Finding Holiday Bargains in Portugal

Caribbean vacations are often viewed as a luxury for the wealthy, but intrepid travelers have been taking their tight budgets and need for a quality getaway to the islands for years. You can too with a little insider help on the best places to explore, eat and, drink at little to no cost. Once this aspect of your holiday getaway is planned, the only tasks left are finding the best rates on airfare and lodging. There is an extensive literature on both topics, which can reduce costs and make a little more room in the budget for souvenirs and gifts.

Barbados is one of the finest islands and a great choice for budget vacations. Nature lovers will find an especially pleasing mix of activities and sights, but anyone can enjoy the adventure of wandering off the beaten path and relaxation inspired by some of the most majestic scenery in the world. After a day of exploring, food and drink are a necessity, and you will find the best option here is to follow the locals.

Exploring the Mysteries of Barbados

The first step towards saving money without lounging on the beach all day every day is to stray away from the typical hotspots. The following locations tend to be less populated, even during the height of tourist season, and they are often favorites with the locals.

• Animal Flower Cave

At the northern tip of the island, you’ll find one of the island’s several caves. This one is remarkable in two respects. Perched atop a cliff, the cave is reached by steeply hewn steps. Views from the outside span the northern coast of the island and give a higher view of the horizon than most other locations. Inside the cave, you’ll find a secluded swimming area, which is six feet deep at most. Along the cave’s interior are several windows providing even more visions of the ocean and surrounding area.

• Graeme Hall Nature Sanctuary

A serene wildlife sanctuary on the southern interior, Graeme Hall is comprised of two tropical aviaries, numerous hidden pathways, and benches perfect for relaxing in the lush setting. A lake complete with waterfalls sits at the center of this park that is a short distance from St. Lawrence Gap. Early morning trips will yield the best views of wildlife, and photographers will find few better opportunities to snap awe-inspiring photos.

• Sailing and Snorkeling

Catamaran package deals provide the perfect low-cost alternative for guided snorkeling and sailing trips. Sea turtles at Paynes Bay are a friendly bunch, and tropical fish are abundant. The shipwreck at Folkstone Park provide an excellent opportunity to greet the diversity of marine creatures. Cool Runnings Catamaran is a favorite choice with some locals and frequent visitors.

Low-cost Dining and Drink

Island residents live here year-round, and they have an economy largely separate from the tourist one. It isn’t always the easiest information to come by, but local bars, restaurants and events can save a lot of money. It’s especially important to enjoy local fish friends and the local drinks, which include Mount Gay rum cocktails and Banks Beer. Tourists often stick together out of convenience or worry of losing the crowd, but the truth is that local residents on Barbados are a friendly bunch.

Enjoying Barbados on a budget is not only possible, it makes for a better vacation! Befriend hotel staff and other locals for more secrets of island pleasure.

Diane Magruder is a travel blogger who writes for BarbadosHolidays.org, giving information on the best vacation spots, like the Oceans Two Resort, Barbados.

I love a good bargain, always have, somehow I can manage to sniff them out no matter how well they are hidden. I time my visits to the supermarket just as they are reducing the price of the stock on the shelves, I shop for clothes in the sales and in factory outlet stores and will even hunt down the cheapest holiday bargain that I can. I know it drives my husband mad, but if he tried to do everything without using my thrifty skills he would soon find his wallet empty before the fridge had been filled. I think it started as coupon snipping, looking for money off vouchers in magazines and newspapers, then it spread to looking for voucher codes on the internet. Now I won’t buy anything without seeing if I can get it cheaper anywhere else first.

This Year’s Holiday

Have you ever tried looking for cheap Portugal holidays? I wasn’t sure where to start. After a lot of searching around the internet I did come up with a couple of money saving options. I have to admit that there were some sites online offering deals that were so good they couldn’t possibly be for real, something like that always has a hidden catch to it somewhere, and I was right. A little bit more searching about these so called incredible bargain offers and I discovered that they were indeed scams; one thing about being a good bargain hunter is that you have to be able to tell the real deal from a fake, otherwise you could end up in a whole heap of trouble.

Finding the Right Accommodation

There are so many things to take into account when you are looking at ways to save money on your holiday. There is the cost of the flight, the accommodation, the cost of hiring a car if you need to and the cost of entry to the parks that the kids had set their hearts on. Add to that list your holiday clothes and essentials, money for food and living expenses and the spending money for all of those non essentials but all the same ‘must have’ items and the figures can look more like a mortgage application that a holiday list.

Using my keen bargain hunting skills I managed to save on the flights and the parks and what is even better is that there will be no big hotel to pay for either. I managed to acquire one of those fabulous villas in Portugal to rent for the time we are there. I know you will want to know how, but here it is, I asked a friend to ask her friends etc. if anyone knew of anyone with a property close to the water parks. It turns out one of the mums at my son’s school has a house there, and she is willing to let me have is cheaper so long as I go during a specific time period, and hey, that’s a small sacrifice to make, after all the water park will still be there whichever week we go. So that’s all of the main things sorted for a fraction of the cost.

Many families decide to rent one of the many holiday villas available. There are a wide range of villas to rent, from small two bedroom homes to large five bedroom villas with their own private pools. The type of villa you choose will depend on the size of your family and your budget, but here are the top ten advantages that staying in a holiday villa will offer you:

1. You will have your own kitchen so that you will have the freedom of self-catering. This means that you can cook your own meals whenever you like, saving money on expensive restaurant meals and avoid the hassle of eating out with fussy children.

2. Most villas will have a garden and a swimming pool, which gives children a safe place to play during the moments when the adults are cooking or relaxing. Children can get bored being in a hotel room where there is nothing to do.

3. You and your children will have your own separate bedrooms rather than having the little ones sleep in a small fold out bed in the main hotel room with you. This will help siblings settle down and go to sleep and will give everyone their privacy.

4. Since you are not worried about disturbing the other guests in the next room, your children can play games, watch movies, and laugh, giggle and shout as much as they want. You don’t have to feel bad if your baby is crying or your toddler is jumping around because you will not be disturbing anyone else.

5. Your pool and garden area are your own private space, so you will not have to worry about strangers being in the same area where your children are playing.

6. If you are travelling with friends or a large family, you will find renting a villa to be cheaper than paying for a hotel because you can divide the cost between everyone. This means that you can save money on your holiday, or afford an accommodation which is much more luxurious than you would be able to stay in normally.

7. If you choose to entertain friends during your holidays, you will have enough space to have them over to your villa for a meal or a BBQ. You might even have an extra bed which will allow your guests to spend the night.

8. You will have the comforts and the conveniences of home, such as a washing machine, dishwasher, bathtub and more. This can make your holiday a lot easier and also make you feel like you are experiencing the day-to-day life of your destination.

9. Rather than paying a faceless corporation for a generic hotel room that has no character, you will be benefiting private villa owners who can give you a more personal experience. If you get a chance to meet or speak with the villa owner they can likely give you some personal recommendations about the local area and what to see and do.

These are the top reasons why you should book a villa for your holidays. Have a great trip and enjoy your family getaway!

I love Disney, there I’ve said it.  That might not sound like much of a statement but coming from a big lad like me it’s almost like coming out of the closet.  I love Disney Holidays, I love taking the kids there, but really I go because it’s where I want to go.  The wife knows of course, and I think deep down she’d quite pleased that it’s a Disney fetish as opposed to anything else.  Maybe that was the wrong word to use, it’s not like I dress up like Tigger or anything and bounce around the bedroom!  Something about Disney Holidays really are magical and I think they speak to the part of me that never grew up.

Why I Love Disney

As soon as we set off on our holidays to Florida it starts, the excitement and the anticipation of being in the heart of Mickey’s magical world.  I don’t know who needs their hand holding here, me or the kids.  I know it’s not real, and yes, I am fully aware that there are people inside those larger-than-life characters that walk around the park all day, but that isn’t important.  What is important is the fact that those characters saw me through my childhood.  They were in my stories at bedtime, on the big screen in the cinema and even on some clunky old video cassettes as I grew up.

They were a constant part of my childhood, and even now if I have had a bad day, listening to Tigger singing ‘The wonderful thing about Tiggers’ is enough to make me smile and break me out of the gloom.  I suppose in some ways Disney is like therapy for me.  It allows me to shake off the harshness of the real world and the stress of my job and just indulge in being a kid again, without a care in the world.  And yes, I did still get my picture taken with Tigger, and Pooh and Eeyore, but I’ll make sure the kids are in the picture too.

Looking Forward to Our Next Visit

There is no need to ask me where I’m planning to take the family this year; of course we’re going on our holidays to Orlando looks to be just as magical as every other year.  New characters may be introduced every year, and walk the park and have the kids rushing up excitedly to meet them, but they do nothing for me.  They are for my children’s generation, the space rangers and the ever-increasing line of Disney Princesses – now those I could do without, especially as my daughters want them all!

In my mind Disney is all about Mickey Mouse and the Clubhouse Gang, and yes, I can still remember the words to the song.  But most importantly of all, Disney Holidays are all about me catching up with my man Tigger, singing the song, bouncing around with the kids and all of us piling in and hugging all of the characters from the Hundred Acre Wood.  What can I say, I’m a big softie at heart, but please don’t tell my mates that, life would never be the same on the building site again if they knew.  I guess what I’m trying to say is we all are children at heart and if we all admitted it 99% of us would love Disney holidays.