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Do you prefer group holidays with friends or family or holidays with just your own immediate family?

29 replies

Didyousaynutella · 28/05/2026 14:34

We do a mix of both but increasingly it’s just us. Parents are too elderly now or have passed. We don’t get on with our own siblings. We have in the past few years gone away with friends with similar ages kids and loved it. But that isn’t happening this year due to things happening in our friends lives, exams, money etc.
Just had a lone holiday and loved it in one way as we got to do exactly what we wanted when we wanted. Eating out was easier with just us. And planning days out. But hotel days were harder. The youngest found a playmate. But the older ones find it hard to just make friends now and most of the kids in the hotel weee younger than them. The evenings are a bit more subdued without friends to have a drink with and we went to bed earlier than if we had been with friends.

OP posts:
Savvysix1984 · 28/05/2026 17:13

We do a mix. This year already I’ve had one holiday as a family unit (3), one with my teen dd and my niece. Going away this year without dh but with my dc, parents , sister and her family. Then I’ve a girls/ friends trip then a family holiday with just me, dh and dd. We also go away over new year with my best friend and her family.
I like a mix of everything and get different things from different holidays. My dh preference would be that it would just be us 3, which is why I go on other holidays without him.

ShhhhhItsASurprise · 28/05/2026 17:16
  1. holidays on my own.
EmpressaurusKitty · 28/05/2026 17:18

ShhhhhItsASurprise · 28/05/2026 17:16

  1. holidays on my own.

Me too. I might meet up with friends or family for a day or two but that’s the max as far as I’m concerned.

Familyandmore · 28/05/2026 17:21

When with family,only family.Its just easier.
I do enjoy holidays with my close friend as well.

Tulipvase · 28/05/2026 17:21

Depends who but generally the more the merrier.

Travelfairy · 28/05/2026 17:22

Think I prefer alone. With friends, I would feel I had to look decent at the pool etc whereas I want to just chill and not be self conscious. On last family holiday we met up with friends for dinner and that was lovely but I dont like going away in huge groups tbh. Did a group trip with my DD last Autumn for a hobby she's involved with and that was a lot of fun but only 2 nights and we had option to do stuff or not.

PawMaw · 28/05/2026 17:23

Our own immediate family, never again will we do family. Friends maybe in the future!

SpaceAngel1999 · 28/05/2026 17:29

I enjoy a mix. Our main holiday is just me, husband and 2 ds, 13&18. We also holiday with my parents, both 75 but tend to be city breaks in Europe.

PygmyOwl · 28/05/2026 17:38

Our summer holiday is usually just us, but we've done short breaks and skiing holidays with friends in the past.

Anotherrainydaynosurprise · 28/05/2026 17:41

A mix - hols just us 4, will do a friend and kids no husband trip and a siblings no husband and kids trip this year too. If it’s not immediate family I like a long weekend nothing longer.

fantam · 28/05/2026 17:43

Just me and my dear P. mostly. Or on my own. I would not fancy a group holiday of any description ever. Too much noise, too many decisions, drinkers, non drinkers, active and indolent, kids (we don't have any), and as pp said, having to be (or feel like it) on top form and presentable at all times. It works for others, but it wouldn't work for me.

Edit to add that I go away for a week every year with my sister on a multi cities trip, and for three or four days with my brother on our WW1 and WW2 history trips to France and Belgium. I can cope with ONE other person and I know we get on fine and allow for all kinds of messing around. Great fun.

ReignOfError · 28/05/2026 17:47

By myself is increasingly my preference. Second best is just my husband and me. I have a couple of friends who are easy to travel with for a week or so.

I would never go away with my siblings, our interests and travel styles are too different. I can cope with my adult kids, in-laws and grandchildren for a long weekend but we like really active holidays and they don’t so much.

Thunderdcc · 28/05/2026 17:48

Just us, because I have no idea why anyone would want to introduce compromise into their holiday (and the more people you have the more compromise there is!)

In the evenings we play games with the kids, and we all go to bed at 10pm. Holidays are for catching up on my sleep I'm not going to bed late!

Didyousaynutella · 28/05/2026 19:24

I guess because I am a people person I can’t help but feel a bit sad when I see groups of friends laughing, they’re kids all hanging out together, and we are just playing uno!

OP posts:
pambeesleyhalpert · 28/05/2026 19:34

Much prefer it just us. We have v young children and I just find it so much easier just us lot

fantam · 28/05/2026 19:55

Didyousaynutella · 28/05/2026 19:24

I guess because I am a people person I can’t help but feel a bit sad when I see groups of friends laughing, they’re kids all hanging out together, and we are just playing uno!

That's the vino, and laughter can be forced too. You HAVE to enjoy yourself and be happy in the crowd or you'll be called misery guts. I prefer to just be myself and be grumpy if I want! It's the heat you see....

BadLad · 29/05/2026 09:24

I’ve never wanted to holiday with friends or extended family. Either just me, or with my wife.

itsgettingweird · 29/05/2026 09:44

My entire childhood was spent camping with my mums sisters and my cousins. I loved it.

we then started holidaying as just a family once a year abroad too. Again camping so loads of other kids. I lived it.

as an adult I’ve done loads of trips with friends. Hated it 🤣

Much prefer just ds and I now. But I do love day trips with friends.

SpinSpinSugarPuff · 29/05/2026 09:48

Days and shirt trips with friends and extended family.
Long holidays just us close family.

SpottyAlpaca · 29/05/2026 09:53

Just me & DP. We don’t have kids, we both work FT and DP has a very full-on time consuming hobby so quality time together is rare. That’s why our holidays together, just the two of us, are sacrosanct.

Moveoverdarlin · 29/05/2026 09:53

My own, immediate family. Me, DH and two kids.

I would never consider a holiday with friends. Especially if they have young children. I just think there’s too many opinions at play. I need to relax. I’m not working around some other child’s nap time. I don’t won’t to liaise with other parents about our approach to screen time while away.

Watch ‘Two weeks in August’ currently on BBC1. It’s a drama about a group of friends on holiday in Greece. One of the first scenes is the friends organising a kitty and a rota of who’s going to cook on what night. It’s awkward to watch. That sums up friends on holiday to me.

IdentifyingAsAWoollyMammoth · 29/05/2026 09:57

First holiday abroad with current partner was staying at her cousin's holiday rental annexe in Greece. I'd only ever holidayed solo or with partner, never with friends or family and not would I want to. Said we'd only have to pay for flight and hire car and would take cousin and wife out for a meal one night as a thank you but would spend rest of the time on our own.

First day there we spent entirely with cousin and wife, going to the beach they wanted and eat where they wanted. Second day same.

I told partner that for our first holiday abroad together I expected a lot of time just for us as she'd said we would get. We did get more time together but every day there'd be a couple of hours with her family.

We took them for a meal on the fifth evening and in our annexe that night I said that I would like to go to X tomorrow. "But it's our last day, I want to spend time with my family".

Balloon went up. Our first - and actually last - ever row. I said "This hasn't been a holiday for us at all, this has been you seeing your family. If you'd been honest from the word go I'd have said I'm not coming, you go visit family, and we'll have a holiday just us later in the year".

After sleeping on it she accepted it hadn't been fair that our first foreign holiday (and only my second ever time outside the UK) had basically been a family visit and apologised.

We have only ever holidayed just us since and it's been bliss. Doing what we want, not fitting in with other people. Do enough of that at work. Would never ever holiday with family or friends. Holidays should be about getting away, not taking some of it with you!

GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER · 29/05/2026 09:58

We’ve done both, but IMO you need to be extremely selective about holidays with friends. We’ve had some really great ones with one family (kids of similar ages) but had a very good idea in advance of how well it was going to work.

Goditsmemargaret · 29/05/2026 10:06

Yeah I hear you. I have only holidayed with friends without kids and for whatever reason we don't have people to join up with on holiday.

We've tried with my sister in the past and my parents. Our DC is an only child. It's always a nightmare as my sister is insanely selfish, she will show up hours and hours late or not at all then no apology comes. It is horrible do watch as my DC gets so upset after looking forward to us being in a big gang and then we are left hanging around while she ignores calls and texts. So my DH put his foot down and said no more.

But yes I'm with you, I see groups of holiday makers and think our little family of three look a bit sad.

ChampagneVendetta · 29/05/2026 10:11

I never holiday with friends or large groups and just prefer our small family unit.

Thats not because I dont love and appreciate my friends - I do, very much so. But when large groups go on holiday you have to compromise and adjust your activities/ accommodation to suit everyone and frankly, being on holiday is the one time we have when we can suit only ourselves and do what we want. I am not willing to give that up I'm afraid.

I dont ever want to feel tethered or obliged to go along with other people's plans on holiday.

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