The best last minute travel deals this summer
Limone is one of the most picturesque towns on the shore of Lake Garda. Think of lemon and olive groves interspersed with cobbled alleys and traditional houses sweeping down to the water… sounds tempting, doesn’t it?
Topflight has several special offers this May, including a week at the four-star Hotel Splendid Palace from €799pp, departing May 31. Flights are from Cork to Verona, which can be seen as a daytrip from Limone (as can Venice), and the package includes transfers, hold luggage, taxes and a rep service.
Details: 01-2401700; topflight.ie
Portugal’s Algarve is always there or thereabouts in the shake-up for family summer holidays — and this year is no exception.
If your kids are young enough to travel in May (ie, during school term), clickandgo.com has a week’s self-catering at the three-star Janelas do Mar in Albufeira from €239pp (the prices rise to €389pp in June), with departures from Cork, Dublin and Shannon. Family deals start at €999 for two adults and two kids — based on the three-star Vitor’s Plaza in Alvor — rising to €1,559 in June.
Holidays include Aer Lingus flights, a 10kg carry-on allowance and transfers.
Details: clickandgo.com
Thailand is one of the best value destinations in South East Asia, combining sun, sea, sand and culture with a genuinely low cost of living (once you venture beyond the gated beach resorts). For savvy travellers, that brings tropical beaches within reach for considerably less than a week in, say, Orlando or Dubai.
Gohop.ie has 11 nights at the Bill Resort Koh Samui from €879pp including return flights, taxes and charges, based on an August 26th departure from Dublin. July to October mark the rainy season, though showers come in short afternoon bursts and temperatures in Koh Samui should still average 24-32 degrees.
Details: gohop.ie
Turkey has some of the best bargains around in May. Wings Abroad has seven nights in Bitez departing May 16, for example, with accommodation on a self-catering basis in the Summer Gardens Aparthotel from €309pp.
A family of two adults and two children is priced at €1,044 in total. If you are travelling to Turkey, bear in mind that new laws require visitors to obtain an e-visa in advance of travel (there are kiosks at the airport, but these take longer and cost more).
If you’d prefer an escorted tour, Insight Vacations has an eight-day trip departing August 31st from €1,469pp including flights. It takes in Istanbul, Bursa, Sardis, Pamukkale, Ephesus and Permagon, with an itinerary that seems a good mix of sightseeing and free time. Accommodation is in luxury hotels.
Details: wingsabroad.ie; insightvacations.com
Looking for some guaranteed early summer sun? Trailfinders has a week at the five-star Ritz Carlton Abu Dhabi, Grand Canal from €1,189pp.
The newly opened hotel is set amidst 57 acres of landscaped gardens with its own private beach overlooking the Grand Canal — a popular stretch of waterfront in Abu Dhabi. The offer includes transfers, seven nights B&B with a room discount worth €520 and direct flights with Etihad Airways (if you’ve got holiday related queries, tweet #EitihadSuggests and they’ll be back with tips within 10 minutes).
Details: 021-4648800; trailfinders.ie.
The Canary Islands always dominate the summer departure boards, and for several good reasons. Cork’s Barter Travel has one — seven nights for a family of four starting at €1,100 in Fuerteventura, based on May 24 departures.
Accommodation is on a self-catering basis at the three-star Las Marismas Aparthotel in Corralejo, a decent set-up with several pools. Departing May 18, J Barter also has seven nights for a couple at the four-star Los Fariones Hotel from €575pp, with B&B in a seaview room. Both offers include flights, transfers and check-in bags.
Details: 021-4894084; travelnet.ie
Aer Lingus’s direct flights to Corfu have been proving very popular since their reintroduction last year, bringing this gorgeous Greek Island (and others a short ferry ride away) right back onto the summer holiday radar.
The flights can get pricey in July and August, however — going to press, they were well over €200pp each way — which makes Falcon’s offer of seven days in the two-star Ekati Apartments in Kavos from €335pp look all the more attractive.
Expect basic accommodation, with a June 5 departure from Dublin, but that’s a solid deal for a package that involves 3+ hour flights. On the same day, Falcon has departures to Santa Ponsa, Majorca, from €349pp, with departures from Cork to Lanzarote and Gran Canaria on June 7th and 8th from €399pp.
Details: falconholidays.ie
The boom in transatlantic flights from Dublin doesn’t seem to have had a knock-on effect on prices this summer — with return Aer Lingus flights to New York, Chicago and San Francisco currently hovering around the €1k mark in June. One way of getting around that is to book a package — eg, GoHop.ie has flights plus five nights at the Palace Station Hotel in Las Vegas from €721pp departing June 19.
Meanwhile, Orlando is looking as popular as ever this summer, and American Holidays has a nifty enough price of €599pp for May and June departures with accommodation at the Rosen Inn Pointe Orlando, based on a family of four sharing. Depart on May 22, and you can get a family suite at Universal’s new Cabana Bay Beach Resort for €659pp with Tour America.
Details: gohop.ie; touramerica.ie; americanholidays.com
Cruises are one of those products you need to book in advance to score the best deals and staterooms, but there are still some eye-catchers available.
Royal Caribbean has a seven-night Western Mediterranean cruise on the Liberty of the Seas departing June 5, for example, starting from €1,779pp. That sounds expensive, but it includes return flights from Dublin, meals and entertainment, $200 of onboard credit, and ports of call in Villefranche (Nice, France), Florence/Pisa (Italy), Rome (Civitavecchia, Italy) and Naples before disembarking in Barcelona.
Incidentally, now’s a good time to book Caribbean cruises for October and November of this year, and January of 2015. American Holidays has a dedicated cruise offers page on americanholidays.com/cruise-offers.
Details: 0844-493-2061; royalcaribbean.ie
Fancy a sun holiday with some guided excursions? That’s the offer from Travel Department, who have several May departures to Tenerife from €599pp.
The packages include return flights, transfers, four-star hotel accommodation and a full programme of tours — half-day guided excursions to the volcanic Mount Teide, the capital of Santa Cruz, and a full day outing taking in sights like the cliffs of Los Gigantes and the UNESCO World Heritage city of La Laguna among them.
And the clincher? The price includes all meals, too. Travel Department has similar schedules in Tuscany from €829pp departing in July and August.
traveldepartment.ie
All prices correct going to press, but subject to availability.
Canadian Affair has safari packages with its new Canadian Big 5 Collection, offering the opportunity to spot bears, whales, moose, wolves and eagles in their natural habitats. Internal destinations vary and individual packages are available. Call 01-8666700 or visit www.canadianaffair.ie
The 10-day Rathlin Sound Maritime Festival, which takes place in Ballycastle on Northern Ireland’s Antrim coast and on Rathlin Island — kicks off on May 23. Highlights include sailing, guided walks and entertainment. The Marine Hotel has offers from £70. www.marinehotelballycastle.com
Tropical Sky has a number of offers to far-flung destinations for less than €1,000. Featuring flights with Emirates, the company has a seven-night break to Sri Lanka from €859 with all-inclusive stay in a standard room at the Mermaid Hotel. Call 01-6649999 or visit www.tropicalsky.ie
Thompson’s platinum packages are now available in the Marylanza Suites and Spa Resort in Playa De Las Americas, Tenerife. The company offers a discount of €180 per person for a May 23 departure (ex-Dublin) that now comes in from €829 a head. www.thomsonholidays.ie, call 1850-453545.
The four-star Santhiya Koh Phangan Resort is on offer from Trailfinders, with flights from Dublin or Cork to Koh Samui and boat transfers. Prices for nine nights in a deluxe room start at €1,169 for selected departures in November. See www.trailfinders.ie; call 01-6777888, 021-4648800.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
