Talk

Sri Lanka flights under 500 per person, nice mix of beach, culture, food and adventure.

Cuba

old article but rough guide to prices for independent back packer type holiday
www.theguardian.com/travel/2014/feb/26/top-10-budget-beach-hotels-guesthouses-sri-lanka
www.roughguides.com/destinations/asia/sri-lanka/accommodation/

Cape Vede islands. Hot and sunny without being too hot. Very friendly people and feels very safe when you're there. Boa Vista or Sol islands are lovely. Depending on when you're travelling you can visit the turtle sanctuary and see the baby turtles. It's great for water sports, plenty of boat tours etc. If visiting Sol, I strongly recommend the 'shark walk' but it's not for the faint hearted!

Vietnam is good value, but some areas will be pretty wet in the summer holidays. Hoi An will be dry and have also been to Hanoi in July and just had one day with rain.
Hoi an is lovely - great restaurants in the old town, beach at An bang, ruins out at me son. Easy to fly from hoi an to to Hanoi and train also a possibility.

Crete, Cyprus spring to mind. you are going to find it mighty tough to find school holidays for 6 of you so think that what is going to determine your choice isn't what you fancy but what is available. anything that isn't 2+2 is hard enough to find well in advance.

If its only a week, I would go on the shortest flight/ journey possible to give you the maximum amount of time.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I hadn't considered Sri Lanka but that looks a distinct possibility and I will look carefully at Vietnam's weather...

I'd dismissed Cuba as a friend who could speak Spanish said she'd got a lot out of her trip there by speaking Spanish - I can't, hence not looking at it. But I'm aware now would be a good time to go.

I've heard of the Cape Verde islands but don't know anyone who has been there so shall look further into that.

Crete would be good too.

Thanks again

Croatia - lots to see or maybe Italy. Puglia has some great beaches & it's cheap to eat out