If you had one month, £1000 and need some sun. Where would you go ?

[*Touring Ted*]

I am seriously in need of some winter sun & fun.

I have wangled 4-5 weeks off work in January and really don't want to waste it by sitting in front of my laptop moaning about being cold and miserable.

Problem is, I'm saving for another trip so I've given myself a £1000 total budget. I was going to go to Buenos Aires or Thailand but the flights are REALLY expensive and will wipe out my budget in one go.

It doesn't have to be a bike trip at all. Actually, I think I'd prefer it not to be. It just has to be WARM and SUNNY with stuff to do for a month.


Any ideas ??

I am currently considering the Canary Islands (Tenerife) for some Scuba diving. Maybe hiring a small bike over there to zip about on.

I really need to do this on £1000 for EVERYTHING.... For ONE month.

CHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERS

[markharf]

How much diving are you planning to do after paying your airfare, lodging, food, local transport and (dare I suggest) out of that thousand pounds? Yuh, that's what I thought.

Seems to me your choices are North Africa (budget flights to Morocco, which will be chilly but the sun will be visible at times), West Africa (The Gambia by charter flight, then surface transport to Casamance and onwards), Tenerife....or drive to southern Turkey.

[backofbeyond]

Def Gambia by charter flight. I did much the same when I had three weeks spare some years ago. You'll get some serious sun and if you get out of the tourist areas your remaining money will go a lot further.

[palace15]

Hi Ted
Yes Thailand for that length of time is possibly just about do-able, I don't think you could get in too much diving on that budget tho or 'evening' entertainment!.
Tenerife, I would think that you must be joking unless you are gonna use an Hammock for accomodation and refill scuba tanks from fuel station airlines.
If you can manage Tenerife, , accom, and scuba on a grand, then I think your talents are wasted and you should become The Chancellor of the Exchequer.
How about Laos. Cambodia Vietnam, downside like Thai is flight costs at £550 upwards, but cheaper living once there.
Good luck and keep us posted in whatever you decide.

[twenty4seven]

How about taking your new Citroen to Morocco / Western Sahara, chip as chips once you get there, sleep in the back, wild camp, spend a few weeks along the coast, tarmac to Zagora etc.

At 50mpg, I think you could have a trip for a £1000

[mark manley]

If you take your van to north Africa how about asking if anybody wants a lift for themselves and bike and share the cost, that would cut the price of getting there in half.

[*Touring Ted*]

I think I'm a bit 'Afri-knackerd' at the moment. It's a FANTASTIC continent and I've barely scratched the surface but I do fancy a different continent.

LOTS of people are saying "INDIA"...... I'm looking into it. I would like a nice hostel scene with lots of people to meet. I'm a social person and will be travelling solo, so that's important to me.

I think the Canary islands can be done cheap. The winner here is that the return flight is less than £100 and hostels are available for under a tenner a night. I'd happily cook myself and I only want to do a few dives. Just to keep my hand in.

I'm really HATING having a job. It really gets in the way of my social/travel life...

[mark manley]

I am off to India at the start of January for the first time in 16 years and from what I can gather you can still manage quite well on £100 a week all in. Get your ticket quick as prices for January are going up as they sell out.

[*Touring Ted*]

Originally Posted by mark manley

I am off to India at the start of January for the first time in 16 years and from what I can gather you can still manage quite well on £100 a week all in. Get your ticket quick as prices for January are going up as they sell out.

Yeah.. I think I'm going to Mumbia then on to Goa.

I was about to book the flights when I found that I have to apply for a VISA and get it BEFORE I leave. What a pain. It takes 14 days too.

I aint booking a flight before I've got a VISA.

The VISA is £50 too. Cheeky.

[pecha72]

India is a good choice, if you want to go cheap. I once went from Mumbai to Kerala on an overnight-train (that actually stops in Goa). That is a great way to meet people.... but maybe start off with a higher class ticket (maybe mine was "2-tier AC", about 2nd or 3rd best - there are many, many classes on Indian trains, but only the very highest ones get anywhere near flight prices!). You should be able to walk around inside the train, and see how the ordinary folks travel, and then decide, if that raw chaos (well, at least on the cheapest classes!) is your cup of tea....there you´ll have to know, how to keep your valuables from disappearing, too!

On anything else than airplanes, India is often a tough country to travel in, but for many, that is part of the experience. Just hope that your stomach is up to the challenge....

[mcgiggle]

Arambol in north Goa has a nice laid back hippy scene. I stopped there for 2 months 2 years ago.
Brick beach hut was a fiver a night, bottle of Kingfisher about a quid, plenty of places to eat.
I'd go back.

Arambol - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[TurboCharger]

If you're keen on Southern India then my advice would be to skip Goa and go straight down to Kerala and Cochin (Kochi). You could even go further down south through the Kerala backwaters and have a week beach stop in Varkala just north of Trivandrum.

Once there, you can live well on £20-30 per day depending on how much you drink.

Of course, like Pesha said, you better have the stomach up to the challenge because you could easily be spending a week of that month on the proverbial if you know what I mean.

[estebangc]

The issue is defintely the flight (closer destination=higher daily expenditure; farther away=cheaper life), so I'd thoroughly check for instance www.momondo.com and www.flylowcostairlines.org to find a cheap flight/destination suiting your date and decide on that basis (taking into account weather seasons). I'd try Air Asia: they fly London to KL and then anywhere in SE Asia for virtually nothing.

Indonesia? BALI (Denpasar airport) is a wonderful place if you get away from Kota and the like, it's not that expensive, has some good diving, it's easy to rent a bike and the people are just great (and tons of cheap flights).
We came back from India with Aeroflot for a wedding for 450 € return, with only 23 hours in Moscow airport! (horrible connections=cheaper flights, but bring own food!). India is quite tricky... love it or hate it, don't know your case (I just don't love it)

Good luck and enjoy the dolce-far-niente!

[ilesmark]

What about Sri Lanka?

[ChrisCole]

Med coast, Im in Alanya atm, paying 15 euro a night for a one bed with kitchen in a hotel! Its got a pool and gym, not the hottest now but a nice place. Got to love low season. Check booking.com

Plus you can rent a bike dead cheap.

How did you go?