Holidays are just not worth the money

So much cheaper then a week in Devon caravan which is £800 +

obv flights on top but for the actual accommodation it’s cheaper abroad by far

It’s not a hotel. It’s an one bed apartment with kitchen washing machine and sofa plus sofa bed so sleep 4 easily. and same price all year with a few pounds except Xmas

I’ve already responded to this.

cant be bothered to explain it again

It is expensive you’re right. But, it really is worth the money if you think about what you’re actually buying.

Guaranteed sun, happier/happy kids, different culture/language, memories.

Money is valueless when we are dead…as morbid as it may be…I’d rather spend the money if it’s affordable and make the memories, let my kids enjoy their yearly holiday in a warm place doing lots of things that make them happy, and therefore me.

Book a ferry? You have to get there and pay for the ferry.
Book a cottage in the UK? Prices are a joke
Cheap flights? Where are they please?
Air B and B? How much?

The end result is still spening thousands.

We managed to do a week for a family of five in August, to a nice part of Greece, villa with pool, via air bnb and Ryanair for £2k. You can save money not booking through holiday companies, but I did worry a bit about not having the protection if one element of the holiday went wrong. And you do have to hire a car.

We mainly stay in the U.K. and plan holidays with a mixture of nice hotels with pool/spa and camping/youth hostels to keep the cost down over all. We often holiday in less popular places too.

I think you should go on holiday because it’s quality time as a family, making memories and a good use of money.

I’m intrigued by everyone saying there’s loads of options for under 3k for 5 of you because I would have thought they would be very DIY and full of extras that probably all add up significantly (to about 3k).

Abroad 3k for 5 of you??

My husband pays well over that for 2 of us!
As someone who goes abroad 4/6 times a year I’d say you’re being unreasonable!

It does not cost a minimum of £3k for a family of five to go on holiday.

You have the wrong attitude to holidays if you think it does.

A holiday. If you go for 7 days, and it's costing you £3500 , there you go.

I fly too much. I admit it. But I look at trains/driving abroad wherever possible, or even combining destinations so a flight into X and out of Y.
Your argument about the flights still leaving is a stupid one though. If nobody bought a ticket to take the flights, there would be no demand for those flights, so the airline would not run them. Or even if they flew that summer, the following year airlines would not bid for the same slots at the airport, knowing they were no longer popular or profitable.
Climate change is real, it's happening, and just because other countries are worse than us, doesn't mean we can't make a difference.
Apply what you said about China, India and the US not curbing emissions to crime: the analogy would be something like, some people murder other people so it won't make a difference if I engage in some GBH.

We’re paying £750 for a week in Suffolk on AirBnB, we have both English Heritage, National Trust memberships so even with spending money on things like arcades and petrol reckon it’ll be around a grand. This is without swimming pool though. Like everything I suspect it’s best if you shop around.

Will be honest though food is complicated, which might bring price down, my daughter has coeliac disease so we don’t really eat out (sadly not from choice). So this feels a lot cheaper than AI abroad holidays we’ve done before. Pre her diagnosis we would spend more on food out some days.

Also would say we got to a point with abroad holidays where my daughter got a bit bored of kids clubs, and whilst we’re happy to rent a car and explore that felt like it added £££ on. I do really want to try Eurocamp and driving down to one in the sun. I suspect I need to be more savvy with looking or compromise on locations, but I did seriously investigate a short break in Italy this year and flights (without anything else) were £900, we just weren’t willing to spend that much when other places are so much cheaper.

It feels like the cost of abroad holidays had risen SO much and we’ve had a lovely time in the UK. I would say though we do tend to avoid ‘attractions’ (we’ve never had a full week of awful weather so far 🤞🏼) and a few years ago did give in and go to an otter sanctuary in Devon where we probably spent £80 for an hour or so entertainment. There were lots of families getting off a steam train then going to the otter place so would presumably forked out loads for tickets to the train - doing that kind of thing every day can imagine is SO expensive and we’re lucky we’re just not that fussed.

A typical week in the UK for us in the Summer would probably look like:

Beach a couple of days, can include paddle boarding or kayaking (we bring these from home, realise this is an additional expense we’ve already covered)

Long walk another day.

Castle/heritage attraction depending on location this could be two days - and good for bad weather. Usually free with memberships.

Wildlife trip - we’ve had absolutely amazing dolphin watching off Cornwall several times now. This is £££ usually.

Town/city/seaside place visit depending on where we are. Usually will involve paying for parking and money on arcades but is a great wet weather option.

Usually a smattering of ice creams etc across the day which also add to the price!

So far we’ve never been bored. Feel like I have jinxed myself for a week of rain now though 😂

@Phonicshaskilledmeoff

so what would constitute value for money in your mind , then, Op?

The last thing I bought from Amazon was a second hand book from World of Books. Based in Sussex 😆

Borrow a tent and book a ferry - won’t cost you anywhere near as much. Or book a cottage in this country, or do cheap flights and an AirBnB. It doesn’t have to be a hotel to be a holiday.

Look it up. Cargo ships (over 80% of the world’s global movement of goods) account for 3% of global emissions, of which Amazon contributes a huge amount. Airline industry accounts for 2.5%.

This thread is about someone debating whether or not to justify the cost of an international holiday. You and another PP are the only ones trying to make this about climate change.

Holidays are what you make them. We have never spent a fortune and have mainly gone to France or stayed in the UK. My adult kids tell me they had the best holidays ever even though some of them cost less than £600 for a family of 4 for a week.
Last year’s family holiday in Pembrokeshire cost £850 for a family of 4 and a dog in a lovely cottage within walking distance to the beach and a shop and 3 pubs within 5 mins walk.

How many nights for the 1.2k and once you have spending money how much? I don’t spend anything on abroad holidays beyond some lunch and ice creams and a bottle of wine from the local shop. Uk eating out and entrances to activities really adds up so we avoid it except for regular weekend activities

Is this really cheaper though all in? The Air bnbs seem to cost loads at the lakes and Yorkshire, entry to a castle is a lot etc. we spend 2-2.5k for a family of 4 half board plus a maybe 300 euros spending and it always feels like it would be better value than a uk holiday (plus nice weather is a big plus for us personally) - we do the odd camping trip / off peak centre parcs but they feel not as good value and a lot more work

On this ocassion I don't apologise for repeating my previous thoughts. I imagine you will have no issue with spending money on luxury holidays when your children leave home. I do apologise if I'm wrong but that's the impression I get knowing others who felt the same regarding actual family holidays. They could easily have afforded to take their children away before they left for uni. It's a choice.

Hang on… you insinuated by taking kids on holiday a parent is is ignoring the climate crisis those kids will have to live with. If that isn’t preaching I don’t know what is.