Our run of unseasonably dry and sunny weather is coming to an end (I know, just in time for the bank holiday, how rude), and if you’re desperate for more of it, it might be time to escape our lovely Manchester.
Travel experts at Manchester Airport have put together 12 underrated but beautiful beaches you can jet off to from here.
And with flights starting from just £28 return, there’s plenty to tempt you away from town and into Tunisia (or a number of other destinations).
The list includes far-flung trips to Mexico and the USA as well as some little-known beaches that are much closer to home.
Manchester Airport is predicting that more than a million passengers will travel through Manchester over half term, with popular beach resorts in Europe expected to be packed with sun-seekers.
So these less popular locations might give you the chance of having a bit of peace and quiet while you sun yourself on the shores.
Playa de Las Catedrales, Galicia
The best beaches you can fly to from Manchester. Credit: Supplied / Wolfgang Miller, Wikimedia Commons
Let’s start with the proper bargain – you can jet off to Spain’s underrated north-west coast, the Galicia region, for less than £30 this summer.
The most famous beach here is Playa de Las Catedrales, or ‘Beach of the Cathedrals’, where natural rock arches tower over smooth white sands.
You’ll need to hire a car and commit to around a three-hour drive to make it here from Santander, but it’ll be worth it.
Fly from Manchester to Santander with Ryanair from £28pp return
Dune du Pilat, Arcachon
Credit: Rundvaldccby, Wikimedia Commons
Fancy spending your day relaxing on the highest sand dune in Europe, before spending an evening in a town that’s famous for its seafood? This is the one.
Arcachon is around an hour from Bordeaux, and the Dune du Pilat towers at almost 350ft high and a mile in length.
It means it’s never too crowded and you’ll always get a spot to take in a sunset.
Fly from Manchester to Bordeaux with easyJet from £84pp return
Golden Horn Beach, Croatia
Golden Horn Beach, Croatia. Credit: Pixabay
When a lot of us think of summer beach adventure, we think of Croatia – and you can whizz off to Split from just over £100 per person.
On the island of Brac, you’ll find Golden Horn Beach, surrounded by a pine forest and shimmering aquamarine waters.
From windsurfing to swimming it’s a popular spot, and only a 20 minute stroll from the town of Bol.
Fly from Manchester to Split with easyJet from £105pp return
Elafonisi, Crete
Credit: Pixabay
Fancy a little holiday to Greece? Look no further than Crete, the largest of the country’s 6000 islands and home to one of the world’s most famous beaches – because it’s pink.
Elafonisi Beach is a narrow strip of sand wrapped around a shallow lagoon, with crystal clear emerald waters.
It’s picked up this mesmerising pink hue thanks to all the shells scattered along the shoreline.
Fly from Manchester to Chania with Ryanair from £92pp return
Holbox, Mexico
Credit: Pixabay
Let’s go a little further afield now – all the way to sunny Mexico.
Pass beyond the party hotspot of Cancun, with its year-round flights and all-inclusive holidays, and head out to the island of Holbox.
It’s about 40 miles north and a total tropical paradise – expect white sands, laid-back vibes, local beach bars and restaurants.
You can even swim with whale sharks in summer, and may see flocks of wild flamingos and pelicans.
Fly from Manchester to Cancun from £290pp return
Cala Goritze, Sardinia
Credit: Pixabay
Ciao bella, it’s time for a trip over to one of Italy’s much less touristic destinations – the island of Sardinia.
Beaches here are unspoiled and uncrowded, like Cala Goritze on the east coast, which is only accessible by boat from Santa Maria Navarrese, or a three-mile hike.
Once you get here, you’ll be rewarded with a white sand cove and limestone cliffs.
Fly from Manchester to Olbia with TUI from £90pp return
Legzira Beach, Morocco
Credit: Pixabay
If you think of souks and riads when you think of Morocco, think again – it’s also got some of the world’s best beaches, like those that pepper the coast around Agadir.
If you head a couple of hours south of this popular city, you’ll find the sleepy town of Legzira, said to look almost Martian with its red sands, dunes and cliffs thanks to the sands blown over from the Sahara desert.
A centrepiece is the Arch of Legzira, which splits the beach in two with just a narrow walkway that’s cut off at high tide.
Fly from Manchester to Agadir with TUI from £94pp return
Praia de Porto Santo, Madeira
Credit: Unsplash, Marco Pireson
Madeira is rocketing in popularity these days, but there are still undiscovered gems to find for yourself.
Take the two-hour ferry to the neighbouring island of Porto Santo, where the beach has a five-mile stretch of golden sand, family-run restaurants, and a golf course.
Flights to Funchal – Madeira’s capital – are a bargain too.
Fly from Manchester to Funchal with Ryanair from £56pp return
Scala dei Turchi, Sicily
Credit: Pixabay
Italy pops up a few times on this list for good reason – affordable flights from Manchester, great food, and gorgeous quiet beaches. Just like this one.
The Scala dei Turchi, or ‘Turkish Steps’, are hugely popular with locals but seem to fly under the radar for international tourists.
They’re white cliffs that descend to the sea in a series of jagged, sloping platforms like a staircase, ending in golden sands and gentle blue waters.
The area was apparently a haven for Turkish pirates in previous centuries, hence the name.
Fly from Manchester to Catania with Jet2.com from £188pp return
Plage de Sidi Mahrez, Tunisia
Credit: Unsplash, Aleksandra Lion
On Africa’s north coast is the popular holiday destination of Tunisia, but swerve the busy Hammamet-Sousse region near Tunis and instead go to the island of Djerba.
You can fly here direct from Manchester for a holiday filled with gorgeous beaches.
One of the best is Plage de Sidi Mahrez, a 10-mile stretch of white sand with a laid back atmosphere where you can enjoy water sports and camel rides.
Fly from Manchester to Djerba with easyJet from £157pp return
Shell Beach, Herm
Credit: Wikimedia Commons, Christian Pinatel de Salvator
Did you know the British Isles could do beaches this well, and with such a short flight from Manchester?
Over on the tiny Channel Island of Herm is Shell Beach, made up of millions of multi-coloured shell fragments washed in from the Atlantic ocean.
There’s almost a mile of golden shores to explore, with a much nicer climate than the mainland, and you can reach Herm with a 20-minute ferry from St Peter Port in Guernsey.
Herm is also a car-free island, but it’s only a 15 minute walk from the ferry terminal to the beach.
Fly from Manchester to Guernsey with Aurigny from £130pp return
Smith Point County Park, Long Island (NY)
Credit: Wikimedia Commons
If you ever fly to the Big Apple but find yourself thinking ‘Actually, that’s a bit too much Big Apple now’, turn yourself around and head to nearby Long Island.
In summer, it has a climate similar to the Mediterranean and loads of beaches, like the legendary Coney Island Beach with thrill rides, a boardwalk and family attractions.
A quieter spot is Smith Point Country Park, popular with families for camping and wildlife watching – you’ve got a good chance of spotting dolphins here.
Fly from Manchester to New York JFK with AerLingus from £350pp return
Mélange by Red Hall is a jewel in the crown Bury’s burgeoning hospitality scene
Danny Jones
We recently had the pleasure of staying at the understated and most definitely underrated Red Hall Hotel over in Bury, and got to try their stunning new Mélange restaurant while we were at it.
Now, we say underrated not because it hasn’t received glowing reviews in the past; the AA-star hotel has enjoyed plenty of plaudits over the years and currently averages 4.5/5 from over 900 reviews.
However, what we will say is that the food now being served from this quaint little outpost located in the tiny hamlet of Walmersley, just on the border of Ramsbottom (regularly voted one of the best places to live in the UK), is well worth more than the hotel’s three-star rating on it’s own.
Not only did we have the pleasure of staying in this charming little village getaway, but we were treated to a whopping 11 courses, followed by a morning meal, for a truly wonderful bed and breakfast vibe with all the added luxury of a Kayak Awards and 2021 Tripadvisor Travellers’ Choice-winning destination.
The Mélange restaurant at Red Hall HotelSuch a striking room when you first walk in.Credit: The Manc Group
The first thing that struck us about the local favourite venue is that, despite being located beside Manchester Road, once you’re inside, it’s a quiet, tranquil and calming little escape from what is already a nice out-of-the-way escape from the bustle of the city and even Bury town centre.
Even if not, how inviting the actual Mélange restaurant itself is definitely will; the golden sign glistening from the soft white dangling bulbs immediately catches your eye, and then you walk in to see the big conservatory and almost orangery-esque windows, with sloped ceilings and lots of light.
You get just as warm a welcome from the staff as well, which is a feeling maintained throughout your entire dining experience, as they really do communicate that sense of comfort whilst “drawing from mamma’s childhood memories and unforgettable holidays” through the food.
Speaking of which…
Mélange – which quite literally translates to ‘a mixture’, often even hinting at things that don’t usually fit together – promises a fusion of British and Mediterranean cuisine, and delivers both familiar flavours but with plenty of contemporary punch and visual appeal.
We may have begun our meal with something as simple but satisfying as a mini round loaf of bread freshly baked in a cast iron pot with some acidic, tapenade-esque chutney, along with a couple of very refreshing and lemon-forward spritzes, but it didn’t take long before we dove headlong into indulgence.
See, the trouble was the mezze: we wanted to try a little bit of something from each section of the menu, but we couldn’t help but be drawn in by starting with three selections from what was advertised as ‘small plates, big flavours’.
In actuality, what happened was a board featuring our trio of choice appeared, and the bowls that sat upon it were pretty filling on their own. It’s a good job we didn’t spring for the eye-catching charcuterie board as well, otherwise we really would have struggled to finish this feast.
We went for these naughty ‘nduja arancini, some ever-so-smoky chicken wings in a slightly spiced aioli, and quite literally the best halloumi fries you’ll ever try; we don’t know if it was the light fried batter, the perfectly tearable texture of the cheese, or the subtle hot honey dip, but they were incredible.
We also opted to try two more delicate, lighter bites to somewhat cleanse the palate – the corn and duck salad, both of which were fantastically balanced and still not skimpy on the portions either.
The point being is that, at this stage, we started to worry this, plus our main courses of maple-baked salmon (paired with the most impressively smooth and sweet potato purée imaginable), gambas al ajillo (giant black tiger prawns in garlic) and a stuffed, herbaceaous, rolled pork number might be overkill…
Perfectly soft, gooey arancini with a slight heat to them.You could see the quality of the prawns before tasting it.That tweal on top alone was packed with flavour.Light, seasonal and yet more than a few mouthfuls.
Having said that, we still found time/room for another round of cocktails – again, sticking with the spritz theme (’tis the season, after all) – and just about managed to squeeze in two desserts.
The lemon posset was just tangy enough without being too tart and was devoured within seconds, while the cheesecake with an extra dusting of pistachio on top was superb. Topping each with a thin, honeycomb-design biscuit felt like a nice little Manc finishing touch as well.
We’ll confess, a fair few belt notches were loosened throughout the duration of this meal, but we kept persevering for a number of reasons: we wanted to get a comprehensive sweep of what’s on offer, we didn’t want to waste a morsel of food if possible, and most importantly, it was stunning.
Honestly, there wasn’t so much as an average mouthful of food all night. We can’t believe it’s taken us this long to try what’s being served out of the Mélange kitchen; pair that with a brilliant breakfast and relaxing stay at Red Hall itself, and it’s up there with one of the best hotel packages in the area.
Plenty of food and drink spots help, but the great in Greater Manchester, and we can’t say where exactly we’d rank this amongst all 10 boroughs, but we firmly believe you won’t find many better all-round hospitality offerings in Bury – if, indeed, at all.
There are plenty of lovely day and evening walks nearby.Or you can just curl up content on the sun-soaked terrace.
Manchester Airport is hosting a summer sale with bargain return flights for under £80
Danny Jones
If you’re in need of a sunny escape but are looking to keep things within your budget as much as possible, the current summer sale on flights at Manchester Airport should get your attention.
Best of all, not only can you make the most of this opportunity right now and whisk yourself away pronto, but the deals for a complete return trip.
And when we say this is an offer you can’t refuse, you really will have a tough time resisting the urge on this occasion, because some of the flights in question will set you back less than £80.
We reckon it’s time you book in some annual leave, don’t you?…
Flight deals from Manchester Airport – Summer 2025
So, you’re obviously wondering, ‘Where can I fly to? And for how much?’ Well, let’s not waste any more time. Here’s what is on offer.
1. Majorca – Balearic Islands
Monika Guzikowska via Unsplash (supplied)
First up is Majorca, where you can fly via Ryanair on Wednesday, 9 July and return a week later on 16 July from just £28pp return. With more than 90,000 making the trip to the regular Spanish destination last month alone, its reputation speaks for itself.
Whether you want to be at the heart of the party scene in Magaluf, popular parts like Palma or Cala Millor, or more family-friendly areas like Puerto Pollensa and Alcudia, there’s something for everyone.
2. Naples – Italy
How about visiting the home of the now four-time Italian football champions and the land where pizza itself was invented? Napoli is on many people’s travel bucket lists, and now you fly there with Ryanair on Saturday, 12 July and return on 25 July from just £49pp return.
Tom Podmore via Unsplash (supplied)
It’s the gateway to the Amalfi Coast and the isle of Capri, where fresh gelato, ice cream and Aperol flow like the Sarno River, not to mention it has some of the best street food in the world. With Mount Vesuvius and the ruins of Pompeii also looming over the city, the place needs little advertisement.
3. Brindisi – Italy
Sticking with Italy, why not consider a trip to the Puglia region, which you can fly to (once again with Ryanair) from just £49pp return.
This particular part promises some of the country’s best sandy beaches and a balmy Mediterranean climate, as well as plenty of wine, olive oil and fresh-baked focaccia. It was even the home of Ernest Hemingway for a time, with the city even naming a beach after him.
How about visiting a French region that’s not only known for centuries of fine wine, a stunning coast with top-notch seafood and popular resorts like Valras and Cap d’Agde, but is also twinned with… Stockport?
That’s right, located in the southwest of the country, this underrated destination already has connections to Greater Manchester, not to mention famous water parks, white beaches and an archaeological site named Ensérune, located just outside the city. Return flights start from £56pp.
Pixabay (supplied)
5. Jerez – Spain
Jet2.com are up next are they’re offering you return travel to Jerez from just £77pp,departing on 12 July and returning on 26 July.
Southern Spain is usually as pretty busy in the summer, but Jerez’s position on the country’s Atlantic coast – between southern Portugal and the Strait of Gibraltar, rather than on the Med – means it’s not too crowded, plus it’s well worth a visit to nearby Cadiz.
Jordi Vich Navarro via Unsplash (supplied)
6. Pula – Croatia
Over to Croatia now, and you get to one of the best value-for-money parts of the country compared to tourist traps like Dubrovnik or the Dalmatian coast, starting from as little as £59 per person, flying with Jet2 on Thursday, 10 July and coming back on 24 July.
Two weeks on the Istrian peninsula may not be as well-trodden as its counterparts, but the view across the Adriatic and some of the world’s best preserved Roman arenas should at least be considered.
Pixabay (supplied)
7. Rhodes – Greece
From ancient Greece to ancient Rome, Rhodes is known as one of the greatest cities that ever was, and besides the heaps of history to be soaked up, there are also 300 days of sunshine, plus plenty of shopping in the Old Town, stunning classical architecture, not mention the famous ‘Butterly Valley‘.
Once again with Jet2, return flights are going for £58pp and upwards.
Pixabay (supplied)
8. Paphos – Cyprus
Last but not least, we’ve got more gorgeous Grecian territory for you in the form of Paphos in neighbouring Cyprus, which still remains one of the most affordable holiday destinations going – and that’s even before the summer sale on flights from Manchester Airport.
You’ve got beach resorts and some of the best Mediterranean cuisine at your fingertips. Fly with Jet2.com this July and return from just £58 per person too.
We all need a break sometimes, and with prices like these and the weather across Europe looking great this season, no one could begrudge you getting away from it all for a bit.
Meanwhile, these aren’t the only destinations that might tickle your fancy this summer, especially if you’re prone to those lazy lounging on a beach type holidays.
Daisy Jackson -
24th May 2025 
