If you've booked an affordable holiday this year

[Shesnotveryself]

Where on earth are you going? Desperate to have something to look forward to but everything is so expensive. UK or abroad. We have no camping kit or desire to buy right now, which I think rules that out

I always recommend holiday pirates, secret escapes, and voyage prive for this. They're highlighting deals and it's incredibly enjoyable to while away an evening looking at amazing holidays.

I would also look at Eurocamp OP. We do these and the kids love them. I can also recommend Wales. It has castles, days out, beaches, paddleboarding hire etc. We used to do this for under £1500 for a week including petrol and all our food and it was our main holiday.

We went to Naples in October - flights and accommodation for 3 of us for 3 nights was about £800 and it's super reasonable to eat out. Much cheaper than other Italian cities and great fun (but probably not suitable for little ones)

St Avit Loisir in Dordogne

We are going to the Highlands booked with a independent company up there. Then going to Yorkshire that we booked with another company.

Going to a place called Marni Village in Crete for £2800 for 11 nights in Oct. Private heated pool 🙌 Would have been £2k without private pool.

These are brilliant holidays

Oh we are going to the lakes for a week in July too, apartment was £680 for the week and will be self catering.

We're going to northern France, on the coast, €2100 for three bed apartment for 10 nights then 3 in a hotel near Disney.
Train to Lille and car hire so that's not all the cost but we are really looking forward to it.

Signed up with homeexchange dot com and am doing a house swap. We are going to Denmark and a family from Spain are coming here. You can see the track record of anyone you agree a swap with, the platfom has insurance, and my home insurance covers it too. Cost fares only.

In the meantime there have been lots of doing small DIY jobs we've successfully ignored for a while; but is a cheap way to get a holiday.

Oooh I’ve wondered about doing this @redmapleleaves1. Would be really interested to hear how it works out!
we live in a touristy city in England so I think we’ve got potential…

We've got a holiday at Butlins booked for the autumn, which was paid for entirely by Tesco clubcard vouchers.

I honestly think OP Eurocamp is unbeatable with kids and/or teens for a reasonable and fun filled holiday - you can also really filter by lively/quiet - need a car/don’t need a car/ near a beach or lake etc - if you can go outside of school holidays or late August ( Europeans start summer holidays earlier and go back earlier as do the Scottish) you can get some really great deals - even the flashiest sites can be £800 for 2 and 3 bed mobile homes- plus ferry/drive or flights - and many are less than that - pretty easy to do for £1500 or so plus spends- which can be as big or small as you want -

11 nights in 3* all inclusive in Fuerteventura. £1400 for two adults and one baby.

Would usually have gone to Greece and saw some comparable for about £1600 but we were nervous about the heat.

Jet2 package holiday. Travelling in July but home before the schools break up.

@ethelredonagoodday I first spoke to two friends who had each done it multiple times without problem and that reassured me. We only moved house 18 months ago, and in my mind any risks are far less than the risk that a person selling a home has lied about major problems which weren't picked up on the survey.

Being able to see the houses of the people who are swapping, their track record from previous visitors or hosts, and their self descriptions, makes it feel all more grounded. And it has been a really fun process getting emails from people in fun places (to come to wet but scenic South Wales) and weighing up where it might be nice to go. I have a referral code with points towards a stay for you and me I'm happy to send to anyone who pms me.

Europark and Centreparcs in The Netherlands for us, one week at each 2K on accommodation in total and £600 on travel. Not sure if this counts as affordable?

Oooh this is interesting @redmapleleaves1 Have you done it before? We live 10 min drive from a national park which would hopefully be a selling point. We do have an absolute menace of a cat though, so that might not make it possible.

Ignore me @redmapleleaves1just spotted your reply. Thanks

Going to a cottage in Lytham St Anne’s with great reviews in Sept think it’s £540 for the week

Self catering cottage in Yorkshire through sykescottages.co.uk

@Shesnotveryself I haven't done it at all yet, - go for the first time in 2 weeks. But did speak extensively to two sets of friends who have each done it 8+ times before I signed up. And feel calm in my own mind about it.

The platform I mentioned, homeexchange dot com, is really well organised. So you get extra points if you are near an area where there are many many visitors a year (like a national park or Bath); extra points by how many you can sleep; extra points for the number of things you can offer (eg dishwasher). But some people are offering a single room in a shared house, or their spare room while they are there, and thats fine too, just clear in the description.

People say if they have animals to feed or plants to water, and there are icons showing it too, so people who don't want to feed a cat know not to select your home. And there are lots of places in UK and abroad, so is possible to do it for shorter trips or a weekend too.

@redmapleleaves1 thats really helpful and interesting thanks. You’ve prompted me to fill in some more of the profile I’d started!

How about Prague? It’s lovely anytime but especially in the run up to Christmas. I’ve just booked five nights in November at a 3 star hotel for three adults using two rooms and it’s £846 including flights. Food there generally is pretty cheap.

• go on skyscanner dot com
• put in your nearest airport as your departure airport
• put "everywhere" as your destination
• put in your desired dates
• compare countries and prices
• book the one you fancy

next step, compare accommodation options on Airbnb and Booking

and voilà ...

We've just booked a week four star b&b in Kefalonia, £1900 for three of us, two rooms. Very last minute really, we go in two weeks. Affordable to us, but we can go outside of the main school hols as college finishes early. Booked with Jet2 holidays.