Where do people find these foreign holidays that are cheaper than staying in the UK?

[Donatella]

I haven't been abroad properly for years, apart from a self catering holiday in France a couple of years ago, and I would like to take my kids somewhere hot and sunny next year but I can't see how we can afford it. However, all I hear about is how expensive UK holidays are and how people could have a week all inclusive in the sun for the same price. So tell me, what websites should I be looking at to find this, and how do I avoid getting ripped off? For context, this year was our most expensive holiday for a while and we spent £750 on a Haven caravan for a week. Spending money on meals out and activities of about another £250, so the equivalent of £1000 for an all inclusive. Is that really possible in school holidays? Or should I resign myself to staying in the UK until the kids leave home 😭

@gogohm

I'm with you *@Donatella*

When people say they can go to Turkey ai (cheapest option) for £450 pp in school hols that is a bargain basement hotel, 4 people in one room and only crap buffet, cheap drinks and mr whippet ice cream is actually included. Fine if all you want to do is swim and sunbathe. For a U.K. holiday they are booking a decent chalet, paying for dinners in restaurants, day trips etc.
Not comparing like with like.

By the way I've taken my kids overseas in the school hols, we drive, stay in hotels in interesting places (usually ibis or similar) but not on the coast and it's more reasonable

Yeah, that's what I'm thinking - if I can find it cheap enough to be affordable then it will likely be pretty basic and disappointing. I think I'll stick to the UK until my finances improve!

On the beach: Fly Gatwick on 26 July for a week AI in Calella, Costa del Sol. £1100 for one adult and two teens.

Job done

@titchy

On the beach: Fly Gatwick on 26 July for a week AI in Calella, Costa del Sol. £1100 for one adult and two teens.

Job done

Is that all sleeping in one bedroom?

Yep all in one room. And a 3 star hotel with probably poor meal.

But that's not the point of the thread is it? The point was OP and others thinking people can't possibly get a weeks AI in the med for the same price as a caravan in the UK.

And my point is that actually yes you can. You may not want that sort of holiday, OP may not, but it is possible and plenty of others do value cheap sun and a pool over a bedroom each and varied food.

And unlimited alcohol of course...!

We had Sitges booked for this year, villa, flights, excursions, spends and private catering came to £2.3k for two adults and one child.

Instead we’re going to a cottage in the UK, the cottage alone is £1,200, we haven’t opted for private catering as quotes were around £1,500! Days out are more expensive as well, zoos, themeparks etc tend to be cheaper (and better) in Spain compared to the UK, eating out is cheaper as well.

We recently had five days in Iceland, flights, villa, food, ticket entry, hire car and general spends for two adults and one child was £930.

I'm with you, OP.

Have never found a foreign holiday cheaper than a week in a cottage in the UK (in school holidays, anyway). People never seem to include airport parking or train to airport, for one thing.

Try Corfu. We go for a cheap holiday there every year. Cheapest I've ever managed to get was £64 per person for flights, hotel and transfers. That was the first week in may. I fly from the nw. If you can go from London it would likely be even cheaper.

Other options.... fly into Pisa and then book a human travel site. They are self catering but absolutely beautiful and wonderful for kids. We stayed at park albatross. That one was second week in may and we paid £125 per person for a week including his cars.

Op, if you can say which airport I would be happy to have a look.

If you're interested in eurocamp, it's worthwhile trying to find the site with them then looking at location and going to the site online directly (you may need to translate from french/Italian/Spanish etc) then book direct.
Italy often cheap in the last 2 weeks of august.
Find one near an airport with cheap(er) flights. We have definitely done this for under £1000 for ten days all in, but then we mostly eat at home with occasional meal out.

Book a flight on skyscanner and a hotel on hotels.com.

I went AI 5* in Cape Verde for just under £4000 for 4 people in a lovely 2 bedroom suite in 2019.
I was quoted £3600 for a week in a 2 bed appt self catering in Jersey this summer

If you book a week then you won’t get cheaper abroad because of the flight cost but 2 weeks is certainly cheaper once you factor the cost of eating out and rainy day activities. In 2019 we got a last minute deal to Majorca for 5 of us for £2k. It was self catering but two weeks in a haven caravan was more than that and I’d rather be in Majorca than Cornwall.

We used to always holiday in the UK to save money but then one year added up what we actually spent (rather than what we intended to spend and what we spent in one go). We found that on top of the accommodation we usually spent at least £200 on petrol (long journey to/from location in heavy traffic plus travelling around every day), £100 on man self catering shop, £100+ on a meal out once during the week plus fish and chips one lunchtime, £200 on activities for a few days (more if it rains or we take kids to a theme park etc- this seems a lot but for 4 people only really covers for example a zoo, crazy golf, a couple of fairground rides for the DC and drinks in the bar one or 2 nights), £150 on snacks/icecreams/drinks in the day (sounds a lot but only about £5 each per day) plus extra on games/toys etc for the DC if it was bad weather. So we easily paid out £800-£1000 in addition to the accommodation even if we were being fairly careful, taking picnics for lunch almost every day and not doing any very expensive trips out. So total cost was usually around £1,500-£2,000 for a not very luxurious holiday doing a lot of cooking etc. Whereas for not much more we have been for a week all inclusive in Turkey where we hardly spent any additional money (everything is really cheap there) and we all had a much better time.

I've found that Jet2 have good deals- and in fact have often been cheaper than booking everything separately when you add in resort transfers and luggage. It pays to check out lots of different dates and airports too. We once found the same holiday £650 cheaper travelling from an airport outside our area. In normal times there also seems to be a 'sweet spot' of when to book for the best prices. If you book a year in advance you can sometimes get free child places but if there are none available I've found prices are quite a bit lower about 2-3 months before travel then increase again quite quickly.

I buy flights individually, and get a room individually, usually a small apartment. Self-catering. No interest in 'all inclusive'. Can usually keep this to around 50-190 for plane, 350 for the room.
We do this as well. Why would you go AI in Spain when eating and drinking out is so cheap and excellent choices? We stay in a hotel in Fuengirola (book direct) £60 a night B&B with 3 proper beds, en suite, rooftop pool. Keep an eye on Ryanair and book when prices are good. Coffees out are 80p each and a decent meal probably £12 - £15 a head. No self catering! We're at a Haven caravan at the moment (we paid 850 but many paid 1200) - breakfast on site about 30 for 3 and coffees 2.60. There's really no contest if you do your homework.

@DanglingMod

I'm with you, OP.

Have never found a foreign holiday cheaper than a week in a cottage in the UK (in school holidays, anyway). People never seem to include airport parking or train to airport, for one thing.

So add £60 (Gatwick summer special) parking to my £1100, still pretty much the same as a UK holiday.

But booking flights, transfers and hotel separately is a good idea - we often do. Also rather than spend £££ on TUI or similar excursions, book yourself through Viatour. Or use local public transport.

Well, for a start don't compare a caravan with a hotel. Similar quality hotel in UK (Devon, Cornwall etc) will cost more than in Italy or Spain and about 3 times more than somewhere in Turkey

I can find a gite in Burgundy with a pool for £441 per week for next summer hols (2 beds). Ferries, if booked in advance, can be around £50 each way (can be less as well). You've got petrol and tolls but if you're in the SE already should be around same as driving to Scotland. Or can find caravan equivalents on west coast for under £300. Longer drive and ferry but still doable with planning.

www.holidaylettings.co.uk/rentals/pont-aven/9472127

It depends what you are comparing with.

You can do both UK or abroad cheap or expensive and there are likely to be compromises either way.

The expensive UK holidays are Center Parks, or a nice cottage in Cornwall, Lake District or other expensive location. Then you have to add on petrol, probably parking while you are there, entrance to attractions, food and drink, which is expensive in these sorts of places.

All the above will add up to a sum that would easily pay for a holiday abroad, which is what people mean when they say 'you could go abroad for that'.

If you go to the Med for example, you will almost certainly have guaranteed weather, so you probably won't be paying for indoor attractions to get out of the rain. Food and drink out is generally much cheaper than the UK, you rarely have to pay for parking and you can spend a lot of time on free activities like beach, sea, pool, relaxing in the sun with a barbecue in the evening.

Of course you could holiday in the UK for less than a cheaper Mediterranean holiday, but in order to keep it cheap, you'll have to restrict activities, be careful where you park and limit eating out much more and you'll be far less likely to spend evenings sitting outside on balconies and in gardens because you're lucky to get the weather to do that.

If you want all inclusive you can't really beat this hotel for location and price. The food is great (way better than in a cheap Europe all inclusive) , choice of pools and it's on the beach. They run day trips from the hotel and a noddy train at the end of the road to go into Suosse. My kids loved this place.

@LuxOlente

All-inclusive's just drinks/food though? I've heard the hotel food can be iffy and my parents used to just bang on about 'unlimited ice cream.' I figure I'd sooner buy what I want to eat/drink when I want it, and not pay a massive price that, chances are, I'd never eat/drink enough to match.

That's true to some extent but when we've been AI I've found that it's not much more expensive that self catering in a similar area. Given the opportunity I'd rather eat at a different restaurant each evening etc but with children and a tight budget I've found it much more expensive. When my DC were small they were very happy to play in the pool most days and then mini disco in the evening with drinks, snacks, icecreams etc all included so it was perfectly possible to have happy children and no additional expense if need be. At a caravan park in Wales in the rain they would be moaning that they were bored, pestering for sweets/toys/amusements and we'd end up paying £££ for indoor activities.

Baffles me as well.

Fortunately my favourite UK holiday destination is Yorkshire which is cheap as chips compared to most (11 nights in a beautiful 2 bed cottage with a hot tub in Bronte Country for £700 next July/August).

If we go abroad we tend to do a 3/4 night city break in October half term, but again, I'm not really a hot weather and beaches person

I am always baffled by this as well, certainly not true for type of holidays we take for equivalent in equivalent area once all costs are taken into account.

I think £250 spending money is quite low for a family for a week. So you're then comparing a a very low cost for a UK holiday with the ones abroad.

We have two weeks AI in Ibiza next August for 5.5k, Holiday Village, 2 adults and two kids.

We are on two weeks of a Haven holiday at the moment and have paid £2.2 for accommodation. We have dinner out every night, a few drinks, activities and entrance to places because the weather has been shite and we can only get four one hour swimming slots in two weeks.

We'll have spent the same if nit more than we will on the Ibiza holiday.

@fantastaballs Not wanting to derail the thread, but how did you find Tunisia with children? I've heard people complaining that there's lots of hassle when you leave the hotel etc- what did you find?