British Isles

With half-term approaching for many, families might like to cheer themselves up in these depressing times with a cut-price holiday. Among properties still available with Cornish Horizons is a bungalow for four at Porth, close to two sandy bays and near Newquay, reduced to £267 for a week from Friday. Two houses for four and formerly part of a country club at Little Petherick, near Padstow, cost £334 each for a week from Saturday. 01841 533331

Families could get together to take advantage of offers next week in lovely houses in Scotland. A unique property for eight by Loch Carron, in Plockton, costs £580 for a week with Mackay's Agency and a former village school in East Neuk of Fife, which sleeps ten, costs £455 for a four-day break. 0131-550 1180

Also available next week is a barn conversion in a courtyard on a farm, near Bala and Snowdonia National Park, which has a tennis court, games room and private fishing. It sleeps four and costs £350 for a week with holidaylettings.co.uk. 01865 312000

A golf breaks company set up by two young City gents before the credit crunch now has crunch-beating offers. B&B for a night at Celtic Manor, South Wales, venue for the 2010 Ryder Cup, and two rounds of golf are from £79 with yourgolftravel.com. Dinner, B&B at the Marriott Forest of Arden and two rounds cost from £99 and at the Belfry, also Warwickshire, from £134. 0800 0436644

Pictures this week show autumn colours at their finest at Westonbirt Arboretum and tickets to the wood are included in a package at the Old Bell Hotel & Restaurant, Malmesbury, Wiltshire. It costs £330 for two, with B&B for two nights and a dinner, through breakswithtradition.com or the hotel direct. 01666 822344

A railway carriage might prove a welcome home for many of us these days - but two at Coalport Station in the Ironbridge World Heritage Site are vintage items with luxury fittings. They sleep four and six and are on offer at a discount for the next two months; a week costs from £374 and a weekend from £266. 01952 885674

Short haul

Bargain half-term breaks with flights from Manchester this Saturday are on offer with Ionian Island Holidays. They include a week's self-catering on Kefalonia and three days' car hire for £299, and a week on Ithaka for £241, based on four sharing. Shared use of a pool is included. 020-8459 0777

A semi-detached villa for six with its own pool on a hillside in Torre Soli, Minorca, is available for a week from Friday with Igluvillas.com. The break costs £209 a person, based on four to six sharing, with flights from Gatwick. 020-8254 3016

Views of the skyline of Siena, one of the locations for the new James Bond film, can be admired from a cool and classy barn conversion, set in a peaceful olive grove but only a few minutes from the city centre. La Conserva sleeps four and costs £574 for a week until November 30 with Invitation to Tuscany. 0845 8387421

Some 150 documentaries are on show during the doclisboa festival, including films by Frederick Wiseman and Chinese films. Catch some of them on a break this weekend with Expedia.co.uk, starting with a flight from Gatwick on Friday then two nights at the five-star Dom Pedro Palace Hotel, Lisbon. The price for two is from £554. 0871 2260808

Saumur in the Loire Valley is an ideal place for a break - and for stocking up on the excellent local wines, three bottles of which are included in this package. It costs from £183 next month through Great Escapes, with a P&O Ferries crossing with car from Dover to Calais and four nights' B&B at the Hôtel Anne d'Anjou, an 18th-century mansion with a grand staircase, a five-minute walk from the old town. 0845 3302089

Long haul

Monarch Holidays has two bargain breaks in the sun: a week all-in at Casa Marina Reef, in the Dominican Republic, costs from £369 flying from Newcastle on October 31 and a week's B&B in Candolim, Goa, is £365 with a flight from Manchester on November 1. 0871 4238642

A ten-day tour of the US, taking in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Yosemite National Park and Lake Tahoe costs £799 with Jetsave. It starts with a flight from Heathrow on November 13. 0870 1607323

A villa for eight with a pool on the small and unspoilt Caribbean island of Nevis is on offer from £1,250 a week next month. Flights extra and from £400. www.nevisvillaholidays.com

Tony Dawe

All prices per person, based on two sharing a room unless stated otherwise