Did you go abroad this summer?

[Lilacbluewaters]

Family of 5 soon to be 6 here. A lot of our family members were lucky enough to go abroad this summer but somehow I don’t even understand how. What sort of income do you need to be able to afford a holiday abroad?

We spent 3 weeks touring Australia in the spring - hadn’t been on holiday outside the UK since 2019 before that! £8k for two of us. Largely paid for via credit card but it was worth it for the memories. Gone are the days where we booked a summer holiday each year without a second thought.. can’t imagine we’ll get away for another year or two after this.

Yes, I did, though it was just a holiday for me. I went to Spain in June for 4 days. I’m technically unemployed (currently undergoing cancer treatment), though it was paid for with redundancy money. I think it cost me maybe £600. I wasn’t really consciously trying to stick to a budget, but £90 for flights, £260 for 3 nights accommodation, I did take one €30 taxi because my flight got in at 11pm, otherwise used public transport.

I ate lunch out every day, had a few coffees and cold drinks, no alcohol because I don’t drink. Breakfast and dinner self-catered from supermarket, so nothing more wild than I’d be spending at home. €8 a day for a sun lounger hire, €1.10 for bus fare a few times. No paid attractions, I swam, read books, did some wandering to look at churches, street art. Obviously it was a bit expensive per person because it was just me. I could have in theory fit Dh and both dc in the Airbnb, which would have brought the cost per person down if it had been a family holiday.

The family holiday this year was to Wales camping though.

But Dh and dc went to France last year to go walking and climbing. I think they paid £250 for the ferry crossing (and obviously fuel to drive there). They camped for 10 days, which I think was like €20 per night. They mostly walked and climbed and swam and paddle boarded, so no activities they had to pay for. Again, they did eat out some days, but not every day. Mostly just self catering camping food. Not counting food shopping, which we would have done at home anyway, I’d guess it was £1000-1200 give or take for 10 days. That might be generous in assuming they ate out more than they did, though there were lots of patisserie stops. But for 3 people for nearly 2 weeks, I think that is good value for money.

We have never been on a £5000 resort holiday or £10k to Disney. I’d never pay that much for a holiday.

Of course you are going to have less holidays (or need a lot more money) when you choose to have 4 children

We spend our summers abroad. We have 3 kids

Yep to the US, plus went abroad at Easter and May. Have 1 child and good jobs.

DC and I went to Eurocamp. Shared a cabin with 2 other small families. No idea how anyone affords 4 kids tbh!

No, I was in hospital. Husband and kids did 3 weeks in America.

im itching to book somewhere for October now I’m home, can’t decide where. Definitely need sun.

We have just returned from Australia. But my parents and sister and BIL live there and we try to go every second year. Family of 4. I put away £300 a month into a designated account and each summer do 6 weeks of weekend seasonal work to top up the funds.

Tickets were circa £9 k (economy.). Hotel £2 k. Spending money £3 k.

I never feel like it is a holiday as such, but this year we all met in a different city so it was more of a holiday for each of us.

£9k for flights?! Who on earth did you go with? DD and I were ~£500 each way with Qatar and Etihad.

Don’t have kids and then you can go when it’s cheaper!!

Family of 6 here. We did Disneyland Paris in may for 4 days. Grandparents took kids on holiday to Greece for a week in July so me and dh took the opportunity to have our first child free holiday together and booked a last minute holiday to Spain for 5 nights while they were away. We are also doing another family holiday in October half term, possibly Spain again.

Our big holiday was a week AI in a 5 star hotel in Cyprus. It was £5k. I know AI isn’t everyone’s cup of tea but we had the most brilliant time.
ETA: 2 adults, 1 child

Qantas. We have to be careful which airline we choose as one of my Dcs has specific medical needs that mean some airlines can't cater to us.

Plus it was 3 flights as the ultimate destination was not a direct route.

It's about priorities as much as anything. There are many of us on here who will prioritise going abroad over many other expenditures. Most of us also don't have four DC, which must be very expensive indeed.

I book it myself & drive

a ferry is around £300 then camping varies on the site & pitch. You can expect to pay £30/50 per night - so 10 nights £500 and fuel £100 ( we pick campsites with lots of water slides near a beach) that way we can leave the car parked for 10 days.

we can take some food, then do supermarket shop, as we would at home but easy camping food to make. Tbh wine is €3 a bottle

looking at £1200 for 10 days

booking a ferry on a Monday is often cheaper than a weekend, booking early morning can also work out cheaper

lots of great camping in Normandy along the Normandy beach landings. This cuts down driving and fuel costs

also booking after 21/8 often gets a lower rate for accommodation

Am off to Rhodes for 4 nights with a friend next week. £500 each .
Am going to Australia to see my son in November.
Flight and accommodation about £3500 plus spending money which I estimated will be about £1500 . Dream holiday for me .
Have no idea how families pay afford 2weeks abroad during school holidays!

We went to France. We did the tunnel one way and a longer, more expensive ferry route on the way back. We stayed in two different gites for a week each. One inland with its own pool was more expensive - around £1200 - the other was a short drive from the coast and was only £600. We stayed overnight in a budget hotel one way to break up the drive. Altogether came to around £2500, then probably another £500 - £600 on fuel, tolls and spending while there. We didn't do any expensive days out as we had the pool beach and we only ate out once which kept the cost down.

We usually have a UK or Eire holiday at the start of the summer holidays, and a European one at the end. Each for 4 or 5 nights.

But there are only three of us (me, DH, DD) and long beach holidays, Disney, and all inclusive just don't appeal, so we prefer the "little and often" approach.

We also tend to go somewhere at Easter and/or Autumn Half term, usually somewhere it's too hot (for us) in the summer, like Seville, Budapest, or Lisbon.

We have two kids (2 and 4 years old) and up until now a holiday abroad hasn’t really appealed to us (despite travelling a lot before children). This year we had a lovely holiday in a lodge in Cornwall that had a bedroom each for the kids and a hot tub for us. The weather was good and the beaches were beautiful and there was of course so much to do for us. We would happily do this again next year but now that our youngest is potty trained we are contemplating abroad and have found plenty of Eurocamp/centreparcs or similar options in France, Italy, Switzerland and Netherlands that we are seriously considering for next year as they are pretty much what we paid this year. There are some really affordable options that fit what we’re looking for perfectly (not all inclusive/ space for us all not to be cramped in one room/ a good base for exploring wherever we decide to go).

Yes we did. A week in Italy. One DS. Friends and acquaintances with larger families favour the ferry to France and French campsites- definitely easier on the pocket than airfares for multiple DC.

Yes, but we didn't really get a holiday last year. 2 kids.

How high your expenses are probably matters a lot more than what your income is!

Four kids here! 17, 16, 4 and 4. We have to stick to the first two weeks of the school summer holidays because of DH’s job and it’s the most expensive time to go unfortunately. Which means we avoid package holidays and I spend hours and hours finding cheapest options. This year we managed 2 weeks in the Dordogne Valley in France and it was absolutely fantastic for us all but definitely not what most would call luxury. For us though a family holiday is really important as it’s the only time we are all together having fun and making memories. At home the teens are usually off doing their own things or distracted by phones and DH and I are always exhausted because twins are hard work!!
Flights to Limoges with Ryanair £1600 inc bags
Budget Car Hire £850
Gite with shared pool booked on Air BnB £2800
Spending money £1800

We didn't scrimp on anything and ate either lunch or dinner out most days. We spent several days on the beach at the lake, exploring lots of villages and towns but also had a few down days laying by the pool and playing ping pong having a bbq or eating local cheese/meats and fresh fruit and veg.

Don’t get me wrong- we all love the Greek islands and USA etc but at the moment when all four children are still at home we just can’t afford those trips. I would definitely do this years holiday again in a heartbeat!

I honestly don’t know how large families afford holidays abroad. Especially in school holidays.
not unless you are both earning £40k plus.
When my kids were younger we used to do one year abroad, the next uk.
We often had about 2/3 UK holidays cheaply like Caravan sites.
Holidays are more expensive now.
We can afford them now both dc adults and we save all year for them.

DH and I did a week TUI package to Gran Canaria. Just selfcatering. Flight price went up as dithered about booking. Just over a grand including transfers ( was £800).
Spent £200 on food - restaurants and getting food in. £150 doing trips out and getting taxis. We also spent £180 on a posh hotel all inclusive for a night which was fun.

There was a couple in our hotel that had come last minute- 2 weeks for £900. If I’m honest it was full of families who didn’t look well off. I think there are bargains out there.

Yes. 5 weeks travelling round central and South America but we don’t have kids, which makes a big financial difference