What's the best way to book a short haul break these days?

[PangoDilloDog]

I've been holidaying in the UK for so long (10+ years) that I feel out of touch regarding booking a holiday abroad.

I have a week beginning Friday 31st July when I can most likely get away. I like a pool but don't want to be too far from a beach and local restaurants. A short flight, ideally. Somewhere relatively quiet and relaxed, I don't want to be near to noisy bars. Happy to go self-catering or B&B.

Should I book flights and accommodation separately checking airbnb or, is a package dwal the way to go?

Budget is ideally less than £1k each, for two adults. Is this reasonable?

Any suggestions for resorts to consider welcome.

Forgot to say I need to fly from Gatwick.

I find that easy jet offers the best flight plus B+B hotel combinations. Or you could do flight only and book an apartment separately. Places like Tui often have lots of packages with AI and they are often very expensive for what you get. My recommendations are Croatia or The Algarve.

Thanks @WonderingWanda

Are there specific places you'd recommend in Croatia and the Algarve? And any to avoid?

My recommendation is fly to Barcelona and get a train down the Costa dorada, stay here and relax! https://share.google/EC5WGgkwDjxwJIP0T (Altafulla Mar Hotel)

edited to say: I’d book hotel and flight separately myself unless an excellent package deal presented itself.

Lots of places are lovely. Lagos or Avlor were nice and a bit smaller, I thought Portimao was nice but a bit bigger and busier.

Cavtat is near enough to visit Dubrovnik but quite with restaurants.

Thanks @RubyFatball, I'll check it out.

I would go onto easyJet holidays and put in ‘all beach holidays) and then use a range of filters- airport/ star rating/ close to beach/ budget until you find one you like.

Places that might fit the bill are Nerja (Spain) or cascais (near Lisbon).

Thanks @Savvysix1984, great tip about the EasyJet site. I put all my parameters in and it offered me Torremolinos, Tavira, Albufeira and Split.

Do any of them sound ok? I thought Torremolinos had a reputation for being the opposite of quiet.

Out of interest I’ve done a search on jet2 app for a holiday, 7 nights from Friday 31st July , filter on all beach holidays and the cheapest out of 1342 possibilities is £990.

Good luck OP!

Plenty of options with TUI. Usually the price includes flights, luggage, transfers and accommodation. You can easily filter by date, airport, board basis and price. How about Lake Garda, Italy is great for a self catering/b&b basis holiday. Sicily is another Italian option i recommend (easyJet holidays but make sure you allow budget for add ons as less inclusive than TUI)

EasyJet is one of the best value. Albufeira is very lively and full or hen & stag parties. Croatia is stunning.

Thanks @tanstaafl, I shall try to create thw same search results.

@hahabahbag, I do fancy Italy but I thought it'd be out of budget. I'll go and see what TUI have for us.

I'll be swerving Albufeira @SpaceAngel1999.