Sale away

Got no cash but want to travel? Find out where to get a bargain break without sacrificing the location and how to go long-haul on a budget.

Under £100
You don’t have to sacrifice location to get a bargain on a weekend break. With chocolate-box good looks, bracing walks and cream teas by open fires, the Cotswolds are a top location. Winchcombe is an excellent base – an ancient wool town dating back to the Saxons, its heritage is writ large in the picturesque stone and half-timbered buildings dotted throughout the tiny village centre. Just up the road is Tudor-era Sudeley Castle: collections inside include paintings by Turner and Constable, while outside you can prowl alongside the lush yew hedges of Queen’s Garden. The surrounding hills are tailormade for walking so head to Belas Knapp, a two-mile climb from the village, to explore the strange, grassy humps of the ancient Saxon burial chamber. Winchcombe is chock-full of decent B&Bs – but for old-world appeal, the Old White Lion wins hands down. Doubles start at £57.50, but for an extra £10 you get a four-poster bed thrown in – how’s that for style on a shoestring?
Old White Lion, 37 North St, Winchcombe, Gloucestershire, GL54 5PS (01242 603300). Double from £57.50.
Apex return (book at least seven days in advance) from Paddington to Cheltenham £19. Bus to Winchcombe.

Under £200

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We’ve all jumped aboard a bargain flight hoping for a long weekend in an exciting city only to realise we’ve pitched up in Palma del Slough. Not so when you arrive at Jerez de la Frontera in Spain. One of the gems of Andalucía, Jerez is a noble old town with vestiges of Moorish influence. It’s also home to Spanish sherry. A tour round the bodegas is a must, not least because there’s plenty of opportunity for sampling the wares at the end. González Byass, makers of Tio Pepe (www.gonzalezbyass.es / 00 34 956 357 016), is one of the most famous brands of the region and runs tours daily. Not just a one-trick wonder, Jerez is equally famous for flamenco – catch great performances in the old town peñas (clubs) in the Barrio de Santiago to the west of the old town – and its beautiful, sleek throughbred horses, which you can see on Thursday afternoons strutting their stuff to music at the Royal Andalucían School of Equestrian Art (00 34 956 319 635). Needless to say there’s plenty to eat and drink in town – tapas places that are good and cheap abound, with Juanito on Pescadería Vieja 4, off the central Plaza del Arenal, particularly notable. Accommodation prices rise during the May Horse Fair, but there are plenty of budget options at other times – book early to get a room at the airy and atmospheric Nuevo Hotel – once a Moorish palace.
Nuevo Hotel, C/ Caballeros 23 (00 34 956 331 600/www.nuevohotel.com). Double from €35.
Ryanair (www.ryanair.com/0871 246 000) flies twice daily from Stansted to Jerez with return flights from £2.

Under £600
There’s no need to rule out long-haul because you’re on a budget. Vancouver’s reputation as the world’s top city to live in is well deserved. Surrounded by the Pacific Ocean and nestled in the lee of snowcapped mountains, it’s already sounding good, but add in excellent museums, a world-class symphony orchestra and a slew of hip restaurants and bars, and you have a destination that rocks. Must-sees include warehouse district Yaletown – Vancouver’s answer to Shoreditch, with one-off designer shops, cheap-and-cheerful cafés and slick restaurants. For top sightseeing, scale the Harbour Centre to the fortieth floor for panoramic views. Flights to Vancouver are as cheap as chips – you shouldn’t have to pay more than £350 if you book in advance, and you can snap up a good accommodation deal too. You’ll want to stay downtown, to be close to the bars, shops and glittery architecture. The Sylvia Hotel at the west end has views over English Bay and plain but serviceable rooms, and is steps away from the beach. Rooms start at $150 a night for a double, which works out at around £220 per person for seven nights.
KLM (www.klm.com/08705 074 0740) has return flights from Heathrow to Vancouver for £344.
Sylvia Hotel, 1154 Gilford St (001 604 681 9321).

Cheap Travel Tips

Be an air courier
Travel from the UK to Tokyo, Sydney or Bangkok with a major airline for a sliver of the usual cost simply by agreeing to carry the shipment documents for a cargo travelling on your flight. Savings are normally in excess of 75 per cent – how about Tokyo for £290? Learn more at www.aircourier.co.uk.

Go by coach
If even Ryanair and easyJet test your budget, pack some sandwiches, a blanket and a novel and weather a coach journey. Eurolines (www.eurolines.co.uk) will take you to Amsterdam from £35 return (includes booking fee), or, even more impressively, Milan from £59 return (booking 30 days in advance).

Look harder!
Devote at least an hour to scouring the web for flights and be ruthlessly patient. Portals such as the excellent www.cheapflights.co.uk or www.travelselect.com are a good start for comparing the different airlines’ tariffs, but don’t stop there. It might be laborious, but checking every suitable combination of flight dates and times on each site can really pay off.

Buy dollars – then spend them
Smugly exploit the pound’s strength against the dollar (currently worth a paltry 53p), and not just in the USA – destinations such as Ecuador, Panama and the British Virgin Islands all take greenbacks too.

Eat with the locals
Swallow your pride, bulldoze the language barrier and stalk locals down backstreets until you find out where they dine: it’s bound to be cheaper and tastier, even if you can’t decipher the menu.

Seduce a local
And secure yourself free bed and shelter.

Fiona McAuslan, Tips compiled by Andrew Staffel
Time Out London Issue 1796: January 19-26 2005

Tokyo The third edition of the Time Out Tokyo Guide has been compiled and researched by a team with over 200 years' combined experience of life in the Japanese capital. [Buy Now ] Availiable in bookshops and direct from timeout.com/shop

Amsterdam Whether you want to visit world-renowned museums, wander along idyllic canals, bask in the glow of the Red Light District, expand your knowledge of beer or smoke a monster joint, Time Out Amsterdam will show you the way. [Buy Now ] Availiable in bookshops and direct from timeout.com/shop

Time Out London magazine (Issue 1796) Sale, Sale A-Z of cheap London. [Buy Now ] Availiable in bookshops and direct from timeout.com/shop