The world's best holiday islands, ranked
Little wonder they're top of the wish list for holidaymakers keen to play castaway in paradise. Travel booking site Expedia recently revealing that global interest in island getaways is up 30 per cent year-on-year, with Portuguese island Madeira experiencing the biggest surge of interest.
So what makes for an ideal island escape? For discerning travellers it would be easy of travel, rich in culture, with a great climate and attractions for all, from beach lovers to adrenaline junkies.
Here we reveal our pick of 25 of the planet's most idyllic holiday isles, and how they rate for the perfect break.
Methodology
The top 25 were chosen by our expert because all offer exceptional experiences alongside the chance to relax on a beautiful beach. Each island has been rated in five categories that are essential to an island holiday – beaches, activities, culture, scenery and luxury – before being awarded a final, total score. Read the full ratings below.
They might not be the most remote or untouched places in the world, but whether it's a remarkable community spirit, unforgettable sightseeing or amazing animal encounters, holidays on these islands are elevated to a whole new level thanks to their unique charms.
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The Sun
21 minutes ago
- The Sun
I'm a travel blogger – these are the best websites, vouchers and discount cards to save hundreds on a holiday in the UK
AFTER working as a travel blogger for over a decade, I've picked up a lot of great hacks for saving money. My site is all about helping other travellers. I love a bargain and I never book anything without making sure I've found the best price possible. 9 9 The UK is one of my favourite destinations to explore, but let's face it, it isn't always the most budget-friendly. Thankfully, there are dozens of easy ways to save cash - in some cases, hundreds of pounds - off UK holidays. From money off hotels and transport, to deals for on-the-ground travel costs like attractions and meals, these are the best websites, vouchers, and discount cards you need to know about: Always check hotel comparison sites Before you book your hotel anywhere, check a price comparison website to see if you can get it cheaper elsewhere. According to TripAdvisor, doing so could save you up to 30%. The ones I use the most are KAYAK, Trivago, and TripAdviso r - and it's usually worth checking all three, as often one may have access to a deal or booking platform that the others don't. When I booked a guest house in Hastings recently, the price was 13% cheaper booking through Agoda - a rate I only found by comparing prices on TripAdvisor. Get a railcard With train tickets in the UK sometimes costing more than a flight to Spain, it pays to save money any way you can. Save a third on train fares by purchasing a railcard from National Rail. Most railcards cost £35 a year (except the Disabled Persons Railcard, which is £20). Cheapest family holiday destinations for summer 2025 revealed The best value is the Family & Friends Railcard, which can be used by two named adults and saves you a third on up to four adult fares, and 60% on up to four children's tickets. Often, you only need to use the railcard once for it to pay for itself. Last week, I took the train from Dorchester to London with a friend, and it actually worked out £16 cheaper overall when we bought a Two Together Railcard. Plus, if you have a Tesco Clubcard, you can also use your points to purchase a railcard. Book clever with Split My Fare You can save even more on train tickets by 'split ticketing' using a site like Split My Fare. Split ticketing means buying separate train tickets for different sections of the same journey, which can work out a whopping 90% cheaper. It's so easy. You don't have to switch trains; you will just have two or more tickets for different parts of the journey. On longer trips, the savings can be significant. Using Split My Fare and a Two Together Railcard, my recent trip to London cost £90.50 for two returns - instead of £152.60! Check out secret hotel rooms is already known for its last-minute holiday and hotel bargains, but did you know it also sells ' secret hotel ' rooms at a much lower price than the advertised room rate? It's a way for hotels to quietly sell off their unbooked rooms on the cheap. You'll be told the rough location and the star rating, but you won't find out the name of the hotel until you've booked. It's a bit of a gamble, but it could lead to big savings - and you can sometimes guess the hotel before booking, by running the description and location details through a search engine. Right now on you can book a 'Unique & Trendy Hotel near Shoreditch ' at £102 for one night in August. I can't say for certain what hotel this is, but some online detective work suggests it's one that's being sold for £135 on other sites for the same dates. See if you qualify for Before I buy anything, I always do a quick search on to see if there's an active promotion or voucher code I can use. You can either browse the Travel category, or search for the specific brand you're booking. Right now on there's a 9% discount code for and 5% for Travelodge (both worked when I tested them). Get money back from Quidco Once you've found the best price for your trip, don't forget to check Quidco to see if there are any cashback offers. There are hundreds of travel brands on Quidco, including Expedia, Travelodge, trainline, Radisson Hotels, Parkdean resorts, and loads more. All you need to do is use Quidco's link to visit the site before booking, and you'll get a small percentage of the purchase price as cashback. Look out for flash sales: earlier this month a 24-hour flash sale upped the Expedia and cashback rates to 9%. Take a look on If you fancy a spot of camping, glamping, or caravanning this summer, check to find your perfect site. Not only do the customisable search and customer reviews make it easy to find the right site for your needs, but prices are often much lower. For example, a non-electric camping pitch at Tehidy Holiday Park in Cornwall is £183 for 7 nights in August on but the same pitch would be £238 when booked direct. 9 9 Check into a Hoseasons There are over 750 holiday parks listed on Hoseasons, and often the prices are lower than if you book direct. For example, seven nights in a three-bedroom lodge at King's Lynn Holiday Park in Norfolk is £1,105 on Hoseasons vs £1,225 when booked direct (Based on booking seven nights from 21/8/25). The prices aren't always cheaper on Hoseasons, though, so make sure you also check the holiday park's website before booking to compare. Tap your Tesco Clubcard If you collect Tesco Clubcard points, you can turn them into vouchers to pay for a huge number of travel costs. The points are often worth double when you convert them, so the savings can be big. Get 2X value at hotel brands including and Best Western, holiday brands like Butlins and Hoseasons, and travel brands including National Express, Railcard, and P&O Ferries. You can also get 2X value on days out like theme parks, castles, and zoos, to help keep those holiday spending costs down. Dine using a tastecard Dining out when you travel can get very expensive. One way to keep costs down is with a tastecard membership, which can get you 2-for-1 meals or 25% off the total bill at thousands of restaurants. Membership is usually £79.99 per year, but you can get your first year for £29.99. If you use it to dine out every night of a three-night trip, the savings will be well worth that upfront fee! A tastecard can also get you discounts on cinema tickets and days out at popular attractions, including up to 45% off at Thorpe Park and up to 20% off at SEA LIFE London. Too Good to Go If you're self-catering on your UK holiday, I have a great hack that could save you a lot of money on meals and snacks. Download the Too Good to Go app to find local shops, cafes and restaurants selling off their surplus food at incredibly low prices. The idea is to help fight food waste - but it's also a brilliant way to save money on takeaways. Things are often bundled into a 'surprise bag', where you'll get a bundle of goodies worth around £10-15 for less than £5. My best result was a £3.50 surprise bag from Costa which contained three Moroccan flatbread sandwiches, one lemon tart, two tiramisu cakes, one cheese twist, and two croissants. National Rail Days Out Travelling by train can get you access to some great savings thanks to National Rail Days Out. They have 2-for-1 entry at top attractions like London Zoo, Caernarfon Castle, or the Bluebell Railway in West Sussex. There are also huge discounts, including a third off at theme parks like Thorpe Park, LEGOLAND and Alton Towers. Search for your chosen destination to see what deals are on offer before your trip, then just download the vouchers. Remember: the deals are only valid if you travel by train, and you'll need to show your train tickets alongside your voucher for entry. 9 Go old-school with a Heritage Membership Another way to potentially keep travel costs down is with a National Trust or English Heritage membership, both of which get you free admission and free parking at hundreds of attractions. Take a look at the attractions in your holiday destination, to see if a membership could be worth it. National Trust membership for a family of 4 is £168.60. Family admission at many National Trust sites is over £40, so if you plan on visiting 4-5 sites over the course of a year, a membership will probably save you money. English Heritage membership for a family with two adults and up to 12 children is £144 for a year - but there is 25% off if you buy before the end of August, so it's only £108. Prices at the more famous attractions like Dover Castle and Stonehenge can range from £50 to over £80 for a family ticket (depending on the day and ticket type). So, again, if you visit four or five attractions in a year, the membership will most likely have saved you money. Say ahoy with HolidayPirates If you can be flexible with where and when you travel, you can find some great bargains on HolidayPirates. It's a deals platform where a team of experts pull in amazing travel deals from around the web. They find some of the best offers out there for everything from last- minute package holidays to half-price hotel breaks. Right now, UK offers include Butlins packages at £252 for a family of four, a four-star spa hotel in Liverpool at £99 per night, and a long weekend glamping in Bude at £219 for a family of four. It's less helpful if you're searching for a specific date and destination, but great if you're open to ideas. Filter by destination and month to find the best deals for when you want to travel. You can also sign up to their newsletter to get deals straight to your inbox - or even subscribe to their WhatsApp channel and get notified every time a new deal hits. For something special, try Luxury Escapes If you're looking to splurge on a lavish hotel for an extra special occasion, take a look at the deals on Luxury Escapes. This site has savings of up to 70% off on high-end hotels, often with some luxe extras like free meals, room upgrades, or spa credits. The savings on pricier hotels can literally be hundreds of pounds: a night at very fancy The Kensington in London is £235 in mid-August, with breakfast and a free nightly cocktail, vs over £390 (minus the cocktails) when booked direct. Pay attention, because the price shown is sometimes the members-only price, and the non-member price may be slightly higher. Membership costs £129/year plus a one-time sign-up fee of £250, so it's not really worth it unless you book a lot of hotels. Sign up for OneKey and other loyalty programmes Sign up for the free memberships and rewards programmes at hotel booking sites like Accor, IHG®, and Expedia Group to get instant access to members-only prices and other loyalty rewards. Expedia, and VRBO have a shared reward programme called OneKey, with member discounts of 10% or more on 'over 100,000 hotels worldwide'. You also earn OneKeyCash on eligible stays, a reward currency to spend on future bookings. The more trips you book, the more the rewards increase: Silver members get 15% or more discount, while Gold and Platinum members get 20% or more. I once snagged a £60 pub stay in mid Wales for just £36.19 with my Gold member discount! 9 9 Take advantage of Groupon Groupon UK has a huge range of deals on services and experiences, with some great offers in the travel category, including holidays, hotels, spa days, attraction tickets, and more. You can filter by destination and by travel type, including family travel, so it's easy to find the best bargains. August deals include a seven-night stay in a two-bedroom holiday home for six at Ladram Bay Holiday Park in Devon for £137 per person (the same week is £207 per person when booking direct). There was also a double room for two with a full English and a bottle of Prosecco at Leonardo Hotel Liverpool for just £79. Equivalent room when booked direct was £93.60, not including the Prosecco. Take a look at Wowcher Wowcher is another deals website. It's a little trickier to use for travel searching, as there's no way to filter by location or travel type. But if you have the time and patience, there are some amazing deals for holidays, spa breaks, and attraction tickets. We got family tickets for Africa Alive Zoo in Norfolk at £36 for two adults and up to three kids (saving just over 51% against the website price). They also helpfully flag up which deals have Summer Holiday availability. Be wary of hotel deals where you can't check availability and book then and there; with these, you'll get a voucher to redeem at the hotel 'depending on availability'. The discounts for these deals are staggering, but it's a risk, as there may not be any availability when when you want to book.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
I swapped homes with a total stranger from Instagram to save money while traveling
A woman who swapped homes with a total stranger on Instagram to save money on hotel costs while she was traveling has shared the highs and lows of the experience. Sara Holt, 27, from Copenhagen, was planning a trip to Paris, France, and got fed up with the eye-watering prices of hotels and Airbnbs. Inspired by the Cameron Diaz-lead movie The Holiday, she decided to turn to social media to try to find someone living in the European city who might exchange abodes with her. She shared a video of her studio apartment on Instagram and received offers from people all over the world. And she ultimately switched with a girl living in the heart of Paris. She flew out on July 16 and stayed for a week – enjoying everything the city of lights had to offer for a fraction of the price. 'Travelling is expensive but a lot of the time, it is the accommodation that really breaks the bank,' she told Luxury Travel Daily recently. 'With home swapping, you really only have to pay for the transportation, which is a big perk when trying to save some money. 'Since watching The Holiday for the first time, I've always wanted to try it.' The 2006 flick - which also starred Jude Law, Kate Winslet, and Jack Black - followed two strangers, one from a quiet English village and the other from star-studded Hollywood, who decided to trade homes in an attempt to spice up their lives. In addition to saving money, there were a load of other benefits that came with living in someone's home rather than staying at a hotel. 'I was so happy arriving in her flat in Paris. It looked amazing, very homey and she had cleaned and laid out a list with local recommendations as well as a welcome gift of wine, soaps and chocolate,' Sara recalled. 'It was a bit strange to live in someone else's space but it quickly felt very homey.' The content creator estimates she saved $800 on accommodation fees – and all in all, she only paid $650 for the entire trip, including flights, food, drinks and shopping. She loved the experience so much that she now can't imagine travelling any other way. Sara said: 'It was great to have your own kitchen and everything you need on hand, which is not the case in a hotel. Sara flew out on July 16 and stayed for a week – enjoying everything the city of lights had to offer for a fraction of the price 'Living in her area had a very local feel as well, which was great. It was more like trying "everyday life" in Paris instead of a holiday. 'It was just perfect. We were keeping in touch all week, asking questions and sending each other recommendations. 'It was like having a guide ready in your pocket the whole time. The whole thing felt very wholesome.' Sara added that the girl living in her apartment left it 'spotless,' in fact, it was 'almost better than when she left.' But there were some downsides. Particularly, she admitted that she was worried knowing there was no second party involved to help if something went wrong in her temporary home. 'I was a bit more worried than usual about keeping her space in order – as there is not second party involved, I really didn't want to break anything or lose her keys – stuff like that,' she explained. 'I was a bit nervous the months leading up to it, that one of us would have to cancel after the other person had already booked flights. 'There's no refund policy when you just swap with someone outside of the platforms. Luckily that didn't happen!' In addition to saving money, there were a load of other benefits that came with living in someone's home rather than staying at a hotel. The apartment she stayed in is pictured Despite some initial nerves about swapping her $950-a-month studio flat in Denmark with a stranger, the whole week went off without a hitch. Sara concluded: 'The money saved was definitely a bonus but the real win was feeling like a local and having that insider experience. 'I'd encourage anyone curious about home swapping to just take the leap. It's such a unique way to travel and connect with people. 'It's not just about saving money – it's about the stories you collect and the memories you make in a home that isn't your own.'
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
One person dies in Greece, Mount Vesuvius closed to tourists in Italy and vineyards turn to ash in France as wildfires rage across Europe
At least one person in Greece has died after wildfires consumed nearly 16,000 acres of land amid a surge of fires across Europe. In the Keratea region, just south of Athens, an elderly man tragically died during the fire that broke out on Friday. Firefighters found his remains in a bed in a hut. As blazes continue to wreak havoc across the nation for a third day, the National Observatory in Athens said that the high winds that have been fanning the flames will persist until at least Monday. Over in Italy, Italian firefighters on Sunday tackled a wildfire on the flanks of Mount Vesuvius, with all hiking routes up the volcano near Naples closed to tourists. The national fire service said it had 12 teams on the ground and six Canadair planes fighting the blaze, which has torn through the national park in southern Italy since Friday. Reinforcement firefighters were on their way from other regions and the onsite teams were using drones to better monitor the spread of the fire, the service said on Telegram. 'For safety reasons and... to facilitate firefighting and cleanup operations in the affected areas, all activities along the Vesuvius National Park trail network are suspended until further notice,' the park said in a statement Saturday. Nearly 620,000 people visited the volcano's crater in 2024, according to the park. lames and smoke rise from burning trees while firefighters continue their efforts to extinguish the fire that broke out in the forest area near the Komotini, Greece on August 10, 2025 The smoke from the fire could be seen from the Pompeii archeological site, which however remained open to tourists. Over in France, about 1,400 firefighters were deployed Saturday in the southern Aude region to prevent the country's largest wildfire in decades from reigniting, as all residents were allowed to return to their homes. Aude prefect Christian Pouget said the fire has been contained since Thursday after burning this week more than 62 square miles in the wooded region, known for its wineries. Horrifying photos showed the fires left the vineyards as little than piles of ash. All roads have been reopened but authorities issued a strict ban on accessing the forest, Pouget said at a news conference on Saturday. 'The fight is continuing, firefighters are still working on (fire) reignition,' he said. The blaze left one person dead and 25 people have been injured, including 19 firefighters, Pouget said. High temperatures in the coming days are expected to complicate firefighters' efforts. 'The fire won't be extinguished for several weeks,' Col. Christophe Magny, director of the Aude fire department, said, pointing to several 'hot spots' that are being closely monitored. France's national weather agency Meteo France placed the southern half of France on a 'high vigilance' alert for heat wave, with temperatures expected in the Aude region of up to 39 degrees Celsius on Saturday. In neighboring Spain, firefighters continued to battle a wildfire in Avila province, over 62 miles west of Madrid. Víctor Fernández, a technician at the advanced command post, told reporters Saturday the fire was being contained but warned the next hours would be 'critical.' Extreme temperatures are expected to continue until at least next week, according to Spain's national weather service. The fire began on Friday afternoon with the Spanish Military Emergencies Unit working through the night to bring it under control and prevent it from approaching roads and train lines. Southern Europe has seen multiple large fires this summer. Scientists warn that climate change is exacerbating the frequency and intensity of heat and dryness, making the region more vulnerable to wildfires.
