April 17, 2026

Adventure Destinations League

Navigating Travel Wonders

12 great-value holidays that will put a spring in your step

12 great-value holidays that will put a spring in your step

So far February has done us few favours. It just picked up January’s pressure-washer of Atlantic storms and carried on spraying us. So if you’ve been hanging on, hoping for a moment of pre-spring sunshine to brighten the horizon, now might be the moment to give yourself something more concrete to look forward to. Here are some holidays that should do the trick, from a languid week in a treetop Tobago lodge to a dose of brilliant May sunshine on Corfu. All are discounted. Most can be taken in the next four months. 

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UK

1. A midsummer walk through Cornwall

People hiking along a coastal path in Cornwall, with turquoise water and distant land in the background.
There’s no better time than midsummer for a clifftop walk in Cornwall

Midsummer is a magnificent time to be in Cornwall, with the days everlasting and its clifftop paths not yet crowded, so it’s a real treat to find this discounted walking tour. En route you’ll explore the towering north-coast cliffs around Padstow before combing the south for lush gardens, sheltered coves and bustling harbours. Accommodation will be in two smart seaside pubs and with the help of local bus routes you’ll be focusing on the region’s best bits. Six nights’ B&B from June 21 starts from £1,809pp — a £320 saving.

2. A well-placed Pembrokeshire launchpad

A living room in Temple Barn, Pembrokeshire, Wales, with large windows overlooking a field and distant hills, a patterned sofa and armchair, and a lit wood-burning stove.
Temple Barn has plenty of room to spread out in

Sure, Easter in Pembrokeshire can — occasionally — be a little brusque. But it’s at times like this that a smart, three-bedroom cottage such as Temple Barn really comes into its own. There’s plenty of room to spread out if it’s wet, a wood-burning stove in the lounge to ward off any chills, and Trefin’s dramatic cliffs and coves are only a mile away whenever the clouds part. There are beaches too at Abermawr and Abereiddy. Seven nights’ self-catering for six from March 28 costs £767 — an 18 per cent discount (chooseacottage.co.uk).

EUROPE

3. A stylish spring break in Corfu

A patio overlooking an infinity pool, a hot tub, and a vast bay surrounded by green hills with houses.
Corfu in May is ideal for sun-lounging
christos drazos

May on Corfu can be a blissful time: hot enough around midday for some serious sun-lounging, but not so boiling that you can’t go for a walk. And once you’ve settled into the stylish hillside Villa Tatiana, exploration is sure to feature in your plans. A short ten-minute amble will take you down to the harbour village of St Stephanos for boat trips and taverna banquets, while the undeveloped area of Erimitis beckons immediately north of the villa, with woodland and wild beaches. Prices have been cut by 20 per cent too. From May 4, seven nights’ self-catering for eight costs £612pp, including flights (cvvillas.com).

4. A Menorcan sanctuary

Bedroom at Vestige Binidufà, Menorca, with a king-size bed, upholstered headboard, stone wall, exposed wooden ceiling beams, and a sitting area.
The rustic-chic Binidufà finca in Menorca

In the green and forested hills of northern Menorca, Binidufa is one of a pair of 18th-century fincas reborn as rustic-chic boutique hotels. And to help grab our interest in the months before its April 30 opening this 11-bedroom property is offering a 15 per cent discount on advance bookings. Up for grabs is a proper sense of sanctuary, courtesy of Binidufa’s giant, earth-toned bedrooms and its remote setting amid a 2,000-acre estate on the north coast. Meanwhile, guided walks, bike rides and yoga classes are sure to add to the sense of serenity. B&B doubles start from £562 a night (vestigecollection.com). Fly to Mahon.

5. High summer on the Rhine

The Old Bridge of Heidelberg, Germany, crossing the Neckar River with the city and green hills in the background.
The itinerary includes an excursion to Heidelberg

Yes, mid-July in the Rhine Valley can be toasty, with daytime highs nudging 30C. But here’s a good reason to grab your sunhat and book a cabin on this one-week Majestic Rhine river cruise from July 11: the price of an entry-level stateroom has been cut by 40 per cent. The itinerary includes a busy programme of free excursions and guided hikes, with Koblenz, Strasbourg and Heidelberg all on the menu. But you could always stay on board instead. The top-floor sundeck runs the entire length of your river cruiser. Seven nights’ full board starts from £1,995pp, including flights.

6. Late-season snow in Italy

Monte Cervino (Matterhorn) and the village of Breuil-Cervinia, Italy, covered in snow on a sunny day.
You’ll get excellent views of the Matterhorn on this skiing trip
Getty images

Families who missed out on skiing this February half-term take note: it’s not too late to book an Easter trip. And if you wait till the second week of the school holidays you can bag a discount too, even at a snowsure, high-altitude resort. From Sunday April 5, for example, seven nights’ half-board at the friendly, no-frills Hôtel Petit Palais in intermediate-friendly Cervinia costs £1,151pp, including flights, which is a £180 saving (crystalski.co.uk). You’ll be staying close to the key Plan Maison lift too. So as well as gobsmacking views of the Matterhorn, you’ll get quick access to the best of the snow, above 2,500m.

7. Viennese culture and style

The lobby of The Hoxton Vienna hotel with modernist furniture and a large abstract painting.
The Vienna Hoxton has 20th-century style
Julius Hirtzberger

Book the Vienna Hoxton for a springtime city break and you’ll get a heady dose of 20th-century style, with a mix modernist architecture, richly coloured furniture and a profusion of graphic prints and lush green houseplants. You’ll get quick access to some of the city’s best cultural events too, including the big Helmut Lang fashion retrospective at the MAK museum (mak.at) and free concerts by students at the MDW university of music (mdw.ac.at/veranstaltung). Book your stay through Luxury Escapes and three nights’ B&B from March 12 starts from £478pp, including flights, which is a 31 per cent saving (luxuryescapes.com).

LONG HAUL

8. Sporty, all-inclusive South Africa

Illustration of a luxurious resort in Tinley Manor, South Africa, featuring a large infinity pool, beachfront lounge chairs and umbrellas, and a modern multi-story building.
The infinity pool at Club Med’s new South African resort

An active holiday awaits at Club Med’s new South African resort, which opens on KwaZulu-Natal’s coast in July. It will be home to the company’s first surf school, but there’s tag rugby, yoga, padel, kayaking, tennis and even a circus-style trapeze to try as well, all included in the price, along with dolphin-spotting boat trips at extra cost. To further pique your interest, the company’s also offering a 15 per cent discount on its all-inclusive accommodation price. From September 5, it starts from £1,070pp, with an option to extend your stay at its new Vikela safari lodge from £370pp a night (clubmed.co.uk). Fly to Durban.

9. Tobago treetop heaven

An open-plan room in a wooden cabin, featuring a dining area, living room, kitchen, and bedroom with a canopy bed.
One of Castara Retreats’ hillside lodges
Alex Treadway

Castara Retreats’ elevated hillside lodges give it a treetop feel, as well as sumptuous views over the beaches below, so it’s easy to see why this Tobago resort has a legion of fans. Each of the lodges has its own kitchen, but an onsite restaurant is usually open if you don’t want to cook. Meanwhile, anyone who can tear themselves away from the view should join a guided forest walk — the island’s Main Ridge rainforest has been protected for 250 years. With lodge prices down 15 per cent at present, seven night’s self-catering from March 10 starts from £1,599pp, including flights.

10. From Buenos Aires to Rio

Planning ahead is worth the effort for the sake of this March 2027 cruise, from Buenos Aires to Rio de Janeiro. Book the 16-day trip now and you’ll get 30 per cent off a balcony stateroom on the upmarket Oceania Insignia as it sails to Uruguay and up the Brazilian coast. The holiday actually begins on land, with a three-night, five-star stay in the Argentinian capital (with daily breakfast), before you transfer to the ship and settle in for some of cruising’s most highly rated, all-inclusive feasting. From March 3, 15 nights starts from £5,299pp, including flights.

11. Beachfront bliss in the Maldives

Exterior view of beach pool villas at The Residence Maldives at Falhumaafushi.
The Residence in the Maldives is right on the beach
Toshiko Kawana

Unlike the discounted South American cruise above, this early bird offer requires you to book only 31 days in advance, before March 31. In return, you’ll get a price cut of up to 40 per cent on accommodation in a beachfront villa at the Residence in the Maldives. And if you think eschewing an overwater bungalow in favour of dry land is in some way slumming it, don’t. Nothing whispers desert-island luxury quite like a morning stroll across the sand, to the water’s edge. Packaged up with flights, seven nights’ full board in April starts from £2,032pp (kenwoodtravel.co.uk).

12. A desert spring in Jordan

Bedouin tourist black tents in the Wadi Rum desert in Jordan.
Stay in a Bedouin camp at Wadi Rum
Getty images

How convenient that April is one of the best times to see Jordan, with spring flowers blossoming in the north and the deserts not yet searing hot. Yet this is also the month that Intrepid is cutting the price of its guided Jordan Discovery tours. On offer is a wide-ranging week peppered with moments of splendour, as you bed down in a Bedouin camp at Wadi Rum, snorkel over Red Sea corals at Aqaba and wander the “the rose-red city half as old as time” — Petra. Four April departures are discounted, with seven nights’ B&B starting at £1,394pp, which equates to a saving of £246pp (intrepid.com/uk). Fly to Amman.

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