Summer holiday help please !

[BeautifulTulips]

Looking for some holiday inspiration please!

It’s for 3 adults, we need 2 separate sleeping areas. We usually do luxury all-inclusive somewhere sunny, but this year we fancy something a bit different and more budget-friendly. We’d still love a pool, but also somewhere with things to do nearby such as excursions, exploring, culture or nature rather than just staying in the hotel. We’ve only ever booked package holidays, but this time we’re looking to book flights and accommodation separately and honestly don’t know where to start. Budget is around £4,000 and it has to be during the school holidays.
Ideally not too hot so excursions are enjoyable. Any destination ideas, accommodation suggestions or tips for booking separately would be massively appreciated. Thank you!

Out of interest why can't you book a package holiday but still go on excursions/culture etc

Location is the most important factor, what sort of culture are you interested in? Are you willing to hire a car?

What months?

Thank you for your reply! I’m perfectly open to a package holiday, but I wondered if booking flights and accommodation separately might be cheaper this time. We need to travel during the school summer holidays (mid-July to August) as I’m a teacher. Silly as it sounds, I really don’t know where to go — we’ve only ever done Florida, Turkey and the Canary Islands, but we’re looking for something different this year. Any recommendations or tips would be really appreciated, especially if it works out more budget-friendly

I don't always find booking directly is cheaper - but getting cheaper holidays does take time.

I start with looking at easyJet holidays/Jet2/TUI (I don't do Love holidays or any if the other not really package holiday companies) just to get an idea on price. Then I search all the low cost carriers and booking.com- sometimes it is cheaper to them approach the accomodation separately, but quite often, if booking a hotel I find it cheaper through a broker (Villas/self catering apartments are often cheaper directly but I don't want to be cooking and cleaning on holiday)

Location wise how different? And what do you want from a holiday. My list is sun, history, coastal. So I love a Greek island- Kos might be good if you like Turkey- history of Kos (remains of the first hospital, the tree that Hippocrates sat under, natural bubble beach where bubbles come through the sand, great food and a ferry to Bodrum (remains of one of the 7 wonders of the world, a Knights templare castle and of course shopping)

But if you don't like the heat then Amsterdam/Copenhagen- this can be very budget friendly and something different.

Is £4k for everything, spends as well or just the actual travel and accommodation?

I’ll take a look at Copenhagen or Amsterdam . Greece in the summer might be too hot, I do like the heat, but if I’m mostly relaxing, it could be a bit much. The £4k budget is just for flights and accommodation, and it would be great if it could come in cheaper so there’s more to spend on food and excursions. Thanks for the ideas

We haven’t had our holiday yet - going in the summer so can’t say this is a recommendation from experience, but our holiday sounds like it may suit you.

We have booked a hotel in mainland Spain - estival el dorado. It’s 20mins from Reus airport, in an old ish fishing village (cambrils) You are very near a huge parc/conservation area called parc Sama https://parcsama.es/parc-sama-en/
and the city of Tarragona which is meant to be beautiful and day trips to Barcelona possible too.
Room wise we have booked a suite which has a separate living area with beds in it. A few pools including an adult only and on the beach. We are going all inclusive 😎 Just thought would mention incase it looks suitable!

TUI own most of the hotels so they have to fill them so can often do cheaper. Other tour operators block purchase allocations on flights or hotels so these are already purchased so can also work out cheaper. Don’t disregard the packages. You’re also far more protected if one element goes wrong. A schedule airline for example can just cancel flights, tour operators have to get you there! (22 years in the travel industry!)

I'd recommend Austria or Montenegro in August.

Or if you can go in May half-term instead Greece (Crete or anywhere really it's all nice) or Italy (Lake Garda or Sorrento/Amalfi Coast).

Thank you all for your suggestions, much appreciated - feel like I have some places to research now

Have a look at Farienparadies Natter See. It’s a lovely holiday park in Austria, very close to Innsbruck. We flew to Innsbruck and then took a taxi. The accommodation has self catering facilities but we ate out most nights at the lakeside restaurant and even had brunch there a couple of times. Lunch was mostly from cafes we found on our days out. There’s a public bus which stops right at the site and takes 20 mins to get to Innsbruck main station.