Where are you heading next summer?

Viking hunting in Denmark

With the onslaught of cheap airline tickets, Europe really is the family's oyster for 2016.  Open up to the jewel that is our continent and you will find a diverse range of exciting holidays to enchant all ages.  Shying away from the traditional holidays to Spain and France can offer so many opportunities.

Places a little off the beaten track are often cheaper and offer more of an travelling experience for the children.  Holidaying in unlikely destinations allows more of an immersion into a culture; you'll have to get used to the language, food and currency of a new corner of Europe.

By not fixing on a destination and being flexible, you can book a holiday to the most amazing cities, coastlines and borders.  A bit of research and an open mind can lead you to memory-making at its finest.

So, how do you find these bargains to far-flung places?  There are a number of ways but the best one, in my opinion, is to use www.skyscanner.com.  This website allows you to search for flights from all the main airlines.  You don't even have to stipulate which airport you wish to fly from; search departure from 'UK' and you'll see the sea of possibilities open up in front of you.  You don't even have to fix on dates.  Skyscanner allows you to search all flights in a given month
 
 


Slovenia

Use Skyscanner to search for the whole month of August.  It will throw up some interesting destinations, some of which you may never have considered!  This morning, when I checked, there are eleven European flights available for under £50 from UK airports.  Germany for £31 return? Norway for £33?  You couldn't book a train ticket down to London for that!

In addition, Easyjet published their summer 2016 schedules and prices this week.  There are some real 'get 'em while they're hot' bargains at the moment.

Being open to new ideas can quickly transform a summer holiday into an adventurous exploration of a new culture or a new language.  One of our finest holidays was to Slovenia.  With its crystal-clear air, its tiny population (only 2 million) and borders with Austria, Italy, Hungary and Croatia,  this country has a lot to offer the intrepid family.

Another favourite of the Squire family was Riga.  A two-night city break opened up post-communist Latvia and the Stalinesque architecture was unlike anything we'd ever seen.  The icy temperature of February half-term only added to the chilling history of this beautiful country.

And, don't get me started on the wonders of Copenhagen.  For just £14 return each, we travelled to Denmark in the summer and had an amazing time.  We even took in the home of Lego and whizzed around on bright plastic-bricked rollercoasters at Legoland Billund.

Have a look.  You might find an adventure waiting to be chanced upon...