We are going to book a last min hol in October,not fussed about location as long as its warm.. As it has been a while,what is the STW of holidays?

Travel Republic is pretty good for giving you a selection of flights to choose from, before adding your accommodation on top.

we use either travel republic or on the beach

Had an amazing holiday on La Gomera in the Canary Islands last year. You get to it via Tenerife, where we also spent some time. We were mostly hiking, although there is some cycling to be had out there too. The weather is amazing, the food is good and inexpensive. Tenerife is very developed (obvs) but we did a couple of good hikes there- going up mount Tiede was a real highlight!

http://www.holidaypirates.com/

Rather than having to put specifics in, this site tells you what’s available.

Expedia can come up with some good deals. It’s not tour operator package stuff, but is pick and mix flight & hotel etc you can make a package out of. Noting not everything will be ATOL protected, but many are and there are other financial protections available.

Thanks folks,let the rummaging begin!

Don’t forget AirBnB if you want to avoid the hotel experience, I have used it in Slovakia, Canaries, Lisbon, NYC (x 2), Estonia etc etc and am off to Malaga in October. Every one a winner.

Icelolly.com is great for cheap beach holidays

Bookmarking for later

+1 for airbnb,why stay in a hotel room when you can get an entire house or flat for the same price?

+2 for AirBNB

+3 for AirBNB – we used it in France this summer as a family on the way down and back – cheaper than hotel, whole house, much more secure for bikes and boats on the car to be on a (gated) private drive.

Also we used homeaway.co.uk for main accommodation.

Try your local independent travel agent. Tell him you are tight with cash and what you are looking for. You might be surprised.

Skyscanner, check out airports that you would fly from. Find anywhere there are cheap flights for on the dates you want to travel and then find accommodation that matches the flights (Airbnb or booking.com).

We did this with 2 days to spare (so very few truly cheap flights around) and managed to sort a week in an apartment in Lanzarote for 3 of us for £1,100, of that the flights were £920. Pretty good for school hols and last minute flights!

Let me know if you want to know the name of the apartments – not the Ritz, but very clean, in a very good condition with a nice quiet pool area, just on the edge of town. The Canaries stay warmer when the rest of Europe is beginning to cool down and summer holiday resorts beginning to close down/turn in to the set of Coccoon.

+4 for airbnb.

4 nights in a 2-building private villa with pool and maid service, over Christmas, in Bali – £128

We used it a lot when travelling round SE Asia, and are now using it to book for next summer in Croatia. Soooooo cheap compared to hotels.

For flights, I’ve never gone wrong with Kayak.com