a week so good budget option. Go before or after main season.. Just before like it starts in May, go last week of april or so. Massive savings, nice weather.
Like look at this 😁 Chill, no stress, nice weather.
https://www.easyjet.com/en/holidays/tunisia/tunisia-area/hammamet/bel-azur-thalasso-and-bungalows?ibf=true&to=04-05-2024&from=28-04-2024&dst=ALL&sAccId=&geog=ALL&flex=0&org=MAN&aa=1&rooms=1&outId=E5a46b11d124e0a1c509e5e1f61a75d1a&inId=Ecfecc399e050590b19ac70b5a2f5ea2e&accId=TNNB0015&packId=2243316686/2/2309/6&boardType=AI&offerRooms=1/DB01&transfer=TUNI001792SS&dtransfer=TUNI001792SS&isExt=0&lateRoomCheckout=0&theme=beach&__ejhsort=hotels_list|1|49Fd3Dde

Thanks for all the replies. That Tunisia one looks gorgeous, I'll keep it in mind. I've been exploring the 'any destination' option and seeing what random stuff comes up - it's really interesting and quite a useful way to find something for a bit less. I think my budget will be pretty minuscule generally - I mostly just go camping these days, as it's cheaper, but sometimes you just need to be warm, lazy, and have a nice swim in a pool a few times a day.

Tunisia as a single woman? I wouldn't. Well, I wouldn't consider it at all so maybe that's just me.

I like northern Italy. Venice, lake Garda, Bergamo. Ryanair fly there cheap as chips then just use hotels . Com and filter cheapest.

Tunisia as a single woman? I wouldn't.

Nor would I. Friends went for a week years ago, blonde, no end of hassle everywhere they went.

When we lived in London and had the choice of airports Id look for the cheapest flight to where it was we wanted to go and compared to the package price. So for example we would want to go to Icmelar in Turkey but the cheapest was a last minute package deal to Marmaris, Id book that, use the package to get me to the country and transfers, stay the first night, then pop over to icmelar and pay as little as £6 a night B&B for the two of us

But that was a while ago now.

Now ( with only one airport ) it gets difficult. I google flights to anywhere in such and such month, sort out the cheapest to wherever is sunny, then onto tripadvisor to read up about resorts and I have booked accommodation through there - got a beautiful 1 bedroom apartment on a hotel complex, full use of all hotel facilities, there were bikes at the apartment, £150 for the week( Portugal in May and we liked it so much we booked again for the October )

Being open minded about where you want to go and going start or end of season tends to come up trumps for me.

Right now, I have found a flight to Barcelona from LGW, 30th Sept to 9th Oct - £46 return and there are plenty of 4* hotels for less then £50 a night B&B around Port Salou which is just a bus ride away ( obviously there are closer resorts and even Barcelona itself )

Also would stay clear of Northern African countries and Turkey unless you want a holiday “romance” and being hassled non stop.

I would check package deals (jet2, easyjet, tui) from your closest airport, generally they are cheaper but not always outside school holidays. And book Hotels that don’t offer much for kids or are adults only.

Are SRS still charged? I had it in mind that they'd be abolished. AirBnB is a good option, no difference in occupancy rates.

"Single room supplements" are because the hotel charges per room, and they tend to have very few genuinely single rooms with one single bed. So in most places you will be occupying a room for two people, and will be charged what the couple is paying, just there are two of them sharing the cost and you have to pay it yourself.

It's annoying but nothing you can do really.

The main advantage of a package IMO is that you do get your transfer from airport to resort sorted, which can be handy depending on where you're going.

Hotels are fine. When we went last time there were few single women and they had no trouble at all. Tbf we were in Sousse where they are trying hard to regain tourism after the incident and then when it started getting better, covid hit... The beach guard kept touters away especially from women who were by themselves.

I did a comparison recently and it was cheaper to book a package than to do it individually, we used Jet2. We're going to Spain which seems to be cheapest, and Costa de Almeria, which is more of a Spanish holiday area than a British destination so was cheaper than the typically British resorts.

If it's just a relaxing week in the sun, I'd check out Easyjet or Jet2holidays.

Select the date you want, then sort by lowest cost. I used to book everything myself, but it's often cheaper now to get a package as the transfer and luggage are included.

I'd avoid Turkey or Tunisia as a single woman, may be absolutely fine but I think you would be more comfortable in Spain/Greece/Italy etc.

If you are happy camping that opens up a whole load of other options. I've stayed at this place outside Barcelona Camping Tossa de Mar in Spain on the Costa Brava | Camping Spain 4 stars (calallevado.com) and its got nice cabin accommodation and direct access to a couple of beaches. It also has a couple of restaurants etc. The swimming pool is nice but currently closed due to water shortage. If you are happy without a bathroom in your cabin the toilet blocks are fine and reduces the price a fair bit.