Cancun - Organising your holiday

I often get asked why I never go on all-inclusive holiday’s. The answer is simple:  I want to be independent and organise my holiday how I like it. From buying a flight ticket to planning what and where I want to eat today.  The benefits of a self-organised holiday are enormous, but its important to spend time browsing before booking anything costly.

Take my trip to Mexico for example…

Sunday evening – a great time to look through the Internet, I was hoping there were some hot deals. I came across a direct flight from Warsaw to Cancun (costing £300)!

I was spending Christmas in Poland, so on this occasion flights would have to be from a Polish airport. Prices in UK could have been even better, last year I managed to buy a bargain flight from London to Barbados; only costing me £230!

When you arrive in your chosen destination, transfers may not be included. You should endeavour to book transport to your accommodation as early as possible before your flight.

Accommodation

If you have read my previous posts then you will know about the vast number of hotels in Cancun’s hotel zone. You could easily waste a day trying to find a lovely hotel for a cheap price. But unfortunately the bottom line is that most are really expensive, you can expect to pay a minimum of £500 per person.

Staying in a hotel is not your only option, especially if you plan on visiting all of the great things that Mexico has to offer. Unless you’re planning on spending your whole holiday on your hotel resort, there’s not much point in wasting a chunk of your holiday fund on accommodation.

We managed to find a fantastic penthouse apartment on the beach, still part of the hotel zone. This massively undercut all of the prices of other hotels, and it fitted our every need. With our own kitchen, two rooms, two bathrooms, two balcony’s and living room we really had everything.

We found our apartment on  https://www.airbnb.co.uk 

This website is very easy to use. Local hosts offer accommodation to tourists in over 190 countries. Fantastic for travellers who are keen on exploring the sights these countries has to offer, rather than the inside of a hotel room.

Food

The beauty of not staying all-inclusive is that you can mix up your diet! All inclusive hotels tend to have buffets offering the same food night after night. And why wouldn't you want to go out and try some traditional Mexican food?

Restaurants in Cancun are so cheap! You can easily buy a 3 course meal for one (with a corona or any other drink of your choice) for about 300 pesos! If you fancy a snack, no problem because there are plenty of street vendors selling fajita's, taco's, enchiladas and other tasty snacks for under 50 pesos!

When out and about visiting all of Mexico's landmarks, you can find yourself quite far away from your beloved hotel. So how are you going to make it back in time for dinner? You give yourself the opportunity to do much more when not following a strict daily schedule. Eating as and where you want is a fantastic way to really be independent.

While you are here, why don't you visit CUBA?

Being in Mexico is a fantastic opportunity to visit Cuba without a visa! All you need to do is to book the flight from Cancun. You can buy these tickets online or from the airport.
Cubana.cu & CubaJet are two websites you can book these flights from.

Flights start at $250. Its a short flight but it will be much cheaper doing it this way and enjoying Cuba for a few days, than booking a completely separate holiday.

There are some websites you can find cheap flights:                    
www.holidaypirates.co.uk                                                                                                                                             

www.skyscanner.net  

www.cheapflights.co.uk

www.lastminute.com

www.flipo.pl