To be shocked at the cost of holidays?

Yep, prices are absolutely bonkers, and I often wonder how (seemingly) everyone else is affording it. My guess is credit cards for many.

However, Tui are expensive.
Try On the Beach, or how about Ryanair/Easyjet/Jet2 flights to some where a bit less popular, and book yourself an apartment.
Poland for eg allegedly has some lovely holiday resorts which are pretty cheap.

Love Holidays tend to include Ryan Air flights. Much cheaper than Tui. People always complain about Ryanair but I’ve flown with them loads and has always been fine but basic. Avoid travelling on a Saturday.

We are going to France for two weeks for £2700, for 2 adults and 2 kids at the end of July. Ferry is expensive (£1000) as we are in Ireland so have to take an overnight ferry but we are staying in two separate Air BnB both of which have a private swimming pool. I booked last September, used Tesco club card points and spent a lot of time researching bargains.

Prices have increased massively. Don't feel the need to go for your children though, are you sure they would enjoy the heat of Spain in August?

That's the risk you take with trying to have kids though isn't it?

I agree TUI very expensive. Look at Love Holidays.

I priced up the 10 day holiday we had in Tenerife in August 2022 - same hotel, same room, same board, same dates - and the price had increased from £6500 to £10500 for August 2025!

Greek self catering in the first week of summer holidays. We have 2 kids, but both teens. Think we've paid 3000. My non teacher friends get nicer holidays for half the price we pay, because they can go whenever they want. I also like to be around on gcse and a level days so that limits us.

Poor dh didn't know what he was signing up for when he met me all those years ago. He'd love to go on more holidays, but there's no way we can afford it.

Usually go away the last week of august and have never paid that much. Would usually do b&b and the holiday
including spending money would come in under £3k. We’re Lucky this year that we could go first week of September so could do all inclusive for less. As I said in my first reply I have done Corsica for under £1k and that was in the summer holidays.

year before last we did Kefalonia for £1800 b&b last week of august and very much in the summer holidays. So no need for the sarcastic laughing face. Are you ok?

@Fourpawsblack your children do not need an aeroplane holiday.

Hundreds of thousands of children never experience going on a plane until they are an adult.

Do not feel guilty or get yourself into debt for it!

How far north? What about the Newcastle - Amsterdam ferry?
The ferry itself is part of the fun. Rent an apartment and don't eat out and that cuts the cost a ton. Can even take basics from the UK (like pasta, nothing fresh) and just top up with fresh food from the supermarket there. Stay in the countryside and take the train into the city (Holland has really easy train travel)

We booked with easyJet holidays this year. Keep an eye out as all of the big holiday companies have discounts at various times.

We got £200 off our booking with a code

Ditto. I’m not fussy where I go as long as I’ve got a pool and it’s an easy walk to bars and restaurants. I’m pretty good at finding hood deals but this year there’s definitely a pretty steep jump. The exact holiday we had last year is about 40% more this year.

Saying that, I’ve found a good deal but it’s a fair bit higher than last few years

We get a loan out and pay back over a year/ a few years. I know people say live within your means but then- no holiday! This year not going anywhere though

First week of September 😂

Love that's term time. Of course the price halved.

We are in Scotland and have driven to France many times.
If you don't fancy the drive to the south of England, there are ferries from Newcastle and Hull to the Netherlands.

They are wild, but I guess it's just down to what people can afford. We're usually in the region of £10K each year.

Had a Quick Look at Eurocamp for last week of august’this year’ as doesn’t go up to 2026 - you would get a really decent site with multiple pools etc for £800 to £1500 -add in fuel , tolls, crossings etc - probably come to about £2500 or pick a site relatively close to an airport and fly in - most though I would say you need a car.. you can keep costs down though by loads of picnic type food- campsite pizzas and takeaways ( often really good) onsite bakery etc

Don’t look at tui they’re so expensive. I always use on the beach or loveholidays or I book separately. A couple of years ago I paid over £1000 less with on the beach for the same holidays as the people who booked with jet2. They had a grumpy bus driver to take them to the airport. We had a private transfer. Booked through on the beach.

There are ways of getting the price down - using SkyScanner to find flights, booking flights at unsociable hours, booking a self catering apartment instead of AI or HB in a starred hotel, not getting a package deal, just as a starting point.

We are a family of only three so flights are less for us, we are happy to go self catering as it suits us, we go to a cheaper country rather than Spain or Portugal (which looked expensive when I was researching them). But holidays have still gone up in price as economics dictates - other countries are looking after their economies too and price rises are global, not just in the UK.

There are posters on the Holidays board who actively enjoy looking for good holidays for others, you could try starting a thread there asking for help and describing your criteria? They seem to love it they must be mad

I'm a lone parent to one child. We generally get an airbnb for a few nights, probably around £450 for a week. Then flights or transport on top, keep it at the cheaper end of the scale. Doing it this way is way cheaper! I can't imagine for four people it would cost more than around £1300 if you did it this way. Depends where you go of course. This year we're going to France. If you're looking for all inclusive I guess it would be way more.

We used to swear by may half term eurocamp holidays. So much cheaper. But we are only 2 hrs from Eurotunnel.

If you are in the North you could take ferry from Hull or North Shields and go to a campsite in the Netherlands. Weather very good there in August and campsites are great.

If you are North, how about go at the end of August from Edinburgh? And a nice apartment complex with a pool, rather than a hotel. Also the Balearics rather than mainland Spain. Or canaries.