Where will be the most popular 2011 Summer holiday destinations from the UK?
It’s difficult to pinpoint exactly where the millions of UK holiday makers will go abroad in summer 2011, but we believe that the destinations below should all feature highly in any top 10 this year. They’ve been ranked in our own independent order and, whether you agree or disagree, all comments are welcome. A lot of people leave it to the last 6 months to book, hoping for discounts, and there are still some good deals to be had.
All the destinations listed are pretty much guaranteed hot weather and will surely be amongst the most popular but, if you are looking for UK holidays, you can also check out our discounts for some of the following recommended websites instead – Haven Holidays, Butlins, and Cottages4You.
Top 10 Summer Holiday Destinations for 2011
| Ranking | Destination |
| 1. | Turkey |
| 2. | Spain |
| 3. | Balearics – Majorca, Minorca, Ibiza |
| 4. | Canary Islands – Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, Fuerteventura |
| 5. | Portugal |
| 6. | Greek Islands – Corfu, Crete, Kos, Rhodes, etc. |
| 7. | Cyprus |
| 8. | Cuba |
| 9. | Croatia |
| 10. | France |
Book your holiday with First Choice
We have described a little more on each of the destinations below but, if you want to book a summer holiday, we highly recommend looking at the fantastic offers First Choice are offering on the above destinations this year by clicking through the banner below (at the time of writing this post, you get a guaranteed 10% discount for booking online too!):
More Details our Top 10 destinations
This was a destination that hasn’t really been on my personal holiday destination list until the last few years but, for value for money and from the number of recommendations by friends and family, it seems to be a hard one to beat. Although it won’t be the cheapest, partly due to the 4-5 hour flight, there is a fantastic selection of hotels to suit all budgets. Whether you want a cheap self-catering hotel, an all-inclusive resort, or a luxury hotel, Turkey has a great choice with competitive prices compared to other destinations such as the Balearics, the Canaries, the Greek Islands, Cyprus and Portugal.
Indeed, to support Turkey’s number 1 status on our Top 10 Summer Holidays list, it’s my own choice for a family holiday this summer and also the first time that we’ll have been on holiday to Turkey.
We picked the resort of Belek, near Antalya, with a 4* all-inclusive hotel that has great slides (virtually all the hotels in Turkey seemed to have these!), mini-golf, good food, drinks, entertainment, etc. The price for 2 adults and 2 children, 10 nights in the summer 2011 holidays, was £2,620 which was great value for us and probably £500+ cheaper than other destinations we looked at. This was booked at the beginning of September 2010 and, today, although our hotel is no longer available with Thomas Cook there are other same resort hotels, starting at £2,855 with Thomas Cook (including today’s online discount of £718.28). If you can, always try and compare holiday prices as early as possible for the greatest choice.
It’s the hotspots of Benidorm (Costa Blanca); Torremolinos, Fuengirola, Malaga and Marbella (Costa Del Sol) that are the main tourist areas of Spain for UK visitors. These tourism hotspots, depending on what you want from your holiday, may have everything that you need although traditional markets and hillside villages are usually not far away if you want to sample a little culture. Although Spanish food may not always be high on culinary lists, it’s still hard to beat traditional Spanish Tapas – the best ones will usually be where the locals are eating.
Balearics – Majorca, Minorca, Ibiza
There’s no doubting the appeal of the legendary clubbing towns of San Antonio and Magaluf in Ibiza and Majorca, but it’s not what the Balearic islands are about. They have a great charm about them, beautiful beaches, and there are holidays suitable for all.
In the Atlantic, off the North African coast, and with great temperatures all year round, the Canary Islands of Tenerife, Lanzarote, Gran Canaria and Fuerteventura have had a great appeal with British holiday makers for a long time now.
As with most modern tourist destinations, you’re never far from a Pub that reminds you of home (apart from the heat!), but there are also plenty of natural areas to escape to including: Mount Teide in Tenerife; the lunar landscape of the Timanfaya National Park in Lanzarote; the seemingly endless dunes in Fuerteventura; and the inland rural areas of all the Canary islands.
The Algarve, on Portugal’s southern coast, has been a well trodden tourist hotspot due to its close proximity to the UK and short flight times to Faro airport. There’s a great selection of resorts all along the Algarve including Alvor, Praia Da Rocha, Silves, Vilamoura, Albufeira and Lagos.
Each of the Greek Islands has it’s own individual charm and, like the Balearics, there are some distinctive party resorts. However, if partying isn’t want you want, it’s also easy to find resorts or entire islands to suit your needs.
With Polis and Latchi on the north-west coast, Coral Bay and Paphos on the west, Limassol in the south, and Ayia Napa and Protaras toward the East, Cyprus has a fantastic selection of resorts to choose from.
This is the only long-haul destination we included, although we could have easily included Mexico, Florida and the Dominican Republic too, but one that is already popular. As the hurricane season can start around August, please be aware that the weather might not quite be as you would expect if you are travelling over the school summer holidays. But, if you are looking to travel in early summer, Cuba is a great island to visit and is certainly a fantastic winter destination!
Tourism to Croatia and the surrounding areas was severely affected by the war during the early 1990s, but even before then it was a popular tourist destination. I’ve got fond memories of my grandparents going on holiday there and it is on my own list of countries that I would like to visit, including the area around the historic town of Dubrovnik.
France is such a short hop across the English Channel either by Ferry, or train on the Eurostar or Eurotunnel. Once over the Channel, if you’re driving, there is so much choice on where to go next. If you want, you can drive all the way down to the South of France and beyond, with camping holidays being very popular with companies such as Eurocamp and Siblu.
AND FINALLY
As a final extra bit to this article, and to praise the advantages of package holidays, I’ll always hold Thomas Cook in a very positive light after they looked after us when our family was stuck in Lanzarote by the Icelandic Ash Cloud in April 2010. They continued to pay for our All-Inclusive hotel for an extra 6 nights on top of our original 7 night holiday and, on the whole, they were absolutely fantastic under a great deal of pressure. We don’t always buy package holidays, sometimes travelling independently, but this really highlighted a key benefit that package holidays can give to holidaymakers.
We hope that all the 2011 summer holiday information above may give you some inspiration as to where you could go on holiday and, if you have any suggestions, please let us know by commenting on this post below. Also, please feel free to share this with others!
Happy holidays!
Nick Gandy
LatestDiscountVouchers.co.uk
