The 50 best bargain breaks for summer

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Travel
The 50 best bargain breaks for summer
There are still plenty of holiday deals for summer 2015. Our travel experts have found
the best ones to book now
Jane Knight and Tom Chesshyre
20 Jun 2015 00:01:00
Short haul
1 Cut-price Crete
The Elounda Gulf Villas & Suites in northeastern Crete have stunning views over the azure waters of the Mirabello Gulf, and the
use of a private beach club a ten-minute shuttle away. Book before June 30 and get a free upgrade to half board as well as a room
discount, saving £300pp for seven nights. Holidays from August 16 now cost from £850pp, including flights and transfers (01242
855 134, abercrombiekent.co.uk). Or head to the nearby Daois Cove hotel on Vathi beach and get 20 per cent off a seven-day
holiday between July 1 and August 31. The price, based on a family of four staying half board in a one-bedroom suite, is now
£1,650pp, including flights, transfers and a €200 resort credit with Scott Dunn (020 8682 5040, scottdunn.com).
2 French château — 75 per cent off
The turreted Château Chamborigaud in the Cevennes national park, an hour from Nîmes, looks as if it’s come straight out of a
fairytale. In a five-acre park, it has a heated outdoor pool, and 11 elegant bedrooms for 18, with seven bathrooms and some
stunning public rooms. For the week from July 4, it is 75 per cent off the normal price, and costs £2,500. For the week starting
August 29, it is 55 per cent off the normal price, and costs £4,684. It is one of a number of cut-price châteaux in France with Cool
Stays (coolstays.com/offers). Also try Oliver’s Travels (oliverstravels.com), which has several discounted properties in France,
including Mas Mayeaux on the French Riviera, which sleeps nine. It is 30 per cent off the original price, with the weeks of August
15 and August 22 now at £2,230.
3 Boutique hotels in Turkey
Specialist company Exclusive Escapes (020 8605 3500, exclusiveescapes.co.uk) has some lovely properties in Turkey, with the
added advantage that it runs its own charters, so there’s no problem in getting last-minute flights. From July 25-August 29, save
£300pp on the cost of a week at the Deniz Feneri Lighthouse, a waterfront hotel on the Kas peninsula, with a seaside restaurant
and beach platforms built into the rocks. A week’s B&B now costs £950pp including flights from Stansted, Heathrow or
Manchester, transfers and a day’s gulet cruise. Or, until August 29, you can save £150pp for a week on the same basis at the
Dionysos Estate overlooking Kumlubuk Bay on Turkey’s Lycian coast, with sea views as well as great food at its three restaurants.
The new price is £850pp.
4 Activities in the French Alps
Enjoy a fortnight’s activity break in Chamonix, France, starting July 25, and save £800 at the five-bedroom Chalet des Lacs, which
sleeps 12. The wood and stone house overlooks Lac des Gaillands and is 100m from the bus stop for easy access to the entire
Chamonix Valley. Summer activities in the mountains include rock climbing, mountain biking, hiking, glacier trekking, kayaking and
water rafting. The new price is now £3,270 for two weeks, down from £4,090, with High Mountain Holidays (01993 775540,
highmountain.co.uk).
5 Majorcan villas in school holidays
Finding villas with availability in the school holidays in the Balearics is hard but, in Majorca, Coastline Villas (0844 557 1020,
coastline.co.uk) has £1,000 off the price of a villa for eight for the week from August 22, with flights. The contemporary Villa
Fuentes d’Atl in Sant Vicenc is a ten-minute walk from the sandy Cala Molins beach, and has a pool, with a bathroom for each of
the four bedrooms. The price of £862pp, down from £987pp, includes flights and car hire. Or Villa Retreats (0800 988 5586,
villaretreats.com) has a number of cut-price properties, including the stone-built Villa Deia in Majorca, which has £1,250 off all
week-long stays during July and August. The family-friendly villa, which sleeps eight, now costs £5,274 for the week starting July
25. It’s just a short walk from the small beach and the good local restaurants, but there’s also a pool.
6 Early July savings in Greece
Sunvil Holidays (020 8758 4758, sunvil.co.uk) has up to 28 per cent off its self-catering stays in Greece in early July. On the
Peloponnese, the newly renovated Remvi Apartments, just five minutes’ walk from two sandy beaches, now cost £479pp with
flights leaving on July 5, down from £668pp. Hire bicycles, walk in the olive groves and linger in the tavernas around the bay of
Stoupa, or take a day trip to the Byzantine fortified town of Mystras or the flooded seawater caves of Dyros. Or a week’s selfcatering in Kefalonia at the family-friendly Anemona Apartments, with flights, costs from £449pp from Manchester on July 4,
saving £230pp. The apartments, with a pool, are ten minutes from the sleepy village of Katelios with its sandy beach, picturesque
fishing harbour and rustic tavernas. The price from Gatwick is £469pp.
7 Cut-price camper vans
Save £100 on the cost of July bookings in a VW camper van with WeDubYou (020 7193 9058, wedubyou.com) which has vans
that can be picked up from Bergerac in southwest France or Gerona in northeast Spain, allowing for either a round trip or a oneway tour. The vans — with integrated iPhones for music and navigation as well as iPads preloaded with films and games — sleep
up to four, with the option of hiring a pop-up tent for older children for an extra £45 a week. The discounted price in peak season
is £695 a week, with good availability — new vans are being added through the season. Flights from a number of regional airports
to Gerona and Bergerac are available in July from about £220pp.
8 Cruise the Med
Sail from Barcelona in Spain to Athens in Greece, stopping off in ports to visit Marseilles, Florence, Rome and Kotor in
Montenegro on the way. Princess Cruises has a seven-day cruise leaving July 11 from £699pp in an inside cabin, down from an
original £951pp. The price includes all meals and entertainment but not flights (0843 374 2401, princess.com). Princess also has a
cruise of the Norwegian fjords for a seven-day round trip from Southampton on August 29 for the discounted price of £609pp.
9 River cruises for less
If you can travel next Saturday, you can get £500pp off the price of a Burgundy river cruise along the Saône and the Canal du
Centre on board the Caprice, a luxury hotel-barge. Glide through beautiful French countryside past vineyards and historic riverside
towns. The new price of £1,775pp includes six nights’ all-inclusive accommodation, with excursions and rail tickets to Dijon. Book
with Planet Rail (01347 808 680, planetrail.co.uk). For cruises later in the summer, Saga (0800 096 0079, travel.saga.co.uk) has
a number of offers in August, including a Taste of the Danube from Vienna to Budapest, with six nights, including flights with British
Airways, leaving August 11.
10 Family fun in Sardinia
Avoid the glitzier side of Sardinia and head for the seafront Grande Baia Resort in San Teodoro, a family-friendly beachfront
resort, with a club for children aged 3-12 and plenty of sandy beaches with aquamarine water near by. Stay for a week in a twobedroom self-catering apartment from August 10 and save £500 per family of four, paying a total of £2,300, including flights and
transfers, with ExpertoItaly (020 7520 3100, expertoitaly.com). The hotel is 20km from Olbia and not far from San Teorodoro,
with its evening market, as well as pizzerias and gelaterias.
11 Luxury for less in Madeira
Treat the family to a stay in the five-star Belmond Reid’s Palace above Funchal Bay on Madeira and save 10 per cent off the price
of a seven-night stay for a family of four, as well as getting a second room free for the kids. The new price of £935pp is valid
throughout August and includes flights, as well as seven nights’ B&B, but must be booked by July 1 with DialAFlight (0844 556
6060, dialaflight.com). If you can travel for the week from September 1, the price goes down to £835pp. The hotel has three
swimming pools and tennis courts, with childminders for kids aged 3-9 years old, while Madeira itself offers plenty of hiking and
biking in the interior as well as numerous beaches.
12 Amsterdam in August
Squeeze in a two-night short break to Amsterdam on August 24 (a perfect time to wander by the city’s scenic canals) for just
£119pp, including flights from Gatwick and B&B at the Mercure Hotel Amsterdam City. The short break is one of several offers
from Lastminute.com: this month, the company has a two-night break in Prague leaving June 28 from £189 B&B with flights, or
two nights in Barcelona leaving June 30 from £149pp, room only, with flights.
13 Photography and food in Morocco
Combine photography and cooking in Essaouira, Morocco, and get £100 off the price of a week before the end of July. Stay six
nights in a traditional riad, the Maison du Sud (no single supplement). The five photography sessions include visits to the fishing
port, the market and historical sites. The two four-hour cookery sessions start with a trip to the local market, and include sampling
your creations. All breakfasts are included, as are four group dinners and two lunches. Flights cost extra but the holiday price of
£699 includes transfers to and from either Essaouira or Marrakesh airport (020 3750 2455, vidados.com).
14 Tuscany villas
There are still some good deals on Tuscan villas if you know where to look. Invitation to Tuscany (020 8444 9500,
invitationtotuscany.com) has cut the price of the stunning 14th-century Torre del Merlo in the historic village of Montecatini, near
Volterra, which sleeps four, plus two on a sofabed, and has its own pool. It’s a 100-step climb to the roof terrace on the fifth floor
but there are panoramic views. The weeks starting July 11 and July 18 are now available for £1,817, a saving of £454. Essential
Italy (01223 460100, essentialitaly.co.uk) has slashed the price of Il Tribbio, which sleeps ten, by almost £1,000 to £3,780 for the
week starting August 15. The beautifully restored house in San Giovanni d’Asso has five bedrooms, five bathrooms and a pool —
it’s made up of two apartments so is good for families travelling together. If you can travel for the week starting June 27, there are
even bigger savings on other properties.
15 Train tour of Sweden
Take a train tour of Sweden during the time of the midnight sun and visit three cities — Malmo, Gothenburg and Stockholm. First,
fly into Copenhagen and cross the Oresund Bridge to Malmo, nicknamed the city of parks. It’s a three-hour train ride to
Gothenburg, with its Liseberg amusement park, boat tours of the city or on the Gota Canal. A similar-length train trip takes you to
Stockholm, where summer is the perfect time for island hopping and kayaking, before a flight home. With flights and train travel as
well as six nights’ B&B, the trip costs £850 per adult, saving about £200 on the original price. Children pay£300 each, down from
£425, and departures are on a almost daily basis (01427 700115, simplysweden.co.uk).
16 Alpine break with the tots
You’re already getting a bargain if you book a break in a ski chalet hotel at this time of year. Esprit Sun (01483 345 623,
espritsun.com) has an additional saving of £487 on the cost of a week for a family of four (two adults, one infant and one child
under four) which is now a total of £1,177. That price includes flights and transfers, half-board accommodation with free packed
lunches, free wine with dinner and soft drinks for children all day, plus a complimentary day trip to Grenoble and free children’s
clubs.
17 Summer in Italy’s South Tyrol — half price
Book a week’s stay in July at the Boutique Hotel Imperial Art (imperialart.it) in Merano and you’ll get it for half price, from
€799pp, down from €1,468. The offer includes breakfast, access to the Merano thermal baths, a sightseeing carriage tour and free
entry to the Merano Arte gallery, as well as free public transport. For the more active, book a four-night biker short-stay holiday at
the Alpinhotel Keil (alpinhotel.it) on the Pusteria route in Oberolang and you get a complimentary bike tour, free use of GPS and a
guided excursion for the reduced rate of €205pp, down from the normal rate (with no extras) of four nights for €252. Flights cost
extra; easyJet flies to Verona or Innsbruck and Ryanair flies to Bergamo.
18 Cruise the fjords and save £1,350
A two-week cruise to see the midnight sun normally costs from £2,149pp in an inside cabin on Holland America Line’s Ryndam. If
you depart on July 4, though, it costs from just £799pp in an inside cabin, or from £1,199pp for an ocean view of the fjords.
Sailing from and to Harwich, the ship calls at Alesund, Trondheim, Tromso, Geiranger and Flam, among others. The cruise, on a
full-board basis, must be booked by June 29 (0843 374 2300, hollandamerica.com).
19 Italian city breaks
Take in the sights of Venice and the art in Florence on a twin-centre break, with internal rail transfers and return flights. A sevennight holiday, staying four nights at the Monna Lisa in Florence and three nights at the Bonvecchiati in Venice, both B&B, costs
from £679pp, saving up to £345 per couple, and based on departures on July 23. A family of three would pay £1,835, saving
£360. Book with Citalia (01293 731753, citalia.com).
20 Amazing Alicante
You’d never guess that this luxury hotel is in Alicante, in the foothills of the Sierra Cortina mountains, but Asia Gardens hotel is a bit
of the Far East in Europe, with exotic gardens, a pool and Thai spa cabins. It is next to two 18-hole golf courses and the theme
parks Terra Mitica, Terra Natura and Aqua Natura. The beach is just 2km away. Book with Destinology (01204 821419,
destinology.co.uk) by June 30 for July travel and you’ll save more than £540, with seven nights’ B&B from £875pp, including
flights.
Long haul
21 Money off Mauritius — save 42 per cent
Save 42 per cent on seven-night stays to the Maritim Resort & Spa for departures between June 28 and August 29. The price is
from £1,249pp (£930pp off) for all-inclusive breaks to the five-star hotel, which has a pool with a swim-up bar. Activities including
deep-sea fishing, horse riding and water sports, and there’s a kids’ club. Flights from Heathrow are included; book with Tropical
Sky (01342 886941, tropicalsky.co.uk), which also has seven nights’ half board at the Sands Resort from £1,099pp throughout
the summer, a £540pp saving. Or Turquoise Holidays (01494 678400, turquoiseholidays.co.uk) has seven nights for a family of
four staying in two rooms at the Heritage Le Telfair Golf and Spa Resort during the school holidays from £4,525 half board,
including flights.
22 Water sports in Mexico
Stay in a hotel shaped like a Mayan temple overlooking a white sand beach in Cancun and save more than £1,000 per family for
departures on August 25. A family of four staying on an all-inclusive basis pays £4,175 in a junior suite with a lagoon view at
Paradisus Cancun resort, flights and transfers included (0844 5566060, dialaflight.com). The hotel has three swimming pools and a
kids’ club, and is next door to the Aqua World marina. There’s also a spa and a nine-hole golf course. The price includes a $1,500
(£960) resort credit for spa services and “premium drinks”.
23 Five-star hotel in Cancun
Temperatures will be in the 30s in Mexico during the summer, but there will be plenty of ways to keep cool at the Fairmont
Mayakoba in Riviera Maya including dips in the pool or the sea. Carrier (0161 492 1354, carrier.co.uk) has cut prices by 15 per
cent, with seven nights’ all-inclusive now from £2,025pp, with private transfers and flights. There’s a kids’ club, a spa and a Greg
Norman-designed golf course. Or Destinology (01204 823859, destinology.co.uk) has seven nights’ B&B at the five-star Banyan
Tree Mayakoba from £2,169pp — a saving of more than £1,000pp — for travel between July 18 and August 24, flights included.
Book by June 30.
24 Californian fly-drive
Take a classic American road trip at the end of August and save 35 per cent (0844 5573870, virginholidays.co.uk). See the Big
Sur coast and Yosemite National Park on a seven-night break with car hire and Virgin Atlantic flights from Heathrow to Los
Angeles departing on August 31 from £569pp (saving £300pp). You need to book hotels along the way. Best Western (best
western.com) has doubles at lodge-style hotels in Yosemite from about $150 a night.
25 Free upgrade in Zanzibar
If you travel between July 1 and 14, Turquoise Holidays is offering a free upgrade for a seven-night stay at the plush Residence
Zanzibar (01494 678400, turquoiseholidays.co.uk). The hotel consists of 66 villas, each with its own pool, set in gardens close to a
white sand beach. Guests are given bicycles to get about. The spa uses organic ila products. A week’s all-inclusive is now from
£2,075pp, with flights and private transfers — this is a saving of £1,970 per couple.
26 Half-price rooms in Barbados
There’s 50 per cent off “oceanfront deluxe” rooms at the Fairmont Royal Pavilion, which comes with pools, tennis courts, a spa
and water sports. A week’s B&B is from £1,480pp, a saving of £1,650 per couple, for bookings made by June 30 for travel up to
July 18, or from August 8, booked through Carrier (0161 492 1354, carrier.co.uk). It includes flights from Gatwick and private
transfers. The price for a family of four is from £5,810. Or there are adults-only all-inclusive seven-night breaks at the Club
Barbados, from £1,149pp for a week with return flights from London on September 3 (08444 997645,
caribbeanwarehouse.co.uk). The hotel has a pool, spa, water sports, two restaurants and three bars.
27 Costa Rican adventure
Take a guided tour of the national parks and volcanic landscapes of Costa Rica on an eight-night trip from July 3 with Tucan Travel
(www.tucantravel.com). The company has cut the price by 10 per cent to £1,260pp; this includes most meals, accommodation (in
hotels, hostels and guest houses), transport and entry to Tortuguero National Park.
28 Sri Lankan villas
Save up to £340pp this July on trips from Fleewinter (020 7112 0019, fleewinter.com). Ten nights at Apsara, a three-bedroom
villa in the village of Seeni Watta, overlooking the Bentota river, is from £350pp, based on four people sharing. The villa has a pool
and a garden, and the price includes the services of a chef. Flights are about £640pp extra, and can be arranged by Fleewinter,
which has offers on other Sri Lankan villas.
29 Bargain hotel in St Lucia
The price of rooms at the five-star Capella Marigot Bay Resort are halved this summer, with room-only doubles from £145 a night
(capellahotels.com/saintlucia). The resort has a spa, two infinity pools and activities including sailing, hiking and golf. Flights are
£660pp return if you leave on June 27 for a week (skyscanner.net), but they peak at about £1,000pp in mid-summer.
30 Luxury Mauritius for less
Book by June 30 and save 33 per cent on a seven-night stay at the Four Seasons Anahita. The hotel is set within a nature
sanctuary. The pared-back, stylish rooms have private plunge pools. There are also four main pools, tennis courts, a spa, a
Michelin-star restaurant and a golf course. A week’s half-board is now from £2,149pp — saving £1,040pp — from the Healthy
Holiday Company (020 8968 0501, thehealthyholidaycompany.co.uk). This includes flights and transfers for travel throughout the
summer. For a family of three the price is from £6,003 on the same basis.
31 Lions and beaches in Africa
Head into the bush to search for lions, leopards, buffalos, rhinos and cheetahs at a reserve in KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa
before relaxing at the White Pearl Resorts in Mozambique, where each suite comes with a private plunge pool and an ocean view.
Wexas Travel (020 7838 5892, wexas.com) offers a seven-day summer itinerary from £3,395pp, up to £1,600 off the regular
price. Flights, transfers, some meals and excursions are included.
32 Tobago on the cheap
This one departs on September 7, just outside the summer-holiday period, but the price is tempting. Seven nights at the three-star
Grafton Beach Resort is from £849pp with Flight Centre (0800 2585773, flightcentre.co.uk), £100 per couple off the already-low
price. It includes flights from Gatwick and breakfasts; packages must be bought by July 31, for travel between September 7 and
October 5. Quote reference 2748367.
33 Cut-price Galapagos
For a visit to the flora and fauna of the Galapagos try Intrepid Travel’s trip to Ecuador on July 14 (0808 2745111,
intrepidtravel.com). Intrepid has cut £752pp from its ten-day Complete Galapagos: Central Islands to £2,018pp. Snorkel among
sea lions, turtles and penguins off Isla Santa Cruz, Isla Bartolome and Isla Isabela. Seven nights are spent on a cruise ship, and two
in hotels. Flights are an extra £1,047pp.
34 Five-star Oman
Stay at the remote Zighy Bay Oman resort where you can paraglide in from the cliffs above. During August seven nights’ B&B are
offered for the price of four, which is £1,867pp including flights and transfers (020 7384 2332, cazloyd.com), saving £495pp.
Children pay from £758. The resort is designed in the style of an Omani village, with a beach and stand-alone pool villas in a
picturesque bay.
35 Thailand for a song
A nine-night holiday with two nights in Bangkok and seven by a beach in Krabi is just £699pp with Hayes & Jarvis (01293
735831, hayesandjarvis.com) for departures on September 1. Flights and transfers are included. Or TransIndus (08448793960,
transindus.co.uk) has a 14-night City, Jungle & Beach Adventure from £1,450pp, saving £225pp, taking in Bangkok, a stay in a
jungle lodge, Khao Sok National Park and the Andaman coast, until the end of August. You stay in first-class hotels. Travelbag
(0845 543 6615, travelbag.co.uk) has 50 per cent off room costs at The Sarojin in Khao Lak, with seven nights’ B&B from
£1,049pp including flights from August 20.
UK
36 Glamping for less in Cornwall
The cost of a fortnight in a camping pod at Bude Holiday Resort has been cut by 20 per cent for stays between July 3 and
September 6: the price is now £792, down from £990 (pitchup.com). The pods fit two adults and two children, with a double
sofabed and fold-away beds for children. You have free access to the resort’s facilities including showers, bar, outdoor pool and
adventure playground. There’s evening entertainment, and the 21-acre site is close to white-sand beaches. Or try one of the large
“geo dome” tents at Perran Sands Holiday Park in Perranporth, Cornwall. A seven-night stay is from £948 (35 per cent off) for a
family of six arriving on July 20 (0871 2301900, haven.com).
37 Big houses with bargains
The Big Domain (thebigdomain.com) has more than 400 houses on its books, with discounts of 20 per cent on several properties
suitable for large groups. A week at Shirwell Farmhouse in Barnstaple, Devon (sleeping ten), is £850 from June 27 (down from
£1,060). The house has modern rooms, a garden and a big dining room. Or the Tower in Selkirk in the Scottish Borders, sleeping
11, is £2,285 (previously £2,935) for the week starting July 10. It’s a historic tower that’s been given a stylish makeover, and has
several weeks free over the summer.
38 Cottage stay in south Devon
Coast & Country Cottages (01548 843773, coastandcountry.co.uk), which specialises in south Devon, has dozens of properties
with availability in the school holidays and prices down by 10 per cent: 25 Burgh Island, a modern apartment sleeping four in
Bigbury-on-Sea, is now from £1,649 a week beginning July 18 and 25 (£200 less than usual). It’s by a beach, overlooking Burgh
Island, with the use of a pool and hot tub.
39 Hotel and garden tour in Norfolk
Congham Hall is a stylish hotel with pretty gardens near King’s Lynn. From Sunday to Thursday until July 28 it has four nights’ half
board in a garden room with private patios for the price of three (01485 600250, conghamhallhotel.co.uk/our-summer-gardenoffer). The package includes two tickets to Sandringham, entry to the LightScape exhibition at Houghton Hall, and three herbs of
your choice from their garden. It costs £748.50 for two people, saving £249.50.
40 Cheap at Chatsworth House
The four-star Cavendish Hotel at Baslow in Derbyshire is on the Chatsworth estate and is owned by the Duke and Duchess of
Devonshire (cavendish-hotel.net). It has three nights’ B&B for £525, saving £177 on the normal rate for arrivals from Sunday to
Wednesday visits. The hotel has a sun terrace and two restaurants. It’s a short walk to Chatsworth House and garden
(chatsworth.org).
41 Narrowboats in Cheshire
Skipper a narrowboat for a week in Cheshire departing July 18 for £260 off the brochure price, paying £1,499 for up to eight
people (0345 4986130, hoseasons.co.uk). The boat is on the Trent & Mersey Canal, and takes you to the pretty village of Lymm,
with ten locks, an aqueduct and the 15m rise of the Anderton Boat Lift.
42 Forest of Dean breaks
Get a 55 per cent discount on a three-night weekend break starting next Friday at Whitemead Forest Park
(retreats.csmaclub.co.uk). The price is £238 for the apartments, which sleep up to six. There are deals over the summer at the
park’s log cabins, lodges and apartments, all next to ponds or in clearings in woodland with access to an indoor pool, hot tubs,
sauna, and a restaurant.
43 Coastal cottages
Luxury cabins, apartments and cottages, all four or five-star, are 10 per cent off from Blue Chip Holidays (0333 3317995,
bluechipholidays.co.uk). Seven nights self-catering in Brixham, Devon, is from £999, arriving on July 25, saving £111. The
apartment has sea views and sleeps seven in three bedrooms. Book on or before June 30 for July 24 to August 29.
44 Cut-price Cornwall
Hideaways has 15 per cent off the usual rates on cottages until July 4. Rose Cottage sleeps three and is within the Tamar Valley, a
World Heritage site, and close to several famous gardens. Or try Porthia, the ground floor of a fisherman’s cottage in St Ives. Rose
Cottage costs £497 for seven nights (saving £88), or a week’s stay at Porthia is from £539 (saving £95) from Hideaways (01747
828170, hideaways.co.uk).
45 Farm cottages in Norfolk
The artists Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth, Ben Nicholson and Ivon Hitchens often stayed at Church Farm by the coast in
Happisburgh. A series of cottages, each named after one of the artists, can be rented, with discounts of 20 per cent until July 25.
The cottages sleep between four and six. A seven-night stay in Nicholson Cottage, which sleeps four, is from £389 (saving £97)
from Norfolk Country Cottages (01263 715779, norfolkcottages.co.uk).
46 Manor houses in Devon
If you’re planning a big family get-together in the West Country, Helpful Holidays (01647 434063, helpfulholidays.com) has some
last-minute discounts. Among its offerings is a Georgian manor house sleeping 18 on the edge of Combe Hay near Bath, which is
now £5,600 for the week of July 24 or August 14 — £750 a week off. The house has 98 acres of grounds, seven bedrooms, a
barn with games and a hot tub for 12. Or a Tudor manor sleeping 22 in east Devon is now £5,225 a week from July 3 or July 17
— down by £1,307. Cadhay is a grade I country house with magnificent gardens; it is close to Ottery St Mary and five miles
(8km) from the coast at Sidmouth.
47 Short break in Bath
Bailbrook House Hotel is set in a grade II listed building with a well-regarded restaurant and plenty of car spaces. It has cut its rate
by 20 per cent on dinner B&B packages to £179 a night including a glass of wine and a three-course meal in its Cloisters
restaurant (0845 458 0905, handpickedhotels.co.uk). Quote the reference PPSU15 when booking.
48 Savings in John O’Groats
John O’Groats is home to a series of well-designed, sleek three-bedroom timber lodges — each sleeping six — that look out
across the seascape at the symbolic top of mainland Britain. They’re a short walk to the famous signpost marking the northerly
spot, and sandy beaches are close by, as are dramatic cliffs along well-marked trails. Natural Retreats (01625 839362,
naturalretreats.com), which runs the lodges, has cut the price of a week by 20 per cent this summer, with a week starting August 8
now at £1,045. A week in a two-bedroom apartment at the nearby Inn at John O’Groats is from £904.
49 Cottages in mid-Wales
Brecon Beacons Holiday Cottages (01874 676446, breconcottages.com) has 20 per cent off a raft of cottages. For example,
Blacksmiths House, near Sennybridge, is a 16th-century farmhouse that’s been tastefully restored. It sleeps eight in four bedrooms,
and a week’s stay before July 11 is from £610 — which works out as £152 off. Or try Table Mountain View cottage, a 17thcentury cottage sleeping four in the village of Llangattock. It’s now £334 a week: £80 off. For other cottage deals in
Pembrokeshire, take a look at Coastal Cottages of Pembrokeshire (01437 772760, coastalcottages.co.uk).
50 Luxury hotel for less near Durham
Save while staying at Seaham Hall, a five-star boutique hotel perched on a cliff-top. The hip hotel, which has a first-rate spa with a
pool and outdoor hot tubs, is offering three nights for the price of two when staying in a junior suite. The price is £366 B&B for
stays between Sunday and Thursday (0191 516 1400, seaham-hall.co.uk; www.durhamheritagecoast.org).
All holidays available as we went to press
Tom Chesshyre and Jane Knight
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Publisher: News UK & Ireland Ltd
Published Date: 20 Jun 2015 00:01:00
Article Id: 21032750 Version: 1
Word Count: 5052
Character Count: 21602
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