to ask how much you spend on a summer holiday abroad?

It was Crete, Agia Pelagia. Talking to DH who did the booking, the flights were a bit over £1k - about £1400 with all the extras like booking seats and airport parking. (We seem to find flights cheaper if the return is three weeks later rather than one or two.) But like I say, we go s/c, eat out every day, hire a car for two weeks, go out to lots of attractions.

£1249 for the apartment (10 days) and the detached villa was £1461 (11 days). Both places we hadn't stayed at before but I would go back tomorrow! So £4110 excluding our living costs while we were there, which would definitely bump it to over £5k. This was in July.

We tend to stay in the UK in the summer, we'll go to Cornwall or Wales or something. We usually go away abroad at October half term and either Easter or May half term. Cost varies hugely depending on where we're going. Eurocamp can start from as little as £1500 total but a week in the Caribbean at October half term I'd expect to pay £2k per person. We don't spend that kind of money thoughtlessly, holidays are important to us and worked into our household budget.

Recently had two weeks in Tuscany, flights to Pisa were about £1k, car hire about the same, Villa £2,800 through air bnb. This is for four of us. It’s do-able for 4-5k if you book yourself. 2 weeks in nice accommodation in Cornwall is 3k - my kids used to love that

Sorry just to ask - was it ££3k for the flights and £2k for accommodation? Where did you go?

And I should have said this is all for 2 weeks, and it's Neilson not Nelson!

Sorry should have said this is August.

Greece in August, £13k but includes loads of sports and activities (Nelson). SO much money and I'm concerned it will be too hot, but a similar one was ideal for us last year. Two probably ADHD kids that need to be kept busy and ideally apart from each other at least some of the time! They loved it and we loved it too.

But before that did a couple of years in Portugal and other countries with fairly cheap flights and airbnbs, which was much less and also lovely, travelling about. You do spend a fair bit on food and drink and entry to places so not quite as big a saving but definitely a lot more manageable.

About £1600pp (family of 4) for 8 nights all inclusive in Greece.

All sharing a room, with a partition in the middle. Couldn’t find anywhere that looked nice with a separate room.

Umm, disagree with what..? Perhaps a more articulate argument would be more convincing.

We have Greece booked in July, family of four, 2 weeks, around £12,000.

We are also looking at Thailand in March/ April for two weeks and I’d expect that to be around the same. Flights are around £6,000.

Yes that’s what it costs (at least), family of 5 here too.
Personally I no longer feel it’s worth it just for a rest in the sun, not cooking for a week, a lot of swimming and beach time and not seeing much of the local area. As nice as a rest is, I’d rather pay similar or a bit more and have an actual adventure and see a bit of the world.
But my DC are older - 13, 11, 6. When they were very young we just wanted a break and some nice memories together, and paid Neilsons prices. It doesn’t seem worth it to me now.

My children are lucky and get two weeks for October half term and we have been to Thailand the past two years for two weeks for around £3k for two adults and two children staying in a really nice hotel - in one room with a divider (I think 4 or 5 star). It can be a bit rainy but still warm and tropical. We flew indirectly to which makes the flights less and it is very cheap when you get there and the food is amazing!

Much cheaper to go self catering, noting that doesn't mean you eat all your meals in the apartment. Have 2 meals a day at home (incl breakfast which is normally cheap and easy) and go out somewhere nice for dinner or lunch. It's all the facilities that hotels offer that cost a lot.

Also consider if AI is really worth it for you. Yes it's convenient but if it includes alcohol does that represent good value for you? It may well do if you like a drink, but we don't drink much so we don't feel like we get great value out of it. Would be cheaper to buy the odd beer/glass of wine than do AI. Similarly if you have young kids are they really eating that much? The AI hotels charge a lot per child (especially when you compare the AI cost versus non-AI cost) and it's not really worth it with little ones.

You could also look at half board / B&B type places if you want a mix, and/or hotels which offer some facilities but not necessarily the whole AI shebang of waterslides, kids clubs, spa, golf etc etc

Another suggestion is to look at Austria - just booked a lovely AI holiday there for cheaper than a Med holiday. Food looks very high quality and it has a spa, kids club, playground etc. Loads for the kids to do in the general area (kid-friendly trails , playgrounds, cable cars, zip lines etc) and a lot of hotels are very family friendly, we found loads with 2 bedrooms or separate sleeping areas for the kids. I think our total cost is around £6k for 11 nights, 2 adults and 2 kids (of which 8 nights are AI). And we definitely could have found cheaper (but still nice) accommodation.

Not sure how helpful this is but we had almost 4wks in Vietnam for £5k (flights, 2bedroom accommodation, all food, all activities, internal flights/transfers etc). For 3 of us. Could you go long haul? (Flights cost more but good value food and accommodation when you arrive?)

I follow someone on Instagram (thewhitepinesproject) and she does posts on how to get some decent holidays on a budget.

Adding it up we were about 5k last year for 2 weeks for 5 of us in Italy in the summer. Booked own flights, airbnb with pool, hire car. It did involve cooking but I enjoy it so it isn't a chore. Can't stand all inclusives so it is a trade off. The children are happy to play in the pool most of the time, but it's generally low key. We do a big supermarket shop at Lidl when we get there, stock up on snacks and ice creams. I take a cool bag and make up a picnic when we go to the beach. €2 bottles of wine for nights in to drink on the terrace once they're in bed.

I think cost wise it probably works in the same, I just hate the cabin fever and noise of a hotel so it's a trade off.

It's not cheap regardless of which way you do it, and I did see a big jump in prices when I was booking this year.

Totally disagree with this. What a crock!

I've booked a 4* AIl Inclusive in Turkey with a private beach and AIl inclusive beach bar. It's a suite with a separate bedroom along with a small kitchen area. It has a daily stocked mini bar, excellent flight times and the hotel has excellent reviews. 10 nights at the beginning of July. Me , DH and adult DD. £3.5K all in which I'm quite happy with.

I don't book AI hotels for the 4 of us, or any big resorts in August as its hell on earth. I tend to air bnb with pool at that time of year or mix in with booking.com a few nights in a hotel with pool. Flights will be about £1k for the 4 of us to a cheap airport (depending on what's local to you, we've been bilbao / northern spain and Amsterdam / NL last few summers.

I think we spend about £6k including car hire, food and activities. We eat out a lot of get lots of food snacks pool toys etc. We don't skimp. We like theme parks and cultural activities like art galleries, architecture, wineries, allsorts!

I spend about £5k on a may break to sit by a pool for 9 days.

At easter we go for a week air bnb for more culture and fun. Spend about £4.5k

I always think about costs including food. Itsno good saying the holiday is £5k but then spend another £1k on food.

6-10k for a week all inclusive in Greece depending on the resort for 4.

Look into the eurocamp options. Accommodation is a lot cheaper but some of the mobile options are really good. They are also great with young kids. Yes they're not all inclusive but they are great affordable options. France, Spain, Italy, Croatia all have great sites in great locations

We are a family of 5 too and in the last couple of years I’ve struggled to find 10 days (school hols) for less than £6.5k last year and £7k this year. Not AI and not particularly luxury either. I too have been really shocked at how much ordinary holidays have just shot up in recent years..

Agree re Turkey, we usually go to Antalya as the resorts are much closer to the airport than some other areas

It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but we’re doing 2 weeks in the Italian Lakes this summer for £900 accommodation and £500 flights, for 4 of us. It’s cheap because we’re camping: we’ve got ultralight tents, mats, sleeping bags, tables and chairs and we can fit it all into 1 suitcase. We’ve got a lakeside pitch on a Eurocamp-style site, with a big water park, restaurants & a supermarket. I’d rather stay in a private villa, but we can’t afford it, and this will
hopefully be better than camping in the uk!

Usually I'd budget 1k pp in the school holidays, I usually try and go in a half term instead, especially if there is a teacher day before/after half term.

We've just booked Zante for 3 adults, 3 teens, across 2 rooms. 5* AI for 7.5k, in August. More than I'd usually spend but it's for a wedding so location is limited

Maybe shop around do you know anybody who has done this and can recommend somewhere.