Corfu

Think you’ve missed the boat on a summer beach holiday, or that it’s too pricey to even consider? Travel Mum Jen Carr knows just the trick for getting a travel bargain – even during the school summer holidays

From the golden sands of Spain’s Costa Brava to the surprisingly affordable shores of Bulgaria, there are plenty of destinations offering value for money even during the school summer holidays, if you know where to look.

Whether you’re craving short flight times, child-friendly resorts, or self-catering spots that make dining with little ones easier, Jen has five of the best last-minute summer deals from sun-soaked countries like Spain and Italy for families in 2025.

Costa Brava, Spain

Just a short flight from the UK, the Costa Brava offers sandy beaches, safe shallow waters, and great-value accommodation. Towns like Tossa de Mar and Lloret de Mar have family hotels from under £400 per person, including flights. Many beaches have play areas, and local restaurants are super welcoming to kids.

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Turkey

A great destination for a family holiday. The Antalya Coast and Dalaman area offer tons of family friendly hotels at great prices. TUI have a last minute deals page with lots of great options for August. Turkey hotels are brilliant at catering to bigger families, with many hotels offering rooms to fit up to 6 people. You can holiday in Instanbul in August from Luton airport from just £299 per person.

Bulgaria’s Black Sea Coast

For a beach holiday with a difference, and some of the cheapest prices in Europe, Bulgaria is a hidden gem. Sunny Beach and Nessebar offer golden sands, water parks, and plenty of family-friendly restaurants. Accommodation and food are super affordable once you arrive and you can fly from London Stansted to Sofia Bulgaria for £303 with a room only option.

Corfu, Greece

Corfu remains one of Greece’s best islands for families, with calm beaches, charming villages, and warm hospitality. The food is amazing and you can find some great package deals to stay in areas like Sidari and Aghios Georgios. I recently helped someone book a 7 night stay in August for under £380pp with flights, luggage, transfers and hotel!

Sicily, Italy

Italy and budget don’t always go hand in hand, but Sicily can be an exception. Not only is it beautiful and culturally rich, but there are surprisingly affordable apartments still available this summer. Add in family-friendly beaches, delicious food, and warm welcomes from the locals and it’s a winner. Look at flights to Trapani and find an apartment rental in the town. You can currently fly from London STN to Trapani for a week in August for £144pp.

Tips for booking holidays on a budget:

• Be flexible with your dates – mid-week departures are often cheaper.
• Use comparison tools like Skyscanner and Google Flights to find cheap flights for DIY bookings.
• Consider flying from regional airports or into alternative destinations. If you can fly from Scotland in August you will save a fortune.
• Look at self-catering options to save money on meals.
• Set up deal alerts or use sites to find last-minute bargains.

Don’t assume you’ve missed the boat just because it’s July. With a bit of flexibility and the right approach, you can still enjoy a sun-soaked family beach holiday this summer, without the eye-watering price tag, for more tips check out https://thetravelmum.com/family-holiday-deals/.

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Paul and Ellie Bell’s Greek getaway was cut short after the couple were ejected from their hotel and told they couldn’t fly home – but TUI say the decision was based on “repeated incidents”

A British couple were left stranded in Corfu after being booted out of their hotel and denied boarding on their return flight to the UK, claiming that TUI “washed their hands of them”.

North Shields couple Paul Bell, 64, and his wife Ellie, 65, had booked a week-long half-board holiday at the Terezas Hotel in Sidari, Corfu, having previously enjoyed a stay there.

Their holiday was abruptly cut short when TUI removed them from their hotel and prevented them from flying home, despite the couple having booked a package deal.

Paul is baffled as to why they were ejected and then left several hundred pounds out of pocket, having to arrange an alternative flight home with Jet2, take a taxi to the airport instead of a transfer, and book into another hotel for the remainder of the holiday.

In letters seen by ChronicleLive, TUI stated that the decision was based on repeated incidents during their stay which were deemed unacceptable and disruptive. However, Paul contests this, stating that TUI never asked him or Ellie for their side of the story.

Earlier in the holiday, Ellie had voiced her dissatisfaction to the manager about the quality of the food, which Paul described as “tepid” and “not very nice”. He said: “Some of the things you would get were rice with sprouts, or another time you’d have rice with a slice of beetroot in it.

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“My wife spoke to the manager twice, she complained about the food being inedible and he didn’t seem interested. She asked him to join us for breakfast the next day so we could show him what we meant, but he never turned up.”

The couple enjoyed a day out, but upon their return, they “had a word” with the representative. The following day, as Paul and Ellie awaited their excursion to Corfu town, they were stunned to receive a letter stating they could no longer stay at the hotel.

Dated May 20, the letter read: “You caused a serious disturbance by shouting inside the hotel restaurant in front of other guests, resulting in significant distress and disruption to the peaceful environment of the hotel,” and “you directed aggressive and disrespectful language towards both hotel staff, the hotel owners, and TUI representatives on site.”

Paul insists that they did nothing wrong, highlighting that no one from TUI sought their side of the story before making a decision. He claimed: “I don’t remember anybody shouting.

“We only spoke to the rep when she was present at the hotel, and there was no disrespect towards her. They’ve made a decision based on the manager’s account without hearing us out. But surely every story has two sides? I was livid; it completely ruined our plans for the day.”

Paul and Ellie were instructed to contact the UK consulate for further assistance, rather than being given a chance to respond or appeal. On May 21 at 22.28, they received another letter stating that Ellie was prohibited from boarding the TOM1531 flight on Friday, May 23.

Just over 12 hours later, an additional email stated that both Paul and Ellie would be barred from the flight. TUI explained this decision was made in line with their terms and conditions, due to “due to your conduct and behaviour”.

On Thursday, May 22, Paul booked flights home from Corfu with Jet2 for later that day, costing €328.56 (£284). However, after returning to North Shields, they received another email from TUI stating that “the refusal of carriage for Paul Bell and Eleanor Bell has now been revoked, and you will now be allowed travel on your inbound flight”.

Paul said: “That doesn’t help us now, because we were told we have to make our own travel arrangements and we came home. We had to pay €60 (£50) for a taxi to the airport as well, because we weren’t allowed on the transfers.

“When we go on holiday, we try to go somewhere nice and quiet, sit and chill, try the local stuff, go to the towns and see the scenery and to have food like we did (in the hotel) was really disappointing. We got no back-up whatsoever from TUI.

“They took whatever the manager said as gospel and came to a decision just like that. Had we been drunk and disorderly, fine, but we weren’t – we’ve never had any bother on any holidays before, until this time with TUI.”

ChronicleLive reported that TUI plans to refund the couple’s flights home with Jet2.com and their journey to the airport. TUI declined to comment further.

Paul is not the only North East holidaymaker to come back from Corfu feeling let down by their experience. Earlier in June, Westerhope gran Susan Edwards vouched to never book with the tour operator again after moaning that there was “no English food” available at the Lido Corfu Sun Hotel.

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Susan Edwards said her holiday was ‘horrendous’ from the minute she arrived at the Greek island of Corfu with her daughter and three other family members

A fuming mum has vowed never to book with TUI again following a “nightmare” all-inclusive trip to Corfu, where she claims there was “no English food” or hotel entertainment.

Susan Edwards embarked on a seven-night holiday to the Greek island on 12 May. She stayed at the Lido Corfu Sun Hotel with her cousins, aged 77 and 78, her daughter, 30, and second cousin, 50.

However, Susan, 69, from Westerhope, described the holiday as “horrendous from the minute [they] got there.”

The holidaymaker explained: “It was all-inclusive, £750 each we paid and there was no food we could eat and we couldn’t have anything to drink.

“I have to be careful because I have ulcerative colitis so there’s certain things I can’t eat. The all inclusive drinks were wine, lager, ouzo, or brandy. Yes, there were soft drinks, but we had to pay €1.50 for water.”

Susan and her party arrived at the hillside hotel around 2pm on 12 May, ready to enjoy some food and refreshments after their long journey.

After climbing a large ramp to reach the hotel reception, Susan said she was told that pool-side food would be served at 5pm for guests, which she claims was a “one-inch square of baklava”.

Her dissatisfaction only got worse the next day when she discovered there was “no English food” available at the hotel. Describing the grub on offer, Susan said: “On a morning you could have toast, a hard boiled egg, or something in sauce,” Chronicle Live reports.

“There was no bacon. For breakfast there was mozzarella and sliced tomatoes. There was no hot bacon or sausage.

“We got chips one day. One day out of the whole lot. There was fish, sardines and rice – I was sick to death of looking at rice. There was pasta and salads, none of this was marked (labelled). One night there was a Greek night and they had kebabs, I couldn’t eat that. It’s the worst holiday I’ve ever been on.”

The mum says she couldn’t enjoy her preferred drink during her holiday because she doesn’t fancy ouzo and doesn’t drink brandy. She explained that she would normally have bottled lager or one Bacardi and Coke, which she said would have cost her €9 and would have been a different brand.

“By the time we paid £750 for the holiday, €70 tourist tax for me and my daughter and an extra £450 for both of our meals, I could have been to the Caribbean on that”, Susan fumed.

TUI’s website describes holidays at the Lido Corfu Sun Hotel as being “all about the laidback life” where “ping pong and pool are the liveliest activities on the agenda”, aside from the occasional live music and Greek night. It also says the four-star hotel has its own private patch of beach “just steps away”.

However, Susan claimed there was no entertainment at the hotel which is “stuck there in the middle of nowhere”. She added: “There was a private beach but it was so steep we couldn’t get down to it and it was 150 yards from the hotel.”

“There’s a ramp at the side of the hotel that you have to try and pull your case up when you arrive. My daughter was up and down, up and down, trying to pull everyone’s case up for them.”

She also expressed her frustration over not being able to get a second key for the room she shared with her daughter. Susan explained: “I asked for a second key for my daughter because sometimes I get tired in the afternoon and rather than lying in the sun and getting burned.

“But if I went up to have a sleep, my daughter wouldn’t be able to get into the room. She would have to wake me up to get in. I asked for a second key but I was told ‘no, too expensive’.”

Susan said she usually holidays in Spain with her cousins and would always fly with TUI as she felt comfortable knowing “there’s a big company behind you if anything goes wrong.”

However, this time, her confidence in TUI has been shaken due to what she perceives as an inadequate response from the travel firm.

She has been offered £100 in holiday vouchers by TUI, but she claims that other guests she met at the hotel have been offered more after complaining. Susan has declined TUI’s final £100 voucher offer.

“In the past I’ve paid more to get on a TUI flight because if anything happened I’ve always thought you’ve got a big company behind you if anything goes wrong. Not anymore. This holiday was a nightmare,” Susan said.

A spokesperson for TUI UK said: “Our priority is to ensure customers have the best possible holiday experience, so we are sorry to hear that Mrs Edwards felt dissatisfied with her holiday. We have been in touch directly with Mrs Edwards to come to a resolution.”