Category: booking

Can I do a 3 night group getaway to Krakow for less than £100pp?

This week we’re helping Jade who’s after a group trip to Krakow in Poland.

  • Krakow
  • From London
  • 3 nights
  • 7 people
  • £250pp

I love a group trip as more people means more people to split the cost by!

I also chose this holiday hotline because I thought it would perfectly show just how amazing Google Flights can be when you have a place in mind but you can be a little bit flexible on your dates.

3 nights is also the perfect amount of time to hook a getaway around a weekend so that you don’t have to use up too much annual leave.

Top tip for weekend trips:
A lot of people are looking for that Sunday flight back but by moving the trip back one day and getting the Monday flight home, you can save money and you’re often taking the same amount of time off work!

Flights

So first things first, let’s head to Google Flights and most importantly change your passengers to the correct number as there may only be a few tickets left at the lower price you find.

(The eagle eyed of you will spy in the screenshots that it’s for one but this is just as it’s the only way to reflect cost per person!)

Next, pop in where we’re leaving from and where we’re going to.

Next, click on the date box and change your desired trip duration at the bottom. Here, I’ve changed it to 3 days for Jade and her mates.

Now, that seems pretty straight forward but actually, things get even more helpful on the next page so for now just click some dates. Any dates, it doesn’t matter.

By doing this, you’ll see the cheapest flights possible for that day but what if you don’t want an evening flight?

And I bet you deffo don’t want that 6am flight home.

Meaning that your £33 return flight could quickly become more expensive.

And what if the flight times you actually want could be cheaper on another day?

Can you search for that?

The good news is, yes you can.

So, the next thing you’re going to do is select the ‘Times’ button and decide what times you’d ideally like to leave between, and then do the same for your return journey.

For Jade, I’m actually going to keep in a later departure so that it cuts down on annual leave needed getting to Krakow, however I am going to get rid of that 2050 flight option because I think that gets in just a tad too late.

For the return I’m also going with a later flight so that they can make the most of their last day but make sure it arrives home before 2200 so that most public transport is still up and running.

After doing this, go back to the calendar and you’ll see that the prices will have updated to reflect your needs.

You may need to change the length of your trip again at the bottom.

Now, I’m in a great place to look for a cheap price that hooks around a weekend and within a few clicks, I find this great price in March.

The 1950 departure time means that most people, if working in Central London, would only need to take half a day off work or nothing at all if they’ve got a nice boss who will let them leave just before 5pm!

Wizz Air only includes a small piece of hand luggage but I’m a firm believer in that being more than enough for a weekend away! Plus, if you’re travelling in a group you could split a suitcase between you to pop some extra liquids in.

As I’m searching for 7 people for Jade, here’s what the final cost looks like on Google Flights.

Which indeed works out at £48 each.

Bargain.

Before clicking through, always check your flights on Skyscanner as it can often find cheaper prices as it searches more third party companies.

The flights are showing up the same price but hilariously, Skyscanner are throwing in an even cheaper option with Ryanair for £43 return.

However, as it’s flying from and returning to different airports AND I have a way to save more money on Wizz Air, I’m going to stick with what I found on Google Flights and click through to book direct with the airline.

How to save more money on Wizz Air flights

By signing up to the Wizz Discount Club, you’ll get access to loads of perks.

And two types of membership are available:

The great news for Jade is that she can buy the group membership for £69 and it will save her £108 across 6 tickets – so the membership has instantly paid for itself and, once we’ve added in one remaining full price ticket, brings the cost in at £42.43 each for 7 people.

Even better is that the membership will last Jade a year and as she’s the only one named on the account, she can go away with a group of totally different people and still use the discount – or just use the discount for herself.

To buy this membership, Jade just needs to change the amount of tickets to six passengers and then click on the ‘WIZZ Discount Club Price’.

She’ll then be able to buy membership on the same screen.

Jade then just needs to buy the last ticket at the full price cost.

Right, that’s enough flight chat, let’s move onto accomodation.

IMAGINE IF I CAN’T FIND ANY AFTER ALL THAT.

No, positive thoughts Chelsea, positive thoughts.

For this I’m definitely thinking an apartment or house but instead of hopping straight to Airbnb, I’m going to go to HomeToGo instead.

HomeToGo is to holiday homes like what Trivago is to hotels.

It pulls in homes from loads of different sites, including Airbnb, and whilst isn’t always the slickest websites (sometimes listings aren’t available) I do like the range of choice it offers.

Top tip:
Too many Airbnb results being shown? Select ‘Balcony/Patio’ or ‘Garden’ in your search filters as Airbnb doesn’t have this option and therefore all will leave the listings. However, you will only get listings with those amenities but I always love to have a balcony so this is a plus for me!

For Jade, I’m searching for a place that has at least 4 rooms so that 7 people won’t feel too cramped!

I’m also using the map to search for a spot in Central Krakow.

As the flights were so cheap there’s enough budget left for accommodation to cost £483 a night but I reckon we can get something much cheaper!

Here’s the best that I found.

Accommodation

Rister Apartments
£129 a night / £55.29 each

The dining area may not be big enough for everyone but with 4 bedrooms (though one has a sofa bed), 2 bathrooms and two sofa areas, it’s not bad for £55 quid each!

Airbnb
£164.67 a night / £70.57 each for 3 nights

Not used Airbnb before? Get £25 off your first stay here!

THIS PLACE IS SO BIZARRE AND I FACKIN’ LOVE IT.

Just look at the floor plan 🤣

It will be so wrong for most groups but if you were away with a group of close mates and wanted a posh and trendy sleepover, WHAT A PLACE!

I mean, it has a sauna?!??? But only one bathroom?

WAS SOMEONE OFF THEIR TITS WHEN THEY DESIGNED THIS?!!!

Airbnb
£217 a night / £93 each for 3 nights

Not used Airbnb before? Get £25 off your first stay here!

What I liked about this place is not only did it have 5 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, but it also had two social spaces and a table that actually fits all the people Jade wants to go away with!

House of Loft Affair
2 apartments x 1 bed apartments
£337.16 a night / £144.71 each for 3 nights

These apartments are GORGEOUS and they’ve got big social spaces.

Yet, for people not to be on sofa beds in the living rooms, Jade would need to book this instead.

House of Loft Affair
2 x 2 bedroom apartments
£529 a night / £227 each for 3 nights

Jade will need to select the Palace House and the Pent House.

Now this is slightly over budget but if Jade is looking for something a bit luxe, then this is it!

The final cost

So, going with the cheapest option, Jade and her mates could get away to Krakow for 3 nights for just £97.72 each.

Meaning that the extra £150 can be used for spends.

GET THE BEERS IN, SON.

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If I’ve helped you out, or you fancy getting access to more perks (and more holiday hotlines!) then you can also support me over on Patreon for the price of a really average coffee once a month.

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Can I visit Japan in cherry blossom season on a budget?

Welcome to the new and improved Holiday Hotline!

From now on, I’ll be selecting just one holiday query a week but I’ll be going IN on it, and covering all the bases.

If you want me to help you in the future, make sure you’re following me over on Instagram.

THE REQUEST

So, Amy’s been in touch, and here’s what she’s after.

  • Japan
  • End of March
  • Cherry blossom season
  • 2 people
  • Flying from Manchester
  • 2 weeks
  • £1500 each

As someone who visited Japan last year in cherry blossom season and booked it all pretty last minute – not advised, by the way – I know that this can be done!

Cherry blossom season is always super popular – with both tourists and the Japanese – and you can check out the best dates to visit the different areas here.

For 2020, Tokyo’s supposed to start flowering from 21 March and be in full bloom by 27 March.

But be aware that last year it came early and so it’s not quite an exact science!

I was so lucky as I found our flights for just £258 (ridiculous, I know!) and so the first hurdle is gonna be getting Amy to Tokyo on a budget…

Let’s do this.

FLIGHTS

So, as Amy wants the end of March, it does make things a bit pricier (it’s getting close to Easter!) so as a quick aside, if you can fly between Thurs 12th – Fri 27th March, you’ll pay £133 each less.

But anyway, onwards!

Tues 24th March to Tues 7th April
Manchester to Tokyo
Nippon Airways / Swiss Air
£670 each

£670 may not seem a great price initially but actually, according to the stats on Google Flights, it’s not too shabby at all!

There is also a £469 flight on the 29th March yet the connections are a total horror show. But… I guess an option if you love flying and long layovers???!

What about other airports?

Alright, alright, I suppose I can help a few others out as well.

London – Tues 24 Mar – Tues 7th Apr – from £370 each

It does involves a long layover in Shanghai both ways but they do have a 72 hour visa pass for people in transit and there are plenty of hotels in and around the airport for that overnight layover on the way home!

There’s also this option with much shorter layovers for £433 each.

If you wanna fly direct, the best price is from Mon 16th for £780 but if you want to go later on like Amy, it’s going to set you back £979 each!

Edinburgh – Tues 24th Mar – Tues 7th Apr – £706 each

It does involve a 19 hour layover in Amsterdam on the way out but it’s timed really nicely for you to enjoy an evening there and get up with loads of time for your early afternoon flight.

Inverness – Tues 24th Mar – Tues 7th Apr – £630 each

Another long layover in Amsterdam on the way out but again, a nice excuse for a quick trip there too!

Cardiff – Tues 24th Mar – Tues 7th Apr – £695 each

Once again! KLM with their Amsterdam breaks!

The hilarious thing is that if you were to fly direct from Amsterdam on all of these KLM flights it would cost MORE than any of these listed above. How does that even make sense?!

RAIL PASS

Normally I’d move onto accommodation but for exploring Japan, the rail pass is a very important component.

But first of all, what is it exactly?

The Japan Rail pass – also known as the JR Pass – is a special discounted ticket available for tourists. It offers unlimited travel on trains operated by Japan Railways Group and includes the high-speed service known as the Shinkansen, or the Bullet Train.

Prices – correct as of December 2019

TypeJR Ordinary PassJR Ordinary PassJR Green Pass
(First Class)		JR Green Pass
(First Class)
DurationAdultChildAdult Child
7 day£200£100£268£134
14 day£319£160£433£217
21 day£408£204£563£282

Can you find a discount? No. There aren’t any, so don’t waste your time looking for one (I did).

For a two week trip, I think 7 days feels too short and 14 feels too long but I think if you’re trying to save money, think about doing a stint in Tokyo either side of your travels (that’s what we did!) so you can go for the shorter pass.

However, I’m going put Amy down for the full whack – £319 each – just to cover all bases (and because I love to make life difficult for myself).

There’s no set website to buy your rail pass on – a load of third parties do this – but I can personally recommend Japan Travel Centre as they offer free delivery (they also offer free pick up if you’re in London which is what I did).

Top tip: You cannot reserve seats on most trains outside of the country so make sure you head to a travel centre when you arrive to get a seat! You’re travelling at peak times so it’s deffo worth doing this. More details are here.

ITINERARY

I swear I’ll get to accommodation next but more important is to first work out where you want to go.

There are loads of great two week itineraries available online – one of my fave things to do is to look at a professional tour and then try to recreate it – but for the purpose of this challenge, I’ll be following this:

25th – 29th Mar / 4 nights / Tokyo
29th Mar – 1st Apr / 3 nights / Kyoto
1st Apr – 3rd April / 2 nights / Hiroshima
3rd April – 5th April / 2 nights / Osaka
5th – 6th April / 2 nights / Tokyo

This is loosely based on my own journey but do your own research and see what you fancy.

ACCOMMODATION

Here we go then! We finally made it!

As the flight arrives in a day later, we actually need to find 13 nights accommodation for this trip.

Given that the total for flights and a rail pass is already £931 each (jeez) this means we have £519 each left for places to stay.

That’s just £43.67 a night each.

Can we do it?

YES WE CAN!

Hold on a second…

Before we get into this, what I found was the best way to keep to budget in Japan was to change accommodation every couple of nights or so. This allowed us to explore new areas, work around a hotel’s busy calendar and also save money on some nights and splurge on others.

Due to this, I’d also recommend packing light. I actually only took my 45L Patagonia rucksack and James took a small wheelie case and a backpack. It made it so much easier.

Please be aware that Japanese rooms are MUCH smaller and if you’re staying in an Airbnb, it can feel pretty basic, but it’s a great insight into how many live in the city. Plus, make sure you check out some pod hotels because they are AMAZING/BIZARRE AF.

My top advice would be to get on trivago, enter your dates and just see what you can get for your money.

I’ve done some searching for you, but please do see the following places as a pick’n’mix selection!

Tokyo

Andon Ryokan – £84 a night / £42 each
Pssst – make sure you’re signed in to Booking.com as the price can go down more!

Traditional Ryokan style (you sleep on fold out futons on the floor) but with a modern twist – and a cracking breakfast included too!

Take a look at when we stayed there here!

ONE@Tokyo – £94 a night / £47 a night each

More western in style but with smaller rooms to keep the budget down.

Take a look at when we stayed there here!

9h nine hours Askusa – from £15 each

Yes, you do sleep in there.

Bizarrely, the price is often cheaper for men than women on the same night. It can also fluctuate from night to night and as you have to fully check out in the morning, I’d only recommend this as a first night or last night in an area. But a great experience!

Check out when we stayed in this type of capsule in Kyoto here!

Airbnb – £45.50 a night / £22.25 each

Not used Airbnb before? Get £25 off your first stay here!

It’s not looker, but if you’re wanting to save money and have more space than a pod, it’s not a bad price!

Airbnb – £70.75 a night / £35.37 each

Not used Airbnb before? Get £25 off your first stay here!

Teeny tiny, and in the traditional style, there’s not even room to swing a cat but with close transport links to Shinjuku, it may be just right for you!

Booking.com Apartment – £80.50 a night / £40.25

Book Tea Bed Ginza – £30.50 each

Book lover? Sleep amongst your favourite stories! How cool is that?!

Kyoto

The Millennials – £43.33 a night each

One of my most fave places I’ve ever stayed! It’s a pod hotel – but high tech with boutique hotel vibes. And a free beer hour!

Check our my written review here, or watch the video here.

Urban Hotel Kyoto – £77.67 a night / £38.84 each

The Celecton Kyoto Horikawa Sanjo – £65.66 a night / £32.83 each

Airbnb – £64.66 a night / £32.33 each

Not used Airbnb before? Get £25 off your first stay here!

Set in a hillside artist residence, you’re slightly out of the city and amongst Kyoto’s beautiful greenery here! But don’t worry, it doesn’t take long to travel central (they also have free bikes!)

Hiroshima

We didn’t go to Hiroshima but I wished we’d cut our Osaka trip slightly shorter to include it so that’s why it’s here.

WeBase Hiroshima – £64 a night / £32 each
Psst – remember to sign in to your account, you may get a cheaper price!

Nest Hiroshima – £79.50 a night / £39.75 each
Psst – remember to sign in to your account, you may get a cheaper price!

Airbnb – £62.50 a night / £31.25 each

Not used Airbnb before? Get £25 off your first stay here!

Osaka

Sonezaki Luxe Hotel – £71 a night / £35.50 each

Airbnb – £45 a night / £22.50 each

Airbnb – £59 a night / £29.50 each

PHEW!

So much for only choosing one hotline a week to save time – I think that was the most epic holiday search I’ve ever done!!

But I hope it goes to prove that Japan definitely can be done on a budget EVEN when the flights are coming through pricey.

I hope that helps Amy and whoever else is planning a Japanese getaway!

Wanna say thanks?

If I’ve helped you out, or you fancy getting access to more perks (and more holiday hotlines!) then you can also support me over on Patreon for the price of a really average coffee once a month.

Also, make sure you’re following me over on Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.

Want my help?

To be in with a chance of getting your request selected, make sure you’re following me on Instagram where I’ll give you a weekly reminder to get your request in.

Until next time!

I have used some affiliate links throughout this article. They don’t charge you more, but if you book through them you’ll be helping me to continue my cheap travel booking hobbies. TA PALS!

cheap christmas market weekends that are STILL available from all over the UK

How is it the end of November already?

And HOW do I not have a European Christmas Market trip not booked in yet?

Madness.

Let’s see what we can rustle up for some last minute cheap weekend trips away this December.

Either scroll on through or click on the trips that interest you:

All prices are based on flights and two people sharing a room.

TOULOUSE

from £59.50pp for 2 nights

Set in their impressive Place du Capitole, expect the traditional style huts bearing the customary toys, candles and local woodcrafts.

FLIGHTS

London – Toulouse
Fri 6th Dec – Sun 8th Dec – from £24 return

You can also fly from Bristol for £64 return

Psst – There’s also flights from London between 13th – 15th for only £44 return

ACCOMMODATION

At just £67.50 a night for a well rated 4 star hotel, Hôtel de Brienne is a great shout!

Want cheaper? The Aparthotel Adagio across the river is just £35.50 a night or this cute Airbnb works out at £50 a night.

Remember, if you haven’t used Airbnb before you can get money off your first stay here!

POZNAN

from £107.49pp for 3 nights

https://www.instagram.com/p/BrK6eaYA3PX/

Listed as this year’s 6th best European Christmas market, Poznan ticks all the boxes for a magical festive experience but also if you’re there on the 7th and 8th December, you’ll also experience their amazing Ice Festival where sculptors come together to compete in the streets!

FLIGHTS

London to Poznan
Fri 6th Dec – Mon 9th Dec – from £66 return

Yes, the flights are EARLY (the evening flight with Ryanair costs A LOT more!) but think of how much festive cheer you can cram in? I’ve gone for the return on the Monday morning as it allows you more time to explore the city but you can return early on the Sunday for just £46 return.

ACCOMMODATION

This super central Airbnb works out at just £36.67 a night.

Travelling as mates? This twin bed studio will only cost you £35 a night and if you don’t mind the 40 min walk central, this modern studio is only £27.66 a night!

Remember, if you haven’t used Airbnb before you can get money off your first stay here!

BRUSSELS

from £106.50pp for 2 nights

Another from the top ten Christmas Markets is Brussels! Their ‘Winter Wonders’ gets 2.5 million visitors a year and has markets, an ice rink and a huge Christmas tree in the square.

FLIGHTS

Edinburgh to Brussels
Fri 13th Dec – Sun 15th Dec – from £62 return.

Though you can fly into and out of the main airport for just £67 return.

You can also fly direct from London from £127 and from Manchester from £176 return.

ACCOMMODATION

Currently under offer thanks to Black Friday and Cyber Monday, this 4 star hotel – The President Brussels Hotel – has rooms from just £72.86 a night.

Plus, it’s just a 20 min walk from the Christmas markets!

Top Tip: Be sure to click on ‘rooms’ rather than ‘packages’ to get this deal.

Want to stay somewhere cheaper? A private room woth ensuite in Hostel Galia is £56 a night and this simple £44.50 a night Airbnb is a 40 min walk or a 15 min public transport journey away from the markets.

Remember, if you haven’t used Airbnb before you can get money off your first stay here!

BASEL

from £158pp for 2 nights

Okay, it may not be the cheapest once you’re there but if you’re gagging to see some snow, you’re not too far from the Alps here! Placing #15 on the best Christmas Markets, Basel is known as the Switzerland’s biggest and most beautiful Christmas city.

FLIGHTS

Manchester to Basel
Fri 6th Dec – Sun 8th Dec – £78 return

What great timed flights!

There’s also some great times from London for £97 return.

ACCOMMODATION

Top tip: You get a free Baselcard when you check in to a hotel in Basel which offers discounts on local attractions. More importantly it also gives you unlimited public transport in the city and to the airport as well. If your hotel reservation is marked ‘mobility ticket’, you can use this to travel from the airport to your hotel. More information is here.

Hotel Stücki is a really well rated 3 star hotel that’s a mile from the historic old town where the Christmas festivities take place! For Switzerland it really isn’t bad for £80.90 a night.

SEVILLE

from £78.50pp for 3 nights

With average temperatures in December coming in at 17 degrees, you may think Seville is a bizarre choice yet it was voted amongst the Best Sunny Christmas Markets in Europe and was visitors top market in Spain last year. Expect traditional style markets, an ice rink and delicious food, of course!

FLIGHTS

You can fly Fri – sun from London from £83 return and from Manchester for £122 return but I wanted to shine a light on this amazing deal instead.

Bristol to Seville
Fri 13th Dec – Mon 16th Dec – £20 return

What a bargain!

ACCOMMODATION

Okay stop.

WHY IS SEVILLE SO DAMN CHEAP FOR GORGEOUS HOTELS?

LET’S ALL GO TO SEVILLE.

A room at the 4 star One Shot Palacio Conde de Torrejón 09 (mouthfull or what?) comes in at just £64.66 a night.

Lush.

This cute Airbnb is just £57 a night and if you want to keep it really cheap, this one bedroom Airbnb is only £39 a night (the reviews are amazing, I just think they need better photos!!).

If I’ve helped you out, why not pay back the love by sponsoring me over on Patreon? It costs less than the price of a coffee a month (especially if you like fancy ones!) and means that I get to do more of this.

You can also help me out by following me on Instagram, Twitter and subscribing on YouTube.

And as always – remember to tell me where you end up going so I can holiday vicariously through you all!

I have used some affiliate links throughout this article. They don’t charge you more, but if you book through them you’ll be helping me to continue my cheap travel booking hobbies.

British Airways Flash Sale – Verona and Nice for just £24

Oh yes, two of my favourite words.

Flash sale.

Today, British Airways have announced a flash sale on flights to and from London Gatwick. They’ve got over 200,000 seats up for grabs for £30 or less each way based on a return fare for journeys until 29th March 2020.

So, what have they got on offer?

Nice from £47 return

I cannot think of this place without recalling a VERY OLD episode of BBC’s ‘Wish You Were Here’ where he visiting and repeated the line ‘Nice is nice‘.

Just googled. That episode was on in 1999.

Christ alive.

ANYWAY.

You can find your own deals here, or perhaps some of these work for you?

Click to book!

Verona from £47 return

Home of star crossed lovers, Romeo and Juliet, Verona holds many charms beyond its links to Shakespeare.

You can find your own deals here, or perhaps some of these work for you?

Click to book!

Amsterdam from £52 return

I can’t believe I STILL haven’t been to Amsterdam on holiday and for this price, it’s gonna be hard to say no. In fact… HAND ME MY PURSE.

You can find your own deals here, or perhaps some of these work for you?

Click to book!

There are loads more deals including:

Make sure you book by Tuesday 5th November and as always, let me know where you decide to go!

Like going away for less? Come join me over on Instagram, YouTube and Twitter for even more cheap holiday tips, tricks and travel hacks.

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how to book cheap october sun holidays after the closure of thomas cook

Once a month I join Penny Smith on talkRADIO to chat all things cheap holidays and this time, following the news of Thomas Cook going under, I’ll be sharing where’s still cheap to fly to this October for sunshine.

Before I share my top picks, here’s some general tips to take on board when looking for yourself:

  • Avoid traditional October sun holidays (unless they’re well served by multiple airlines)

Due to Thomas Cook going bust, the demand for these destinations has sky rocketed as people try to rebook holidays and flights have been cancelled. Therefore, I’d actually avoid the usual suspects of The Canary Islands and Turkey as right now, the flights are much more than you’d normally pay.

  • Check Thomas Cook’s destination list to find places that haven’t been affected by their closure

From a quick look at their destination list, I can see that they served a lot of resorts and therefore a warm city break may be a better option this Autumn.

  • If you’re desperate for a traditional destination, check one stop flights

Need to get to Turkey, or got your heart set on the Canaries? Make sure you’ve unclicked ‘direct flights’ as there’s still some deals to be had for flights that have one stop.

  • Or hold off until November

I’ve started to see some less inflated prices start to creep back in November, so there’s always the option to hold off – if you can bear it!

  • Look at other airports in the same area you want to get to

For example, if your holiday to Orlando has fallen through, or prices are just too expensive now, try Miami instead.

Miami is seeing some of the cheapest flights in the next month or so (hello return flights for £255) and being just a 3.5 hour drive from Orlando, it could be a way to do the beach AND the theme parks.

  • Check to see if you’re getting a good deal on your flight

There’s a really easy way check if the flight you’ve found is more expensive than usual by using Google Flights.

Once you’ve selected your flight, it will bring up a bar that shows you where the price sits.

As you can see, Tenerife isn’t looking too cheap this October!

Right, let’s plough on with where I recommend!

Algarve, Portugal

There’s a reason why four million visitors are drawn to the Algarve each year. Be it golden beaches, fresh seafood or a spot of golf, Portugal’s southernmost region has a lot to offer.

What’s the weather going to be like?

Algarve in October
14°C / 25°C
7 hours of sunshine
8 days of rain

At time of posting, the weather forecast until the 10th October is looking LUSH!

Where do I fly into?

Faro airport is well located as you can reach most resorts in the Algarve within an hour. What’s more, seventeen UK airports fly there direct so it’s a great option for everybody!

Any good flight deals this October?

Sat 12th Oct – Fri 18th Oct
London to Faro
From £54

Sun 13th Oct – Thurs 17th Oct
Bristol to Faro
From £101

Mon 21st – Mon 28th Oct
Cardiff to Faro
From £134

Where should I stay?

There are plenty or resorts along the coast for a range of different holiday needs.

If you’re after somewhere with lots to do, try Lagos, Albufeira or Praia da Rocha.

If you’re hoping for more of a chill out, try Tavira, Alvor or Praia da Luz – or just scour Airbnb for a remote villa!

How expensive is it once we’re there?

Average costs in the Algarve
Domestic beer – £1.77
Cappuccino – £1.17
Three course meal for 2 in a mid range restaurant – £26.58
One way local transportation ticket – £3.54

Click here to find out more costs.

Any other tips?

On arriving in Faro, most people go west up the coast but there are also options going East.

Twice, I’ve stayed in the small fishing town of Olhão which, when I told a Portuguese friend they pulled a face and went ‘but nobody goes on holiday there?!’ – which is exactly what we wanted!

Just 25 minutes away from the airport, we absolutely loved the early trips to the fish and fruit markets, buying pasteis de nata from the tiny bakeries and getting a ferry out to the beaches!

Oh, and buying bottles of Mateus for £3 a pop.

I do believe it’s become a bit more of a go to destination since I last went in 2015, but it will still be a lot quieter than the resort towns!

Madrid, Spain

Once known as Barcelona’s ‘boring sibling’, the Spanish capital has upped its game as a food and drink destination with a great arts scene. What’s more, with travellers often opting for other Spanish cities, you’ll find that this capital is more affordable than others across Europe.

What’s the weather going to be like?

Madrid in October
9°C / 21°C
6 hours of sunshine
10 days of rain

However, at time of posting, the weather forecast until the 10th October is looking SO GOOD. Mid twenties and sunny every damn day.

Where do I fly into?

Madrid Barajas International Airport which is 8 miles from the city centre. The airport has buses, trains, taxis and even a metro so getting where you need to be is super easy – and super affordable.

Any good flight deals this October?

So many. Get on Skyscanner and in the dates section, select ‘October’ to see a full range of cheap, cheap prices.

Sat 5th Oct – Sat 12th Oct
London to Madrid
From £54

Tues 22nd – Sun 27th Oct
Birmingham to Madrid
From £58

Weds 16th -Sun 20th Oct
Liverpool to Madrid
From £80

Where should I stay?

Want to hit the city but still get a feel for a late summer break? Search for a hotel with an outdoor pool to allow you to have the best of both worlds!

The H10 Puerta de Alcalá has a gorgeous roof top pool with upcoming rates from £96 a night.

Madrid also has so many great Airbnb options.

Here’s a great place which is still available between 8th – 11th October for just £60 a night!

You can get £25 off here if you haven’t used Airbnb before!

How expensive is it once we’re there?

Average costs in Madrid
Domestic beer – £2.66
Cappuccino – £1.54
Three course meal for 2 in a mid range restaurant – £35.44
One way local transportation ticket – £1.33

Click here to find out more costs.

Any other tips?

Away for a few nights? Why not split your stay between an affordable Airbnb that allows you to splash out on a hotel the last two nights? It’s such a good way to end a holiday!

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Lots of fun recording a World Service doc in Madrid this week 🎤👤👂 Unfortunately didn’t get to see too much, but caught enough glimpses to persuade me to revisit in the future🤞 Here’s my thoughts: ✈️ Very cheap flights from the UK (mine were 30€ return booked 3 weeks ago) 🚇 40 min metro into the city centre – and only 3€ on top of your standard fare 💳 10 tickets for the metro work out at just 1,20€ each – very cheap for such an efficient and wide reaching service 🏠 One bed Airbnb apartment, 1 min from Bilbao metro, cost £62 a night and was really nice! Small room in a 3 star hotel was around the same price. 🍤 Great seafood – and great tapas too! So many restaurants to choose between with really affordable prices (shout-out to the lunchtime Menu Del Dia where I got paella, chicken, wine and pudding for 11€!!!) 🍷 Wine on most menus started around 3€ – and I wasn’t intentionally choosing cheap places 😊 Really relaxed vibe – found it more slow paced than Barcelona – and unlike other capital cities, locals are known for their friendliness! 🇪🇸 Speaking English is not a given. At all. But I see this as a perk. I really enjoyed trying out my VERY BASIC Spanish and everyone was so helpful, and we had a right laugh as they tried to teach me new phrases! ☀️ 13 degrees and blue skies in Jan? I will take that!! Have you been to Madrid? What did you reckon? Have my ‘glimpses’ steered me wrong?!! #travel #instatravel #travelgram #wanderlust #citybreak #cheapholiday #budgettravel #europe #madrid #spain #visitspain #visitmadrid #radio #producer #picoftheday

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Malta

Brimming with history, explore this archipelago in the central Mediterranean by witnessing its jewel like depths and visiting its numerous fortresses and megalithic temples.

What’s the weather going to be like?

Malta in October
22°C / 25°C
7 hours of sunshine
9 days of rain

Again, at the time of posting, the weather is looking great over the next two weeks!

Where do I fly into?

Malta International Airport. There are express buses and taxis available at the airport to take you wherever you need to go!

Any good flight deals this October?

Sat 19th Oct – Sat 26th Oct
Belfast to Luqa
From £63

Sat 5th Oct – Sat 12th Oct
London to Luqa
From £85

Tues 15th Oct – Tues 22nd Oct
Exeter to Luqa
From £87

Where should I stay?

Malta Uncovered has all the details when it comes to what resorts will work best for you.

The Kempinski Hotel San Lawrenz is a gorgeous 5 star hotel with rooms starting at £124 a night, which is great value for such a well rated hotel.

If you’re after something a bit kinder on the purse strings, how about the simple but stylish rooms at 115 The Strand Hotel and Suites? With rooms starting at £56 a night and overlooking the waterfront in popular Sliema, it ticks a lot of boxes for me!

How expensive is it once we’re there?

Average costs in Malta
Domestic beer – £2.21
Cappuccino – £1.77
Three course meal for 2 in a mid range restaurant – £48.73
One way local transportation ticket – £1.33

Click here to find out more costs.

Any other tips?

Every time I look the car hire in Malta is ridiculously cheap.

This is the cost for a week in October. That’s £5.42 a day.

I DON’T UNDERSTAND WHY?!

So why not make the most of the cheap prices and explore the whole island?

Found any of this useful? Come say hi over on Instagram where I share top travel tips on the regular.

I even host a weekly holiday hotline where I help find you getaways for less money!

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Spot James in my glasses 🕶 • 🌳 Loved wandering around the area of Kreuzberg with its markets, cafes and lush tree lined canal. • ☕️ If you’re heading that way, get yourself to Five Elephant for an exceptional coffee, followed up by a sweet treat from Brammibal’s Donut (they’re all vegan but you can’t tell!) 🍩 • Food wise, we went to town on Mexican Brunch at La Lucha (get the pulled pork tacos) and Zola Pizza next door is also supposed to be MINT 🍕 • Managed my first day of healthy eating post Berlin and writing that just then nearly killed me 😂😂😂 • 📸 @cumbrianjames • #berlin #germany #travel #tourist #instatravel #travelgram #kreuzberg #berlinfoodie #berlinfood #ootd

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Some of the links on this page are affiliated meaning I might make a small cut if you book using them. It doesn’t make the price more expensive for you, but it does help me run this site! So cheers pal!

holiday hotline #3 – summer in Ljubljana, European mini moons, £150 family accommodation, cosy UK stay, Dublin departures & Seville group stays

Once a week, I open up the holiday hotline to see what travel queries I can answer from you guys.

So let’s see what’s on the cards this week!

THE REQUEST: 3-5 nights in Ljubljana in July or August

Will got in touch and gave me the following brief:

  • Ljubljana
  • Flights & accommodation
  • July/August
  • 3-5 nights
  • Based in Shrewsbury but can fly from anywhere

Slovenia’s capital, Ljubljana, is getting some real traction at the moment and with the average cost of a pint coming in at £2.20, I CAN SEE WHY!

There’s lots to see and do in the city and you’re also not too far from the devastatingly beautiful Lake Bled!

Flights

Since Will is coming from Shrewsbury, his nearest airports are Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield and Birmingham. Unfortunately, only Manchester flies direct and DAMN it’s expensive (and only once a week). However, I have found a couple of cheap one stop options from Manchester – albeit with lengthy layovers in Brussels.

£108

£125

However, the best prices for direct are – you guessed it – from London.

3 night trips

London to Ljubljana
Fri 16th Aug – Mon 19th Aug
£112

London to Ljubljana
Sun 14th July – Weds 17th July
£98

4 night trips

London to Ljubljana
Mon 15th July – Fri 19th July
£103

Top tip: Skyscanner has a great calendar view that normally shows really easily the cost of a return flight, HOWEVER, it was not playing ball with this combination and kept showing up blank dates.

Therefore, I headed over to Google Flights instead which was much clearer in its prices.

It’s a great tool, just once you find the cheapest option, do check the dates on Skyscanner and Momondo once more to check you’re getting the best price.

For Will’s query, I’m going to go for the 3 night trip between Sun 14th July – Weds 17th July for £98.

Let’s crack on with the accommodation!

Accommodation

First of all, let’s take a look at a central apartment.

With Airbnb, the average entire home is coming in around £103 but I’ve found this cute and well rated studio for just £73 a night.

Airbnb
£219 total for 3 nights
(you can get £25 off here if you haven’t used Airbnb before!)

If he fancies something lighter, brighter and with a balcony, I also found this home for £85 a night.

Airbnb
£255 total for 3 nights
(you can get £25 off here if you haven’t used Airbnb before!)

There’s also two separate beds should he be travelling with someone he’d rather not share a bed with 😂

Lastly, let’s have a quick look at hotels.

As always, I recommend hopping over to trivago and using the filters to help narrow down your results. For this, I’m selecting 3 star+, a guest rating of 7.5+ and near the city centre.

Quickly I found the 4 star Grand Hotel Union which is super central, extremely well rated and £97 a night including free breakfast.

Grand Hotel Union
£291 total for 3 nights

Another great find is this 4 star hotel that’s just £78 a night and even includes breakfast.

Central Hotel
£234 for 3 nights

However, if Will’s wanting to keep the budget small, there’s also this super affordable option which is just 850 yards from the old town, is very well rated and is just £53.33 a night.

AURA Guesthouse Ljubljana
£160 for 3 nights

This means that this 3 night getaway could cost Will and his travel partner as little as £178 each – not too shabby, eh?

THE REQUEST: September mini moon with beautiful views

Joanne asked for:

  • Mini moon
  • September
  • Beautiful views
  • Nice food
  • Europe

I’ve been lusting after this hotel for AGES so please Joanne, go live out my dreams for me!!

Gillham Vineyard Hotel
Cyprus
Adults only (the mini moon dream????!)
Rates start from £114.47 and come with breakfast and a bottle of wine
Half board options are also available

The restaurant on site is great, and you’re not too far to head out in a hire car to explore what other foodie options Cyprus has to offer! I’d recommend looking at the Rose Suites which come with their own balcony overlooking the vineyard – and the great news is that they’re not even the most expensive type of room!

THE REQUEST: Family accommodation for £150 total in school holidays

So this next one for Abbie is TOUGH! She’s after:

  • Between 25th July – 31st August
  • 3-7 days
  • 2 adults and 2 kids
  • £150 all in

I tried using Ryanair’s fare finder but the closest cheap flight I could find in this date range was £33.80 return to Dortmund in Germany which would have only left £14 for the accommodation…

So it looks like it’s going to be a UK stay!

Whilst this is a super tight budget, the good thing is that you can search ‘United Kingdom’ on Airbnb and then bring down your budget.

I’ve popped in £50 a night and here’s what I’ve found that wasn’t a tent in a field (honestly way too many of them on Airbnb???)

Airbnb – 2 double rooms
Tillicoultry – 20 min drive from Stirling, Scotland
£46 a night
(you can get £25 off here if you haven’t used Airbnb before!)

Airbnb – 2 double rooms
Blantyre – 20 min drive from Glasgow, Scotland
£46 a night
(you can get £25 off here if you haven’t used Airbnb before!)

Whilst this one has no reviews yet, this is a great way to bag a place for a cheaper price as the cost is usually low as they try to get their first bookings!

Another great website to try searching is hometogo which is the world’s largest holiday rental search engine.

Unfortunately there wasn’t anything available coming in at under £50 a night – but it’s definitely one worth checking in the future if you’re after an apartment or villa. Airbnb is not the only option!

My last search was on trivago as it could be that we could swipe a family room for a good price!

Holiday Inn Aberdeen West
Aberdeen, Scotland
Queen room with sofa bed
£43 a night

Hampton By Hilton
Aberdeen, Scotland
Family room with free breakfast
£50 a night

Holiday Inn Express Stafford
Stafford, England
Family room with free breakfast
£54 a night

Okay, perhaps Aberdeen and Stafford aren’t the most ‘traditional’ holiday destinations, but both would serve a great base for exploring the area!

CURVEBALL

Now these don’t work for the exact dates but house sitting can mean totally free accommodation so if you wanted to get out of the UK, this may be a good option to look into.

I’ve used Nomador twice before (it’s free to sign up and message three owners) and from a quick peruse I’ve found two housesits in France that could work a treat. One even has its own pool!

Normandy housesit with pool – 20th July – 27th July

Parisian apartment – 25th July to 5th Aug

Here’s all my tips on bagging that free house sit!

THE REQUEST: One night cosy UK stay for cheap

This one comes from Roushan who’s after:

  • End of July
  • One night
  • Easy to get to from London
  • Cosy to chill in
  • Super cheap!

If you’re after super cheap, a really good place to look for a cute place is definitely Airbnb as you’re likely to get much more space for your money – and if you’re lucky, you may get an additional living room space to chill out in.

To help narrow down the search, I’ve decided to look for Saturday 27th July 2019:

Airbnb – Farm Home Annex
Stanton near Bury St Edmunds – 1 hr 47 mins drive from London
£49 a night
(you can get £25 off here if you haven’t used Airbnb before!)

B&B in Georgian House
Wymondham near Norwich – 2 hour drive from London
£65 a night
(you can get £25 off here if you haven’t used Airbnb before!)

Airbnb – Studio flat
Thorpe Langton – cute village in Leicestershire – 2 hour drive from London
£64 a night
(you can get £25 off here if you haven’t used Airbnb before!)

Whilst the next options aren’t quite as cheap, they’re much closer to London and they also tick the ‘couples break’ box really well as they both feature on Mr and Mrs Smith – a hotel site that compiles chic stays for romantic getaways.

Aviator
Farnborough – 1 hour 30 mins drive from London
Views across their private airfield
£105 a night

And finally, I’m adding in this one because you can get there via the overground from London meaning you’ll cut down significantly on your travel costs.

The Crown Hotel
Amersham – Zone 6 on Metropolitan Line (peak – £7 / off peak = £4.10)
This was the inn from Four Weddings and a Funeral!
£122 a night

I’ve stayed at this place before and it just serves up so many country pub vibes. I loved it!

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📣NOT AN ADVERT📣 👑 I spotted the @crownamersham on @smithhotels a couple of years ago and was totally enamoured by the English countryside vibes 🖼, the reasonable price (for a boutique hotel!) 💷 and the fact you can get the tube there!! 🚇 (£4.10 transport to a night away? Yes please). With cosy interiors, an open fire and a well stocked bar, it worked a treat for our mate Max’s birthday getaway 🎂 Oh and romcom fans, they filmed Four Weddings and a Funeral here too! 🎞 💐 👰 ⚰️ We paid £106 for a standard room on a Saturday – obviously I found a £25 voucher online 😂 – which came with a cooked breakfast in the morning 🍳 This room here, however, is the Courtyard Suite because we got a FREE UPGRADE 💅🏻💅🏻💅🏻 Mr and Mrs Smith do currently have rooms listed from £86.40 a night and there’s even an offer on for 2 nights for the price of one for non-Saturday stays until the end of March 🎉 BARGAIN. I also just saw another code for £25 off @smithhotels – LEDASTRAY – so give that whirl if you’re booking before 31st Jan – it should even work for the 2 for 1 deal! 💳 As per, this is #notanad, I just liked it 😊 #travel #instatravel #travelgram #cheaptravel #london #amersham #thecrownamersham #thecrownhotel #weekendbreak #englishcountryside #openfire

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Not quite as close for Roushan but still worth sharing are:

Airbnb – Private Room
South Yorkshire
£35 a night

Airbnb – Private guesthouse
Derbyshire
£58 a night

THE REQUEST: Edinburgh to Tokyo trip in April 2020

Liam wanted:

  • Edinburgh to Tokyo
  • April 2020
  • 1 week

Whilst I’ve ran out of time to plan Liam’s whole trip for him, I can recommend staying at The Millennials pod hotel. IT’S AMAZING!

I did a full review with pictures about my stay in their Kyoto hotel and it was just such a good experience.

The Millennials Shibuya
Tokyo
Upcoming rates from £45 a night

You can also watch how our stay went down for yourself!

REQUEST: Hot summer holiday from Dublin

Viv has asked for:

  • Dublin to anywhere cheap af
  • Touristy
  • Flight out Weds
  • July or Aug
  • Warm please

Here’s some flights that might help you on your way, Viv. Lisbon is one of my FAVOURITE cities and it’s really affordable, especially for a capital.

The same goes for Madrid – check out last week’s hotline where I spoke about this more in full!

Palma in Majorca is more of the ‘touristy’ vibe you may be after and if you find yourself your own villa, you could save so much money on food and drink across the week.

Dublin to Lisbon
£88

Dublin to Lisbon
£73

Dublin to Lisbon
£82

Dublin to Madrid
£55

Dublin to Palma
£73

REQUEST: Seville rental for group stay

Sean’s off to Seville with his mates and has already bagged himself some cheap flights. So what does he need?

  • Accommodation for 4 people
  • 5 nights between 4th – 9th Sep
  • 3 beds – no sofa beds
  • Kitsch vibe

This was actually a lot harder than I thought it would be, but here are some great value options that I rustled up:

City Centre Sevilla ARCO MACARENA
£543 total – £135.75 each

This apartment currently doesn’t have many reviews so maybe it’s worth enquiring and asking if they have any more reviews (they may have this listed elsewhere!) before booking. However, what they lack in reviews they make up for in PRICE!

Airbnb
£565 total – £141.65 each
(you can get £25 off here if you haven’t used Airbnb before!)

And whilst the next one would cost £314 each, I couldn’t resist click on this place 😍😍😍

Luxury loft with pool in Seville centre
£1259 total – £314.75 each

And because I couldn’t resist, I did two quick ones on insta as well:

London – Lisbon
Thurs 8th Aug – Sun 11th Aug
£201

And the great news is that unlike Ryanair and Wizzair, TAP still allows 8kg for hand luggage (55x40x20), as well as an additional small personal item- such as a handbag – up to 2kg.

Accommodation wise, Amy was looking for somewhere lux for her and her girls (and didn’t mind paying for the pleasure) so I recommend getting on trivago, whacking in 5 stars and seeing what she can find in budget. I’m also a big fan on the Telegraph’s best hotel lists.

But if their own places is what they’re after, these options are pretty nice too!

Designer Penthouse Apartment
4 bedrooms – 5 bathrooms
£665 a night – £332.50 total each

I initially found this as one of Airbnb’s ‘plus’ range (‘hand picked high quality homes known for great reviews) yet I actually found it on tripadvisor for £400 cheaper across 3 days! (Always shop around!!)

Stylish apartment with terrace
5 bedrooms – 3 bathrooms
£527 a night – £263.50 total each

Lastly, Abi asked about car insurance and my tips are always:

  • Compare costs on Skyscanner
  • Check if local firms are cheaper (you may need to use Google Translate for this!)
  • When chosen, opt for the basic insurance package
  • Buy additional excess insurance from moneymaxim separately – you will save a FORTUNE and it’s fully endorsed by Martin Lewis and his crew
  • We saved £54 by doing this on a recent 4 day car hire in Croatia!

THAT’S A WRAP!

Again, so sorry if I didn’t get around to your request but I hope the above may have given you some tips or offered some general holiday inspo that you may be able to use in the future.

Make sure to give me a follow on Instagram if you want to be involved in the next one – and let me know if you end up booking any of these!

Let’s end with a photo of me drunk, sat in a basket from my holiday in Croatia last week.

Lovely.

I have used affiliate links throughout this article. They don’t charge you more, but if you book through them you’ll be helping me to continue my cheap travel booking hobbies. For full transparency, I earn about 10p if you book a flight through a link 🤣

holiday hotline #2 – aug bank holiday getaways, manchester to barcelona, scottish road trips and cheap new york accommodation

Following the success of. the first holiday hotline (Will is currently planning his trip to Jordan – wahey!) I thought I’d get back on the search to find someone else a proper great holiday for less.

Make sure you’re following me on Instagram so that you know when the next hotline is live!

THE REQUEST: August bank holiday birthday fun – 4 days – somewhere hot

So, this week’s main hotline request comes in from Vicky who’s wanting a getaway over the August bank holiday as it’s her birthday that Friday and her work give her the DAY OFF – what a perk!

Heres what she’s after:

  • Ideally leave on evening of Thurs 22nd Aug
  • 4 days but could take more time off
  • Somewhere hot
  • Going with someone so can share a room

So, where are we going?

Looking at Thursday eve – Monday, there were plenty of options under £50 (including Cologne, Copenhagen, Oslo and Gothenburg) yet none were really giving that ‘hot’ vibe that Vicky was hoping to get.

Unfortunately, flights to warmer destinations such as Lisbon (one of my faves) were starting at £150 so I made the decision to change the return date to Tuesday 27th August instead.

London to Madrid
Thurs 22nd Aug – Tues 27th Aug
£84
(there’s also a flight back at 1310 for £94)

Why Madrid?

As the Spanish capital, there’s so much to see and do but having visited recently, I was really enamoured by the fact that it didn’t come with big city price tag.

With many menu del dia’s (three course lunches with wine – HALLOH) costing less than €10 and €1,20 rides on their well linked metro system, you’ll find that your money goes pretty far in this capital city.

Toledo

As well, with its brilliant connections, you can easily get a train out of the city and visit the UNESCO sites of Toledo and Salamanca, or how about a day trip to Madrid’s Wine Country?

As for the weather, Madrid in the summer gets HOT and August hits an average of 31 degrees – there’s a siesta for a reason. Which is why I think it’s important to find Vicky a hotel with not only some decent air con, but also some outdoor space and maybe, if we’re lucky, a pool.

Where are we staying then?

For this, I simply hopped on trivago and changed my filters to include:

  • Up to £100 a night
  • 3-5 star
  • Guest rating 7.5+
  • City centre location
  • With pool (fingers crossed)

With trivago, I always leave a bit of wiggle room with the price because annoyingly, they only filter based on the price they offer you in bold which is not always the cheapest price out there. That can be found by clicking on ‘more deals’.

Always click on ‘more deals’ for the best price

So, as you can see above, if we’d been looking for a room that cost £85 or less, this option wouldn’t have come up.

SNEAKY.

As Vicky will be staying 5 nights, I’m going to try and find a place around £80 a night so that she and her travel partner aren’t going to be spending more than £200 on accommodation each.

Option 1

Axel Hotel Madrid
£82 a night (£41 each)

  • 4 star with cool, quirky style
  • Very highly rated
  • Rooftop pool and terrace
  • Air con in every room
  • Adults only (no offence kids but HELL YEAH!)
  • Bizarrely would cost you £187 a night if you booked direct
  • Better photos can be found here (Booking.com always create such good picture galleries!)

I wouldn’t have picked up on this at all had I not checked out their own site, but Axel Hotels are a chain that focus on the LGBTIQ+ community who are proudly heterofriendly! They welcome everyone, no matter their sexual orientation, without prejudice which I think is a great business to support.

Option 2

H10 Puerta de Alcalá
£87 a night (£43.50 each)

  • 4 star with super chic decor
  • Very well rated
  • Incredible rooftop pool and terrace (H10 always NAIL this)
  • Air con
  • Again, you can peruse a better photo gallery (in my opinion) here

Option 3

Airbnb – Duplex with terrace in Central Madrid
£74.40 a night (£37.20 each)
(you can get £25 off here if you haven’t used Airbnb before!)

  • Well rated with great reviews
  • Okay so NO POOL – but you do have your own cute terrace
  • The sofa bed means that two adults could have a bed each
  • Air conditioning
  • A kitchen with everything you could need to help you save money on food whilst in Madrid

So how much is this costing?

Based on going with the cheaper hotel, this 5 night birthday getaway will set Vicky back £289.

Which for a long capital city break across a popular bank holiday staying in a well rated, central hotel with a pool seems a pretty good deal to me.

I hope you have the best birthday holiday EVER, Vicky!

Any time for a few more requests?

Sure, let’s razz through a few more.

THE REQUEST: Venice – August bank holiday weekend

You lot are mad for your bank holiday getaways it seems!

Flights to Venice are not cheap but the best deal I could find was flying out later on the Friday and coming back early on the Tuesday morning.

London to Venice
Fri 23rd Aug – Tues 27th Aug
£126

If you can get the time off, you can also fly back on the Tues at 2125 for £134.

Venice isn’t necessarily the cheapest destination and is already pretty booked up that weekend but there’s still some decent deals to be had!

Airbnb – Sky Tower Suite
£65.67 a night (£32.84 each)
(you can get £25 off here if you haven’t used Airbnb before!)

In the same building as a hotel, what it lacks in personality it makes up for with its clean, practical and low cost. The hotel reception also means you can check in 24/7 and you’re just a 10 minute bus from the historic centre of Venice.

Airbnb – Venetian Bridge Private Room
£81.67 a night (£40.84 each)
(you can get £25 off here if you haven’t used Airbnb before!)

Hurrah, we’ve made it over to the main island but it does mean we’ll have to stay in a private room… But it’s a very cute one if that helps?!

Hotel Pausania
£108.33 a night + €21 on check in (£57.17 each)

If you want to be super central, get ready for some proper OLD SKOOL ITALIAN DECOR! Which I personally love. This place is 3 star, well rated and really close to many of Venice’s historic monuments.

THE REQUEST: Barcelona – September. About £500 all in. 3 people from Manchester.

Now this didn’t say how many days, so I’ve gone for a cheeky little long weekend getaway for you!

Manchester to Barcelona
Fri 6th Sep – Mon 9th Sep
£59 each

The Bicycle Apartments
£124.66 a night (£41.50 each)

As I wasn’t sure on what formation the 3 adults would need to sleep in, The Bicycle Apartments have a range of options that would work and if you can stretch to the Design Duplex at £55 a night each, you can all get a double bed!

An 11 min walk from Plaça d’Espanya and has plenty of transport options in its midst.

Total cost = £183.50 each leaving plenty of money for food and fun!

Went went to Barcelona last year and managed to bag ourselves an INSANE apartment for next to nothing so you could try giving Love Home Swap a try too!

THE REQUEST: Booked flights to NYC for 30th November – 5th December… Now to find a hotel? Under £700 please!
Where better to enjoy the New York skyline than in Brooklyn?!

Ah yes. New York accommodation. It’s never fun 🤣

Now, there are some options in Manhattan for around £140 a night but they are – pardon my French – absolute horse shit. And I refuse to recommend anyone stay anywhere so crap!

So instead, I’m going to take us across the East River to Brooklyn. It has easy access over to Manhattan and is a place to visit and enjoy in its own right. In fact, it’s my favourite area of New York!

It’s also particularly helpful if you’re flying in from JFK as it’s the same side of the city.

Henry Norman Hotel – £684.28 total

  • Trendy 3.5 star hotel with excellent ratings
  • Greenpoint is another area that’s become a ‘hip’ place to visit in recent years
  • 11 min walk to the G line up to connect to then connect to either the L or the 7 across to Manhattan
  • Also, the hotel provides a shuttle to take you to nearby subway station

Hotel Le Jolie – £799 total

  • Basic (but with a modern edge) 2.5 star hotel
  • Very well rated
  • Williamsburg is an AMAZING part of Brooklyn – full of cool shops, cafes, bars and restaurants
  • Great location – just a 7 min walk from L line over to Manhattan (20 mins to Union Square)

Less nice but cheeeap, is the Bogart Hotel for £519 and much more expensive, but super lovely is the Hoxton Williamsburg for £933.

THE REQUEST: Mid August trip in Scotland. Ending in Glasgow. Car hire, beautiful roads & good value

Okay, there’s a lot to unpack here but here are my headlines:

  • Look into the North Coast 500 road trip. James and I did it in 6 days last summer and it was phenomenal
  • Whilst in many places you may have no choice, but always choose B&Bs over hotels. Much better value for money and the breakfasts are EPIC!!!! Check Airbnb too for B&Bs
  • For car hire, Skyscanner is great at giving an overview but also check Turo – it’s like Airbnb but for people’s cars!
  • Also, if you’re very lucky you may be able to relocate a campervan from Edinburgh for £1 A DAY with Spaceship Rentals! The only problem is you’ll probably have to return it to London… But hey, did I mention the £1 a day??!
  • We also ended our trip in Glasgow and went all out by staying at the Dakota hotel. It’s not cheap but we got their Friday night offer (can only be booked via their website) where we both got a cocktail, £25 each towards dinner, a cooked breakfast and a LUSH ROOM for £200 (£100 each). It was a total treat but I would absolutely recommend it, especially after a week of B&Bs!!
Dakota Glasgow
THE REQUEST: More drunk videos of James

Hahaha. We’re off to Croatia on Wednesday so I’m sure there will be more to come. But for now, skip to 37 seconds to keep you going.

This is from the FIRST VLOG I EVER MADE!!! #classicdrunkjames

So, thats it for the second every holiday hotline! I’m so sorry to all the people I didn’t get to – I do hope I can help you out in the future.

Make sure to give me a follow on Instagram if you want to be involved in the next – and let me know if you end up booking any of these!

holiday hotline #1 – solo travel, jordan hacks, dog friendly retreats and birthday fun in budapest

If you’re following me over on Instagram, you may already know that I’ve opened up shop and am taking your holiday requests once a week!

And in the first official ‘holiday hotline’, I had so many requests through that I literally could spend all week searching for getaways for you all.

Alas, I only had a couple of hours to properly research one meaty request and then I thought I’d give my fleeting thoughts to a few others as well.

All of this is over on my stories today and remember, if you’re after a holiday of your own, follow and get ready to submit your own request next time!

THE REQUEST: Perfect solo retreat in Europe first week of July

What a great first query to get stuck into!

Now, if I was planning a solo trip, I’d definitely want to spend some time chilling and enjoying my own company but then I know that I’d definitely get bored and want something or someone to entertain me a little. So what I’m going to suggest is a nice mix of the two.

Now, I’ve clocked the word ‘perfect’ here and thought SHIT THIS IS NOT AN ALL INCLUSIVE CALIPPO ON THE BEACH JOBBY. They want something special. So that’s exactly what I’m going to deliver.

So where are we going?

Well, here’s the flights:

London to Paphos
Sat 29th June – Sun 7th July
£121

Paphos is full of incredible food, archaeological sites, and road trips to beautiful beaches. Plus, at a whopping 4 hours 30 mins flight out there, it’s literally as far as you can get in Europe without hitting the middle east.

Speaking of which…

Paphos to Amman
Weds 3rd July – Sat 6th July
£30

YEH BOI. Not only are we doing Cyprus, but we’re gonna fly on over to Jordan. JUST COZ WE CAN.

Told you this was gonna be spesh.

The top tip here is that you can fly to Jordan from Cyprus for disgustingly cheap. In fact, flying Tuesday to Saturday will cost just £14 return, but the flights for Weds to Sat worked better for what I’ve got planned.

To put into perspective just how cheap these flights are, do you want to see how much it would cost to fly direct from London to Amman on the same dates?

VILE.

But before we get excited by Jordan, let’s get back to Cyprus to talk car hire and accommodation.

Car hire

Paphos and the surrounding area is definitely worth exploring so renting a car will help you to get out during the day if you don’t fancy just chilling at the pool.

The good news is car hire is super cheap at £35 for 4 days.

Paphos Accommodation

There are still so many options available for a whole range of budgets but given what’s coming up in Jordan, I think keeping it on the cheaper (but definitely still cheerful) side will help level out the costs later on.

Paphos Airbnb Studio
Sat 29th June – Weds 3rd July
£47.25 a night / £196 total
(you can get £25 off here if you haven’t used Airbnb before!)

This studio apartment is the perfect base. With a small kitchen, air conditioning, balcony and access to a shared pool, it ticks a lot of boxes.

You’re also just 700m from the sea and in easy access to sights, restaurants and nightlife. What’s more, you get access via a lockbox meaning you won’t be charged more for that late check in.

I was really impressed with how many options there were both in Paphos and the nearby area so here’s a few more if you’re interested:

Paphos Airbnb Private Room
£19 a night / £76 total

Tala Airbnb Apartment
£54.74 a night / £219 total

Kathikas Airbnb Entire Stone House
£83 a night / £334 total

Pissouri Airbnb Entire Villa w/Private Pool
£97.50 a night / £390 total

And if you fancied chilling out at a hotel instead, this 5 star option is very well priced considering… Well, considering it’s 5 star!

Azia Resort and Spa
£91 a night / £364.16 total

Next stop – Jordan!

The Wednesday is an early start back to the airport to embark on the next adventure.

Named as one of Lonely Planet’s ‘top places to travel in 2019’, now’s your chance to get ahead of the pack before it gets TOO popular.

Some of the most popular reasons to visit include ancient ruins in Petra, the epic desert wilderness of Wadi Rum and the incredible buoyancy of the Dead Sea.

Now, it’s absolutely possible to visit all three of these places from Amman yourself HOWEVER, as a solo traveller you won’t be able to split the cost of a hire car, hotel rooms or a tour guide, so I think this would be a great chance to embark on a group tour. It also gives you the chance to meet new people!

For our trip to Jordan, I’ve found a 4 day tour, that begins with a pickup at Amman airport. Given our early arrival, this also gives us time to explore the city for the day before we get on the road.

Across the next three days, we’ll explore the desert, Petra and visit the Dead Sea all before being brought back in time for our flight home on the Saturday.

The tour is £372 via Tour Radar and includes:

  • 3 star hotel accommodation for 3 nights (though you may well be sharing will a fellow group member)
  • Tour guide in Jordan (for min 5 persons)
  • 3 breakfasts & 2 dinners
  • All transportation and English speaking driver

Not included are your entrance fee to Petra ($60), tips and additional meals but for what works out as £93 a day, I think it’s exceptional value.

This particular tour worked really well for these dates but currently has only 1 review, so I’d definitely recommend chatting more to Tour Radar (they’re the middle man who sells on the tours) before you book. This 3 day tour has loads of great review but didn’t work as well for our dates.

Back to Paphos!

After an incredible four days of exploration, we’ll be ready to relax so for the last evening in Cyprus, I think it’s time to go ALL OUT and stay somewhere lush.

Staying a hotel will also help with that late flight the next day home as they’ll be able to keep hold of our luggage, and we should be able to still chill out by the pool all day should we want to!

Almyra
Sat 6th July – Sun 7th July
£129 a night with breakfast

As I said, I’m all about going cheaper at the beginning so you can stay the last evening in LUXURY.

This hotel is gorgeous. It even features on the Mr & Mrs Smith website which if you don’t know, is like a directory of bloody beautiful hotels. They don’t let any old muck on there.

However, if you’re hoping to spend a little less, there are plenty of other options including:

Azia Resort & Spa
£114 a night

St George Hotel
£76.96 a night

So how much for the whole trip?

Flights – £151
Paphos car hire – £35
Paphos Airbnb Accommodation – £196
Jordan 4 day tour – £372
Paphos luxury hotel – £129
Total = £883

It may not be a ‘budget trip’ but for the price, I think it’s pretty damn special (I TOLD YA SO!!)

What if I don’t have £883? Is there anywhere else you’d recommend?

Yes! For a solo trip I’d definitely recommend getting a cheap flight out to Germany (so many in July for under £60) and using their great train network to visit a few different cities.

Germany in the summer is gorgeous and thanks to the popularity of Europe’s interrail passes, many cities are so ready to embrace people travelling on their own.

Stay in trendy hostels for under £20 a night to meet new people and act as a base for exploring historical cities with GREAT BEER!

Now for a few quick requests.

THE REQUEST: 4 day Italian escape

I went to a wedding in Italy last year and flew into Perugia – a place I’d never heard of before but would definitely visit again.

Explore the beautiful city (and eat at La Taverna – INSANE FOOD!), hire a car and explore the Italian countryside – you’re not far from Tuscany either!

There’s loads of decently priced flight options but I found Fri 28th June – Tues 2nd July for £109 which is pretty good considering it’s the summer.

When I went, I stayed with three friends in this sweet apartment which is set in the grounds of a families LUSCIOUS garden. There’s just two or three other apartments so you often have the pool to yourself. It was GORGEOUS.

THE REQUEST: Can take our 20kg dog without a passport, no/few kids, nice accommodation, good nature

I stayed in dog-friendly The Gallivant right on the beach of Camber Sands in East Sussex last year and it is gorgeous.

With spa treatments, yoga on the beach and a great restaurant, it ticks all the boxes for a boutique getaway that feels like a treat.

What’s more, they only allow babies under 18 months and children over the age of 12.

Rates start at £115 a night and they even have a ‘dog lovers escape‘ deal which is £330 for two nights (Mon – Thurs in Sep-May) with breakfast, afternoon tea, a 3 course dinner, endless dog biscuits and a dog rug, toy and water in your room!

THE REQUEST: The best comparison site?

My go to is Skyscanner but I like to check Momondo for prices, particularly for long haul flights.

I also like Google Flights for spotting cheap fare patterns but then I’d always check the price against those mentioned above.

THE REQUEST: Villa in Portugal (Vilamoura are) for 8 adults, a 4 year old and 6 month old

Get on the ol’ Airbnb and my top tip is to not forget about the other websites too!

Hometogo is a handy website for comparing holiday rental sites (it saves you a hell of a lot of time!) – though unfortunately they don’t compare Airbnb!

Also, sites like Booking.com now offer apartments and villas so try searching there too.

THE REQUEST: Looking to go Copenhagen for 2 nights in Dec for 3 adults & 2 children

Manchester to Copenhagen
Fri 6th Dec – Sun 8th Dec
£69 each

Central Airbnb
£388 for 2 nights
(you can get £25 off here if you haven’t used Airbnb before!)

4* hotel – 1 x Superior Extra and 1 x Standard room
£555

1* hotel – 1 x Double Room + 2 extra beds and 1 x Single Standard room
£350

Make sure to visit Tivoli theme park – it’s beautiful at Christmas!!

THE REQUEST: Budapest in Nov for 40th birthday

Bristol to Budapest
Thurs 7th Nov – Sat 9th Nov
£68

You can also go for 5 nights, returning on Thursday 14th Nov for the same price!

Since you’re celebrating your 40th, it only seems right that you should stay somewhere nice. Both of these are great boutique hotel options!

Hotel Moments
£109 a night with breakfast

Brody House
£120 a night with breakfast

Right, that’s all for the first official holiday hotline!

Make sure to give me a follow on Instagram if you want to be involved in the next – and let me know if you end up booking any of these!

I have used affiliate links throughout this article. They don’t charge you more (in fact, I’ve put non-affiliate links where that’s the case), but if you book through them you’ll be helping me to continue my cheap travel booking hobbies. For full transparency, I make around 10p if you book a flight through one of my links so… Yeh. NO ONE’S GETTING RICH HERE PAL 😂

how to fly to the europa league 2019 final in Baku on a budget

First the mad scurry to get to the Champions League in Madrid and now both Chelsea and Arsenal have made it to the final in Baku on Wednesday 29th May 2019. Cue airfare meltdown.

Unfortunately, Baku isn’t going to be quite as easy as my deep dive into cheap ways to get to Spain. But let’s see what we can do here, pals.

Before I crack on, if you find that this helps you at all, feel free to help a gal out by giving me a follow on either YouTube, Instagram or Twitter and I promise even more top money saving tips when it comes to your future travel.

In this post, I’ll be exploring the following. Either scroll through or click on which bit applies to you:

  1. Where is Baku and will I need a visa?
  2. Direct flights from London from £604
  3. Cheapest 1+ stop flights from the UK from £451
  4. Fly from just £289 one way by DOING IT YOURSELF

First Things First

Where the bloody hell is Baku? And WILL I NEED A visa?

Baku is ‘the capital and commercial hub’ of Azerbaijan. A place I literally only know of due to their yearly inclusion in the Eurovision. But if they’re in Eurovision, surely we can all jump in our cars and embark on an epic road trip, right?

Ah, rigggghht.

I mean, if driving 60 hours is your kinda ‘thing’, then go for it pal. But just remember that you’ll need to get an eVisa sorted for scurrying through Turkey.

Speaking of visas, you will need an eVisa to get into Azerbaijan but fortunately, it’s a simple process that you can do over the internet that will set you back around £20. Make sure to select ‘Europa League Final’ in the ‘purpose of visit’ and give yourself at least three working days to get it sorted.

On to the flights…

DIRECT FLIGHTS FROM LONDON TO BAKU

This section should otherwise be named, ‘let’s all have a big laugh, shall we?’

Direct flights are as good as gone, unless you fancy a 12 day trip to Baku for £609 instead:

Seems a bit of a hassle.

The next best thing I could find was this weeklong schlep with one direct flight for a cool £764.

It is worth saying that airlines are obviously aware of the demand and so may put extra planes on. Sure, they’ll hike up the prices, but if you really need get there and back in a sharpish manner, it may be worth keeping an eye on Azerbaijan Airlines.

Anything cheaper?

CHEAPEST 1+ STOP FLIGHTS FROM LONDON

Remember – if you’re not flying direct, you may have to re-check your bag and even go through security again so make sure there’s enough time. My top tip would be to not check in any bags at all to make this as simple as possible for you.

Tues 28th May – Thurs 30th May

Let’s pause for a moment here to rinse our eyes out with bleach.

£1566 for a NOT EVEN DIRECT FLIGHT to Baku? Get a grip, love.

Unfortunately, these really are the cheapest flights you’re going to find that don’t involve 15+ hours with multiple transfer. But, because we don’t have many options here, let’s take a look at these too:

TOP TIP: when searching for a flight that needs to get me into somewhere for a certain time, I always search on Momondo as they allow you to filter by landing time.

Weds 29th May – Fri 31st May

With the game kicking off at 11pm Azerbaijan time (thanks to @Mattswfc1 for pointing this out on Twitter 🙈) the following flight might just work… But it would be tight!

Tues 28th May – Fri 31st May

One stop only is still a sickening mess at £1463:

Whack in a few more stops and you only need pay £704! WHAT A BARGAIN! (Please sense my intense sarcasm).

Tues 28th May – Sat 1st June

One stop from £1276:

Two stops from £695:

Can you tell I’m getting bored of the repetitive high prices yet? Okay, what’s it going to take to find a sub £500 ticket? WHAT IS IT GOING TO TAKE?!

Mon 27th May – Mon 3rd June

A week off and a change in Stuttgart, Ankara and Riga, that’s what!

And what about for a sub 10 hour leg and a sub £500 ticket?

Sun 26th May – Tues 4th June

Yeah. I couldn’t actually find one in the timeframe/lost the will to live. FFS BAKU!

Right, let’s try doing it ourselves instead.

HOW TO FIND YOUR OWN CONNECTING FLIGHTS FOR LESS

Search engines like Skyscanner and Momondo are good, but they can’t always show you every single possible connection. So this is a little trick may be useful now, and worth holding onto for the future too.

To do this:

  • Open a new browsing tab – we’re going to call this tab one – and go to Skyscanner and in ‘From’ type in your departure airport
  • Next, in ‘To’, write ‘Everywhere’
  • Select the date you’d like travel on
  • This will bring up a list of countries in price order – leave this open
  • In a new tab – this will be referred to as tab two – again, go to Skyscanner but this time, write ‘Baku’ underneath the ‘To’ box
  • In the ‘From’, you’re going to look back at that list of cheap countries in tab one
  • For a European city (I used this tactic to find super cheap flights for the Champions League final in Madrid), I’d usually go through the list one by one but for Baku, we know that not many places are going to fly there. So whilst we may find a cheaper fare from these places listed (and therefore they may be worth checking) it’s likely that they’re going to be pretty gnarly flights.
  • Therefore, I’m going to now head over to the Baku arrivals page to see where may be a good place to invest my efforts.
  • Straightaway I’m getting Turkish vibes so I scroll through the list of cheap countries listed to me in tab one and find direct flights from London to Turkey for £53 on Tuesday 28th May
  • Next, I head back to tab two and enter ‘Turkey as my departure country to Baku and hit search
  • Unfortunately Antalya’s one flight is really early in the morning but there are a few viable options for Istanbul, so I head back to tab one and see what’s available from London to Istanbul on Tues 28th May:
  • Now, there are cheaper flights with Pegasus but these fly into Istanbul SAW airport which is the other side of the city. HOWEVER – I have actually had to travel between SAW and IST airports in rush hour before and it took around 1 hour 45 minutes and just £35 in a taxi using their app, Bitaksi – BUT, you would have to buy an eVisa for entering the country so I guess it all adds up!
  • Heading back to tab two, I see if any of the flights from Istanbul to Baku work and they do!

THE BORING BUT IMPORTANT PART:

  • As you are booking two flights separately, it will look like to Turkish Airlines that you are ending your journey in Istanbul and therefore they are well within their right to check that you have a Turkish eVisa before allowing you to board the flight. It may be that by showing them your next booked flight they accept that you do not need it, but PLEASE CHECK THIS WITH THEM DIRECTLY BEFOREHAND. It’s only $20 and is a quick process online, but check before you turn up to the airport.
  • Secondly, whilst 2 hours and 25 minutes sounds like more than enough time to connect to your next flight, each airport has a different process and whilst you may not want to leave the airport, you may be obliged to go through immigration and re-check in to get onto your next flight so again CHECK WITH YOUR AIRLINES!

Update: Joe who has family in Turkey has done us a solid and given his first hand experience of all of this!

  • I would definitely recommend not checking in a bag so that you won’t have a reason to leave the airport!

If you can indeed stay in transit then that 9 hour trip for £289 is a pretty sweet deal (and just £306 for a longer, but much less risky journey) – especially when you look at the one way options that Skyscanner offer up. That’s a saving over over £661.

Now, you just need to do the same trick for the flight back and believe me, finding it and knowing you’ve saved hundreds of pounds is half the fun!!

I hope this has helped you find a flight that works for both your budget and your schedule. If you end up booking something, let me know so I can holiday vicariously through you!

And if you’ve found this useful, give me a follow over on YouTube, Instagram and Twitter for even more cheap travel tips.

I have used affiliate links throughout this article. They don’t charge you more, but if you book through them you’ll be helping me to continue my cheap travel booking hobbies – and make me feel better about spending my Saturday morning in bed researching this!! For total transparency though, I’ll have you know my post about the Champions League directed thousands of clicks to sites and I made £6 from it. SIX POUNDS. And that bad boy took me 8 hours to write up 🤣🤣🤣

how to fly to the champions league 2019 final on a budget

With both Spurs and Liverpool through to the Champions League final in Madrid on Saturday 1st June 2019, flights to the Spanish capital from the UK have sky rocketed:

Jesus wept.

Therefore, I’ve pulled together a load of different ways that you can get yourself over to the final for less.

If this helps you at all, feel free to help a gal out by giving me a follow on either YouTube, Instagram or Twitter and I promise even more top money saving tips when it comes to your future travel.

Right. ONWARDS!

I’m going to take you through five different options. Click on what you’re after to head straight to that section:

  1. The cheapest flights from London, Liverpool and Manchester that only require up to one day off
  2. The cheapest flights from London, Liverpool and Manchester if you can be flexible with your dates
  3. The cheapest flights leaving from alternative UK airports
  4. The cheapest flights to alternative Spanish airports
  5. WILDCARD – Do it yourself and fly from as little as £119 each way

Scenario One

THE CHEAPEST FLIGHTS FROM LONDON, LIVERPOOL AND MANCHESTER
(that only require up to one day off)

The headline here is that the only way you’re going to be able to pull this off for under £500 is to do a one stop flight.

For all of these one stop flights, I haven’t included any overnight waits but warning – there are some long layovers…

I didn’t say it was gonna be pretty.

From London
Fri 31st May – Sun 2nd June
£379

From London
Sat 1st June – Mon 3rd June
£284 (there’s also a flight with a 4 hour 55 min return for £349)

From Liverpool
Sat 1st May – Sun 2nd June
£504 (just nipped over from £499 this morning – genuinely this was the best deal I could find!!)

From Manchester
Sat 1st May – Mon 3rd June
£498 – Rising quickly – last night’s best price was £379 (though the flights included longer layovers).

Scenario Two

THE CHEAPEST FLIGHTS FROM LONDON, LIVERPOOL AND MANCHESTER
(if you can be flexible with your dates)

London – All direct

Thurs 30th May – Mon 3rd June – £812 (08/05 price £710)
Thurs 30th May – Tues 4th June – £379 (08/05 price £418)
Thurs 30th May – Weds 5th June – £287 (08/05 price £288)
Thurs 30th May – Thurs 6th June – £268 (08/05 price £291)
Weds 29th May – Mon 3rd June – £532 (08/05 price £465)
Weds 29th May – Tues 4th June – £156 (08/05 price £143)
Weds 29th May – Weds 5th June – £56 (08/05 price £63)

Liverpool – see details

Thurs 30th May – Mon 3rd June – £481 – 1 stop (08/05 price £437)
Thurs 30th May – Tues 4th June – £244 – 1 stop (08/05 price £303)
Thurs 30th May – Weds 5th June – £380 – 1 stop/direct (08/05 price £378)
Weds 29th May – Mon 3rd June – £355 – 1 stop (08/05 price £311)
Weds 29th May – Tues 4th June – £201 – 1 stop (08/05 price £194)
Weds 29th May – Weds 5th June – £618 – direct (08/05 price £588)
Weds 29th May – Weds 5th June – £265 – 1 stop/direct (08/05 price £252)

Next direct and cheap(ish!) flight is:
Mon 27th May – Mon 10th June – £371

Manchester – see details

Thurs 30th May – Mon 3rd June – £344 – 1 stop (08/05 price £475)
Thurs 30th May – Tues 4th June – £870 – direct (08/05 price £866)
Thurs 30th May – Tues 4th June – £320 – 1 stop (08/05 price £303)
Thurs 30th May – Weds 5th June – £240 – 1 stop/direct (08/05 price £231)
Weds 29th May – Mon 3rd June – £397 – 1 stop
Weds 29th May – Tues 4th June – £240 – 1 stop (08/05 price £223)
Weds 29th May – Weds 5th June – £153 – 1 stop/direct (08/05 price £146)
Weds 29th May – Thurs 6th June – £120 – 1 stop/direct

Next direct and cheap(ish!) flight is:
Tues 28th May – Thurs 6th June – £210

View this post on Instagram

Lots of fun recording a World Service doc in Madrid this week 🎤👤👂 Unfortunately didn’t get to see too much, but caught enough glimpses to persuade me to revisit in the future🤞 Here’s my thoughts: ✈️ Very cheap flights from the UK (mine were 30€ return booked 3 weeks ago) 🚇 40 min metro into the city centre – and only 3€ on top of your standard fare 💳 10 tickets for the metro work out at just 1,20€ each – very cheap for such an efficient and wide reaching service 🏠 One bed Airbnb apartment, 1 min from Bilbao metro, cost £62 a night and was really nice! Small room in a 3 star hotel was around the same price. 🍤 Great seafood – and great tapas too! So many restaurants to choose between with really affordable prices (shout-out to the lunchtime Menu Del Dia where I got paella, chicken, wine and pudding for 11€!!!) 🍷 Wine on most menus started around 3€ – and I wasn’t intentionally choosing cheap places 😊 Really relaxed vibe – found it more slow paced than Barcelona – and unlike other capital cities, locals are known for their friendliness! 🇪🇸 Speaking English is not a given. At all. But I see this as a perk. I really enjoyed trying out my VERY BASIC Spanish and everyone was so helpful, and we had a right laugh as they tried to teach me new phrases! ☀️ 13 degrees and blue skies in Jan? I will take that!! Have you been to Madrid? What did you reckon? Have my ‘glimpses’ steered me wrong?!! #travel #instatravel #travelgram #wanderlust #citybreak #cheapholiday #budgettravel #europe #madrid #spain #visitspain #visitmadrid #radio #producer #picoftheday

A post shared by Chelsea | Cheap Holiday Expert (@cheapholidayexp) on

Scenario Three

THE CHEAPEST FLIGHTS LEAVING FROM ALTERNATIVE AIRPORTS

Whilst flying from your nearest airport may be the most convenient, have you thought about travelling within the UK first to get the price down?

This is also one for those Liverpool and Spurs fans that don’t reside in London or Liverpool!

Now there were quite a few good deals to be found here but since Tottenham qualified, many have been snapped up – GODDAMIT!

FRIDAY 31ST MAY – SUNDAY 2ND JUNE

One stop
Bristol – £375 (includes overnight layover) (09/05 price £375)

FRIDAY 31ST MAY – MON 3RD JUNE

All one stop
Edinburgh – £335 (08/05 £364)
Southampton – £450 (08/05 price £417)
Bristol – £394 (08/05 price £383)

SATURDAY 1ST JUNE – MON 3RD JUNE

All one stop
Cardiff – £332
Birmingham – £358

Scenario Four


THE CHEAPEST DIRECT FLIGHTS TO ALTERNATIVE SPANISH AIRPORTS

VALENCIA

  • 1 hour 40 train from Valencia to Madrid – around £80 return for 1 adult
  • 3 hours 40 drive from Valencia to Madrid – car hire as cheap as £5 a day!

London to Valencia – All direct (these have FLOWN up since Spurs qualified)

Thurs 30th May – Sun 2nd June – £429 (08/05 £572)
Fri 31st May – Sun 2nd June – £586 (08/05 £797)
Fri 31st May – Mon 3rd June – £546 (08/05 £574)
Fri 31st May – Tues 4th June – £293 (08/05 price £396)
Sat 1st June – Sun 3rd June – £1118!!! (08/05 price £570)
Sat 1st June – Mon 3rd June – £637 (08/05 price £492)
Sat 1st June – Tues 4th June – £590 (08/05 price £314)

Liverpool to Valencia – One stop

Fri 31st May – Tues 3th Jun – £415 (cheaper option for overnight layover)

Manchester to Valencia – One stop

Fri 31st May – Fri 7th June – £289 (cheaper option for longer durations)

East Midlands to Valencia – Direct

Tues 28th May – Tues 4th June – £254 (08/05 price £136)

Bristol to Valencia – Direct

Fri 31st May – Mon 3rd June – £468 (08/05 price £466)
Fri 31st May – Fri 7th June – £254

Edinburgh to Valencia – Direct

Thurs 30th May – Tues 4th June – £185

BILBAO

  • 4 hours 10 min bus from Bilbao to Madrid – prices from around £50 return
  • 4 hours drive from Bilbao to Madrid – car hire as cheap as £7 a day!

London to Bilbao – All direct

Thurs 30th May – Sun 2nd June – £341 (08/05 price £452)
Fri 31st May – Sun 2nd June – £768 (08/05 price £761)
Fri 31st May – Mon 3rd June – £494 (08/05 price £358)
Fri 31st May – Tues 4th June – £255 (08/05 price £126)
Sat 1st June – Sun 3rd June – £516 (08/05 price £522)
Sat 1st June – Mon 3rd June – £494 (08/05 price £281)
Sat 1st June – Tues 4th June – £228 (08/05 price £79)

Manchester to Bilbao – All direct

Fri 31st May – Tues 4th June – £469 (08/05 price £485)

Bristol to Bilbao – All direct

Thurs 30th May – Sun 2nd June – £509 (08/05 price £474)
Thurs 30th May – Tues 4th June – £199 (08/05 price £170)

Edinburgh to Bilbao – All direct

Weds 29th May – Sun 2nd June – £260 (08/05 price £261)

BARCELONA

London to Barcelona – All direct

Thurs 30th May – Mon 3rd June – £273
Thurs 30th May – Tues 4th June – £143
Thurs 30th May – Weds 5th June – £81
Fri 31st May – Mon 3rd June – £320

Liverpool to Barcelona – All direct

Fri 31st May – Tues 4th June – £454

Manchester to Barcelona – All direct

Thurs 30th May – Mon 3rd June – £633
Thurs 30th May – Tues 4th June – £323
Thurs 30th May – Weds 5th June – £272
Fri 31st May – Mon 3rd June – £742
Fri 31st May – Tues 4th June – £431
Fri 31st May – Weds 5th June – £380

Birmingham to Barcelona – All direct

Thurs 30th May – Mon 3rd June – £599
Thurs 30th May – Tues 4th June – £341
Thurs 30th May – Weds 5th June – £261
Fri 31st May – Sun 2nd June – £531 (note that morning flight back!)
Fri 31st May – Mon 3rd June – £531

Bristol to Barcelona – All direct

Thurs 30th May – Mon 3rd June – £354
Thurs 30th May – Tues 4th June – £171
Fri 31st May – Mon 3rd June – £437
Fri 31st June – Tues 4th June – £254

Cardiff to Barcelona – All direct

Tues 28th May – Tues 4th June – £72

Glasgow to Barcelona – All direct

Thurs 30th May – Sun 2nd June – £268 (note that 1215 flight home!)
Thurs 30th May – Mon 3rd June – £227
Fri 31st May – Mon 3rd June – £315

East Midlands to Barcelona – one stop/one direct

Fri 31st May – Mon 3rd June – £364

Newcastle to Barcelona – All direct

Thurs 30th May – Sun 2nd June – £477
Thurs 30th May – Mon 3rd June – £336
Thurs 30th May – Tues 4th June – £167
Fri 31st May – Sun 2nd June – £551
Fri 31st May – Mon 3rd June – £410
Fri 31st May – Tues 4th June – £241

Edinburgh to Barcelona – All direct

Fri 31st May – Mon 3rd June – £351

SANTANDER

  • 4 hour 7 train from Santander to Madrid  – around £75 return for 1 adult (but they don’t run often so check those times!)
  • 5 hour drive from Santander to Madrid – car hire as cheap as £8 a day!

London to Santander – All direct

Thurs 30th May – Mon 3rd June – £280 (08/05 price £241)
Thurs 30th May – Tues 4th June – £121 (08/05 price £109)

Edinburgh to Santander – All direct

Weds 29th May – Sun 2nd June – £176 (08/05 price £150)
Weds 29th May – Sun 5th June – £107 (08/05 price £82)

SEVILLE

  • 2 hours 30 min train from Seville to Madrid for around £110 return
  • 5 hours drive – car hire from only £7 a day

London to Seville – All direct

Thurs 30th May – Mon 3rd Jun – £392
Thurs 30th May – Tues 4th Jun – £225
Fri 31st May – Mon 3rd Jun – £607
Fri 31st May – Tues 4th June – £344

Manchester to Seville – All direct

Weds 29th May – Mon 3rd June – £403
Weds 29th May – Weds 5th June – £225

Bristol to Seville – All direct

Tues 28th May – Tues 4th June – £54

East Midlands to Seville – All direct

Tues 28th May – Tues 4th June – £117

Edinburgh to Seville – All direct

Thurs 30th May – Mon 3rd June – £257
Thurs 30th May – Tues 4th June – £143

REUS

  • 6 hour overnight bus from Reus to Madrid and 7 hour bus back to Reus around £70 return (they don’t run often so check before booking)
  • 6 hour drive from Reus to Madrid – car hire as cheap as £17 a day!

London to Reus – All direct

Thurs 30th May – Sun 2nd June – £313 (08/05 price £313)
Thurs 30th May – Mon 3rd June – £339 (08/05 price £321)
Fri 31st May – Sun 2nd June – £419 (08/05 price £395)
Fri 31st May – Mon 3rd June – £364 (08/05 price £319)
Fri 31st May – Tues 4th June – £199 (08/05 price £174)

Manchester to Reus – All direct

Thurs 30th May – Tues 4th June – £292 (08/05 price £292)

East Midlands to Reus – All direct

Thurs 30th May – Sun 2nd June – £340 (08/05 price £311)
Thurs 30th May – Mon 3rd June – £336 (08/05 price £305)
Thurs 30th May – Tues 4th June – £158 (08/05 price £138)
Fri 31st May – Sun 2nd June – £428 (08/05 price £419)
Fri 31st May – Mon 3rd June – £364 (08/05 price £364)
Fri 31st May – Tues 4th June – £219 (08/05 price £239)

Birmingham to Reus – All direct

Thurs 30th May – Tues 4th June – £174 (08/05 price £174)

Glasgow to Reus – All direct

Fri 31st May – Tues 4th June – £206 (08/05 price £205)

Leeds to Reus – All direct

Fri 31st May – Tues 4th June – £255 (08/05 price £141)

MALAGA

  • 2 hours 45 mins train from Malaga to Madrid for around £116 return
  • 5 hour 20 min drive from Malaga to Madrid – car hire as cheap as £1 a day (erm, wtf lads?)

London to Malaga – All direct

Thurs 30th May – Tues 4th June – £146
Fri 31st May – Sun 2nd June – £456 (1100 flight – 2240 is £604)
Fri 31st May – Weds 5th June – £179

Liverpool to Malaga – All direct

Thurs 30th May – Sun 2nd June – £752 (1000 flight)

Manchester to Malaga – All direct

Thurs 30th May – Sun 2nd June – £605 (1050 flight – 2110 flight is £649)
Thurs 30th May – Mon 3rd June – £577
Thurs 30th May – Tues 4th June – £396

Birmingham to Malaga – All direct

Thurs 30th May – Mon 3rd June – £407
Fri 31st May – Sun 2nd June – £511 (1225 flight – 2120 is £680)

Southampton to Malaga – All direct

Fri 31st May – Weds 5th June – £280

Norwich to Malaga – All direct

Thurs 30th May – Mon 3rd June – £453

Leeds to Malaga – All direct

Thurs 30th May – Sun 2nd June – £468 (1205 flight – 2135 £563)
Thurs 30th May – Mon 3rd June – £448
Fri 31st May – Sun 2nd June – £523 (1205 flight – 2135 flight is £622)
Fri 31st May – Mon 3rd June – £473
Fri 31st May – Tues 4th June – £298

Glasgow to Malaga – All direct

Thurs 30th May – Sun 2nd June – £456
Thurs 30th May – Mon 3rd June – £324
Thurs 30th May – Tues 4th June – £187
Fri 31st May – Sun 2nd June – £422 (1325 flight – 2045 is £488)
Fri 31st May – Mon 3rd June – £354
Fri 31st May – Tues 4th June – £248

Exeter to Malaga – All direct

Thurs 30th May – Mon 3rd June – £196

Edinburgh to Malaga – All direct

Thurs 30th May – Sun 2nd June – £355
Thurs 30th May – Mon 3rd June – £235
Fri 31st May – Sun 2nd June – £435
Fri 31st May – Mon 3rd June – £315

East Midlands to Malaga – All direct

Fri 31st May – Mon 3rd June – £473

Bristol to Malaga – All direct

Thurs 30th May – Mon 3rd Jun – £275
Fri 31st May – Sun 2nd June – £399 (1210 flight – 2350 flight is £630)
Fri 31st May – Mon 3rd June – £369

Belfast to Malaga – All direct

Fri 31st May – Sun 2nd Jun – £440

Scenario Five

LASTLY – DO IT YOURSELF AND SAVE EVEN MORE

Okay, so for all of these I’ve done a standard ‘whack it in Skyscanner and hope’ jobby but actually, you can save even more if you have a little play around with these ‘one stop’ options yourself.

To do this:

  • Open a new browsing tab – we’re going to call this tab one – and go to Skyscanner and in ‘From’ type in your departure airport
  • Next, in ‘To’, write ‘Everywhere’
  • Select the date you’d like to travel to Madrid
  • This will bring up a list of countries in price order – leave this open
  • In a new tab – this will be referred to as tab two – again, go to Skyscanner but this time, write ‘Madrid’ underneath the ‘To’ box
  • In the ‘From’, you’re going to look back at that lovely list of cheap countries in tab one
  • For example, for London, my results show that flight to Germany start from £10 so I’m going to go back to tab two and enter ‘Germany’ as my departure country and hit search
  • Straight away it tells me that I can fly from Berlin to Madrid for £54 and from Hamburg to Madrid for £56 – pretty good – and so now I head back to my London list in tab one to see how much they’re coming up as
  • Hamburg is pretty pricey at £125 but Berlin is coming in at £44
  • Next, return to each of your tabs to inspect the flights you’ve found to see if they could work together
  • You want to check that they’re getting into the same airport and that you’ll have enough time to get on your connecting flight
  • Here’s what I found:

London to Berlin

Berlin to Madrid

From the above, I think the £80 LTN flight at 1325 and the £39 TXL flight work well. They both use the same airport – so no having to change – plus there’s more than enough time to make my connection. And at £119, it’s a pretty great price too.

This option simply does not come up on Skyscanner – or if it does, it gets lost in the results. In fact, these are the cheapest one stop options it comes up with:

Now, this was just my first try and so with this method, there’s huge potential to save even more money when booking your flights to the Champion’s League final in Madrid!

And remember – this way, you also don’t have to fly from and back into the same airport so check all the options to be in with a chance of bagging super cheap flights.

Good luck!

I hope this has helped you find a flight that works for both your budget and your schedule. If you end up booking something, let me know so I can holiday vicariously through you.

And if you’ve found this useful, give me a follow over on YouTube, Instagram and Twitter for even more cheap travel tips.

I have used affiliate links throughout this article. They don’t charge you more, but if you book through them you’ll be helping me to continue my cheap travel booking hobbies – and make me feel better about spending about 8 hours researching this!! For total transparency though, I’ll have you know that after 2 years, I still haven’t made enough money from affiliate links to actually withdraw anything 😂😂😂