Where are good, affordable, European all-inclusive destinations that aren't too remote, near towns or historical sights?

[novalia89]

Where are good European all-inclusive destinations that aren't too remote? I see a lot that are in the middle of nowhere or are in a smallish town. There are some that seem to be close to a resonable town/city or historical site - Like Palma de Mallorca or Bodrum. Even Salou.

Preferably somewhere on the cheaper side, because I'm pretty skint after moving house. I'm thinking £600 for a week or around £100 a night. I'm going with 2 adult friends and we may share a room or get a private room, idk yet.

Even if we don't end up booking it, I might take a solo trip and that is when having a holiday with some attractions is even more crucial. I have been to Palma de Mallorca in an AI and Malaga on a solo trip and there was plenty to do there. But I think that I would be bored/feel guilty lying in the sun (or even my hotel room) for a week in somewhere like Laganas, Zante which is far from anything and the public transport looks limited. Turkey and Greece seems to have a lot of history, but again seems to have remote towns.

Can anyone recommend any others? thanks

I’m not sure I’d trust the food at a £100 a night all inclusive.

It sounds like you need a self catering trip, not AI - far more choice of location and access to local culture. I wouldn't personally consider AI for a solo trip.

I've stayed at a £140 all inclusive twice (a solo price but it works out about £100 for a shared room) before and it was surprisingly nice. Recently renovated, nice pool and great food. It was also a solo trip in Palma

Would you consider Turkey? Antalya has a lovely historic centre and there are some archaeological sites in the area. But it will be very, very hot during the summer months.

Why would you want to go AI, if you’d like to be close to stuff happening? Surely that’s part of the fun, to go out and eat in different places?

Benalmadena is a nice resort, close to Malaga, Mijas, Torremolinos for day trips.

Yes, Turkey seems to have a lot of historical sites that are close to the resorts, but there are some fairly remote ones too, so it might be a case of doing some research - I've never been to Turkey before. That's true about the heat if I am doing some sightseeing - I'm not great with extremely hot weather and walking about because I just sweat like crazy haha. I think september might work for that. My friends have kids though so I think that it will depend on timings and if they are with their dad during that time - which I think school holidays will probably be best for :s

Well yes, it's part of the fun if I had loads of disposable income, but like I said I'm skint after moving house. My friends have both recently bought houses too tbh.

I also was self catered in Malaga and I preferred the AI for a solo trip - I didn't think that I would but I did. It's easy to walk up to the buffet and sit in peace without feeling self conscious in a restaurant. There were many solo travellers in Palma. I also bought some tapas in Malaga in a restaurant that I'd been recommended by a colleague, spent around €33 euro and was in and out in about 10 mins - 3 different tapas and a drink. It felt honestly a bit of a waste of money. I feel like part of the restaurant price is because you are sitting down and spending a bit of time to make it worthwhile. For £98 a night (single room price, non refundable in September and booked direct with the hotel that I've just checked in Palma) it is worth it, even if I ate out one or two nights. But I've been to that hotel twice now so I am up for a change haha.

Thanks, that's a good shout! I think that my dad mentioned that it seemed to be the place that Brits went on holiday when packages started coming out. I didn't manage to do any day trips when I went to Malaga but there look like there are lots of nice cute towns and the public transport is great in Spain.

Somewhere in a cheaper country - try North Macedonia

I’ve found an AI buffet much better as a solo traveller than cooking for one, or trying to not feel awkward on my own at a seafront restaurant full of couples. I do think finding AI for £100 per night might be optimistic these days though!

Paphos?
Maybe consider half board then you can always have lunch when you're out exploring.

Yes exactly, I found it much more comfortable tbh! The one that I went to had loads of single travellers (it had single rooms) and probably people who eat alone while there partner is elsewhere. I think that it is on the low side but I think that it is doable - I got very lucky when I went to Palma twice (£30 return flights in July and an early morning flight out and last flight of the day back) -

It's £90 a night AI in september in the single room and £65 in october (it's BQ Belvedere in Palma if you are interested, but it was a little rainy when I went back in October but the flights were only £40 then and the room was about £65) but also £180/2 in July (I was only looking for a few nights midweek so it might bump up over the weekend). This is booking direct. It's about £1000 a week with jet2 there.

If I am going on a sun holiday on my own I usually book half board rather than AI. It reduces the cost and I can easily grab something light for lunch out and about or even skip it if I loaded up at breakfast!

I agree with half board being the ideal solution - and you can go out all day too. Sorrento?

Thanks, yes, Paphos looks like it is a good shout. Good public transport and lots of history. (I'd just sort of bypassed Cyprus because of that rape trial leaving a nasty thought in my head). We can get a bus from the airport to the town and then from the hotel to the town isn't far and looks like it is €4.

I wouldn't mind half board. My parents would only do this if we ever stayed somewhere catered as a child, and we'd eat a big breakfast! haha. It was just my friend that suggested the AI, but equally, she hasn't done any planning for it haha. I also didn't drink like crazy on my solo AI, just a few cokes and a glass of wine or sangria per day. I could go to the supermarket for that!

I'll have a look at Sorrento too. I've not been there but it's a nice place. Italy is also still reasonably priced too.

Croatia often good for this, cavtat for Dubrovnik, or fly to Pula and options of Porec or rovinj. Also split and zadar

BQ Belvedere is showing up at about £250/night for two people all-inclusive in July. That's actually not a bad rate for Mallorca. It's in an interesting location because it's within Palma itself and you can take the city bus into town or walk to the Miro museum or the Genova caves, and I'm told they run a free shuttle bus to the beach at Palma Nova. Apart from the hill to walk up coming back in the evening, I don't think I've ever seen a bad review of the place. But it is a bit of an exception.

Yeah I found it pretty good so I booked another trip when I was there. I stayed 2 nights and then rebooked for 3 nights in October (but it was a bit too rainy then). Yeah the prices jump around a little but it might bump up massively if you look for an entire week because of the weekends. I did walk to the caves, the museum and got the bus to Palmanova (but stayed for about 60 mins because there isn't much to do on a solo trip - it's just tourist shops selling dresses and buckets and spades). I think that the cheap flights and the single rooms made it lucky. The local beaches are just as nice too. I also went to the cathedral/museum/Valdemossa (you only need a few hours there) and did the historic train/tram via public transport which was €2 to town.

I've looked at Ryanair and they don't do the 6am flight out there anymore from Manchester, the first is 10am but that's not too bad. I had a 6am flight out and 10pm flight back.

I think Paphos is definitely going on my list for the future, even if it's not this one, and maybe Larnaca because they have a lot of transport options, things to do and the flights are cheap. £70 return in June and July. The all inclusive seems to be limited but the self catering options are very very cheap!! I'm sure that I can throw in a few bottles of supermarket wine and gin to appease my friend and then I have a budget of about £300 to eat out and buy some breakfast food.

I'm going to research the other suggestions. Thanks everyone.

I do this. What works best for me is to have a good breakfast and go out for the day. I have lunch out, usually at around 2-3 pm.

Then I'm not that bothered about much in the evening but I will go to the restaurant for a drink and a small amount of food. I prefer to eat like this anyway but if you're a dinner person you could always just have a snack or ice cream while out and then your normal dinner.

I did this last year in Lanzarote. HB only cost £4 pn more than B&B and the AI upgrade would have been 35 euro per night but weirdly £50 per night if I'd booked it when I booked the hotel. But as I was out and about most of each day, would have been a waste of money.

I probably spent less than the 140 euro (it was a 4 night break) that the AI upgrade would have cost me on lunches, drinks and ice creams I had while out, for nicer food (the hotel food was decent but didn't include what I normally choose from restaurant menus) and a better experience for me.

I've stayed in another BQ hotel in Mallorca and it was lovely, with good food. This was despite it being a 3 star hotel and half the price of the other one we were looking at for a last minute holiday a for years ago.