michelle227,

Drop in at your local travel agent and see what they can come up with. They should be able to sort you out. Most tour operators list last minute deals on their websites. For example: First Choice: Last Minute Deals or Thomas Cook: Last Minute Holidays.

Darren

Thanks Darren we will try that

We only want to go for a couple of nights the links above are for one week anymore tips gratefully accepted

michelle227,

In that case, a travel agent is your best bet or you can always do things diy; book your flights to somewhere and a hotel seperately. You just need to decide on a destination then find the flights / hotel. For example, Easyjet or Ryanair and Alpharooms.

Darren

We had to cancel a holiday to Mexico on a Friday, as my hubby had been ill with pneumonia, and the Dr said the flight was too long. We went straight to the travel agent to cancel, & re booked Cyprus flying on the Monday. There wasn't loads of choice, but I'm sure they'll find you something.

I think the important point here is that michelle only wants a couple of days away - and the package market for that is different to the full week type deal. Short stay operators are less likely to buy in allocations of rooms and flights in advance so won't have to dump leftovers at the last minute. So to get a break any cheaper than normal you'd have to find the hotel (or hotel group) doing last minute discounts, then try to get a scheduled flight. And scheduled airlines tend to work the opposite way and charge more at the last minute! I'd try a mix and match booking company like expedia or lastminute

We wanted to do a late deal in March a few years back and were having the same issues as you. In the end we booked a DIY package made up of a flight to Faro (Algarve) on Easyjet and a hotel booked through Hotelopia.co.uk.

Now I'm not sure if they still offer Algarve deals out of season (March was touch and go weatherwise, so Feb might be totally out) but we paid £9 for a 4 star hotel, which was situated about 10mins from Albufeira Old Town.

Defintely worth a look at Hotelopia, even for other countries. The key cost issue is going to be the flight but if you can go midweek and avoid weekends you might bag a bargain. I'm sure we only paid £100 for two of us to fly to Faro, and just £54 for 6 nights in the hotel. There was car hire as well, but of course that is optional. Without that, £154 for 6 nights for two people anywhere is a bargain.

Just for a few days you're best doing a city break and, if you don't want to spend a lot, staying in the UK. We went first class on the train up to Edinburgh, which was so much more relaxing than flying. The station is right in the centre. We booked an apartment on the Royal Mile for three nights on Holidaylettings. We had a lovely time. Otherwise, try Venice. You can get cheap flights and, again, there's plenty of apartments to rent.It really does work out cheaper than hotels and you have more space and more freedom. Whatever you do, don't book a short break through a tour operator!