hello hs
why not visit cape town? a great city with lots to do. ive been twice in the last 2 years. the weather is good as it's just about to enter their summer. it has lots to offer from table mountain, V & A waterfront, robben island, drive around chapmans peak and arrive at hout bay (hope you don't mind heights), lovely simons town with the penguins at boulders then onto cape point and last but not least some of the best beaches in the world http://www.aboutcapetown.com/beaches.htm
i had a look for flights in oct and the best ive seen is with etihad (went with them in june this year, superb service and very friendly) there are plenty of dates available in oct. and the price is £586 p/person inclusive of taxes, booking fees etc....at www.lastminute.com from london - cape town with a change in abu dhabi. the flight from AD is direct to c/town but stops in johannesburg for 1 hr just to pick up passengers and a change of air stewards. the only downside is the length of flight. other airlines, BA, sth african airways & klm airways, price start from £700 and more.
as for hotels ive checked a few at http://www.hotelpricefinder.com/ the results show a good 3 star hotel, The Cape Diamond Hotel Cape Town right in the middle of cape town next to company gardens, has a room with a queens size bed with a private bathroom, no breakfast for 7 nights and the room price is only £196 total price for the 2 of you. quoted at hotelpricefinder from ebookers. the other quotes from suppliers for this hotel go upto as much as £797 at hotelpricefinder.
so the total price would be for the 2 of you would be 586 + 586 + 196 = £1368 the only other thing would be to arrange transfers from the airport to your hotel and the cost of eating out which is very reasonable compaired to the prices here in the UK. as an example only, i booked a budget economy size car at Avis online for 11 days during the world cup and the price i got it for was only £228 inclusive of all insurance, taxes, un-limited milage etc... i didn't have to pay any other local charges.
hope ive given you an idea of how far your budget can go just by shopping around.
the hotels site is at http://www.capediamondhotel.co.za/
regards
jim
ps after posting this reply HS had a look at the hotels site and the prices they quote are suprisingly a lot more than the ebookers quote at hotelpricefinder (clicked on ebookers quote, re-directed & the price is correct). just goes to show you can get a good deal at hotel search engines, but on the other hand sometimes the hotel can offer a cheaper quote from their own site, but not on this occasion. wow.........
