The Sunday Times May 22, 2022 9flight searches this year are
outstripping even 2019 levels.
There’s good news on the
currency front too — sterling
will rise further against the
Costa Rican colon: giving you
11 per cent more than you
would have pre-pandemic.
Prices in one of the most
popular resorts, Tamarindo
on the Pacific coast, have also
dropped by a third in two
years, with a surfboard costing
about £5 for a day’s rental.
Take me there Seven nights’
B&B at the Wyndham
Tamarindo from £821pp,
including flights, departing
on June 8 (tui.co.uk)BULGARIA
Not only is the exchange rate
moving in your favour (you’re
getting about 4 per cent more
than in 2019), but to lure back
visitors prices in the seaside
resort of Sunny Beach on the
Black Sea coast have been
reduced to rock bottom — by
25 per cent on average. Stay
in an apartment at Harmony
Suites Grand Resort — less
than a mile from the beach.
The resort’s playground and
shaded pool will be a hit
with families.
Take me there Seven
nights’ self-catering from
£338pp, including flights
(balkanholidays.co.uk)journey that takes you to visit
farmers’ markets and rickety
wooden houses, staying on a
small, 20-cabin boat.
Take me there Seven nights’
half-board from £888pp,
departing on July 9 (france-
bike.com). Fly to WarsawINDIA
There’s a reason backpackers
fall in love with India. Many
magnificent palaces and
fortresses are free to visit, train
travel is cheap and a great way
to see the landscape, and you
can eat in any mid-range
restaurant for a fraction of
the price in Europe. On this
amazingly good-value, 15-night
small-group tour aimed at
travellers aged 18-39, you’ll
pack in Delhi, the Taj Mahal
in Agra, Jaipur and Udaipur,
staying in small villages and
desert towns with guides
offering insight along the way.
Flights in July are as little as
£500 return.
Take me there Fifteen
nights’ room only from
£439pp, including some
meals, departing on July 23
(gadventures.com).
Fly to DelhiCOSTA RICA
Demand has never been higher
for a Costa Rican holiday —
with Skyscanner reporting thatlosing out to its sunnier,
beachier Mediterranean
cousins. Working in its favour
this year is a better exchange
rate — you’ll get 12 per cent
more versus 2019. The newly
revamped airport of Olsztyn,
the capital of the Masurian
Lake District in the northeast,
is the gateway to a region that’s
filled with a mesmerising
patchwork of 2,000 lakes and
dense forest. The best way to
see it? By water, naturally, on
an eight-day bike-and-boatand visiting medieval castles
that teeter on hilltops.
Take me there Eight nights’
full board from £2,200pp.
Fly to Budapest (cycling-
tours-in-hungary.com)EGYPT
While we get the Queen’s head,
Egyptian pounds are fronted
by crumbling sphinxes and the
pharaoh warrior Rameses III,
and there’ll be a few more of
them in your wallet this
summer — the rates have
tipped in our favour by 2 per
cent. There’s a buzz about the
country right now, with the
new Grand Egyptian Museum
and the recent Kenneth
Branagh-directed Death on the
Nile film providing additional
reasons to visit. It’s flooded
with deals during summer
months, too, when you’ll want
to decamp to the Red Sea
resort of Hurghada, for some
of the best scuba diving in the
world and a three-course meal
for two for only £15.
Take me there Seven nights’
all-inclusive at the Grand
Palace in Hurghada from
£852pp, including flights
(redseaholidays.co.uk)POLAND
For some reason Poland
doesn’t get the credit it
deserves as a destination,Try surfing in Costa RicaBudapest is a bargainAYHAN ALTUN/GETTY IMAGES