Reasonably priced nice beach holiday in August - is it possible or am I being totally naïve?

[localnotail]

I'm wrecking my brain trying to work out where to go! I have two weeks off at the end of August and not a whole lot of money (about £1k-1.5k) and I really need a nice beach holiday for me and my son...I went to Italy and Spain last year (similar small towns on the coast) and both had their own nice sides. I love going to Italy (food and atmosphere) but all the places I went to had pebbled/ dark sand beaches. Its also seem crazily expensive at this time of year. Spain was ok, cheap and great beach but really touristy and "no frills" - not much there apart from the beach and tourist shops and restaurants.

I really love places that are kind of authentic, prefer places locals go to, don't like tourist destinations and big resorts - always liked staying in smallish towns etc. I know these places are readily available if you search online, but not on my budget! I cant pay 2k just for accommodation. I also don't drive which puts spanner in the works big time.

So am I being a total naïve idiot here, and should have started booking something months ago? Is there anywhere I could go? Nice beach, not expensive, not too touristy (definitely not a tourist resort) and a bit of history? Or am I being totally unrealistic? Any recommendations would be welcomed.

No advice, but are you actually me! In pretty much the same situation but with a daughter. I've been searching but refuse to pay £1000 for a week in 2 star self catering in tourist central. May give up and just go to a festival like we do most years

Does that include spending money? I think that will be difficult for 2 weeks in school holidays. I'm finding a week AI in Rhodes or Morroco to be a minimum of £1000pp Inc luggage in August and not much less for bed and breakfast, but my AI searches are the opposite of what you are after location wise.

Use sky scanner to pick an area with reasonable Flights then booking.com to see accommodation, then Google that accommodation to see if it's cheaper direct. Good luck!

I’d just go for a week. Looking at sky scanner if you fly 18-25 from the UK there are cheap flights to Palma in Mallorca, Nice, Corfu and Faro. About 100 per person.
I use Airbnb and vrbo a lot to book apartments as it’s so much cheaper. 1.5k is not a lot in August but it is doable!

I've just had a look on booking.com choosing the flight plus hotel then anywhere option, 13 nights in mid August and narrowed it down to beach holidays. I've found a few for your budget. Turkey, Portugal Algarve, Spain. Have a good time.

Not stately home style history but some - old town and a historical industry - nourmoitier en ile near Nantes. Basically designed for non drivers too, so cycle friendly. One of our best family holidays.

I didn't realise you could do that so thanks!

I’d fly to Gothenburg or Copenhagen, their school holidays have finished and you can go to the west coast of Sweden where the beaches are amazing and you’ll get a good price for an airbnb or a hostel as the school holidays have finished. You could take the train to Gotland which is a cute island off the Swedish East coast, it’ll still be a warm but not super hot then.

If you can find a cheap flight to Faro, there's a train that goes to Tavira in Portugal and it's lovely. Look for an air bnb apartment. It's got a modern town and an old town over the river, and a great beach that you get a taxi boat to.

www.airbnb.com/slink/RNRxA84w

This summer? I think you might struggle. Can you drive and camp?

try Cagliari in Sardinia. Beach was lovely (Poetto) and food/drink reasonable.

So you could get flights to Girona and stay around the Begur area which has several gorgeous sandy cove based beaches. Apartments on AirBNB in that area and there are lots of lovely towns/ruins etc to explore.

Begur was our other favourite holiday!

Bulgaria, no euro yet, still the local currency and cheap vs GBP. I recommend Varna, Balchik, Golden Sands.

I really love places that are kind of authentic, prefer places locals go to

I think you may have a slightly romantic idea of what family holidays are like in these "authentic" places. Large numbers of Spanish, Greek, and Italian families enjoy bars, karaoke, pools, chips, and pizza too, as a look in any travel agent's window in Madrid, Athens, or Rome will show. A quarter or more of the tourists in the all-inclusive hotels in Benidorm and Majorca are Spanish.

Also, as you have been discovering, places that are near a beach and yet not extensively developed are generally visited by the kinds of people who have enough money to buy themselves some exclusivity. If that was available for half the price, it would be sold out instantly and so money would be left on the table. — that's how supply and demand works. This doesn't happen because the accommodation industry is run by very sophisticated yield management software (and even the small family-run places are doing this now, because Booking is doing it for them).

So the problem is not so much that you should have booked earlier, it's that sandy beach holidays in August cost a lot of money, and nice ones cost a lot more. I wish you luck in your search, but I think something may have to give, notably the "non-touristy" bit (which your DS will probably not mind at all).🙏

Have a look at self-catering holidays to Kos or Rhodes. My favourite 2 of the Greek Islands. Perfect weather, nice little islands that are more authentic. Nicer beaches in Rhodes IMO. Crete is also nice, cheaper, but more ‘touristy’. I’m sure you could find something around that budget for the 2 of you. Sometimes worth looking at last minute deals too.

What about Valencia - loads to do, beach, city and you could book accommodation independently

There's options for £500 per person in late august half board but only for a week. My advice though is to hold on a little longer as they will be dropping prices as there's lots of availability.

Thank you for you weirdly detailed and slightly patronising message. But, I am not looking for some "untouched" Instagram worthy fairy-tale place resembling fisherman village in Luka - its just I simply hate holiday resorts, they fill me with dread.

Examples - from personal experience:
Horrible: whole of Torremolinos, all inclusive resorts in Costa del Sol, Lanzarote, Turkey or Mexico

Lovely: Maiori, Vietri in Amalfi Coast, Cefalu and Termini in Sicily. I also stayed on a lemon farm not far from Sorrento before, was really cheap but great - I found it by accident on one of the huge holiday sites, no idea why it was listed there.

A lot of suggestions on here were really helpful, I think I found a really nice place to stay in the Begur area which I'm currently considering. A friend of mine also suggested Albania, which I will also research. Thank you all for your suggestions and kind words.

Thank you - but I think Greece, as well as Sicily, will be hellishly hot in August.

@localnotail we have been in June / July / August / September and October. August was most definitely the hottest, we were in and out of the sea which was nice. Walking from the beach to our hotel was a mission that took a couple of breaks to catch our breath! But I was pregnant and our hotel was on top of a hill 😬so since then I always make sure to read up on where the hotel is located, if there are any hills etc.!

Following as in similar situation. @TheDogsMother please can you advise where the 'anywhere' option is on booking.com! I can't see where it is, it won't let me not put a destination in. Thankyou!

I second Tavira, lovely authentic town and the beaches are stunning.

@Rainraingoaway21 If you go onto booking.com and choose the flights & hotel option. You can choose your airport / dates and the destination should say 'anywhere'

@TheDogsMother thankyou, its not working for me though, it is wanting a destination.