With a friend in Greece right now for her honeymoon, I wanted to find out how easy and affordable it would be to check Greece off my bucket list. Although I lived in Europe for years, I failed tremendously in not visiting the Greek Islands or Greece for that matter. And, I was so close as I sailed right past on a ship from Izmir, Turkey to Italy; however, it wasn’t in the cards at the time.

In my research, I asked a fellow traveler, Nikolai, to share some tips on corking travel deals to Crete. FYI, for those of you that are not familiar with British English, the phrase “corking travel deals to Crete” would be like scoring travel deals to Crete. I love the differences between even our shared language. Don’t you?

Please Nikolai, take it away with your recommendations for travel deals to Crete.

Big, bustling and beautiful – that’s Crete in a nutshell. It’s a large island with stacks of diversity, dozens of different resorts and superb hotels catering to virtually every different taste and budget imaginable.

If you’re looking for a low-cost trip to Crete, you’re not alone. After all, everyone’s tightening their belts at the moment and holidays are a luxury not everybody can afford. But, with a few careful considerations, you can enjoy a wonderful trip to Crete without breaking the bank.

Firstly, look for last-minute holiday departures. Use a package holiday tour operator to search for late deals departing within the next few weeks. For instance, you’ll find some of the best cheap Thomas Cook holidays to Crete departing within the next six weeks (during the summer season), which is when tour operators routinely slash the prices of some of their package holidays to tempt those last few customers.

Another way to save money is to book in advance. If you book a holiday to Crete departing next summer, you will often benefit from early bird booking deals and incentives, which might come in the form of free kids’ places, hotel discounts or reduced room upgrades. What’s more, when you book in advance you’ll have more time to pay off the cost of your trip – and many established tour operators allow you to pay in instalments too.

And of course, when you book early enough you’ll have extra time to save money for your holiday – meaning you’ll have more to play with when you get there.

There are plenty of ways to enjoy great savings on holidays to Crete. It’s just a matter of searching online to find the best deals and comparing your options to find the best combination of price and value. Then, you can book, pack and jet off to enjoy sunny climes and Crete’s gloriously warm hospitality. Ah, that’s holiday heaven!

**Sponsored post written by Nikolai Rudenko, a freelancer in advertising and marketing, who enjoys travel, photography and sharing experiences with friends.