To be shocked at the cost of holidays?

Schools in Scotland go back earlier so look at flying from Glasgow or Edinburgh.

We swam in the sea off Zante several times in the last week of October last year. It was considerably warmer than the hotel pool!

Not only does Genova have a kazillion train stations, it's also quite a vertical city and has a cracking selection of FREE lifts and funiculars taking you to the "upper levels".

Were you swimming in the sea in Villefranche on 1st November last year MissAmbrosia? I was doing the same in Marseille!

Genoa seems to have about 30 stations :) as you go through it - and indeed some by the sea. I've mostly been either May or end Sept/early to Oct to French and Italian riviera, but we went October half term to Villefranche and swam in the sea on 1st November. Most of the beach clubs shut down in October.

Also plenty of trains if you go the other way along the coast towards Spain.

I agree, and would add Menton and, if you want a city vibe, Genova as destinations. Genova has lots of suburban beaches that are gorgeous and it's very close to the Portofino peninsula- all very easily accessible by train.

We went in the October half term (and have been twice in summer). October was much quieter than summer and for us, a bit too cool for the kids to go into the sea. This was late October though.

Our first summer was hot but not unpleasantly so - about 26-27. Last year was warmer and we spent a lot of time in the sea.

@Bartg we once stayed here in a mobile home - dirt cheap and2 minutes walk to coastal rail to anywhere- very easy to get to amazing beaches- just outside Antibes. Nice pool etc - not mega fancy but very pleasant

https://www.antibesjuanlespins.com/en/accomodation/accomodation/campsites/camping-du-pylone-2671424

Sounds great thank. I wonder if this would work as a destination for first two weeks October. Just wonder if the kids would find the travelling hard in July heat

The trainline runs along the whole coast as far as La Spezia in Italy. Easy to find a town where you can get about by train. Places we have been: Antibes, Juan Les Pins, Nice, Villefranche sur Mer, Ceriale, Loano, Sestri Levante, Deiva Marina. Boats, buses, and trains galore in many places - we have never taken the car. Juan Les Pins has the best beach.

Look along that whole stretch of the coast. We are going to Antibes and then onto Menton (near the Italian border) this year. No intention of hiring a car (I did in Spain and it cost nearly the same as the flights)!

Thanks. Will do some research

Antibes! The trains are really good so we often travel along the coast for days ‘out’.

Where is south of France can you manage without a car? Would love a recommendation for this area

It is all horribly expensive but we’ve found doing air bnbs a slightly cheaper option. Ideally in areas where you don’t need a car (south of France).

@Charlotte244 I think a lot of people are fooled by the ‘free places’ aspect which doesn’t work out free when those paying in full have prices ‘loaded’ - also many people with kids seem to want the ‘AI’ places and these are often harder to find doing it independently as the package companies book them all up. We’ve always done it separately anyway as don’t like AI - I like going somewhere to eat different most nights and drinking in different places too - we’ve only been on an AI twice and my H in particular really didn’t like it-far too many tanked up bolshy blokes around ( many with young families too) as they saw it as ‘free’ - I think they work out expensive too in season unless you get an absolute bargain or drink a hell of a lot - I just think sometimes there’s not much sideways thinking going on and people want to pay their lump sum ( even if inflated) and not have to worry about paying out when they are there- I personally stick my holiday money into my ISA so I know I’ve got that ‘in hand’ before I set off - and I pay the flights in 3 payments- only one I know that doesn’t offer this facility is EasyJet

I am pretty sure holiday prices have gone up same as everything else. My son and I are going to a european city soon and budgeted £200 per night for the hotel which I have never had to do before, we haven’t been abroad since 2019.

Could you do a Haven holiday in 2026 and save up to go abroad the year after? I have always found TUI reasonable tbh although can see others don’t agree. DS was very happy with a caravan holiday when young. Beach, swimming, activities, entertainment and a chance to make friends. All good.

August is always the most expensive although if you are still off school in your area the bank holiday week that can be cheaper. You need to consider Easter, May or October. We went to Rhodes one time at Easter and the weather was good though a bit mixed. Most days were warm enough for the water park though the evenings were chilly.

I haven’t read all of the replies so somebody may have already suggested this but have a look at villas on Airbnb. You can get a beautiful 3 bedroom villa with a private pool in Spain for around £1700. With flights you would be looking at another £800-£1500 (depending on whether you’re happy to fly at night or not). Package holidays are extortionately priced nowadays!

Yes, holiday prices are nuts.

We have tried it a few ways.

This year we are 10K for family of 5, 2 weeks all inclusive 2 weeks in turkey, last year we done a Villa which was significantly cheaper than a hotel but once you factor in the shopping and dinners we were actually more expensive.

We really love our holidays, my bonus covers them but without that we wouldn't be able to do it unless we really looked at very basic hotels.

Yep

i said the same above

the accommodation in Devon £800 was over double what I pay for a one bed apartment that sleep 4 - £350a week

It's still cheaper than going to Devon. I was told this, by a family of five this week. Canaries was cheaper than Devon this week.

Try the Baltic Coast in Lithuania. Palanga is lovely. Try North Macedonia or Albania or Montenegro. Half the price of Spain. Black sea, Slovenia. Lake Bled for a outside pursuits holiday. Orchid Lake in North Macedonia. Beaches Bulgaria and Black Sea.
Poland Coast is great in the summer. All significantly cheaper than Spain.

I guess it all boils down to how much money you earn, your out goings or what you spend your money on etc. So if you had a small house but your mortgage was paid off you might be better off than someone with a higher salary but a higher mortgage! So disposable income is the key! I am guessing the people you are comparing with actually earn more than you think, or have other income streams, or family who pays for their holidays etc. They could also be in debt and putting the holidays on credit cards!

Personally I believe in living within my means, we do two international holidays a year, one long haul to Asia and one somewhere in Europe. We only holiday in the school holidays so it is expensive. But we prioritise this over everything else. I have a lot of friends who take their kids out every weekend and spend £100 for entry fee to play areas, food, snacks etc. But then say, no money for holiday. We go to parks or play in the garden, do play dates with friends etc. But save up to go abroad twice a year. During the year we also do two cottage holidays in the UK with friends and rest we either invite friends over to ours to stay or they invite us over. We have friends all over the UK so that helps. This way we have a lot of holidays but it is affordable. We could obviously have much higher annual savings if we didn’t holiday at all but we would rather make memories and enjoy life while we are able to. As they say, getting older is a privilege denied to many!

Not sure if it's been mentioned but look at Jet2 rather than Tui (and second flying from Scotland if you're looking at mid-late August as their schools are back in anytime from 3rd week in August depending on where they are). They're fairly family friendly, often have free child places and can pay in installments too.
Loads of different destinations to choose from across Europe and transfers and luggage is included so you can pack plenty for everyone!
Having 3 DC isn't the easiest as most holidays are set up for 2 adults and 2 children but a lot of places have bigger 2 or 3 bedroom apartments or family suites.
Good luck!!!!

I don’t think it’s necessarily cheaper to book that far in advance. There is deffo a sweet spot. Just booked 10 nights for 3K this summer (self catered), so probably 4K all in. Although my youngest is still under 2 so we can just about get away with a 1 bed apt. 2 bed apt seem hard to come by so not sure what we will do next summer