European cities, Caribbean beaches and other ideas for a budget-friendly summer trip.
Booking a summer vacation is a lot like planting a tree: The best time to do it was ages ago. The second-best time is now - with apologies to your wallet. Katy Nastro, a travel expert with the flight deal website Going, said the company compared domestic airfare for this summer with last, “and no surprise: Fares are up,” she said by email.
International airfare is running higher too. The war in Iran is causing oil prices to surge, leaving airlines with some of the highest fuel costs in years. That’s meant higher ticket prices for travelers, particularly those booking anytime soon. “Banking on last-minute deals in the summer is foolish to begin with,” Nastro said. “This year, it is exponentially more foolish the longer oil stays elevated.” High prices aren’t stopping many travelers. Travel agents say their clients are still booking trips, regardless of surging airfare, so the demand for the usual suspects remains high. “I think people are taking a little bit of a YOLO approach and being like, ‘Okay, well, the price is the price, so we’re going,’” said David Hawkraven, owner of DesignedTravel. But you may still be able to swing something affordable this summer. No, not the Amalfi Coast in July. Here are some cheaper alternatives.While airfare to travel there is comparable to visiting its Mediterranean neighbors, Portugal is one of Hawkraven’s “best value destinations” in Europe thanks to its lower cost of living. Both its capital, Lisbon, and the smaller, slightly cooler Porto up north “offer so much to do, and the hotel prices and costs for lunch and dinner are far more reasonable than many other European destinations,” he said.To add in a beach, Hawkraven recommends flying into or driving three hours from Lisbon to Portugal’s southern coast, the Algarve, where you’ll find “some great value resorts,” he said. For a secluded escape, try Sagres Point on the southwestern tip of the country. “It’s a very small little beach town that’s quite fun for a more removed I-don’t-really-want-culture-I-just-want-beach” vacation, he said. Flight prices are looking better in August - with round-trip airfare around $600 to $800 from New York, Washington and Los Angeles, according to a quick Google Flights search - than earlier in the summer.For a trip closer to home, “Panama can be a really great value for beaches,” Hawkraven said. “Your dollar goes pretty far there and there’s a lot of selection.” While flight prices remain high, travelers from the U.S. should be able to find round-trip airfare to the Central American country for about $500-$700. If you’d like some time in the capital, “you can be in a luxury hotel for two, three hundred bucks a night and have access to the beach,” Hawkraven said. But don’t miss the islands. Hop on an hour flight to Bocas del Toro, a Caribbean archipelago and province in northwestern Panama known for its beaches and nightlife.José Antonio Cruz, owner of Snow & Sand Vacations, is a fan of the Dominican Republic for clients of all budgets. “They have very high-end all-inclusives and a lot more affordable all-inclusives that can provide a really satisfying vacation,” he said. Better yet, “the food is always good and the service is always friendly,” Cruz added. Travelers may find luck on the airfare front looking for flights with Arajet, the Dominican Republic’s low-cost carrier that began operating in a few U.S. cities last year. But other carriers such as American, Delta, Spirit and Frontier also fly to the Caribbean country for under $500 round-trip.Terika L. Haynes, owner of Dynamite Travel, calls Northwest Arkansas - accessible from Northwest Arkansas National Airport - “an outdoor lover’s paradise,” and that’s particularly true for adventure seekers. This June, the state will welcome the opening of OZ Trails Bike Park, complete with a chairlift that takes mountain bikers to access 20 miles of “gravity trails” for all skill levels. Haynes says cyclists will also enjoy the Razorback Greenway, a paved 40-mile stretch connecting Fayetteville, Johnson, Springdale, Lowell, Rogers, Bentonville and Bella Vista .For water sports, fishing and birdwatching, Haynes sends travelers to Beaver Lake, a roughly 30,000-acre man-made reservoir in the Ozark Mountains. It’s not far from the town of Eureka Springs, which is often called the “Little Switzerland of the Ozarks,” known for its Victorian architecture. Haynes recommends the 1886 Crescent Hotel & Spa where guests can cool down in the pool. Or you can book one of the many reasonably priced cottages and cabins in the area.Estonia might not be the first country that comes to mind for the American traveler when you say “European summer,” but it checks a lot of the same boxes as the more traditional favorites, says luxury travel adviser Gerda Kauks. It’s an under-the-radar alternative with much of the same “cultural richness, scenic beauty, and design-forward hospitality as more traditional hot spots like Tuscany or the Amalfi Coast, often at roughly half the cost,” she said. Kauks suggests making the “storybook capital,” Tallinn, your base for a trip, which will put you within a couple of hours of national parks, seaside villages and peaceful islands like Saaremaa, “all without the crowds or entrance fees common elsewhere in Europe,” she said. On Saaremaa, you’ll find one of Kauks’s favorite accommodations in the country, the Pilguse Residency. “It’s the kind of place where you can truly wake up inside nature,” she said of the property, which offers a hotel, cottages, glamping caravans and mirrored cabins thatIf your dates are flexible, we did find airfare under $800 round-trip from New York and Washington to Tallinn in July and August. If you’re coming from the West Coast, expect to pay closer to $1,000 for flights.Royal Ahmadi, senior vice president of the Vacation Group, says thanks to a glut of cruise ships in the region this year, companies are offering strong promotions to keep ships full. He’s seen prices for June sailings as low as $88 per person, per day , and around $77 per person, per day, during the shoulder months of May and September if your “summer” vacation period is flexible. While deals abound for now, Ahmadi warns that prices can change quickly, and as you get closer to departure, options may become more limited or sell out. Open & Shut: Anchorage gets new eateries — Polynesian, Mexican and American with global twists — as well as a game board cafe and a cannabis shop
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