Europe
The choice is not really the country. It is the resort, the hotel and the kind of holiday you want.
For most British holidaymakers, a holiday in Europe means a short flight to the sun: the Spanish islands, Greece, Portugal, Cyprus, the Turkish coast, and the Canaries when the Mediterranean is out of season. The choice is vast, and that is the difficulty. Thousands of hotels look alike in a search result, and the holiday you actually have depends on things a photograph does not show.
The important decision is rarely the country. It is the resort, the hotel and the style of holiday: lively or quiet, made for families or for couples, all-inclusive or free to eat out, a large resort with everything on site or a small hotel in a town. Two places twenty minutes apart on the same island can suit completely different people.
Auria Travel is an independent UK travel agency, and we arrange European resort holidays of every kind. Most are package holidays from established tour operators, with flights, transfers and hotel together, and our part is to help you choose the right one and book it. Where you want something more individual, such as two islands or a city before the beach, we can arrange that too.
How Auria can help you find the right resort
Tell us who is going, when, and what a good day on holiday looks like for you. Do the children need a club and a water park, or just a beach? Do you want to walk to restaurants in the evening, or never leave the hotel? Does a short transfer matter? Would you rather pay for everything before you go? Our travel professionals turn the answers into a short list.
Nearly always, the right holiday already exists as a package, and we will find it and book it for you. That is the heart of what we do here, and it is worth more than it sounds. We know which tour operators are strong in which resorts, we compare like with like on board basis, flight times and transfers, and we can tell a hotel that will suit you from one that only photographs well. It saves you evenings of searching, and it is how real value is found: the right hotel at a fair price, not simply the cheapest on the page.
Sometimes a holiday needs putting together: two islands, a villa and then a hotel, a few days in a city before the coast. Then we can put it together for you, with the flights, the places to stay and the travel between them.
A package already includes its transfers, and usually someone in the resort to turn to, so nothing more is needed. For a more individual trip we work with trusted local experts where it helps: a private transfer, a driver for a day, a guide in a city, a boat trip arranged ahead. We suggest it only when it adds something.
Kinds of resort holiday
- All-inclusive
- Meals, drinks and often activities paid for before you go. It suits families, anyone who wants to know the cost in advance, and holidays where the resort itself is the point. It is widely available on the Turkish coast, in the Canary Islands, on the larger Greek islands, in the Balearics and in Cyprus, and much less so in places known for eating out.
- Family holidays
- Short flights, family rooms, children’s clubs, water parks and gently shelving beaches. Europe is where most British families holiday, and where the choice is widest.
- For couples, and adults only
- Quieter hotels, or whole resorts reserved for adults, from simple and peaceful to very smart.
- Luxury
- Resort hotels with suites, private pools, spas and fine restaurants, and small hotels of real character on the coast and in the hills.
- Villas
- A house and pool of your own, for a family or a group of friends. Particularly strong in the Balearics, the Greek islands, the Algarve and Cyprus.
- Half board, bed and breakfast and self-catering
- Not everyone wants everything included. Where the evenings are for trying restaurants, a lighter board basis or an apartment leaves you free to choose.
- Winter sun
- The Canary Islands, and to a lesser degree Madeira and Cyprus, for warmth when the rest of Europe’s resorts are closed.
The right holiday probably already exists
Europe is where the ready-made holiday is at its strongest. Tour operators have been refining these packages for decades, and for a week or two in one resort there is rarely a reason to build anything from scratch. Tailor-made is for the occasions when the holiday has more than one part.
Two islands
A holiday divided between two Greek islands, or two of the Canaries, linked by a ferry or a short flight.
A city, then the beach
Two or three nights in a city such as Lisbon, Seville, Athens or Istanbul, and then a week on the coast.
A villa, with a hotel at either end
Ten days in a villa with friends or family, and a night or two in a hotel at the start or the finish.
A tour, then a resort
A short escorted tour, or a few days of touring by car, followed by time beside the pool.
Two countries
Two centres in one trip where the connection is easy, such as a Greek island and the Turkish coast opposite.
Where the resorts are
The main choices, not a complete list. Within each, the resort and the hotel matter more than the name of the island.
The Balearic Islands
Majorca has the widest range: long sandy bays in the north, busy resorts in the south, mountains and small coves between. Menorca is quieter, with coves and family resorts. Ibiza has a peaceful side as well as its famous one.
The Canary Islands
Tenerife, Lanzarote, Gran Canaria and Fuerteventura are warm when the Mediterranean is not, which makes them the mainstay of winter sun, about four hours’ flight away. Each is different: Tenerife for range, Lanzarote for its volcanic landscape and low-rise resorts, Fuerteventura for long beaches, Gran Canaria for dunes and lively resorts.
The Greek islands
Crete is large and varied, with a long season. Rhodes and Kos have big beach resorts and old towns. Corfu is greener. There are many smaller islands for something quieter, usually with a ferry at the end of the flight.
Cyprus
A long season and an easy holiday: Paphos and Limassol in the south-west, and the white sand of Ayia Napa and Protaras in the east. English is widely spoken, and driving is on the left.
The Algarve and Madeira
Portugal’s south coast has golden cliffs, coves, golf and family resorts. Madeira, out in the Atlantic, is a green and mountainous island, chosen for walking, gardens and mild winters more than for beaches.
The Turkish coast
Around Antalya are long beaches and large all-inclusive resorts. Further west, around Dalaman, the resorts are smaller, among pine-covered bays and lagoons. It is known for good value and for hotels that do all-inclusive well.
- Mainland Spain
- The Costa del Sol, the Costa Blanca and their neighbours: easy to reach from almost every UK airport, with resorts for every taste and a long season in the south.
- Malta and Croatia
- History, clear water and handsome old towns. Both have more rock and pebble than sand, which suits some holidaymakers and not others.
When to go
There is no single season for Europe’s resorts, which are spread across two thousand miles and more than one sea. What follows is general; where you go should follow from when you can travel, and we will advise on the two together.
- July and August
- The hottest, busiest and most expensive weeks, when the sea is warm and everything is open. In the eastern Mediterranean the heat can be intense in the middle of the day.
- May, June and September
- Often the most comfortable months: warm, quieter and less expensive. The sea is cool in May and at its warmest in September. At the very start and end of the season not every hotel and restaurant is open.
- April and October
- Early and late. Warmth is most likely in the south and east: Cyprus, Crete, the Turkish coast and the Canaries. The days are shorter and some resorts are winding down.
- Winter
- Most Mediterranean resorts close. The Canary Islands carry on, with Madeira and Cyprus, which is why they are the usual answer for winter sun.
- School holidays
- Half-terms, Easter and the summer holidays set the prices and fill the family rooms. If you are tied to them, book early. If you are not, a week either side can make a real difference.
Planning your trip
The things that decide whether a resort holiday is the right one.
- Resort before hotel
- The same island has lively resorts and quiet ones, places for families and places for couples. Decide the kind of place first, and the hotel second.
- Board basis
- Compare like with like. All-inclusive varies a great deal in what it covers: which restaurants, which drinks, and until what time.
- The transfer
- Anything from twenty minutes to two hours or more, depending on the resort. With small children, or a late arrival, it matters.
- Flights
- Two to four and a half hours to most places, from a wide choice of UK airports. The times make a difference: a late flight home is another day by the pool.
- Rooms
- Family rooms, rooms that connect and rooms with direct access to a pool are limited in number. It is worth checking the layout, and how many beds there really are.
- Where the hotel is
- On the beach or a walk from it, in the town or outside it, on the flat or on a hill. Small things, which decide whether a hotel suits you.
- Booking ahead
- For the school summer holidays, family rooms and the hotels people return to are often reserved a year ahead. Outside those weeks there is more freedom, and more choice late on.
Thinking about a holiday in Europe?
Tell us who is travelling, your dates and your airport, and what you want from the holiday: all-inclusive or not, lively or quiet, beach, pool or town. If you have a budget in mind, say so. We will come back with a short list of resorts and hotels that fit, and the differences between them.
