Travel question of the day: Simon Calder on booking a last-minute summer holiday

Have a travel question that needs answering? Ask our expert Simon Calder

Lake Ohrid is a budget but beautiful option for a summer break (Getty)

Q For various family reasons, we’re only now able to plan a holiday of four or five days, somewhere warm. What would you recommend that won’t cost a fortune?

JE, London W6

A Assuming you want to fly off to the sun, and land at least 10 degrees further south than Hammersmith, then your options at this stage in August are limited. One issue is that you are staying for less than a week, which means the standard last-minute, seven-night packages won’t work for you.

However, there are still some options. Thomas Cook is particularly good for “proper” package holidays of varied durations; if you go to a travel agent or search online at thomascook.com for trips of less than a week, it will deliver some interesting options: for example, a five-night trip from Stansted to Marmaris in Turkey, staying in a self-catering studio for £360 per person. (There’s precious little around outside Turkey.)

However, the flights and the bus transfer are long, and you may feel that the risk level in Turkey is too high.

So a radical solution is Ohrid, a wonderful inland resort in southern Macedonia, on Lake Ohrid – which is shared with Albania. You can fly in for £42 or so on Wizz Air on 17 August, and with a 12.45pm arrival you can be having lunch by the lakeside by 1pm – it’s a 10-minute cab ride. Stay in Villa Nina, where I paid €30 a night for a spacious apartment, and enjoy the water, the restaurants and the extraordinary Unesco-recognised heritage of the Old Town.

One problem: coming home. On Sunday 21 August it’s £240 for the flight, as the UK-bound rush begins. So instead, spend £10 on the scenic bus ride to Macedonia’s interesting capital, Skopje, and fly back via Istanbul on Pegasus to Stansted for around £120. I reckon you could have a fabulous family holiday for less than £300 per person including flights and accommodation; the delicious food and drink is a bargain, too.

Every day, our travel correspondent, Simon Calder, tackles a reader’s question. Just email yours to s@hols.tv or tweet @simoncalder