How much for a week on the Costa del Sol?

Where:Seven days in Marbella

When: September 7th-14th

With a tour operator Panorama will send us to the posh end of the Costa del Sol for a week for just shy of €2,000. The operator suggests we stay at the very pleasant- looking four-star Meliá Marbella Dinamar. It is, we are assured, "in the exclusive Puerto Banús marina" right next to the beach, and we are promised spacious rooms with private terraces overlooking the Mediterranean, the mountains or the "exuberant gardens". Our flight with charter airline Spanair leaves Dublin on the Sunday at 9.50am, with our return flight scheduled to depart at 7am the next week. The price includes return transfers to the hotel from the airport and the "services of our experienced representatives". The cost per person is €980, including airport tax of €50 and a fuel surcharge of €30. On the plus side there's a discount of €98 for booking on the Panorama website.

How much?€1,942

On your own The hotel has a website of its own, www.solmelia.com, where we can book a room, identical to the one the tour operator is selling, for €1,319.95. Ryanair offers the cheapest flights to the most famous of Spanish costas, although the flight does leave at the hideously early time of 6.25am. The return flight leaves Malaga at 11.25am, seven days later. The cost of the outward leg of the journey looks cheap at €49.99, with the return leg having an initial price of €89.99 per person. Once taxes and charges, the handling fee of €16, and checked-in baggage charges of €30 are added to the bill, the total cost of our flights is €432.44. Trains from Malaga Airport to Fuengirola leave every 30 minutes and cost €1.90 each way. We then have to take a bus from Fuengirola to Marbella costing €2.65 each way, taking the total cost of our transfer to Marbella to €18.20.

How much?€1,770.90

Independent savings €171.10