Best student summer holidays (all under £200)
Saving and scrimping throughout the year can help you build up a small stash of summer dosh – but not enough to pay for a week away in the sun, right? Wrong!
Credit: Disobey Art - Shutterstock
Going on holiday as a student can be a big ask. Your Student Loan is often barely enough to live on, let alone put away for savings.
But if you can afford it, a summer trip could end up being one of your uni highlights (as long as you don't end up sleeping face-down in an ant hill).
We have scoured the country for the best value student holidays this summer, all for under £200 per person.
It's worth noting that holiday deals will pop up from time to time and we'll post them in our deals section here.
Cheap holidays for students
Thomas Cook Club 18–30 Holidays (Magaluf) – £184+
Includes:
- Flights, transfers from the airport and accommodation (self-catering)
- Facilities and events will vary depending on your specific booking
- ATOL financial protection
Our take: With travel and accommodation included, booking through Thomas Cook takes care of the hard parts. The cheaper packages won't include much in the way of facilities and events, but see this as an opportunity to pick your own itinerary!
Also, if Magaluf isn't your bag, Club 18–30 offers trips to a whole host of other destinations, too.
Tui Scene Holidays – £153+
Includes:
- Flights and accommodation
- Choice of locations all over Europe
- The option of getting all-inclusive
- Great deals for groups
- 24/7 helpline
Our take: The Tui option is slightly more expensive (depending on where you choose) but they are a well known and trusted company. They have plenty of holidays perfect for students at reasonable prices – so reasonable, that we're prepared to forgive their horrendous adverts with the cover of Ain't Nobody.
Flights and accommodation are included in the price of most of their holidays and you can travel to top destinations in Europe such as Greece, Spain and Cyprus.
On the Beach clubbing holidays – approx £204+
Includes:
- Flights and accommodation
- Choice of locations all over Europe
- The option of getting all-inclusive
- ATOL financial protection
Our take: Looking for a holiday with sun, sea and sand? On the Beach sounds like it's a good place to start! Again, just over £200, but only just!
Like Tui and Thomas Cook, you're unlikely to get any nights out or events included in your booking with On the Beach. However, for sorting your flights and accommodation, it's hard to see how you could go too wrong here (according to our research, four nights in Korfu is the cheapest deal of the bunch!).
Amsterdam Invasion – £149+
Details: Three nights
Includes:
- Travel to Amsterdam (coach or flights) plus coach pick-up from arrival point
- Accommodation
- Guidance from Invasion's specialist reps
Our take: Invasion is one of our favourite travel companies because of the value for money. A holiday for just under £150 is never something to turn your nose up at and the party atmosphere that the Invasion reps provide is great.
The price doesn't include things to do (though they do lay on events like pub crawls and boat parties for an extra £20 – £30 each), but £149 for travel, accommodation and expert advice is a great deal.
Invasion do trips to loads of other destinations, too, so if Amsterdam isn't your scene, there's always Barcelona, or Prague, or Budapest, or countless others!
Party Hard Travel (Ayia Napa) – £203
Details: Seven nights
Includes:
- Accommodation
- Entry to loads of events and club nights
- Party Hard summer t-shirt and wristband
- Party Hard rep
- ATOL and TTA financial protection
Our take: So we're just over £200 here, but only by a few quid!
Party Hard Travel do tours all across the Med, but we reckon their Ayia Napa offering is the best value. The number of events that you get entry to for £203 is worth the cost alone, but seven nights of accommodation (minutes away from the beach) as well?! Bargains for days.
The price drops slightly in June (£199) if you fancy going away a bit earlier. You will have to sort your own travel, though, so check out our guide on how to get cheap flights.
9 holiday money saving tips
To make sure you don't spend over your budget you might want to try these extra tips too.
- Be spontaneous – If you're someone who doesn't have to plan everything, are happy to go pretty much anywhere and are happy to leave it until the last minute, then sites like Lastminute.com are perfect for finding bargains
- Get cheap flights (if they're not included) – Use our simple guide to getting cheaper flights to make sure you aren't overcharged
- Get insurance – This might appear to be an extra cost, but get some cheap travel insurance and you'll be thankful for it when you break your ankle jumping off a donkey on a Spanish beach...
- Spend wisely – Getting charged for spending abroad is something that a lot of us learn the harsh way. Using your debit card abroad is a big NO NO. Luckily we have written a guide to getting travel money for less
- Avoid school holidays – More people go on holiday during these times so the companies hike the prices up. What's more, you can also avoid annoying families
- Work on holiday – If you're willing to spend some time grafting, working abroad for the summer could cancel out the cost of your holiday
- Try festivals – It may not be a week's holiday but you could definitely find some festivals both in the UK and abroad that are great value for money. Check out our festivals guide to see your options
- Consider interrailing – Going interrailing as a student sounds like a cliché, but there's a reason it's so popular. Passes can be super cheap, and you'll have the chance to visit several parts of Europe rather than just one
- Get creative – Don't believe that it's possible to travel the world without paying the earth? Well just check out our interview with a woman who went on 10 holidays in a year for HALF the average Brit's annual holiday spend!
Get yourself in holiday mode with these 11 summery cocktails you can make at home for next to nothing!
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