What’s the best destination for a last-minute getaway?
Q Urgent: how can I find a week’s break to a five star allinclusive, somewhere warm, leaving in the next couple of days? Ideally a sort-of spa with yoga/pilates, massages, warm water to swim in, walks, good healthy food and alcohol. I’ve been doing searches on the internet and getting a load of inappropriate suggestions back, eg a search for “last minute getaway 5* all
inclusive” and dates coming back for November. Can you recommend anything, ideally from East Midlands airport?
Tracey F
A I recommend you talk to a good travel agent who will deploy their expertise to find the right solution for you. But since you ask, my recommendations are very straightforward. At this time of year, the solution to your needs is likely to be found in the Atlantic islands (the Canaries plus Madeira and Porto Santo), the Mediterranean, Morocco’s Atlantic coast or Egypt’s Red Sea shores. I reckon you have more chance of indulgence and walks in the first two.
The clear winner is a Tui departure to Paphos in Cyprus on Wednesday 8 February, for £777 for a week; most other options I have checked cost an additional £500-plus. The hotel is the four-star Atlantica Oasis hotel just east of Limassol (but within half an hour’s walk of the old town. Meals and alcoholic drinks are included. It has indoor and outdoor pools, a sauna and steam room, and a spa that offers massages. I am confident you will be able to find nearby locations providing pilates and yoga – this is a big tourism centre. The seafront is perfectly pleasant for walking. A few miles inland you can find challenging hikes – with the island’s highest point, 1,952m-tall Mount Olympus, just 20 miles away in the Troodos Mountains.
The price includes flights on easyJet, as well as a 23kg baggage allowance. The catch is the flights are to and from Luton, about 85 miles further south than you wanted. The outbound flight is at 7am, which probably means a hotel at Luton airport the night before, especially if you are travelling down by train. But the inbound is civilised (arriving at 5pm). And the prospect of early February in the Cypriot sunshine is enticing.
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