Top tips for bargain breaks

For more than 30 years, Good Housekeeping Travel Editor David Wickers has reported on where's worth a visit and where's not. Now he's distilled that wisdom into 17 ways you can enjoy more of a holiday for less...

Book early

Contrary to popular belief, the best prices for package holidays are usually available to early bookers, not those hoping to pick up a last-minute bargain. There are exceptions, of course - as departure day looms, operators may find they have unsold seats on charters and unused room allocations - but there's no guarantee this will happen and, in any case, the pick of the crop will have long gone. Prestige Holidays (01425 480400; www.prestigeholidays.co.uk), for example, is offering a week in Crete in May from £1,539 B&B in a one-bedroom suite with private pool at the Elounda Peninsula, including flights from Gatwick - this price includes a saving of £487 per couple if you book by 31 March.

Avoid peak season

Anyone not tied to school holidays, when prices are at their seasonal summit, should avoid them like the plague. Travel to the Med in the so-called ‘shoulder' seasons instead - particularly from May until mid-June and September to mid-October - and the weather should be delightful, the prices lower and the locals very pleased to see you. Last October, for example, I went sailing with Top Yacht (01243 520950; www.top-yacht.com) from Gocek in Turkey. Apart from one cloudy day, the week was gloriously sunny, with temperatures around 27°C and the sea perfect for swimming.

The yacht, Aeolian Star, sleeps up to eight and costs £2,245; in August a week would have been £3,123. Other destinations with good early and late summer weather include Crete and Cyprus - I recommend Sunvil (020 8758 4758; www.sunvil.co.uk) for both. Closer to home, consider the Channel Islands or Isles of Scilly for an early taste of summer. I would opt for the Star Castle (01720 422317; www.star-castle.co.uk) on St Mary's, whose owner has recently planted the country's only pinot noir vineyard.

Shipping news

Every spring, scores of cruise ships make a switch - mostly from the warm winter waters of the Caribbean to the Mediterranean for the summer (with the reverse taking place in the autumn). If spending time at sea is just as appealing as ports of call, these so-called ‘repositioning cruises' represent excellent value for money (though you need to add the cost of any flights to make a true comparison).

Take these two 12-night cruises aboard Royal Caribbean's Jewel of the Seas (0844 493 2061; www.royalcaribbean.co.uk): the first, a transatlantic voyage to reposition the ship, departs from Fort Lauderdale on 6 May and visits the Azores, Brest and Cherbourg. It costs from £594pp. The second leaves Harwich on 18 May and visits Copenhagen, Stockholm, Helsinki, St Petersburg, Tallinn and Gothenburg, and costs from £1,236pp in an identical cabin. For information on repositioning cruises, see www.discovercruises.co.uk.

Holiday spending

Unless you've booked an all-inclusive package, meals are likely to be your biggest outlay when travelling. Turn your back on the hotel restaurant, look where the locals are feasting and find eateries with a ‘plat du jour' (France), ‘menu del dia' (Spain) or ‘menu fisso' (Italy) daily special. Other savings can be had by planning your own excursions. Buy a travel card, ‘visitor pass' or ‘tourist card' that combines free public transport with entry to museums and other attractions, often with discount offers in shops and restaurants.

Trading places

Home exchange enables you to holiday anywhere in the world for the cost of getting there, and gives a much better feeling for living abroad than just visiting. Equally, you know your own house is being looked after - plants watered, burglars deterred and often pets cared for without recourse to long-suffering relatives, or costly kennels and catteries. Several agencies specialise in linking prospective swappers around the world, including Home Exchange (www.homeexchange.com) and Home Base Holidays (www.homebase-hols.com).

Tour by train

Exploring a country by rail can be more affordable than a plane and hired car, and the environmental impact of your travels will be minimal by comparison. InterRail passes are available for 28 European countries, divided into five price bands (mainly determined by the size of their rail networks). They are available for three, four, six or eight days of travel within one month and cost, for example, from £101 for three days in Italy or £46 for three in Bulgaria. Book InterRail passes through Rail Europe (0844 848 4070; www.raileurope.co.uk).

Self cater

Spending time in shops and markets abroad can be fun, and could save you a small fortune. The rest of the family may take a more active interest in ‘good housekeeping' when it's in the context of a travel experience, too. Self-catering options aren't just confined to country cottages or seaside villas - I've cooked suppers on a boat in the Venetian lagoon, in the back of a motorhome in New Zealand and in an apartment in Paris. Saco (0845 122 0405; www.sacoapartments.co.uk), for example, has city centre apartments for holiday rental throughout the UK and western Europe, North and South America, India and Russia.

Stay flexible

Even during school summer holidays, a family can save by shifting a departure date. Leave on 21 August to spend seven nights at the Neilson's (0845 070 3460; www.neilson.co.uk) ‘Beachplus' club at Sivota in Greece, and a family of four would pay £4,578. Leave on 28 August, and the price drops to £3,208. Includes flights, transfers, half board with evening meals, activities and children's clubs. Airfares too can plummet (or soar) from one day to the next. Book a flight to Bangkok with Thai Airways (www.thaiairways.co.uk) on 10 December and you'll pay £845 return (including taxes). Travel the day before and the fare would be £690. Remember, the key date is the departure, not the homecoming.

Stay for longer

This may sound like the last thing to keep costs down. But consider a week in May at Blue Waters on Antigua with Caribtours (020 7751 0660; www.caribtours.co.uk), which starts at £1,375pp, including breakfast, return flights and private transfers. For two weeks, it's £2,025. The daily cost, therefore, is £196pp for one week, but £144pp for two. The further you travel, the higher the airfare, and the longer the holiday, the lower the daily rate becomes.

Eight more ideas...

Get a competitive rate on foreign currency. A Travel Cash card (www.mytravelcash.com), preloaded with sterling or foreign currency, offers a better rate than bank cards or bureaux de change: no commission charge and lower withdrawal rates at ATMs abroad.

Don't even look in the hotel mini bar, let alone sample its contents - and make sure you tell children, who might otherwise assume the goodies are there for the taking.

Sunday night is bargain night in city hotels, as leisure travellers head home and businessmen have yet to arrive.

Those 60 or older should always check to see if there are any senior concessions.

If you take more than two holidays a year, you'll be better off with annual travel insurance - especially travelling outside the EU. Even in the UK you may need cover for luggage loss and cancellation.

New hotels often discount rates when they first open - to generate interest or because there may still be teething problems that would be unacceptable at full price.

Why pay extra for a villa with a pool if you're right beside the sea?

If you holiday with a group, the per-person cost of sharing makes even palatial properties affordable. See www.thebigdomain.com for French chateaux, English manors, and lots more.