Winter Sun

[Mr S]

After a pretty crappy year, I want to go on holiday in November time, and sit on a beach and relax. Don't want to spend huge amounts (2k max really), but there will be 3 adults going, and was wondering if anyone had any suggestions. Don't fancy more than a week away really, so short flight would be preferred.

 

[Nibby]

I go in January/February most years to Fuerteventura and have a great time. I paid £440 for 10 days the last time I went back in February flights/accommodation/no board and always stay in Corralejo which is north of the island. I used Jet2 the last time. I find Fuerteventura is a lot less commercial than the other Canary Islands especially when you get to a place like El Cotillo which is my favourite place which don't involve a long haul flight, it's a 20 minute bus journey from Corralejo. You can't guarantee the sun but I've been the last 3 years and each time it's been sunny every day, 22+ temp.

 

[conaero]

I found Fuerta just too windy but it was lovely.

We found Playa Blanca in Lanzarote much better. We would definitely go back and loads of hotels in different price ranges.

Just knock a star off the hotel ratings to give you a true idea of what they are like.

But Nibbly is correct, the Canaries £ 4 £ is the best winter sun your going to get.

 

[Mr S]

Sounds like a winner. Having never booked a holiday before, its all new to me, and I want to try and avoid travel agents, as obviously they take their cut. Looking forward to sitting on a beach in a few months. Hopefully going all inclusive, but we shall see.

 

[Rwc13]

Cyprus is worth considering too, although flights can be pricey....

 

[conaero]

Icelolly.com

Takes a bit of faffing but well worth it. Just avoid week 3 October which is half term as prices go up.

You can use booking.com and book your own hotel then book your flights separately. EasyJet are ok avoid RyanAir...it’s just not worth the stress to save £20.

 

[Mr S]

Cheers Matt, much appreciated. I'm in Hungary for a few days R+R after the test, so when I'm back, il get on it properly.

 

[conaero]

https://www.icelolly.com/holiday-se...rtureAirports=BHX,BOH,BRS,DSA,EMA,LGW,LTN,STN

 

[jasst]

I found Fuerta just too windy but it was lovely.

We found Playa Blanca in Lanzarote much better. We would definitely go back and loads of hotels in different price ranges.

Just knock a star off the hotel ratings to give you a true idea of what they are like.

But Nibbly is correct, the Canaries £ 4 £ is the best winter sun your going to get.

Agree, we also found Fuerta very windy, and some of the hotels can be very isolated, have just booked Lanzarote for end of sept, Playa de los pocillos for a very good price, first time back to Lanzarote for twenty years

 

[conaero]

It was bizarre, Feurta is mentally windy but you can see it from Playa Blanca maybe 10-15 miles away and no wind.

 

[Rwc13]

Nothing wrong with Ryanair. Use them all the time from Manchester to Faro and much more reliable than the others in my experience

 

[highlander]

November a funny time. Usual European destinations a bit on the chilly side for me, West Africa hot enough but too humid, North Africa not hot enough and east too dry. Have been to Cape Verde in November and weather pretty good, windy though but a good beach holiday for about £700 a pop all inclusive, Sal has most going on.

 

[conaero]

Nothing wrong with Ryanair. Use them all the time from Manchester to Faro and much more reliable than the others in my experience

Crikey, I wish I had your experiences, the last flight to Faro will be our last with RA.

 

[MarkMas]

I found Fuerta just too windy but it was lovely. We found Playa Blanca in Lanzarote much better. We would definitely go back and loads of hotels in different price ranges.

Playa Blanca is nice and in the off season very cheap. A few years ago we rented a three-bedroom villa with pool (just for the two of us) for the price of a hotel room. With villas, you do need to be very careful of location, as some 'Playa Blanca' villas are MILES from the town. Ours was in the Calamares development, which was nice and quiet but only 5 minutes from the seafront.

 

[D Walker]

Crikey, I wish I had your experiences, the last flight to Faro will be our last with RA.

I won’t ever use them again, funnily enough it was Fuerteventura, back in the day when they didn’t allocate seats, Stewards shouting at people to take a seat, any seat because they were going to miss the air slot, little kids getting stuck in a seat miles from parents, we will sort it when airborne was the cry, needless to say, I’ve stuck by my decision then, usually use Jet 2.

 

[conaero]

Not used Jet2 yet but will give them whirl.

 

[Navcorr]

A friend works for Air France and she prefers RA. Not sure what that says about either of them. Re: RA, the drawbacks are the price you pay for the price you pay. They're a bus with wings. Think of it any other way and you will probably be disappointed. Whoever I use as long as I get where I need to be how I get there is incidental.

 

[Rwc13]

I won’t ever use them again, funnily enough it was Fuerteventura, back in the day when they didn’t allocate seats, Stewards shouting at people to take a seat, any seat because they were going to miss the air slot, little kids getting stuck in a seat miles from parents, we will sort it when airborne was the cry, needless to say, I’ve stuck by my decision then, usually use Jet 2.

Your loss if you want to still write them off based on an experience perhaps more than 5 years ago.

Example, I flew Faro to Manchester and back last Thursday/Friday. Both flights boarded and left on time and arrived 15 minutes early. Service during the flight was polite and effective. Cost me less than £200 with reserved seats and priority boarding. And over the last 4 years that I have been flying backwards and forwards to Faro regularly, that has nearly always been true. By contrast on the occasions when I have flown Jet2 and Monarch (albeit near the death of the latter) it has been significantly less true more of the time.

 

[Doohickey]

We use both Jet2 and RA to fly to Murcia and Alicante regularly and there isn't much between them. The only issue with RA is that they deliberately seat you apart from the person you're flying with (and generally in a middle seat) unless you pay more. I haven't flown with them since they force you to put hand luggage in the hold unless you've coughed extra so we'll see how that goes when we go in September.

RA's planes are much newer than Jet2's but we generally pick the one that we use based on the flight times rather than anything else.

 

[conaero]

...The only issue with RA is that they deliberately seat you apart from the person you're flying with (and generally in a middle seat) unless you pay more. I haven't flown with them since they force you to put hand luggage in the hold unless you've coughed extra so we'll see how that goes...

Yes I noticed that. You let the system pick your two seats and it deliberately puts you apart even though there is a single free seat next to each of you. Very sharp practice to squeeze that extra tenner out of you. I accept that they are all probably the same on budget.