Cheap Holidays: Affordable Beach Breaks That Don’t Feel Cheap
Bargain prices, ATOL-protected on flight-inclusive packages, no compromise on the hotel. How GoToBeach keeps British holidays affordable for 2026 — Turkey, Greece, Malta, Morocco and Egypt, honest packages and a UK-based team on the phone.
If you only have thirty seconds, here’s the short version. Five destinations, what each one does best, when to fly, and the resort areas where prices stack up most often.
| Destination | Best for | Cheapest months | Best-value resort areas |
|---|---|---|---|
| Turkey | All-inclusive value, families, golf | April–June, October | Side, Alanya, Kemer |
| Egypt | Winter sun, Red Sea diving | November–March | Hurghada, Sharm El Sheikh |
| Greece | Aegean island value, self-catering | May, June, September | Kos, parts of Crete |
| Malta | English-speaking value, short flight | May, September, October | Qawra, St Paul’s Bay, Bugibba |
| Morocco | Culture + winter sun | November–March | Agadir |
Below, we go into the why behind each — and the bits most “cheap holiday” pages won’t tell you.
Most operators run cheap holidays the same way. Take the cheapest hotel in a country. Stick the cheapest flight next to it. Hide the transfer fee in the small print. Publish it as a “cheap holiday”. You see the headline number, you click, and the rest gets bolted on at checkout.
That’s not what we do.
A cheap holiday here means something different. It means you’ve paid a fair price and you get what you came for. Sometimes that’s a five-star resort on a shoulder-season week. Sometimes it’s a small family-run apartment with a pool. Both can be cheap holidays. Both can be brilliant. Price isn’t the same thing as value.
“There’s no rule that says an expensive hotel is automatically good, or a cheap one automatically bad. Some of the happiest customers we’ve ever had stayed in places that cost less than their flights.”
Thomas Kaplan — GoToBeach Product ManagerGreece is a good example. Our colleague Eleni handles the Greek portfolio — she selects every hotel we sell there and signs every contract herself. She doesn’t pick cheap. She picks honest. Clean rooms, decent breakfast, owners who actually care. When you book a Greek hotel through us, you’re booking one of Eleni’s. That’s the filter.
Then there’s the flight. This is where most “cheap holiday” pages stop talking, and we’d rather not. Hotel rates stay fairly stable through the season. Flights don’t. Flight prices shift every few hours, sometimes faster than that. The same hotel, same week, same room can come out £150 cheaper or £150 dearer depending on which Tuesday you sit down to book.
Earlier is almost always better. We say it because it’s true, not because we want you to book today.
And one more thing — if you take anything from this page, take this. Don’t only look at the price when you’re comparing packages. Anyone’s. Look at what’s inside it. Transfers in or out? Hold luggage in or out? Which board basis? Which airport? Which room category? That’s where the real difference lives.
Not every Mediterranean destination is equally affordable. After more than twenty years booking British holidaymakers, here’s where we send people when budget is the priority — and why each one earns its place.
Turkey
Turkey is the destination most British holidaymakers tell us they couldn’t believe the prices on the first time round. Particularly Side, Alanya and Kemer. Five-star all-inclusive at a price point you’d struggle to find elsewhere in the Mediterranean. Roughly three-and-a-half hours by air from the UK.
Browse Turkey →Egypt
Egypt is hard to beat from November through to March. Hurghada and Sharm El Sheikh resorts run all-inclusive packages at prices that make winter sun a genuinely affordable proposition for British families. The Red Sea adds diving and snorkelling on top, often the best in the Mediterranean basin.
Browse Egypt →Greece — Kos & Crete
The mainstream Greek islands have moved on price in recent years, but Kos and parts of Crete still offer the Aegean experience without the Aegean premium. Lower per-night rates, shorter transfers from the airport, direct UK flights from most regional airports.
Browse Greece →Morocco — Agadir
Agadir is Morocco’s beach-resort side — all-inclusive properties at price points that often line up with Turkey, plus an easy gateway to the country’s culture, food and souks for excursions. Strong winter sun option.
Browse Morocco →Four properties — one in each of the destinations we recommend most for value-conscious travellers. These aren’t the most expensive resorts on our books. They’re the ones our team genuinely uses for British holidaymakers who want comfort without overspending.
Calido Maris Hotel
A reliable Side all-inclusive that punches above its category for British families. Good food variety, decent pools, walking distance to Side’s old town. Strong choice for first-time Turkey holidaymakers.
Olga’s Paradise Apartments
A genuinely affordable way into the Greek islands. Self-catering studios and apartments, 100m from the beach, with a pool and bar on site. Kos Town is a 5-minute drive — easy access without resort prices.
Odyssee Park Hotel Agadir
Four-star Morocco in the heart of downtown Agadir, a short walk to the beach. 140 rooms, outdoor pool, spa with hammam, two restaurants. A strong winter-sun pick for couples and friends travelling on a sensible budget.
Bella Vista Hotel Malta
A modern four-star in St Paul’s Bay, walking distance to the Qawra promenade and Bugibba Square. Indoor and outdoor pools, rooftop terrace, buffet restaurant. A neat, modern option for cost-conscious Malta holidaymakers.
Prices and availability shift week by week. Get in touch with our team and we’ll send you the current rate for your dates.
1. Book in the right window
January and February tend to be strong months for booking the following summer — fewest people in the market, hotels still releasing best rates. The last three weeks before departure can be the other end of the same story, when hotels release unsold allocation. The worst time to book is usually April–May for July departures: peak demand, fewest deals on the table.
2. Travel in the shoulder season
Late May, the back half of June, the first two weeks of September and the whole of October usually run noticeably cheaper than peak July–August, often without much drop in weather quality. School-free families miss this window and pay more for it.
3. Fly midweek
Tuesday and Wednesday departures often work out cheaper than Saturday on the same week, sometimes by a meaningful amount. The hotel doesn’t care which day you arrive.
4. Use regional airports
Manchester, Birmingham, Edinburgh and Glasgow can come in well below Gatwick or Stansted on certain Turkey and Egypt routes. Worth asking us before you default to a London airport — we’ll check both sides for you.
5. Tell us your real budget
Most cheap-holiday searches start from a destination and filter by price. We do it the other way round — give us your budget and your dates, and we’ll come back with the destinations where it’ll go furthest in 2026.
This is the bit that separates a properly cheap holiday from one that looked cheap on the search results and then wasn’t. Run through this checklist on any package you’re seriously considering — ours, anyone else’s. It takes five minutes and it pays for itself.
1. What’s actually in the package price?
Flights, accommodation, transfers, baggage — which of these is in the headline number and which gets added later? Cheap-looking packages often strip transfers and hold luggage out of the lead price.
2. What’s the board basis?
Self-catering, B&B, half-board, all-inclusive, ultra all-inclusive — these can be hundreds of pounds apart in real cost, but only a few clicks apart in a search filter.
3. What room category are you actually getting?
“Standard” room can mean a side garden view next to the bins. Sea view, pool view, family room — these matter, and the headline price almost always assumes the cheapest category.
4. What airport and what aircraft time?
A 5am flight from a regional airport plus an overnight pre-stay can wipe out a £100pp saving. Check the full door-to-hotel cost, not just the package.
5. Is it ATOL-protected?
For flight-inclusive package holidays sold in the UK, ATOL is the protection that gets you home if something goes wrong on the operator side. Confirm before you pay. With us it’s licence number 11211.
6. What does the deposit cover, and when’s the balance due?
A low deposit is great until you realise the balance is due eight weeks out and there’s no instalment option. Ask. Our deposits start at £30pp and the balance is split into instalments with no fees.
Are your cheap holidays ATOL protected?
What’s actually included in a cheap holiday with GoToBeach?
Do you offer a price-match policy?
Which destinations are the cheapest from the UK in 2026?
What should I check before booking any cheap package holiday?
Is it cheaper to book early or last minute?
Which destinations are best for cheap family holidays?
What’s a typical price for a 7-night all-inclusive holiday?
What about last-minute deals?
Do I need to pay in full when I book?
Cheap isn’t the only way to do it well. If your priorities sit elsewhere:
Speak to a UK-based specialist. We’ll find the right hotel at the right price for your dates, with ATOL protection and £30pp deposit.
All holidays booked through GoToBeach are ATOL-protected · Caria Holidays Ltd · ATOL #11211 · +44 208 211 00 01 · hi@gotobeach.co.uk