Holiday for 1 week - last week June - 2 adults and 2 x 20 year old DS- HELP

[Custardcreamsandbourbons]

So need inspiration and help!

So two DS at uni but we like the idea of a week with together as thankfully we all get along well

Ideally in a house or apartment walkable to bars / restaurants and beach as do not want to hire a car as we don't plan on long excusions as we're only away for a short time and we can hire bikes or use cabs / trains if necessary

In the past the day has turned out to be me and DH doing our own stuff in the morning ideally with a walk along a beach to a town / village where we can have breakfast and then DS surfacing late morning. An afternoon on the beach or pool if we have one and possibly some watersports / boats trip. Then out for drinks and dinner - ideally near the water and on foot ! and then the option for them to stay out if they want to explore on their own

Been searching and everything either remote, really pricey or if i find a nice house (2 bedroom fine as they are ok to share) then flights from London crazy for the 4 of us

Last couple of years in a similar situation we have done Spain and Mallorca.

Was thinking either Sicily, Portugal, Turkey or would love Greece but flights pricey for 4. Ideally £5k for accommodation and flights for the 4 of us - seem slike finding a needle in a haystack - any ideas wise mumsnetters ?

Rethymnon in Crete is lovely and fits the bill but I've only ever stayed in hotels there. Ryanair flies to Chania and the transfer time is about an hour.

If you're prepared to take the risk, we got a deal about 36 hours before travel about the same time (June) in 2023 - I did quite a bit of research and TUI seemed to have some great last minute bargains (providing you're flexible). Admittedly it was only for 2 but we got 4 nights in Elounda (Crete) at a 5* hotel for about £300 each I think - flights, transfers, AI. Elounda would definitely fit your requirements - worth keeping an eye out.

I second waiting until the last minute if you are flexible, either an apartment or 2 rooms would work. We booked 10 days out and got 75% off last year

@bobomomo @Africa2go maybe we'll risk it -sounds great!

Not sure if you've been looking at packages but to Greece they can work out much cheaper than independent travel. I just put in your dates and self catering into TUI and there's deals from Manchester last week in June from less than 600 quid each for a two bedded apartment. Crete has best deals. Look at Chania which should suit you

Expedia has good deals, flying from London to Lisbon to stay in Nazare; great surfing, is coming in at about £600pp, link was huge ; Hotel Praia

Fly to Lisbon

It's easy to take a train to Cascais and stay here overlooking the bay, steps away from the beach/marina and short walk to restaurants, etc.

You're welcome!

We stayed in a neighbouring flat (unavailable) pre Covid one May half term. We did rent a car which remained parked most of the week since we used the train into Lisbon and the bus to Sintra. We also rented bikes to cycle to Giuncho Beach and walked on the promenade to Estoril. DH & I loved lazing on the balcony watching the sunsets and sipping beer/wine in the evenings. 5 min walk to restaurants and the town beach which you could see from your balcony.

What about Croatia ?
We are staying just outside Dubrovnik next September - I understand that most of the villages in that area are accessible by bus, taxi or by boat . Friends stayed in Lapad last year - have also had Cavtat recommended to me. We've booked our property through AirB&B- there was quite a bit of choice at the time we booked .

We had a nice holiday in Alvor, Portugal with DS and his GF when they were late teens - we had an apartment in a complex with a pool - walkable to bars/restaurants and the beach . Not sure what transfer would be from the airport without a car though - and whereas there were plenty of bars I don't recall night clubs.

Brilliant thanks everyone
we have been to Croatia and loved it but it was 10 years ago
will take on board the package idea
Dh prefers the house idea rather than resort so will work on him 😂

Any ideas of companies who do villas at reasonable prices ? Use airbnb for city breaks but never had much job at longer holidays

The answer is always, always, always....Nice!
Has everything you want in the city, VERY cheap trains to
everywhere (including Friday market day across the border in
Italy) and even Ubers are cheap.

@Mikimoto We’re going to nice this august but found accommodation a bit pricy! Where do you usually look to find cheaper places to stay? Ours has free cancellation so would love to find somewhere less eye watering!

Will there be a DC involved?! We usually go to the Novotel Nice Centre Vieux Nice as it's very bright and family-oriented, great breakfast and also within walking distance of the smaller train station for daytrips and a mall, etc.

If you go onto Booking.com, there are also usually a whole range of self-catering apartments which we haven't used but might one day!

If you do have kids, look up Li Rateta beach - supervised and completely aimed at kids' activities.

In June you have the benefit of good weather and not school holidays.
I think you would get a good package deal for £5k from Jet2 and much cheaper than booking separately.
I just looked at Lefkas, Nidri and you can get flights plus 2 studios in a small block with a pool for £3380
It's a lovely Greek resort with scope for windsurfing, I've been there albeiot years ago.

@RosemaryDill a quick google search shows you can get flights in June to Lefkas for about £120 each. I'm guessing a transfer each way wouldn't be expensive given the size of the island so the OP would still have the best part of £2.5 - 3k for accommodation before its close to the cost of that Jet2 package!