I was snobby, apparently

Really? Because initially, @Rayners didn't say anything negative about the sister's holiday photos. But DSister surely did about the OP's. A very rude verbal attack on the OP, and then to share the disagreement with the whole family?

You said "but you do sound snobby as if you think your holiday is better than theirs"
but doesn't that also apply to the rude cow sister who started it all?

Pitch this to ITV . Great Reality alternative to Rich Holiday Poor Holiday.

Stupid Sister, Snob Sister.

OR...Holiday Swap The Musical.

Blood Brothers sort of scenario. Or 'Summer Nights' from Saturday Night Fever:

"We got drunk, fell in the pool"
"Did Roman weaving, bobbin and spool"
"Was hungover, needed to chill"
"Read a map and hiked up a hill"
"tell me more , tell me more...."

There’s only one way to settle this. You’ll need to all go on each other’s holidays together.

I remember years ago that ITV show Holiday Showdown where two different families with very different ideas of what makes a good holiday had to go away together to each place for a fortnight. Lots of arguments from what I remember 😅

Yes, but she goaded you and you probably said it on the spur of the moment. Own your comment, tell your sister she thinks your holiday looked boring and you thought her holiday looked like a Butlins holiday. Nothing wrong with either holiday, so tell her to get over it and not be such a bore!

Sister goaded you and didn’t like your reply..hope she’s learnt her lesson. Good on you for taking your child to explore another country like that.

Agreed. Surely it’s only ‘snobby’ if the OP’s sister thinks that Butlins is ‘low class’. The OP was just being factual.

I don’t understand why saying someone’s holiday pics could have been taken at Butlins is snobby?!
All inclusive breaks of the type the OP describes her sister going on are often called Butlins with Sun. The holiday camp is a great British tradition!
If anything, the sister was being derogatory about the OPs holiday and she got off lightly with what the OP said.

You are not out of order in the least. Its each to their own and thst should be respected. One thing, don't ever make the mistake of going on holiday together!!!

They want to relax in the sun, eat, drink and do as little as possible. You want to see what the country has to offer and to go out and explore. You just want different things from your holidays. Safe to say you won’t be going anywhere together.

There’s only one way to settle this. You’ll need to all go on each other’s holidays together. Your daughter will look at the all inclusive buffet with the same wonder as she stared at Vesuvius. Your sister will discover that one of her children is a genius with a penchant for writing poetry about the daily life of Italian villagers. One of you will have an affair with someone called Eduardo. And it ends with you all booking a trip to Butlins together as you realise that the holiday doesn’t matter, and it’s all about the time you spent together along the way.

I'd have been even ruder tbh and said that just because her kids have the attention span of a gnat, doesn't mean everyone else's do.

This. I think your sister and mother were being inverted snobs. Your sister was goading you for a reaction to keep on about it.
They think you've betrayed your roots and feel offended by you seeking culture.

They're trying to keep you in your place!

You ‘incorporate learning into everything’ is a ridiculous statement. All children are learning all the time. They are born hard-wired to do it. Even on a burgers and karaoke holiday they will learn - for example, arcade type activities have a little maths involved, they get to practice swimming learn new strokes, new games and make friends from different places/families. Maybe they will try some local cuisine at themed night in the resort restaurant. They might learn a choreographed dance at kids’ club! I am not sure taking my daughter to the exhibition on the Knights of Malta in Valetta gave her more useful learning than teaching her to swim in the pool at the AI in Crete where we never left the resort.

There is obviously such a thing as neglect, but a lovey family holiday filled with activities in a beautiful resort is not neglect.

Where’s the fun? In the actually sight seeing and culture. Some people actually enjoy that you know!

This isn’t a nice relationship at all. She said what you were thinking when you looked at her photos. Same thing, only she was direct.

The PP would have been horrified to see me as a child, geeking around the countryside with my Spotters Guides to just about everything. I couldn’t get enough of learning, would have stayed indoors with a book if I’d been taken to Butlins.

I can well believe your DD loved the holiday - mine would not have, we did the whole "kid friendly" holiday thing and I would try to escape for a day and do a coach trip to somewhere interesting near by. My nephew, OTOH, was a total culture vulture. 2 yrs younger than my youngest and he and I used to have a ball visiting roman ruins and museums. He could tell you tons of information about Roman Emperors - and his special subject Pharaohs, who was related to who, who murdered who etc. We sadly never got to Egypt, that would have been his dream destination from the age of about 6.

FWIW, I think your comment to her about Butlins is not at all snobby, you simply pointed out they could have done all of those things, and eaten all of that food, in a British holiday resort. I've had great times at Butlins, but recreating it overseas seems daft to me, Even though we went to child friendly resorts my DC were introduced to all kinds of different foods and enjoyed the fact that it WAS different to a resort at home.

Ah, the old ‘stunt pizza’ trick 😄

Sister was rude. You sounded snobby. Even the information that you posted, pictures of kids eating burgers, pizza, doing karaoke, with a pint, all seemed designed to portray a particular type - it comes across as pretty condescending. Suspect there are underlying issues between you and your sister.

Just carry a plastic pizza around with you and put it in DD’s hand when she’s looking at Mt Vesuvius - ta da child friendly holiday