A week in the Med, or a cheap long haul holiday?

[Gareth1974]

Have booked a family holiday in the school summer holidays, and have spent quite a lot on this.

At the start of June, we are child free for a week and I'm looking to go on cheap holiday for a week with my girlfriend.

We've been looking at places like Sardinia, or Sicily, which both look good and we'd probably spend around £1k on a decent AirBnB for a week and the flights come out at £600 for the two of us.

Another option that's come up is a long haul trip. For around the same money, the two of us could get £1000 flight to Antigua, or £1200 would get us to Zanzibar, Mauritius or the Maldives.

I've found perfectly decent looking accommodation in Antigua for £700 for a week, or for £300-500 in the other places, so the overall cost would be the same.

I've seen threads about holidays to lots of these locations, but these are usually about high end all-inclusive hotels. Any experiences at the cheaper end of the market?

[Exiled Imp]

I would recommend researching costs once there as well. For example, eating out can be quite costly at some of the long haul locations listed, and can turn a relatively “cheap” flight & accommodation into an overall expensive holiday. Also, travel time and time difference can have a big impact, especially if only going for a week.