26 May 2026 · Roambirds
Skip Mallorca: 7 Destination Dupes Trending Right Now (and Flying from Belfast & Dublin for Under £80)
Everyone's TikTok feed has the same three beaches on it. Here are the quieter, cheaper, just-as-pretty alternatives you can actually fly to from BFS or DUB this summer: most for under £80 return.
Open TikTok this week and you'll see the same five places on a loop: Santorini sunsets, Mallorca cliff bars, Mykonos windmills. Lovely. Also fully booked, packed with selfie sticks, and somehow £400 return from Belfast in August.
The trick the algorithm doesn't push as hard? Destination dupes, places that look identical on camera, have better food, half the crowds, and are quietly being added to easyJet and Ryanair's BFS/DUB schedules. Searches for Puglia from Irish holidaymakers are up 223% in the last three months (JustCover, April 2026). Montenegro is up 308%. Albania, 130%. This is where everyone's actually going.
We pulled the numbers, looked at what's flying cheap from Belfast Intl, Belfast City and Dublin, and put together this list. No affiliate fluff, no "hidden gems" that have 4 million Google results. Just the swaps that actually save money this summer.
How we picked these
We cross-referenced trending destinations from the 2026 KAYAK and Expedia Unpack '26 reports with what's currently bookable on cheap direct routes from BFS, BHD and DUB. Anything that needs two stops and a sherpa is out. Everything below has at least one airline running a direct seasonal route this summer.
1. Puglia, Italy: instead of the Amalfi Coast
The Amalfi Coast is gorgeous and you will spend £18 on a Coke there. Puglia is the heel of Italy: whitewashed trulli houses in Alberobello, sea-cave swimming in Polignano a Mare, and pasta orecchiette that's still made by signoras on doorsteps. You can fly directly from Dublin to Bari (BRI) on Ryanair from around €40 each way in shoulder season.
The TikTok-bait shot here is Polignano's cliffside terrace at Grotta Palazzese. The actual best meal is a €6 panzerotto from Luigi's in Bari Old Town. Both look great on camera.
2. Vlorë, Albania: instead of the Greek Islands
Albania is the breakout story of 2026. The Albanian Riviera around Vlorë has had bookings nearly double versus 2023 (Novusnews, May 2026), and it's not hard to see why: Ionian-blue water, hill-top castles, beach clubs that are 60% cheaper than Mykonos.
There's no direct flight from Belfast yet, but Dublin to Tirana (TIA) runs on Aer Lingus and Wizz Air in summer, and the bus down to Vlorë takes about two hours through the mountains. Pair Tirana for 48 hours of brutalist-meets-Ottoman architecture, then south to Sarandë and the beaches.
3. Madeira, Portugal: instead of Tenerife
Madeira keeps showing up on "where Europeans are actually going" lists for a reason: it's wildly cinematic (think levada walks through laurel forest, black-sand coves), it's roughly the temperature of "perfect" all year, and it costs noticeably less than the Canaries once you're there.
Ryanair flies Dublin to Funchal (FNC) direct, and easyJet runs the route from Belfast Intl in summer. Watch the price graph, fares swing wildly between £80 and £220 return depending on the week.
4. Sardinia, Italy: instead of Mallorca
Mallorca is having its moment again, searches are up 49% and Brits are booking like it's 2019. Which means it's expensive. Sardinia gives you the same emerald water, better food, fewer stag dos. Cala Goloritzé is the kind of beach that looks fake on Instagram and somehow looks even better in person.
Dublin to Cagliari (CAG) runs direct on Ryanair in summer, often under €90 return if you book the Tuesday/Wednesday rotation.
5. Tromsø, Norway: instead of Iceland
This is the coolcation the trend reports keep banging on about. As southern Europe hits 40°C, Scandinavian travel is forecast to jump 35% in 2026 (SIXT 2026 Travel Trends Report). Tromsø isn't "cheap" cheap, nothing in Norway is but it's a fraction of Reykjavik's hotel prices, and you get the Arctic fjords, summer midnight sun, and (in winter) better aurora odds than Iceland.
Belfast and Dublin both connect via London or Oslo on SAS or Norwegian. Worth the stop.
Quick comparison: prices and routes
| Destination | Best airport from | Airline (direct) | Typical return | What it dupes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bari (BRI) | DUB | Ryanair | €70–€110 | Amalfi Coast |
| Tirana (TIA) | DUB | Wizz Air / Aer Lingus | €80–€140 | Greek Islands |
| Funchal (FNC) | DUB / BFS | Ryanair / easyJet | £90–£180 | Tenerife |
| Cagliari (CAG) | DUB | Ryanair | €80–€130 | Mallorca |
| Tromsø (TOS) | DUB / BFS (via OSL/LHR) | SAS / Norwegian | £180–£260 | Iceland |
| Marseille (MRS) | DUB | Ryanair | €60–€110 | Nice / Cannes |
| Kraków (KRK) | DUB / BFS | Ryanair | €40–€90 | Prague |
6. Marseille, France: instead of the French Riviera
Nice and Cannes are beautiful and they know it (the prices reflect this). Marseille is grittier, the food's better, and the Calanques National Park on its doorstep is one of the most underrated coastlines in Europe, turquoise water trapped between white limestone cliffs, reachable by a short hike or kayak.
Ryanair flies Dublin to Marseille (MRS) direct. Pair three days in the city with a day trip to Cassis.
7. Kraków, Poland: instead of Prague
Prague has been a bachelor-party stereotype for so long it forgot to stay charming. Kraków is what Prague was 15 years ago: gorgeous medieval old town, milk-bar dinners under €8, a serious coffee scene, and (importantly) day-trip access to Auschwitz-Birkenau and the Wieliczka salt mines for proper context to the trip.
Ryanair flies direct from Dublin and Belfast Intl to Kraków (KRK) year-round, often the cheapest city break on this list.
A few honest caveats
- Albania and parts of Puglia are not as well-connected as the classics. Budget extra time for transfers and don't expect 24-hour English-speaking concierge service. That's part of the deal and part of the reason it's cheaper.
- "Trending" doesn't mean "empty". Vlorë in particular is getting busier fast. If you want quiet, go in May or September, not the first week of August.
- Prices we quote are the cheap end of the price graph. Always use the date grid on Google Flights to find which Tuesday/Wednesday combo is half the price of the weekend you were going to book.
The pattern, if you're reading between the lines: the cheapest, most photogenic, least crowded trips this summer are one degree off the algorithm. Skip the place TikTok served you ten times today. Book the one it served you once.