CONTINENTAL VILLAS - MAY HALF TERM

Mediterranean villas are going cheap over May half-term week as tour operators complain of a slump in bookings. Some houses with private pools have been reduced by as much as 50%.

Bargains can be found in France, Spain, Greece, Italy and Portugal. Price reductions are unusual because half-term week – beginning on May 26 – is normally one of the most popular of the year for families.

James Main, of the Villa Centre (01223 513593, www.villacentre.com ), blames the warm weather at home. “We’ve got quite a few properties available that would normally be booked at this stage,” he says. On the Algarve, he has the five-bedroom Villa Laranjeiras, near Porches, down from £1,099 to £595.

Even luxury villas on the Côte d’Azur are still available. Mas de l’Oumede, near St Tropez, sleeps 12 and has its own tennis court. It is down from £6,230 to £3,115 with The Villa Book (0845 500 2000, www.thevillabook.co.uk ).

On the Costa Brava, PCI Holidays (01305 835835, www.pci-holidays.com ) has cut 20% from the prices of selected properties, including three-bedroom apartments at Platja de Pals, now £495 for a week’s rental. It says that booking patterns are getting harder to predict, with canny families now booking no-frills flights then waiting to pick up a late deal on a villa.

Last week, it was also possible to find reductions on flight-inclusive villa holidays. Thomson (0870 166 0367, www.thomson.co.uk ) had a week at Can Boro, a two-bedroom villa in Ibiza Town, flying from Glasgow on May 26, down from £609pp to £399pp.

In the hills above Nerja, on the Costa del Sol, Villa Frigiliana (sleeps four) was reduced by £216pp to £539pp, flying from Manchester on May 26, with First Choice (0870 850 4308, www.firstchoice.co.uk ). In Crete, Villa Maria-Emmanuella, near Kalo Chorio, was down from £629pp to £519pp, including car hire, with Simply Travel (0870 166 4988, www.simplytravel.co.uk ).

In Umbria, bookings are so slow that one operator is advertising an entire hamlet for half-term week. Borgo San Biagio is made up of six renovated stone houses that sleep a total of 20 and share a heated pool. The job lot is reduced by £950 to £4,185, with CV Travel (0870 606 0803, www.cvtravel.co.uk ).

Other operators offering price reductions include A&K Villas (0845 070 0618, www.abercrombiekent.co.uk ), Greek Islands Club (020 8232 9780, www.greekislandsclub.com ), Meon Villas (0870 909 7550, www.meonvillas.co.uk ), Simply Travel (0870 166 4988, www.simplytravel.co.uk ), Simpson Travel (0845 811 6500, www.simpsontravel.com ), Vintage Travel (0845 344 0460, www.vintagetravel.co.uk ) and Wimco Villas (0870 850 1144, www.wimco.co.uk ).

LATE DEALS - British Isles

Head to the waterside at Portsmouth. Packages at the Hilton Portsmouth start at £145 for a two-night stay with dinner on the first night and breakfast both mornings. Offer is valid until the end of June. Details: 02392 219111, www.hilton.co.uk/portsmouth.

Holm House, a new boutique hotel in Penarth, near Cardiff, has rooms from £130pp a night, including breakfast and dinner. The hotel has been converted from a 1920s ship. Details: 02920 701572, www.holmhouse.com.

Short-haul

Fun at Disneyland Paris is on offer at £138pp when a family of four takes a two-night break. Stay at Disney’s Santa Fe Hotel. The price is based on two adults and two children travelling. Breakfast, park passes and ferry crossings from Dover to Calais are included. Book with Seafrance Holidays. Details: www.seafranceholidays.com.

Villa Lauria in Brittany sleeps up to ten and overlooks the sea. A week from May 26 costs £1,197 (or £171 a day for a minimum of five nights). The offer runs with Villa Centre and does not include ferry or flights. Details: www.villacentre.co.uk.

Long-haul

Bridge & Wickers has two weeks in Australia on a self-drive trip around the country’s northwest. Until June 15 the price is £1,980pp with 14 days’ hire of a 4x4 vehicle, 13 nights in hotels, some meals, two cruises and a fly-in safari. Flights from Heathrow to Perth cost from £865. Details: 020-7483 6555, www.bridgeandwickers.co.uk.

FLIGHTS

Another silly name joins the fray, as Whoosh (www.flywhoosh.com ) starts direct flights from Dundee to Birmingham and Belfast from the end of May, with return fares from £79.

Flyglobespan (www.flyglobespan.com ) has launched flights from 11 airports across the UK, as well as Knock and Shannon, to Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver, with one-way fares to Toronto from £90.

All-business-class MAXjet (www.maxjet.com ) will fly from Stansted to Los Angeles from August 30, with one-way fares from £349.

Ryanair (www.ryanair.com ) starts new flights between Stansted and Maribor, in Slovenia, from June 7, with return fares from £20.

Five pairs of free tickets with Singapore Airlines are up for grabs on a new microsite celebrating the airline’s 60th anniversary. Visit www.60years.singaporeair.com and post an experience on the Travellers’ Tree for a chance to win.