Getting a last minute bargain holiday - does it work for shorthaul/UK destinations

[marina]

We are hoping to have a Spring break this year but on a budget - if we don't get a bargain, we don't go
We are helped by the fact that we have a week's break in early June which is not half-term for many UK schools
We could fly somewhere close (France/Spain/Italy), we could drive - but I've never done this before, I usually book months and months in advance - I'm even asking about this months in advance, doh
So, I'd really appreciate top tips from people who have successfully booked a family holiday at short notice. Is this sort of holiday ever featured on LastMinute.com? Or are there other websites I should know about?
Does ringing up eg. Haven/Siblu/Parkdean a week beforehand and haggling shamelessly work, or am I completely deluding myself?
Many thanks in advance!

I would either book flights and accommodation seperately (I've found www.octopustravel.com good for accommodation), or look on the tour operators websites (thomas cook, thomsons etc) for their late availability discounts (prob won't be much discounted now for June, but once you get to April say..)

Thanks TotalChaos - tbh I hadn't a clue where to start , so that's a great help

expedia pretty good too, but always check individual websites as I got our dublin hotel cheaper direct than expedia were offering. But at least you can get some ideas from there

if you are looking for an appartment or villa, worth checking out something like www.ownersdirect.co.uk - my parents advertise their villa there and people put certain weeks on at special offer prices as it gets closer to the dates so that may be worth a go....

Marina - we have just this morning come back from here. Fantastic location - 8 miles from Southwold. It maybe worth ringing and see what they say.

I did a last minute deal last May and found some really good deals, we ended up in Cyprus but could have gone cheaper.

We went to high street travel agents but we wanted a package holiday for some sun so not sure if that fits what you want?

Thank you all
I have this thread on watch so I can come back nearer the time and check out some ideas
I am normally a bit of a sad micromanager when it comes to booking hols so I am feeling pretty open-minded about the type of holiday we end up with - lots of lovely places in the UK (eg Southwold), some short-haul sunshine maybe - although two of us are Bad at Hot so nowhere really roasting I think
I would be over the moon if we ended up with a good deal on a property like your family's aznerak

Hi Marina

If you want to give me your email address (or if you don't want to post it on here then send me an email at [email protected] so I have it) and then if we have any late offers going, I will let you know first!

Make sure you confirm which weeks you are interested in as well as where in the country you would be travelling from so that I can check out the cheap flight options too.

A x x x

Thank you I have mailed you aznerak

Have mailed you back Marina!

xxx