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Original poster

Would you rather have a 'worse holiday' than usual/than you'd like, or no holiday at all?

95 replies

Guibhyl · 02/11/2023 11:41

I don't think I'm THAT fussy when it comes to holidays. We've two (soon to be three) young kids and I want them to be able to have fun experiences like holidays.

However, now we are tied to the school holidays as eldest has just started reception. I've started looking at places for next year and I just don't think we can get something I'd be happy with for our budget. I've pushed it as much as I can but I'll be on mat leave. Plus, there's only so much I'd really want to spend on a week-long experience regardless of how much ££ I had. But let's say, for example, that a holiday experience I'd be 'happy' with for a family of 5 seems to cost £4k+, but we can only afford to spend up to £3k. Would you just go on a £3k holiday instead for the benefit of the kids, and accept that it's not going to be quite what you want it to be? Or would you save the money and not bother, maybe spending some of it on other experiences during the summer holidays that you would otherwise not be able to afford e.g. peppa pig world?

I accept this is a very first world privileged problem to have. And maybe I'm over thinking it and should just book the best holiday I can find for our budget and make the most of it. But £3k is a lot of money, about two months' wages for me, and i just dread the thought of spending that much on a week away and then it turning out to be a bit shite. WWYD? I can post my list of 'wants' if that would be helpful, although I'm not sure it would be!

OP posts:

TeenDivided · 02/11/2023 11:44

I'd save a bulk against a holiday next year, and use the rest for some fab days out in the summer. Season tickets to a couple of expensive places could turn out to be a good purchase if you live near enough to visit multiple times.

pinkspeakers · 02/11/2023 11:50

Well obviously you don't want to spend a lot of money on something that you won't enjoy. However, maybe you need to look a bit more widely at different types of holidays? I'm sure that I could find a nice family holiday that I would enjoy for 3k and I'm quite picky. Find places that have cheap flights (eg Geneva is still cheap in the summer as it is a busy business destination and the alps/lakes are stunning and the area has fantastic public outdoor pools etc). Or southern German is another one. Then find a nice simple self-catering place in a beautiful setting.

Personally I wouldn't spend lots of money going to Peppa Pig world, but whatever makes you happy!

OddBoots · 02/11/2023 11:53

We had this throughout our children's school age years and we opted for having a holiday every 2 years and staying home and having nice day trips the other year.

Original poster

Guibhyl · 02/11/2023 11:53

@pinkspeakers I also don't want to spend a lot of money on going to Peppa pig world (it's extortionately expensive) but unfortunately it is now on eldests' radar and she keeps asking when we can go!

OP posts:

TeenDivided · 02/11/2023 11:55

Guibhyl · 02/11/2023 11:53

@pinkspeakers I also don't want to spend a lot of money on going to Peppa pig world (it's extortionately expensive) but unfortunately it is now on eldests' radar and she keeps asking when we can go!

Paulton's (incl PPW) is less than 5 miles from me. It is very good, though prices have risen recently. We had season tickets when DC were younger.
NB under 1metre height is free, so cheaper to go when some of the DC are still small.

BirthdayFlower · 02/11/2023 11:57

I think I'd stay at home, take time off and use some of the money saved for days out.

Onethingatatime23 · 02/11/2023 11:58

Neither - spend less and still have a really good holiday. If your kids are Peppa Pig World age they don't need big flashy holidays.

Our holiday incorporated Peppa Pig World when the kids were small as we would do and stay with my parents on the Isle of Wight and go to PPW on the way.

FrenchandSaunders · 02/11/2023 12:00

If your eldest is only in reception then I'd take her out of school for a holiday.

Muchtoomuchtodo · 02/11/2023 12:04

I’d go in term time. Missing just the last day or two of term can make a huge difference to prices

tartandress · 02/11/2023 12:04

I would spend £1.5k on a UK holiday and save the rest towards a holiday abroad the following year.

Original poster

Guibhyl · 02/11/2023 12:06

How though?! Sorry if this sounds like a stupid question... I'm sure the kids wouldn't notice lots of the things that make a holiday more expensive. I'm certainly not looking for anything flashy.

Holidays in the UK are only significantly cheaper than going abroad if you go camping, and then you really are at the mercy of the weather. If it pours then what do you do all week? Even if you do fork out for a holiday house/cottage, the weather can still be shit and then you are stuck having spent £1k+ on a house that's not your own to then have to try to find stuff to entertain the DCs indoors mainly. If I'm going to have a week off work in the rain then I'd rather do that from the comforts of my own home and be able to meet friends/do other things locally. Plus, if you stay in the UK then you are normally self catering so you still have to do all the faff of cooking all week unless you're willing to spend mega bucks on staying in an AI hotel in which case you still have the problem of the weather. So if you want some sun then you have to go abroad, and then it starts getting expensive, particularly if you do want a break from cooking.

OP posts:

Highlyflavouredgravy · 02/11/2023 12:07

What kind of holiday are you booking that costs so much?
Tell me what you deem necessary.

Figgygal · 02/11/2023 12:08

I don't usually do this but we taking the kids out 4 days before end of term holiday is £1500 flying on a tuesday instead of £4k on the Saturday.

Beezknees · 02/11/2023 12:09

Holidays can be what you make them.

What exactly is it that you want from the holiday?

Girasoli · 02/11/2023 12:09

I'd pick a worse holiday every time. I think I like the "reset" of sleeping somewhere else for a week.

Bluevelvetsofa · 02/11/2023 12:12

I’d rather be at home than on holiday when it’s below standard. I wish we’d not bothered last summer, then I might have been able to save enough for a decent holiday next year, as we have a significant anniversary.

StamppotAndGravy · 02/11/2023 12:12

Ah, so your non-negotiables for a 'nice' holiday are sun and no cooking. That kind of anders your question and that you just have to save up and go less frequently.

SomeCatFromJapan · 02/11/2023 12:13

I make the same recommendation always on threads like this. Have a look at French campsites, most do chalet type accommodation and many have wonderful facilities like little waterparks, lake beaches etc. Depending on where you go in France you'll likely get good summer weather. And you can then drive and take the ferry which is not expensive.

Crunchymum · 02/11/2023 12:15

Would you take the school age child/ren out of school? Even a few days can make a difference to price.

(We never have ourselves but plenty of people do)

SomeCatFromJapan · 02/11/2023 12:15

Just seen you prefer not to cook so my suggestion doesn't solve that, admittedly, but it's a cheap option with likely nice weather (if you avoid Normandy/Brittany) and plenty for the children to enjoy.

IrresponsiblyCertainAboutSexualDimorphism · 02/11/2023 12:15

What do you like to do? What are your essentials and your nice-to-haves and your No Ways?

When do you want to go?

Original poster

Guibhyl · 02/11/2023 12:17

Sorry my reply above was to @Onethingatatime23. The things I'm looking for that seem to push the cost of the holiday higher than I can afford seem to be:

Not in the UK because I want some guaranteed sun (see above) but also
Avoiding some very hot places like Cyprus or Turkey because it's often 30 degrees plus in July/Aug and my kids don't cope well in extreme heat and I'll have a 7mo baby to try to keep in the shade all day. I know some of the cheaper deals are in Turkey. I've mainly been looking at the Balaerics and the canaries.
Not having to cook - this is the main thing that would make it feel like a holiday for me/DH. Realistically with 3 kids needing 3 meals plus snacks a day, that means going AI. I don't want gourmet dining and I'm happy with basic family-style food like pizza and pasta but I don't want it all to be cold or inedible. Unfortunately when you look at reviews for a lot of 3 or even 4* AI places a lot of people complain about the quality of the food.
Not spending the whole week crammed into one hotel room. I can't get over the idea of spending £3k+ on a week's holiday and then having to share a single studio room (beds/lounge/kitchen) with all three kids, with the two older kids sleeping on sofa beds. So at a minimum I'm trying to find places that have one-bed apartments (i.e. where the bedroom actually has a separate door) so we could put the older kids to bed in there and have a glass of wine in the lounge once they're asleep. We'd still be sleeping on sofa beds though. Ideally we'd have a two-bed apartment (one room for us and the baby, and one room for the older kids) so then we can also use the little lounge/kitchen area during the day but this seems to completely blow the budget.
I would like to be near a beach and also near to a little town of some sort, somewhere we could explore, but this is not a deal-breaker.

I am not bothered about any particular facilities, entertainment, kids' clubs, etc. I can imagine that the whole experience would also be more enjoyable for us all if we didn't have long coach transfers once we've arrived and if the flights were at relatively sociable times of day but again this is not a must-have.

OP posts:

EversoDisorganised · 02/11/2023 12:18

Cheaper holiday every time, we’ve only ever spent 5k plus on a holiday maybe three times since the DCs were born (older teens). We have had some amazing holidays in the UK or driven to France and stayed at Eurocamp or whatever. Self-catering can be simple food or eat out a few times, picnics etc, we don’t cook to the same standard as at home and no one minds. The weather might not be super hot but we have never had an entire week of shit weather in July/August just the odd wet day and always managed to get out and about lots. Staying at home just isn’t the same.

stayathomer · 02/11/2023 12:19

The best holidays we’ve ever had have sometimes been ones we were just doing to tick a box, and actually still one of the best we had was the shittiest mobile home down the country for two nights- felt like a week but in a great way- had the beach, sometimes when raining, card and board games, an extremely crappy crazy golf course that was such fun, playground, ice cream … god it was brilliant!! We’ve been to euro Disney and yet everyone still talks about those two nights!!

Original poster

Guibhyl · 02/11/2023 12:23

I have considered going outside of school holidays but my DH works in higher ed so is also somewhat restricted by when he can take leave, although not quite to the same extent as the school hols. Given his job he is also quite against the idea of kids being taken out of school for holidays (I would be quite happy to do it) although I think he could be persuaded into the idea of her missing just a day or two. He's quite a rule-follower! Also though she does really love school and I think would be quite upset to miss any events like end-of-term discos or sports days etc and obviously we don't have the dates for all those yet so can't plan around them.

OP posts:

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