Five European islands you should swap for a holiday on the mainland
IT goes without saying that much of what an island holiday needs arrives by boat or plane.
The beer, the sunbeds . . . the bloke fixing the air con.
And holidaymakers end up paying the difference.
Holiday comparison site TravelSupermarket has found five island faves where a week away can cost hundreds of pounds per person more than it does on the mainland coast of the same country.
Here, we list five island-to-mainland swaps that will save you a fortune.
MADEIRA for the ALGARVE – Save £344pp
MADEIRA is all verdant forests, cliffs and volcanic drama, and it charges for the privilege.
What the Algarve has that competes is the same coastal theatre with sandy beaches.
The Seven Hanging Valleys Trail scrambles along golden cliffs between Praia da Marinha, regularly voted one of Europe’s best beaches.
And don’t miss the Benagil sea cave with its famous skylight.
Base yourself in Lagos for the Ponta da Piedade arches, or Albufeira for waterparks, dolphin-spotting boat trips and a full strip of restaurants.
IBIZA for COSTA BLANCA – Save £336pp
NOWHERE can match Ibiza’s superclub DC10, but the Costa Blanca gets closer than you would think.
Alicante’s old town, El Barrio, runs tapas crawls into club nights that finish at 3am, and the city has two miles of golden sand at San Juan.
Benidorm, half an hour up the road, is a 24-hour operation with cabaret, karaoke and Blue Flag beaches.
For the stunning holiday snaps, there’s the whitewashed coastal towns of Altea as well as Calpe, where the 332m Penon de Ifach rock rears out of the sea.
SKIATHOS for HALKIDIKI – Save £180pp
THE trick here is that Halkidiki barely feels like the mainland.
Sithonia’s pine-backed coves, including the turquoise waters of Kavourotrypes and the fjord-like bay at Porto Koufo, are a match for anything on the isle of Skiathos.
Kassandra has big organised beaches and hotels, with the northern resorts the easiest to reach from Thessaloniki airport.
Check out the boat trips that run along the monastery coast of Mount Athos.
MENORCA for COSTA BRAVA – Save £163pp
MENORCA is known for its calas, small sheltered coves where a scoop of sand sits between pine-topped cliffs.
The Costa Brava has them too, along the Cami de Ronda, the old smugglers’ path that links cove after cove.
Aiguablava and Sa Tuna below Begur are the postcard ones, and the clifftop walk between Calella de Palafrugell and Llafranc takes 20 minutes.
Add the medieval walls at Tossa de Mar, the Dali Theatre-Museum at Figueres and tapas in Girona, and there’s more to do on the mainland on less sunny days.
MAJORCA for COSTA DORADA – Save £153pp
MAJORCA has been a popular family hotspot for decades, with shallow bays, kids’ clubs and waterparks.
The Costa Dorada does the same job for less, and it has one thing the island can’t match — PortAventura World.
It boasts everything from the eight-loop Dragon Khan and the 100m-plus drop Hurakan Condor, to Ferrari Land and the Caribe water park.
Plus, Salou has two long sandy beaches and a lively strip, Cambrils next door is the seafood port, or check out Tarragona’s Roman amphitheatre by the sea.