The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - Travel
Grab a Black Friday deal and get away
It can be difficult to tell the true bargains from the not-so-special offers. Emma Featherstone helps you spot them
The sale season is upon us. While not every offer is a true bargain, if you have been directing your attention towards, say, a villa in the Maldives or a spring river cruise, now is an opportune moment to (potentially) get a little more for your cash. Among the deals we have selected here, you can find discounts on a golfing weekend in Northern Ireland, a tour of the American Deep South and a chalet stay in the French Alps.
Of course, it pays to stay vigilant and do a little extra research before deciding whether an offer is the best for you.
A SPRINGTIME TOUR
Spend two weeks wandering around cathedral cities, sampling German beers and tucking into onboard dinners on APT’s European Gems river cruise – which takes in four countries. You can see Rembrandt’s Windmill in Utrecht (the Netherlands), explore the Unesco-listed Augustusburg Castle (Germany), admire the Melk Abbey (Austria) and enjoy a twilight sail (Hungary). The line is offering savings of £1,000 per person on a range of dates.
APT (0800 012 6683; aptouring.co.uk) is offering a 15-day European Gems itinerary from £2,395 per person
(was £3,395; saving £1,000), including flights, 14 nights on board, and most meals
HONEYMOON LUXURY
Turquoise Holidays is offering discounts on a number of Indian Ocean breaks, including stays at the Constance Lemuria in the Seychelles. Spacious suites and villas await. Lemuria’s name originates from a legendary lost continent, which is said to have sunk without a trace. It sits on the northwest corner of Praslin and is built into its granite hillside. Whether your preferred holiday pastimes are golf, diving or wildlife spotting (herons and red fody are among the creatures to spot in its grounds), you’ll be well-served in this resort.
Turquoise Holidays (01494 678 400; turquoiseholidays.co.uk) is offering 50 per cent off a seven-night stay in a junior suite from £1,995 per person, including flights (a saving of £2,500 per couple) for travel in May 2022 , bookings open November 26
SOUTHERN CHARMS
Nearly 20 months after shutting its borders to UK travellers, the US is firmly back on our holiday menu. Why not celebrate with almost a fortnight in one of its richest cultural regions?
Nashville, Memphis, Graceland and New Orleans are among the biggest draws on a tour with Insight Vacations. Journey through the South’s musical fabric, from the Grand Ole Opry (which held its first concert in 1892) to street performers in the French Quarter. For a hassle-free reunion with the States (accommodation, transport via coach, an on-the-road team and airport transfers are included), you can save £901 per person.
Insight Vacations (0800 533 5620; insightvacations.com) offers a 12-day Country Roads of the Deep South tour for £3,604 per person on selected dates, down from £4,505 per person
BARN PARTY
Plan a pre-Christmas, French Alps break in Val d’Isère. Consider a cosy chalet, which has been transformed from a 200-year-old farmhouse and sleeps up to 10. It would be ideal for a getaway with a small group of friends. The basement has been transformed into a spa suite, complete with a small pool and hammam. You can also choose
to tack on services such as welcome champagne and canapes, catering and beauty treatments. After a washout in 2020, why not add some sparkle to this December? You will be able to reach the slopes by foot, and ski hire is provided by Killy Sport, which is a five-minute walk from the property.
Skiline (020 8313 3999; skiline.co.uk) is offering seven nights at the Farmhouse from £800 per person, departing on December 8 2021, with transfers included. This deal runs until
November 26
CRUISE THE AEGEAN
Some 46 sailings are included in Celestyal Cruises’ Black Friday sale, with discounts of up to 40 per cent, free places for children and no single supplements among its offers. It runs until November 30 and is valid on select all-inclusive voyages in 2022. Among the top picks is a week-long itinerary beginning in Athens and calling at Crete, Rhodes, Santorini, Milos, Mykonos and Kusadasi, as well as a maiden call at Thessaloniki. You could
enjoy guided visits to the medieval Acropolis of Lindos and the archaeological site of Ephesus.
Celestyal Cruises (0800 411 8038; celestyal.com) is offering an Idyllic Aegean voyage from £689 per person, based on double occupancy, not including flights, for bookings made by November 30
DIVE INTO THE MALDIVES
Secure a week at the Banyan Tree Vabbinfaru in the North Male Atoll of the Maldives. The resort is set on a coral island with white sand shores and a reef replete with marine life. Picture yourself stepping off the speedboat from Male and checking into your poolside villa next summer. Each of these villas comes with a secluded patio, private plunge pool and a generous outdoor area. A snorkel or dive may reward you with sightings of angelfish, butterflyfish, parrotfish, and plenty more.
The Ultimate Travel Company (020
7386 4646; theultimatetravelcompany. co.uk) is offering seven nights all
inclusive at Banyan Tree Vabbinfaru in an Ocean View Pool Villa for £2,940 per person, based on two people sharing, excluding flights. This offer is available to book from November 26 to December 5 for travel between
May and September 2022
SMOOTH SAILING
Follow in the tracks of the super rich, many of whom are well acquainted with the beauty and seclusion available in the British Virgin Islands. A roundtrip catamaran sailing from Scrub Island is a winning introduction to these diverse isles. Discover pirate legends on uninhabited Norman Island, clamber over the huge granite boulders of Virgin Gorda and sink a “Painkiller” cocktail or two in Jost Van Dyke. Sea turtle-spotting, snorkelling and a beach party are among the other delights as you’re skippered around the archipelago on your 47ft vessel.
G Adventures (0344 272 2060; gadventures.com) is offering a sevennight Sailing the British Virgin
Islands break from £888 per person
(down from £1,269), excluding flights
HISTORY SEEKING
Tackle a dream trip in 2022, for 15 per cent less. Explore’s eight-night Machu Picchu itinerary includes a trek accompanied by tour leaders and local guides, two days at the Unesco site itself, and other archaeological treasures (such as Moray, notable for its concentric terraces that are thought to have been an Inca botanical laboratory). You will need good fitness levels for the hiking portion: the Warmiwañusqa (Dead Woman’s Pass) will see you scale the heights to 13,800ft. Explore (01252 240 689; explore.co.uk) is offering a Peru Inca Trail Trek from £922 per person, which includes a saving of £163 . The sale begins on November 22
WINTER GOLFING
Prepare for a weekend of indulgence at Northern Ireland’s Lough Erne Resort; it’s offering discounts of up to 50 per cent. The resort sits within its own 600-acre peninsula, nestled between Castle Hume Lough and Lough Erne. With spa treatments, days of golf and fine dining on the menu, you may not want to venture beyond its borders. However, there are plenty of cut-price add-ons to consider, from traditional afternoon tea overlooking Castle Hume Lough for £37.50 per person, to a golf swing analysis session with PGA professional Damian Mooney for £35.
Lough Erne Resort (028 6632 3230; lougherneresort.com) is offering rooms from £119 per night with a number of discounted experiences on offer
TWO CANARIES
Flit between the Canary Islands on a seven-night island-hopping holiday next May, neatly swerving the crowds of both the school summer holidays and half-term. You’ll begin with three nights at the Hotel Club Siroco, Lanzarote, before moving on to the Villa Florida, Fuerteventura – both stays will be on a B&B basis. Art-seekers will find much to recommend Lanzarote, which is decorated with the works of local visionary César Manrique. Surfers will be taken by Fuerteventura, meanwhile, thanks to its reliable winds.
Olympic Holidays (0208 492 6868; olympicholidays.com) is offering a seven-night island-hopping holiday from £665 per person, based on two travelling together, including return flights and transfers, for departures on May 16 2022