2 Week Sun Holiday In October 2014

shuffles03

Myself and my partner are looking to get away for 2 weeks to the sun in October. We're getting married next summer so don't want to spend too much this year - €700/800pp.

Are the Canaries the best option for guaranteed sun in October with a limited budget? I was checking Sunway's website but every hotel I reviewed through Trip Advisor looked pretty terrible.

Ideally, we're looking for somewhere that's budget friendly, scenic, beside a beach, self catering, temperatures in the mid twenties.

I came across the Cordial Green Golf Apartments on Sunway's site:
http://www.tripadvisor.ie/Hotel_Review-g230095-d264615-Reviews-Cordial_Green_Golf-Maspalomas_Gran_Canaria_Canary_Islands.html

The reviews seemed quite positive - compared to the others...

Any suggestions would be most welcome.

Thanks in advance.

FunkyDa2

How about the Algarve?

http://www.falconholidays.ie/fcfalcon/page/details/details.page?packageNumber=032207VBRVYF141187710000014118876000001794141310080000014131113000001795&fhCurrentSelectedDate=28/09/2014&linkName=&sttrkr=mthyr:10/2014_tsrch:false_tuidesc:000154_day:4_mps:9_sda:true_pconfig:1|2|0|0|0|/_tchd:0_rating:0_dess:true_act:129_jsen:true_attrstr:||||||||null|null_mdest:false_tinf:0_mnth:10_desc:283_bc:18_margindt:7_tadt:2_numr:1_depm:7_dur:14_dtx:0_dxsel:0_dac:*SI_loct:0_pps:false_tsnr:0_year:2014_dta:false__uc:032207_pid:032207VBRVYF141187710000014118876000001794141310080000014131113000001795_sd:28/09/2014

Jamie2k9

Most spots in October would still be nice and warm. Spain, Portugal, Greece, croatia and Turkey.

shuffles03

Cheers for the replies. I checked around most places on Falcon's sites but they don't appear to have any October dates. Could only leave towards the end of September. Cheers though!

pebbles21

I just booked a week in September 13-20 to Fuerteventura, flights €407 with Ryanair,3 star apartment/hotel in Corellgo €400 through Trivago.ie..€807 for two of us

shuffles03

Nice! I'll check Trivago too!! Cheers

Alf Veedersane

Two years ago we went to Lanzarote in November and it was in the low 20s most days.

Stayed in Costa Teguise. After going to Puerto del Carmen one day, I'd avoid it like the plague but Costa Teguise was much quieter with less touristy craic going on and some entertainment most nights.

salmocab

me and the OH are going to Lanzarote in oct for 2 weeks its costing about 1600 thats flights for 600 odd hiring a villa in Playa Blanca for 850 then will be renting a car for probably another 200. weather should be mid 20s.

shuffles03

Where in the Algarve would you suggest to stay if looking for character, scenery, being near local restaurants etc? Trivago keeps giving me Albufeira recommendations and I have a feeling it's very touristy ie a big strip full of bars etc etc.

In terms of flights, so far Portugal seems cheapest. €240 return for 2 people altogether. Allows more freedom to stay in nicer accommodation.

shuffles03

salmocab wrote: »

me and the OH are going to Lanzarote in oct for 2 weeks its costing about 1600 thats flights for 600 odd hiring a villa in Playa Blanca for 850 then will be renting a car for probably another 200. weather should be mid 20s.

Who did you book the villa through?

salmocab

Its the green villas in playa blanca, used them last year thru booking.com and then this year the OH just mailed them directly and its 850 for the 14 nights plus I think a 5 euro supplement per night for any additional guests as we have friends coming over for the second week. They are lovely villas they sleep 6 but if you book for 2 they will only charge based on that. About a 15 minute walk from the marina rubicon which has great restaurants although can be very quiet late on and a bit more to the other end of town. The villas have Tv and free wifi which can be handy for getting a book for my kindle, private pool in each villa which aren't heated so can be a bit chilly but I don't really mind that. Its also only about 10 mins drive to the beaches at papagoya national park which are really nice. Its a quiet holiday to be fair not too much by way of nightlife but if sitting at the pool or on the beach reading is your thing then its great.

FunkyDa2

shuffles03 wrote: »

Where in the Algarve would you suggest to stay if looking for character, scenery, being near local restaurants etc? Trivago keeps giving me Albufeira recommendations and I have a feeling it's very touristy ie a big strip full of bars etc etc.

In terms of flights, so far Portugal seems cheapest. €240 return for 2 people altogether. Allows more freedom to stay in nicer accommodation.

€240 for 2?...not bad! Personally, I'd rent a car, to be picked up at the airport, stay down in Lagos, and do day trips back to Faro,across the border into Spain, and up to Lisbon.

salmocab

shuffles03 wrote: »

Where in the Algarve would you suggest to stay if looking for character, scenery, being near local restaurants etc? Trivago keeps giving me Albufeira recommendations and I have a feeling it's very touristy ie a big strip full of bars etc etc.

In terms of flights, so far Portugal seems cheapest. €240 return for 2 people altogether. Allows more freedom to stay in nicer accommodation.

Id avoid Albufeira it is pretty much as you think although the town is nice its just bar after bar and there is the strip which is a dump. Although I can't imagine too many stag parties hitting there in october.
Have heard Faro is nice.

Wyldwood

+1 for Lagos, nicest town on the Algarve. Lovely walled town with cobbled streets, loads of shop and restaurants. Then there's the marina area which is modern with plenty of bars and restaurants. Lovely beaches all around.
I recommend hiring a car to see the area but if you prefer there's excellent public transport, both rail and bus from Lagos to other towns.

shuffles03

Definitely looks like Lagos. Hopefully booking it this week. Looking at the first 2 weeks in October. We just need to decide where's nicest to stay (budget friendly):

http://www.trivago.ie/?sMapNavigation%5BiPathId%5D=50919&sMapNavigation%5BaPathList%5D=null&iPathId=50919&bDispMoreFilter=false&iMemberProfileId=0&iClickoutType=1&aDateRange%5Barr%5D=2014-10-01&aDateRange%5Bdep%5D=2014-10-14&aCategoryRange=5%2C4%2C3%2C2%2C1%2C0&iRoomType=7&sOrderBy=relevance%20desc&aPartner=&aOverallLiking=5&iOffset=0&iLimit=25&iIncludeAll=0&bTopDealsOnly=false&iViewType=0&aPriceRange%5Bfrom%5D=0&aPriceRange%5Bto%5D=0&aGeoCode%5Blng%5D=-8.6732&aGeoCode%5Blat%5D=37.101898&sLeftBarState=filters&sRightBarState=history&bIsSeoPage=false&mgo=false&bHotelTestContext=false&th=false&aHotelTestClassifier=&bSharedRooms=false&bIsTotalPrice=false&bIsSitemap=false&rp=&sSemKeywordInfo=&sPlainPathName=Lagos&

shuffles03

All booked! Heading to Lagos Oct 02-12. Staying in Villas D Dinis:

http://www.villasdinis.com/EN

http://www.tripadvisor.ie/Hotel_Review-g189117-d536085-Reviews-Vilas_D_Dinis-Lagos_Faro_District_Algarve.html

Cheers for the tips!

FunkyDa2

shuffles03 wrote: »

All booked! Heading to Lagos Oct 02-12. Staying in Villas D Dinis:

http://www.villasdinis.com/EN

http://www.tripadvisor.ie/Hotel_Review-g189117-d536085-Reviews-Vilas_D_Dinis-Lagos_Faro_District_Algarve.html

Cheers for the tips!

salmocab

Looks nice enjoy it, how much did it all work out at if you don't mind my prying?

shuffles03

Flights were more expensive in the end. We had to change dates to suit work. €550 for flights with Ryanair. Used Trivago for the hotel and then contacted the hotel directly where we were offered a cheaper price: €600 for 10 nights in a suite. We chose bed only as we want to eat out in different places each day.

Now we just have to decide whether to rent a car for the 10 days or not. Searching through rentalcars.com, we can get a Ford KA or Clio for €74 for 10 days - it works out at €140ish once they add on Damage Excess Refund. It would roughly work out at €80 each way if we took a taxi (maybe more). Public transport will take a few hours as opposed to just the one hour by car too.

One question though, I added on an additional driver. It said this would cost an extra €6.50 per day but the price doesn't update/increase.

Anyone have experience booking a car in Faro? When I arrive, it also says we pay for a full tank of petrol too. Any hidden snags I should worry about? I also looked at Yellow Fish transfers and that's €130 return. Apart from local transport, the car seems the best option as it's roughly the same price as a return airport journey and we have it for the whole 10 days. Only snag I suppose is that we won't be driving everyday (prob only a few days in total) so we might look at a train from the airport and then rent a car once we get to Lagos for the desired dates.