How much for a week in the Algarve?
Where:
The seaside town of Alvor
When: September 4th-11th
With the tour operator
Panorama is offering a week in a very plush hotel in
the Algarve, in Portugal, at the beginning of September for just
over €1,800 for a couple. The package has us staying at the
five-star Pestana Alvor, which is perched on a cliff top
overlooking what the tour operator promises is a stretch of sandy
beach, accessible by a private lift. The package includes bed and
breakfast for seven days and has us leaving Dublin airport on a
Monarch Airlines flight bound for Faro at 5.15pm on Thursday
evening and departing Faro at 9pm a week later. The basic price is
€1,880, but as we book online we qualify for a web discount
of €78.
How much?€1,802.
On your own
We visit the hotel website,
www.pestana.com, and opt for a
double room with a garden view, which has a special rate of
€190 per night - a total of €1,330. Ryanair has flights
from Dublin to Faro leaving on Thursday afternoon at 12.20pm and
returning home the following week at 3.25pm. The outward leg has an
initial price of €68.99 per person; the return leg costs
€39.99. Once all the charges are added, including handling
charges of €16 and €40 for one checked-in bag per
person per flight, the total price of the tickets is €378.90.
Transfers to and from the hotel will cost about €40.
How much?€1,748.90.
Independent savings€53.10.
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