Want to avoid a package holiday. Need ideas.

[sunshine75]

Ideas and help please.

We need a cheap - ish holiday this year but really don't want a package/lots of people in an all inclusive hotel holiday (which seem to be the best value when looking for a bargain).

So, what we would ideally like

1. Somewhere warm/scenic/quiet
2. Stuff to do - would love a cycling/adventure holiday but seem quite expensive
3. Time for a bit of a chill out too
4. Quite happy to book everything separately etc.

Am I being unrealistic to think this type of holiday is possible for 3 people for under £3k?

Has anybody done anything remotely like this that they could suggest.

Last year we went to Croatia, we got flights to Pula for around £700 for 4 people with Norwegian air and we booked a 2 bed apartment for £1,000 for 2 weeks.

Croatia is warm and very beautiful and there are lots of quiet places to stay. We hired a car and travelled around quite a bit and other times were spent on the beach or by the pool.

Amalfi coast
Santorini
Rhodes
Italian lakes
Florence and Pisa
Marrakesh

Ile de Re
Costa de la Luz

You should be able to find somewhere SC easily on that budget. We pay less than that for 4 adults (teen kids) in high season.

Look at flights first on Skyscanner by searching 'everywhere' or by your preferred country. Then narrow you choices down by flight price.
We're going to the Peloponnese as it was one of the cheapest Greek destinations.

We aren't resort people either. We've loved renting a house with pool in various areas of France, this year we're branching out a bit and have rentedt a house on Corfu. Your budget seems ample. I got some inspiration from just looking through holiday websites and when i had a couple of ideas checking out trip advisor rentals, home away etc

Some lovely s/c apartments in lots of nice areas. Narrow down where u want to go and see what's available. We're not cyclists but a friend of a friend who cycles a lot said she had a great cycling holiday based in Puerto Pollensa, Majorca (just her and DH but they are fanatical Cyclists. We often holiday in quieter regions of the Algarve Carvoeiro or Alvor and cyclists often pass through. How old are your children? Or Holland is very flat?

How old are your children? Self-catering/AirBnB round Holland.

Lots of activity type places and opportunities for cycling. Entry to practically every museum in the country on a museum card you make your money back on Day 1. Efteling.

Alternatively agriturismo in Italy. One with a pool, bike rental and not too far from a town with stuff going on.

Brittany has some excellent cycling - this shows some of the routes ; en.francevelotourisme.com/base-1/destinations/bretagne Route 5, the Presque'ile du Rhuys is very near us. We have a gite which is pretty full this summer, though there are a couple of July weeks left depending when your schools break up. Happy to help with info on the area generally if it appeals. With a return ferry, you'd easily make it work with that budget.

How about something like this or this in the Dordogne?

There's canoeing (highly recommended), cycling, and I'm sure plenty more as well, all with lovely scenery and good food.

I'd suggest Madeira, easy and inexpensive to get to, huge range of accommodation, lots of active things to do, good food.

I'd rent a house in Portugal on the Atlantic coast - near Sintra but close to the coast. Easy to get to Lisbon but in or near a national park. Loads of cycling and rugged beaches for surfing.

like this?

Montenegro? Beautiful, loads of people where cycling there when I went last year, reasonably priced. Give it a look.

Austria? We stayed in zell am see last year and it ticks all the boxes you've listed. Flights were cheap and we rented an apartment.
Was a brilliant holiday.

We (3 of us) are cycling in the Netherlands as our main holiday this year.

Three weeks in total. The ferry from Newcastle to Amsterdam was £500 ish for three people and three bikes (no car) and we are using something called Vrienden Op de Fiets for accommodation when we can. Sort of air bnb for cyclists at a set rate of €59 (from memory) per night B&B for the three of us.

20 nights plus the ferry is about £1,500 but I expect that we will use hotels for a third of it so up that to £2,200-£2,500. We will allow for spending £100 a day at the most so another £2,000.

It could be done for £3k for a shorter trip but you have to be happy doing it yourself/fairly certain of your daily mileage to book ahead and .......... winging it.

Breton Bikes are really well thought of for cycling holidays, we haven't used them as we go under our own steam but the owner was really kind and offered advice on our first tour of Brittany. Not expensive either.

Try headwater or inntravel who both organise independent cycling itineraries in Europe - Lake Constance, France or Austria might suit, cheaper if you can drive or get cheap flights.

I think you are making massive assumptions about package holidays.

Some of them are AI, pile 'em all together type holidays and a lot aren't. I CBA to faff around with flights, accommodation and transfers and have booked packages for the last few years. They only include, flights, transfers and accommodation.

Agree with astonished. A package holiday is simply a way of booking accommodation, transfer, flight and possibly luggage all in one go.

The accommodation can be a self catering apartment or villa in a quiet location, it doesn't have to be pile it high sell it cheap AI.

Are you limited to school holidays? If not it will be easy to find somewhere quietish, even in popular areas. What sort of cycling and adventure are you thinking of? What time of year. We've mountain biked in Andalusia a few times but you don't want to do that in the summer as it is far too hot.

We had a fabulous Jet2 holiday in Crete a few years ago staying in a quiet, rather upmarket hotel in a low key and quiet resort, and this year we are going on a Thomsons holiday to an aparthotel in a non touristy part of Sicily.

We avoid AI, hotels with kids clubs, hotels with "entertainment" etc like the plague because they are not our cup of tea.

An example of a package holiday from Jet2holidays

'The Cornucopia Hotel is an idyllic retreat, nestled high above a valley with views of the surrounding countryside and distant sea views. This family-run hotel is full of local character and charm and offers a home from home feel, making it the perfect choice for those wanting a relaxing and tranquil holiday in Gozo'

No All Inclusive, no kids clubs, no entertainment. Gozo is very peaceful and outside the main town there aren't even any traffic lights it is that quiet. Hardly any major chains either. I think there is one Lidl and one McDonalds on the entire island and they are easy to avoid. Food is heavily influenced by Italy, being only 80 miles from Scilicy, so pizzas are amazing.

That looks fabulous Barbara. Exactly my kind of place. This is where we went with Jet2. They still feature this holiday. I would go back there in a heartbeat.

Something like this: www.familyadventureholidays.com/
Lots of activities included as well as accommodation/food.

Carinthia in Austria, cycle or mountains in the morning, swimming in the lake in the afternoon. Drive there via lake Constance in Germany. There's so much to do in these areas. Arbnb or rental apartments are much better than hotels when you have children.

I have only been on one package holiday ever, the travel people on TV say packages are actually more expensive unless you get last min deal, because its all supposed to be abta protected. I have always found it far cheaper to do my own stuff.

I have done both DIY and package and as long as you are careful about where you pick package holidays can be just as beautiful and calm.

We've not been yet, but this summer we are going to Slovenia for just over two weeks. Flights were only about £100 each, loads of choice of nice accommodation for £100 a night for all four of us. Lots of options for beautiful mountains, rivers, lakes, small towns. Ljubjana looks lovely too. Castles, caves, white-water rafting. Much of it relatively under-touristed I think. Not much coast.

We're staying in six different places, so 2-3 nights each place, mix of self-catering, B&B, one campsite. All no more than a couple of hours a part. Obviously you could stay put too.

This is one place we are staying: www.lenar.si/

I'll let you know whether it is as nice as it looks!

Otherwise we've had some lovely holidays in gites in the Dordogne-Perigord area. Also highly recommend lecosycamp in the Auvergne.