Three rather good coach holidays in not so touristy spots

I t’s a jolly jape but not as you know it; yes - coach tour operators are cashing in on the new craze for coach holidays and branching out to attract a younger, hipper crowd. If you’ve done the math and come up a loser when it comes to next year’s summer holiday here are three off-the-beaten-track coach holidays worth mulling over. The Balkans, including Transylvania and Bulgaria Leger Holidays offer a 19-day trip through the best of the Balkans, ticking off mountain ranges and mediaeval cities as it goes. At £1,699pp the trip includes breakfast and evening meals, and is top notch value for money for a part of Eastern Europe that tends to be overlooked on must-see lists. Lake Bled, Slovenia  Ellen Smith’s 10 day tour of Lake Bled in Slovenia, takes you to a little known part of Europe which you can safely say you probably wouldn’t have visited other than on a coach tour. The lake is tranquility itself; the hotel four star. The trip includes a a visit to the capital Ljubljana    and the Postojna Caves. Prices from £799pp. Portugal: Porto and The Douro River   Bakers Dolphin’s 10 day tour through northern Spain to Portugal’s Atlantic coast includes a visit to World Heritage site Guimarães – Portugal’s first capital, a wine tasting pit stop in Porto and a cruise on the Douro River, all for the bargain price of £899pp.