Help me choose a holiday for October

[nodtik]

Hubby off for October half term.

Looking for some winter sun at half term. Budget £3k for two adults, for one week.

So would you choose;

Madeira
Dominican Republic
Mexico
Antigua
Cape Verde

Anywhere else?

Thank you xx

I think Dom Rep, Antigua and Mexico is too long on the plane for a week. Cape Verde might be your best bet if you don’t mind not really exploring places and are happy to sit by pool, on beach or stay in hotel complex as nothing else much to do.
Madeira won’t be as warm as all the others.

We liked Cape Verde, but there isn’t much to do.
We stayed at the Melia Tortuga and paid around £4K for a 2 bedroom suite AI
Some of the hotels there are huge and 4 isn’t like Caribbean 4 but I recommend the one we stayed at, it was a nice size and the food was (mostly) good

We’ve stayed at RIU Funana which was fab

We loved Cape Verde, but it’s somewhere where there’s nothing to do but relax. So if you don’t like that then it won’t be for you.

Another place we discovered, as a couples holiday, a couple of years ago is La Palma in the Canary Islands. It’s not touristy like the other Canary Islands, it’s really quite old fashioned. We hire a car and explore the island. It’s lovely.

Thank you for the feedback!!

Will look at Cape Verde, and La Palma. Need a but of winter sun methinks.

Any other suggestions most welcome!!

Dubai, the Canary Islands and Cyprus also have lovely warm weather in October.

There's been a massive volcanic eruption on La Palma. That might just rule out holidays for a while.

Cyprus!

If you want to swim in the sea, you need to get to the Caribbean or Mexico. Barbados is the nearest Caribbean island, only takes about 7 hours and is definitely worth it!

My friend lives in Cyprus, she always says the weather is brilliant in October.

Antigua and Barbados are ok if you don’t mind 8 hour flights but is your budget good enough?

If you are two adults, why choose half term for a holiday?

My other choice would be South Africa. No jet lag, possibility of seeing whales around Cape Town, decent weather and good food. Budget is another issue but you hit the ground running as flights are overnight. You arrive in the morning and off you go! If you can up your budget, it’s worth it.

The reason it needs to be half term is because I am a headteacher, and am tied to the school holidays!

Could up the budget to £4k for the right place.

Anyone done Mauritius 🇲🇺?

Ah! I see. Mauritius is a very long flight. I think it’s 11 hours plus The flights will be most of your budget even with a stop. Non stop is very expensive.

You would get better value for money in North Africa or somewhere like Crete or Turkey.

Mauritius is nice at that time but you will spend over half your budget and 12 hrs each way on a plane.

Morocco (Marrakech or surrounding area), or Cyprus would get my vote. If you want more tropical then Caribbean / Mexico, but not if jet lag is an issue for you.

The flights are very expensive! You could easily spend all of £3000 non stop!

We did Southern Spain (Roquetas de Mar) one October. Averaged around 25C. Pretty cheap too. Miles and miles of flat coastline.
Seville is amazing and will be great weather wise. A good time to go. Amazing city, although maybe it's not a city break you're after.

We have a house in Andalucia and we usually go in October
Temperatures are around 20-25 and occasionally a lot hotter.
We do use the pool and go in the sea but take wetsuits for prolonged use.

I’m off to the Antarctic in October!

We did Cyprus over October half term. Weather was glorious. Hoping to do it again this year if travel becomes easier.

Antigua is fine because it is a direct flight and only 4 hours time difference. We just got back. We frequently used to go in October half term. You are more likely to meet your budget there than Barbados.

I'd go to the canaries

I'd also suggest Canaries. We went last October half term - reasonable flight time, and the weather was high 20s the entire week.

Turkey is nice in October, especially on the Med coast.

Lots of considerations there!!

Thank you - just want some sun and a bit of luxury. There's almost too much choice xx