Cheap holidays in the Costa del Sol usually start in the city of Malaga.  An historic city, there is an incredible array of cheap flights either by charter plane or low cost airline and even scheduled flight prices are bargains too!

Jet2 fly to Malaga from Blackpool, Leeds, Newcastle and Manchester in England or from Edinburgh in Scotland. Fly from Manchester Terminal 1 on Monday 7 June to Malaga, returning on Thursday 17 June and the return flight price is around £122.48 per person including taxes at the moment. Fly Leeds Bradford to Malaga 18 June to 24 June and the return price per person including tax is from just £105.48.

Rent a car from easyCar and Costa del Sol hire car prices in June for 7 days start from £123.46 for a Super Mini 3 door with air conditioning.  For a little more boot space, look at an Economy 5 door with air con (VW Polo or similar) and the low price car hire starts from £133.38.  Booking car hire from Malaga airport means that you don’t have to stay in one location on your holiday. Why not stay in a hotel in Benalmadena, before moving onto a Marbella apartment followed by a villa near Estepona?

Popular cheap holiday resorts in the Costa del Sol include Fuengirola and Torremolinos.  Lowcostholidays.com offer dynamically packaged holidays.  Their holiday price per person including accommodation from 5 May in the two star Tiburon Hotel in Torremolinos and flight from Bristol to Malaga return costs just £109.00 for one week!  Fancy a four star Aparthotel, then how about the Roc El Pinar from just £156.50 per person for a twin room with balcony and terrace on bed & breakfast basis and flight?

Golf holidays in the Costa del Sol are a bargain and with such wonderful weather most of the year, the perfect location to get away and enjoy the varied greens!  Choose from mountain side resorts or a small lodge in one of the Andalucía White Villages inland, or a popular beach holiday resort on the Mediterranean coast or luxury sea side villa – there are many wonderful holidays to think about in Spain’s Coast of the Sun.

There are tonnes of cheap flights in March, flying to numerous European destinations from key UK airport locations.

Cheap flights to Spain in March are easy to come by.  Through Thomas Cook, fly from Gatwick to Malaga return for under £150 per person leaving around the 17 March for 7 nights with seats departing Gatwick on 10 March currently selling for £136 per person.

For a cheap city break flight, Jet2 have availability right now from Leeds Bradford to Amsterdam on Monday 22 March for £4.99 and if you returned on either Thursday 25 or Tuesday 30 March, that flight costs 99p!  Sadly taxes are £54, bags £19.98 and online check in £6.00 (all prices per person) so the full cost is £85.96 per person.

Fly from Manchester with Thomson Holidays on Thursday 18 March to Lanzarote (ACE) in the Spanish Canary Islands and the low cost flight price is £167.98 per person returning on 25 March – including taxes and baggage (20kg of hold bags, 5kg in flight)! Meals cost £15.00 per person and reserved seats £15 (£7 per child). Flights from Manchester to Malaga start from £138.98 per person departing on 26 March for one week. Cheap!

Ryanair has a seat sale of cheap flights to Europe. Book by the night of Monday 8 March for flights from £9.99 each way. The travel period is 23 March and 31 May with a selection of blackout dates over both UK May Bank Holidays. Check their website for full details.  From Stansted you could fly to Figari, Girona (Barcelona), Pula or Pisa from £9.99, with flights to Rimini, Carcassonne, Rome, Alghero, Brindisi, Palermo, Alicante, Faro, Ibiza, Malaga and Palma for budget prices of under £20.00 each way.  Taxes, baggage, check in etc are extra. Ryanair also have cheap seats from a number of UK airports including Birmingham, Edinburgh, Leeds, Liverpool, Gatwick and Luton, as well as Manchester and Newquay.

Head to the Costa del Sol, and First Choice has very low cost seats from Gatwick to Malaga for £101.71 plus taxes of £26.25 (total return price £127.96) travelling from 23 March to 4 April. Fly to Faro in the Algarve, south Portugal on Saturday 27 March for 2 weeks and the cheap flight is a mere £77.13 plus £31.83 tax (total £108.96 per person).  Extras include in flight meals, reserved seats and seats with extra space.

By October British summer time is generally over! The temperature has dropped but the variety of places to visit hasn’t decreased, you just have to be a little more inventive!

European beaches are generally very quiet as the weather can be a little unpredictable, but if you choose a city break destination that is close to a beach, then you may enjoy the best of both worlds; quiet beaches if the weather is warm and dry, and cultural visits and shopping if it is too chilly or wet!  Barcelona and Malaga in Spain both boast historic cities by the sea, or how about Faro in Portugal or Athens in Greece both of which are short distances from beaches and islands, or you could head to the south of France to Nice or Cannes? See our separate blog on more October City Breaks.

If you are thinking of travelling further afield during October, then how about Hawaii, may be with a stop off in either Los Angeles or San Francisco?  A tropical paradise, the island of Kaua’i is north of Ahu where Honolulu is located.  Giant ficus trees, the beautiful Hanakapi’ai Falls, colourful flowers, dramatic rainforest; an island perfect for surfers and walkers!

October holidays exploring the Great Barrier Reef off the east coast of Australia is perfect, staying either in Brisbane or on Hayman Island – or both!  Visit the Koala Sanctuary, take a jeep safari along the Gold Coast, relax on one of the world’s most fabulous beaches on the Whitsunday Islands, snorkel, scuba dive, bungy, kayak…

If the other side of the world is too far, Africa is of course warmer than Europe although October can be very wet especially in Morocco; however the hot and sunny climes of the Red Sea resorts in Egypt such as Sharm El Sheik, Hurghada and Taba boast a very low annual rain fall and can generally be relied on for warm weather, although there may be strong winds.   Should you prefer to holiday in October away from well know resorts, then consider Tanzania and the islands of Mafia or Zanzibar.

Closer to home, and with the October half term holidays approaching, renting a cottage in England, Ireland, Scotland or Wales is worth considering.  Take t-shirts and jumpers, flip flops and wellies, and always waterproof clothes, but if you’re strolling in the Brecon Beacons or dipping your toes in the sea along the Cornish coast, there will always be plenty to do, especially if you take the car or hire car!

You’ve flown into Malaga on the Costa del Sol with easyJet (Monach, BA, Thomas Cook, BMI etc), picked up your airport car hire with easyCar, accommodation; check! Where to now?

Just half an hour from Malaga by road is the bustling Spanish beach resort of Fuengirola; an area offering a huge selection of hotels from 2 to 5 stars, private villas and self-catering apartments built along the five miles of sandy Mediterranean beaches.  A resort popular with both families and groups, there is much to do in Fuengirola!

Starting with the coast, you will discover a number of well maintained sandy EU Blue Flag beaches, namely Torreblanca, Gaviotas and Los Boliches, where areas have been designated for various sand based sports and windsurfing.  A promenade runs behind the back and is ideal for evening strolls as the sun goes down, stopping off at cafes and bars along the way.

For cultural days out in Fuengirola, head to Sohail Castle (or Suhayl) originally built in the 10th century and now often used for festivals and concerts during the summer. There is also the bull ring, Plaza de Toros.
You will find plenty of stores to shop in throughout Fuengirola, including a recently opened shopping centre in the suburb of Las Lagunas.  Restaurants, bars, tapas bars and cafes are well located throughout the resort, with chic dining or fast food emporiums on offer.

Head to the Aqua Park for family days out or Fuengirola Zoo, or how about horse riding or any number of water based activities?  For the golfers there are of course many well known golf courses in the Costa del Sol, with Mijas Golf just a short drive away from Fuengirola.

If wishing to explore further afield, then Puerto Banus and Marbella are a short drive away by car, then there is Malaga city centre, the Caves of Nerja, Alhambra Palace in Granda or day trips to Morocco.

Fly into Malaga with easyJet from a choice of 10 UK airports (or with any schedule, low cost or charter airline), and having prebooked your car hire with easyCar,  jump in and head to the popular Costa del Sol holiday resort of Benalmadenaabout 19 kilometres south west along the Spanish coast.

Divided into three distinct areas, Benalmadena Costa is a purpose built resort stretching for around eight kilometres along the Blue Flag beaches of the Mediterranean Sea between Fuengirola and Torremolinos. Boasting a fantastic nightlife complete with a copious amount of bars and clubs (head to Solimar Plaza), as well as an excellent choice of international restaurants and a multiplex cinema, it is no wonder that the resort is so popular with both British holidaymakers and expats.

Like Puerto Banus, Benalmadena also houses a wealthy marina with over 1,000 berths. This award winning marina is a hive of activity, surrounded by shops and open air bars, hotels, yacht clubs and casinos. A promenade links Benalmadena Marina with the popular resort of Torremolinos, and with plenty of eateries along the way, is the ideal location for an early evening walk.

Families on holiday in Benalmadena will love the Sea Life Centre and Selwo Marina, the Jardin de Las Aguilas (Garden of Eagles) and Tivoli World theme park as well as the Wild West in the Benalmadena area of Arroyo de la Miel, but for spectacular views, take the cable car from the coast up the mountainside overlooking the resort.

Accommodation along the coast is available in abundance and easy to discover when in your hire car, with many high rise hotels and apartment complexes laid out along the long coast and inland – and there is something to suit every budget!

Benalmadena Pueblo is perched above Costa and retains much of its old Spanish style village feel, with whitewashed homes and cobbled streets lined with pretty potted flowers. Whilst there are many modern bars and restaurants here, Spanish tapas may also be enjoyed in more authentic surroundings.