Everything you need to know about booking last-minute villas

1) Head for the hub

The simple truth is that the most popular villas do get booked up months and months ahead of time, and some of our guests even book for next year while on holiday. This means it’s best to start by checking our late availability hub before deciding on a specific destination or villa. If you’re travelling outside the peak season and there are just two of you, it’s worth looking at bigger villas which might have reduced rates for lower occupancy, so don’t set your search filters too narrow or you could miss out on an amazing deal!

If you've found your perfect last-minute villa but the flights are pushing the price too high, consider flying via another destination, or adding a couple of hotel nights at the start or end of your villa week. This works well in Greece, where you can fly to Crete or the Peloponnese via Athens. Other easy options are via Paris to Corsica or Rome to Bari for Puglia. Alternatively, why not try a self-drive holiday to France – with so many options to cross the channel, you’ll have more choice and a lot more flexibility to plan a journey that works for you.

2) It's (almost) never too late

How last minute to you want to go? We always recommend booking as far ahead as you can to maximise your options, but if cutting it fine is all part of the fun for you, we can usually get your trip confirmed and documents emailed to you up to 48 or even 24 hours before you travel. In many cases we can also book your flights, ferries and car hire for you as well as your villa, saving you a huge amount of last-minute hassle – all part of the Simpson service.

3) There's an app for that

Every moment counts when you're booking last minute, which is why we've upgraded and streamlined the Simpson Travel app so as all your holiday info is in one convenient and easily accessible place. Everyone in your party can have their own app on their phone, so you don't have to keep forwarding emails and answering questions. You'll get access to the app as soon as you book – less time on admin, more time to plan the fun stuff.

4) Flexibility is your friend

Destinations wax and wane in popularity just like everything else, with online influencers sometimes having a huge impact on where’s ‘hot’ – or not. Our advice is to start with an open mind – the landscapes, cuisine, beaches and people of a country don’t just change like the wind because no-one’s doing TikToks about them, so if your top choice is not available, we can often guide you to somewhere just as nice, and possibly much less crowded. Wherever you go, it's reassuring to know that you can book with complete confidence, knowing you'll have the services of our friendly, knowledgeable local staff to help you get the most from your stay, however fine you cut it.

5) Check your passport

If it’s been a while since you travelled outside the country, check your passport. Remember that for Schengen destinations (including France, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain), your passport needs to be valid for at least 3 months after your planned return date, and must have been issued no more than 10 years before your departure from the UK. For Turkey, you need to have 150 days or more left on your passport beyond your return date. Airlines show no mercy if you can’t comply, you simply won’t be able to board.

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