Post-GCSE amazing trip ideas on a budget

[XelaM]

My daughter is finishing her GCSEs in June and I would love to take her somewhere amazing on holiday (sun 🌞 and beach 🏖️ my only requirements). A fly and flop holiday would be great after a truly horrid two years in our lives, through which she has shown some incredible resilience. Problem is my budget is limited so looking for someone amazing holiday ideas on a low budget 😀 (if those exist). Given the uncertainty with flights we will be booking last minute.

Any chance you can give an indicative range of what the low budget is ? “Low” can be quite subjective, especially on mumsnet!

I think a rough idea of budget per person would be useful and also which airports you would be flying from. Are you going as soon as the exams end in June? in which case you might get better deals as it is before the school holidays.

If you go as she finishes exams then you should be able to avoid the peak school holiday prices. Get yourself on jet2 holidays, easyJet holidays, Tui and Thomas Cook, they all do open searches from your selected airports with flexible dates.

Yes, one person's 'cheap little package holiday, just a few days in the sun' is another one's 'big holiday that we had to save for years for'

If you want sea and sun and are going in June you could have a look at what cheap flights you can get from your local airport (Ryanair with small hand luggage only and add on a 20 kg hold case between you is probably the cheapest way to do it) and then look for accommodation separately, somewhere where you can get the local bus to the accommodation from the airport. Mainland Spain or the Canaries is great for this. So Lanzarote, Malaga, Alicante or Valencia, these would probably also be cheaper than Barcelona. All have plenty of cultural things to do as well as the option to relax by the pool or on the beach.

What type of accommodation etc are you wanting? My preference is an apart hotel that is walking distance from beach, shops, restaurants etc so I can eat out but also buy drinks, snacks and easy food to have on the balcony/some meals. I wouldn't do AI unless you're happy with quite basic food and don't mind a buffet - both would absolutely ruin a holiday for me.

So budget around £2K for flights/accommodation preferably (or in that region) and I absolutely don't mind AI holidays. Close to the beach, hotel pool and sunny weather is most important. We can go in June before the summer holiday peak prices. We're flying from London.

I wouldn't call £2k for 2 people in June a low and limited budget. That's the sort of holiday we have and the flights and accommodation tend to cost around £1000-1500 tops for somewhere perfectly lovely.

You'd be able to choose from all sorts of destinations, what in particular is it you're looking for? Is there a particular country you want to visit - what are your priorities? Do you have a preferred London airport - you could look at packages but Jet2, BA or Easyjet fly from different airports in general and all do packages that can work out cheaper than booking the flight and accommodation separately.

2k won’t stretch far but anywhere can be amazing. Flop and drop in the sun is quite traditional do you like places which have cultural things to visit or lots of close restaurants or do you prefer beach or pool or a mix of the two. If you sign up to the travel agent sites you may find some deal near the time

Just looked at Jet2 end of June and you can get the Liberty Signa for slightly over budget, if you want best use of budget and AI I would be looking at Turkey. But also Cyprus.

We are taking my step daughter on a post exam holiday, we are staying at Elizabeth apartments and Studios in Skiathos, Greece. It’s where they filmed some of Mama Mia, along with Skopelos that we are planning on visiting when we’re there, it’s 30 minutes on a ferry.
We paid £700pp for bed and breakfast.
Her mum is also taking her to Greece, they are going to Lassi, Kefalonia, staying at Thalassa boutique Hotel, paying a
similar price. She booked through TUI, we booked through EasyJet. Stepdaughter is looking forward to both, so am I, loving the idea of a mama Mia holiday, my husband isn’t convinced!

We did that last year, went to Benalmadena, lovely weather, next to the beach and under 1K for the two of us so definitely doable on your budget.

There’s options on all the major travel operator sites within your budget. I would avoid the canaries if you want a beach as they have volcanic sand which isn’t particularly pleasant. I’d also avoid turkey and Cyprus given the ongoing war in the Middle East. Greece and the Greek islands are a good option or one of the Spanish islands. Croatia can often be better value for money.

Agreed! Croatia also a nice option? x

Have you tried Ryanair’s offers page if you are somewhat flexible on timings and location - flights can be as low as £50 return.

I can’t advise on all inclusive as we tend to eat out or self cater. My only concern would be the food quality of a cheaper AI. Without AI, you could easily do flights, accommodation and internal travel for under £1k, leaving £1k for food and experiences

Thank you gor the great suggestions ☺️ will definitely be checking them out. Just need to figure out exact dates

I’ve just today booked AI in Alcudia, Mallorca with Hays as a package (Ryanair flights). It looked like £530 each for four nights but with add ons (eg transfers and tax) the total for us both came in at about £1.2k. We had quite specific requirements but there were really nice looking AIs starting ar about £330 for the four nights, so would presumably get 7 or 10 days for your budget. Bear in mind that, technically, you have to be available on the 24th June as that is the reserve reschedule day if there are any national emergencies etc. that mean exams are cancelled. Good luck and have a wonderful time.