If you've never done it before then the prospect can be daunting - you think of the things that can go wrong. But in truth it is really rather simple, and if things do go wrong - you miss connections due to delays, bad weather or whatever, the individual travel companies are as keen to help as any tour operator, and if you have to spend emergency money you are covered by your travel insurance.
The fact is that after you've done it once, you'll probably never want to go back to the inflexibility of a package holiday.
That really is all it boils down to. Accommodation, overseas travel and transfer from airport or train station to resort have to be dealt with separately. We find it's best to check the availability of your accommodation, put it on hold while you book your flight or rail journey, and then confirm it afterwards. It's as simple as that. Airport and station transfers are never a problem to fix up - unless you leave it till the last minute in the peak season.
And if you go self-drive then it's only two phone calls - and you can leave it till the last minute as ferries and Eurotunnel trips never fill up in winter.
(See our Accommodation and How to get there pages for more detailed information.)