WE ALL want that champagne lifestyle, but most of us are working with a lemonade budget.
While the A-list might think nothing of dropping thousands on a weekend in Positano or a villa in the Seychelles, the rest of us are left scouring the web for a holiday that won’t break the bank.
But here’s the thing: you don’t have to win the lottery to lounge on a pool-submerged sunbed or sip cocktails at a swanky rooftop pool.
From ‘destination dupe’ islands in Tunisia that look like Santorini, to luxury Moroccan hotels at a third of the UK price, our travel experts have travelled the globe to find the ultimate high-end hacks.
We’ve found beachfront paradise destinations where dinner costs less than a tenner, and opulent Asian hotels where the marble bathrooms and chandeliers come with a shockingly small price tag.
Here we reveal the Sun Travel team’s favourite spots where you can live like royalty without the credit card hangover.
Faro, Portugal
Deputy Travel Editor, Kara Godfrey: While Faro is the gateway to the Algarve, it’s worth staying for a few days if you want private island vibes.
Off the coast of the Portuguese city is Ria Formosa Natural Park, a group of six islands.
One of the most beautiful is Ilha Deserta, home to just one restaurant and nothing else.
With boat trips for just a few euros, getting the huge stretches of sandy beach to yourself make it feel like you could be in the Caribbean, discovering a new island without any crowds. (Make sure to try the restaurant too, for some insanely delicious fresh fish and cheap Portuguese wine).
Otherwise there is the slightly more built-up Isla da Armona, with just a few beach houses, snack bars and parasols.
But walk the boardwalk from the ferry to the beach and you’ll forget you’re in Portugal pretty quickly.
Faro only has one five star hotel but it is worth staying there for some glam.
3HB has rooftop pools, a rooftop restaurant that feels more like a swanky Dubai one, as well as an underground spa and very modern rooms (think Robert Radios and USB plugs). Rooms start from £144.
Marsa Alam, Egypt
Head of Travel, Lisa Minot: The coral reef teems with marine life – you can swim with green sea turtles and even dugongs – or sea cows.
But this isn’t pricey Maldives – it’s the gorgeous Red Sea coastline around Marsa Alam.
And thanks to some incredible 5* hotels, you can experience the same delights as the paradise islands of the Maldives for half the price.
I recently visited the Jaz Elite Amara in Marsa Alam and it offers the perfect winter sun escape without the long haul flights.
TUI fly direct from November to April – cutting back on the lengthier transfer from Hurghada.
The hotel has a vast sandy beach – as well as a pier that will allow you to swim with those quirky sea cows.
And back on land, there’s so much more for your money.
Set in palm tree-lined gardens are a series of huge pools, including the largest hot tub in the region, overwater loungers and a swim-up bar to enjoy those all-inclusive cocktails.
Rooms are brand new, modern and come with all the latest high tech innovations and for your own private paradise you can choose a room with its own swim-up pool.
And with three restaurants and two bars to enjoy, you can have a 5* Maldivian experience for less.
TUI offer a week-long, all-inclusive stay at the 5* Jaz Elite Amara with flights included from £1,250pp.
That would only just about cover your flights to the Maldives.
Paphos, Cyprus
Travel Reporter, Jenna Stevens: This sun-soaked gem offers cheap boat trips to neon-blue lagoons, a bustling seafront packed with buzzy bars, and your pick of glamorous hotels that feel far more expensive than they actually are.
I recently visited Paphos on a girls holiday, where we bagged a week-long, all-inclusive easyJet package, staying at the Leonardo Plaza Cypria Maris Beach Hotel & Spa, for £500pp – flights included.
I have to say, it was worth every penny. We spent our days sipping delicious (and strong) cocktails at swim-up bars and lounging on the generous stretch of private beach.
There were plenty of thoughtful touches at this resort that made it feel extra luxurious, like submerged water loungers, outdoor yoga sessions, and peaceful, well-manicured gardens to wander in.
When you manage to drag yourself away from whichever glam resort you choose, there are two absolute memory-making must-dos.
First, head to The Pelican restaurant at the harbour. Here, a resident (and very friendly) pelican wanders between tables, checking out your seafood platter.
Second, you have to take a boat trip and a dip in the sea. While plenty of places claim to have an otherworldly ‘Blue Lagoon‘, the Cyprus version actually lives up to the hype.
We paid €30 for a boat trip where we swam in luminous turquoise water that looks like it’s had a permanent Instagram filter applied to it – again, well worth the money.
The holiday felt like an absolute five-star experience, without the overpriced extras or snobby atmosphere.
All-inclusive stays at the Leonardo Plaza Cypria Maris average £900 – £1,000, but if you keep an eye on last-minute deals departing within weeks on TravelSupermarket, you may be able to bag it for nearly half the price.
Salerno, Italy
Assistant Travel Editor, Sophie Swietochowski: The Amalfi Coast tends to attract a rather A-list crowd – and for good reason.
The beaches of Positano are backed by a display of gorgeous restaurants and hotels carved into the cliffface, their colourful roofs cascading down hills and leading towards the sweeping ocean.
But don’t waste your money staying here. Instead, book a much more reasonably priced hotel in Salerno, which sits at the bottom on the coast.
From here you can hitch a cheap and quick ferry to any of the major ports such as Amalfi, Minero or Positano.
Ferries operate daily and cost around 15 euros, meaning you can explore a different gem each day if you wanted.
Do try to spend at least one day in Salerno, however. It would be a shame to miss the happy hours (6-8pm) where you can pick up an aperol spritz for a few euros.
I’d also recommend heading to Mamma Rosa for dinner.
A queue forms outside this teeny restaurant each evening, so get there early and gorge on homemade pasta dishes (from around £8) made by THE Mamma Rosa, a small but mighty Italian nonna.
You can book a Salerno package holiday with On the Beach from £595pp.
Sidari, Corfu
Travel Reporter, Jenna Stevens: When I went on a girly sister holiday to Sidari in north Corfu, I almost couldn’t believe how cheap everything was.
The area has everything you’d want in a Greek escape – golden sand beaches, pretty coves to swim in, trendy tavernas and shops selling handmade clothes and souvenirs.
We ate and drank in luxurious beachside bars and restaurants that felt like somewhere in Mykonos, except when the bill came at the end of the night, we were both only paying €20 each for an entire night’s food and drink.
My top picks for food and drink in Sidari are Savannah Seaside, a boho beach bar and restaurant serving frozen daquiris and delicious chargrilled skewers, and D’Amour Beach Bar Restaurant, where you can enjoy souvlaki or a fresh Greek salad with stunning sea views.
I recommend spending your days swimming in the turquoise bay of the Canal d’Amour, which looks like a scene from a postcard.
You can pick up a cold smoothie from the nearby smoothie stand for around €3, or a cheap cocktail from a nearby beach bar for only €5.
I don’t know about you, but getting out in nature and spending less than a tenner on a day out sounds a lot better to me than burning a hole in your wallet at an overpriced beach club on a pricier island.
I stayed at the Eleni Apartments, where TUI offers package holidays from just £413pp for a week’s stay in August.
Koh Samui, Thailand
Travel Reporter, Alice Penwill: Let’s face it, Thailand is a trek to get to, but well worth it once you land.
It has incredible street snacks, tasty cocktails and authentic dinners for a bargain price.
So when it comes to a holiday, spending a bit more on your hotel doesn’t seem so bad when a beer costs around £1 and a full day of eating out costs about £10.
When I visited last summer, I stayed at the Anantara Lawana Koh Samui Resort.
The hotel is beautiful and incredibly luxurious with a private beach that’s scattered with sunbeds, an infinity pool and peaceful spa for massages.
A seven night-stay at the Deluxe Lawana, which has pool access shared by just six other rooms, starts from £1,236pp, including return flights from Gatwick with Expedia. Not a bad price for a luxurious, long-haul package holiday.
Casablanca, Morocco
Deputy Travel Editor, Kara Godfrey: While Marrakech and Agadir attract most of the tourists in Morocco from the UK, Casablanca shouldn’t be overlooked .
The Four Seasons Casablanca is five-star luxury but for half the price.
Rooms start from around £390 – of course not the cheapest, but the same dates for the Four Seasons in London? A huge £1,313.
Inside it feels authentically Moroccan but classy, with Arabic artwork and architecture throughout.
It overlooks the seafront, where you can book a wide range of fun activities like beach picnics, while guests get free access to the steam room and plunge pools.
A slight caveat is that you will have to bring your own alcohol – its proximity to a mosque means they can’t serve it.
Speaking of mosques, make sure to head to Hassan II Mosque, one of the largest in the world and well worth a visit.
There’s also the La Corniche promenade along the beach, and fans of the Casablanca movie can head to Ricks’ Cafe, which has recreated the bar made famous by the classic 1942 film.
Finished off with a trip back to the beautiful hotel pool, of course…
Djerba, Tunisia
Head of Travel, Lisa Minot: With its whitewashed pretty houses dripping with vibrant pink bougainvillea, it’s a delightful dupe for the pricey Greek islands of Santorini or Mykonos.
But the Tunisian island of Djerba, just off the coast of this North African gem, promises 5* luxury at bargain prices.
When I visited the 5* Radisson Blu Palace Resort & Thalasso last year, I was seriously impressed by the hotel’s impressive pools and soft white sands.
The rooms are just as chic as you’ll see in any old school 5* resort with cool, calm colours, splashes of distinctive blue, marble bathrooms and uber modern furnishings.
And the food and drink definitely won’t disappoint – there’s five restaurants and three bars including a quirky Irish pub.
And while the kids can enjoy their dedicated clubs, parents can relax in the largest Thalasso spa on the island.
Last June, a holiday would have set you back around £1,250 – a great deal cheaper than similar 5* hotels in Greece.
And it’s an even bigger bargain this year – with a week all-inclusive with flights at the hotel from just £559pp with Loveholidays.
Bangkok, Thailand
Assistant Travel Editor, Sophie Swietochowski: Thailand’s capital Bangkok is loveably chaotic – and wonderfully cheap.
Its city streets may not scream luxury, with its Chinatown night market a mishmash of rickety street stalls selling home-cooked grub and colourful tuktuks weaving in and out of crowds.
But its high-end hotels speak another language.
If you want to experience a properly luxury hotel for a fraction of the price it would be in Europe, look no further.
Last time I visited, I stayed in the 5* Shangri La whose opulent lobby was dripping in fresh flowers – they change the bouquets daily.
Rooms are old-world luxury and come kitted out with dangling chandeliers and marble-clad bathrooms, while the restaurants serve some of the fanciest food I’ve ever eaten – and it’s genuinely affordable.
If you were to book a stay in the Shangri La London this weekend, you’d be spending £625 a night, whereas a stay in the Shangri La Bangkok will set you back just £125.20 per night by comparison.
Over two days, that’ll save you around £1,000.
Prices correct at the time of publication.
