Am I deluded or have holidays become almost unaffordable for many families?

[Tractorprincess]

Looking at holidays and everything is so expensive.

We usually pay around £1200 for a very very nice holiday flat in the UK right on the beach but we're all getting a bit bored of the same place. I always thought £1200 was quite pricey but I'm starting to think it's an absolute bargain.

I can remember going abroad a few years ago with ds1 for around 1k, now I can't find anything half decent for less than 3k.

Thought about doing a few UK weekend breaks but nice places for the dc, the Legoland hotel is £700! I know you can go to cheaper local ones but having done than previous years I was thinking about making it extra exciting.

Centreparcs is extortionate too.

Dh and I are both on ok salaries, hardly rich but above the apparent UK average.

I don't know how people afford to go unless they're very well off or go in term time.

My kids were the sort who always woke up early, if they stayed up late as preschoolers they were just grumpy early risers. At least in a caravan duh and I could have a bottle of wine outside the caravan in the evening rather than tiptoeing round a hotel room.
Never did massive amounts of cleaning/tidying just quick squirt of loo cleaner and wipe round and sweep crumbs out of the door.

MrsKoala if the pool's crap you're picking the wrong Eurocamp site - many have 3 or 4 different pools all in different styles, more than most hotels. A week with d&v would be as bad or worse all sharing a family room in a hotel - at least in a caravan you have 2 or 3 bedrooms, living room and terrace to spread out in.

We've been on at least 10 Eurocamp style holidays (usually book sites Eurocamp use but with a cheaper operator or direct with the site, and get often a bigger caravan for less money - we always book a 3 bedroom).

We've never once been nagged to clean during the holiday. Obviously they check at the end before giving you your deposit back, but it only has to be "broom clean" - rubbish thrown away, surfaces wiped down and swept, not properly cleaned, cleaners still do that between guests.

Perhaps they don't mention cleaning to us because our car has a German licence plate, bit of stereotyping going in perhaps but more likely you just had atypical overzealous reps who spoiled things.

I think the reps were just a bit too zealous at our camp!! I have had this before in France. I didnt really mind as i wouldnt leave it dirty anyway. the camps are amazing over there though, so laid back and the spa was worth the long journey itself, so clean and well run. the kids liked the laid back attitude. I would recommend them to anyone and having your own car is another bonus as you can go out to get provisions or go off to the another beach or whatever.

We are paying £600 to pitch our tent in Dorset for two weeks this summer.Luckily we all love camping but it is not the cheap holiday everyone imagines it to be!

Eurocamp has given us some bargain holidays in the past - especially good if the Easter school holidays are later in April. We once got a week in Normandy in a nice grade of mobile home for £350 including ferry. That was a lovely holiday as the weather was great.

We've done The Loire Valley with Eurocamo at May half term for £700 for a week.

I've not found them such good value for the main summer holidays though.

Duinrell in Holland at Easter was also a bargain and was under 1k for a week including Ferry and day sailing cabins.

Last week I priced up Ryan air flights to Corfu for next May half term plus an apartment right on a lovely beach all for £1800 ( we paid £2700 for the same week in Corfu this May half term just gone)

I've found all inc holidays to anywhere during school holidays start at £3k for a family of four ) if you want hot sunny weather that is!)

I'm obsessed with finding bargain holidays!

I think you just have to accept that you can't go in the summer holidays. We went to Benalmadena, Spain - 4 star hotel, right on the beach, sea view etc, so close you could hear the waves, for a week during Easter 2017. I did that for under £700. I booked flights as soon as they came out and went Tuesday to Tuesday. The room had a small kitchenette so we always had breakfast in the room but ate out most other days, wasn't massively expensive and I don't drink so no alcohol costs. I think it can be doable but you have to make compromises. For me going away during the Summer Holiday is an endurance test not a break, crowds and crowds of people, miserable traffic, it's usually far too hot in the Med, I honestly don't know why anyone does it. The only enjoyable break I ever had in August was a city break to Berlin, three nights, even that came in at only about £600. Go away at February or October half term, even Easter and it's far more manageable.

Catina - The pool was crap last time because we chose one which was close to Calais. The kids are wee so we don't want to travel too long/far. The Biarritz Eurocamp pool complex was great but it was just too much travelling for us atm and unfortunately was too hot with no air con. My DH and the kids aren't great with the heat - which is why we don't go away in the summer hols.

I'd love to just have croissants and cold meat etc but no one else likes it so it's lots of cooking. I find bbqs at the moment a bit stressful as the children seem to constantly lunge at it. Last one we had at the Eurocamp site DS1 chucked a cup of water on it and got a steam burn on his hand

As i said. I like Eurocamp and am looking forward to the kids growing up a bit and being able to go further afield to the better ones. This year DD (18mo) spent all her time sitting in the cold dirty foot cleaning bit because the pool was too deep for her.

What would work best for us would be a buffet AI where every one of my fussy buggers just chose what they wanted and i could ignore them and eat what i want. We did a really expensive skiing holiday which had a chalet cook and they ate nothing that was prepared. I had to fly with 6 bloody packs of hot dogs and waffles in my suitcase.

I'm looking at booking something for the may half term next year. But really i'd like 2 weeks as i think by the time you've spent a day travelling and then a day back, it's not worth £3k for one week. You could pay a little more and get 2 weeks.

The sleeping is often hard too as we co sleep and you don't get 2 double rooms - preferably one being a kingsize (for 3 people).

The other issue we have is my parents want to come but don't want to pay school holiday prices so we would have to subsidise them too.

It's not even the cost so much as what would be our ideal just doesn't exist. Because my family are monumental pains! Me on the other hand - i'll eat anything, sleep anywhere and am pretty happy with most things. I just think the months of planning and the cost when it isn't even that good is often a waste of money. I long for the days they will sit and watch ipads while i sunbathe and swim.

The snobbery around self catering does make my eye rolls slightly. Those posters, you sound like hard work. Nobody is expecting a four course dinner or a full roast whilst staying in a holiday house/caravan/Glamping. The problem is your perspective and attitude, it really doesn't need to be as complicated as you're making it. Breakfast, fruit/croissants etc, lunch fresh baguette with store bough ham/cheese/salad or crepes from a local market for 2Euro each, dinner salad/rice/bbq etc. Supermarket shops are part of the fun, it's not like going to your local Tesco.
I can see driving would be hard work for single parents, I totally sympathise with that. Dover to Brittany or Normandy is well off the 18 hours someone above mentioned though. We live nowhere near Dover and still manage it, just breaking our journey in a travel lodge the night before the crossing. I think it's what you make it.
If you need your bed to be made for you and can't manage shoving some ham in a baguette, then I guess that's your choice and consequence. To those saying they take no holidays at all over self catering, I just think you're bonkers. The kids have an amazing time and talk about it all year afterwards.

We go abroad most years and I've never paid more than £550 each, all inclusive, in August. We've had some great holidays, no luxury accommodation but in nice places and lots of fun.

We're not going away this year as I want to save and go further afield in a year or two. I don't know what the prices are like this year. It actually feels nice to know I don't have the stress of planning a holiday this year.

I don’t want to go on a holiday where I am the sole adult in charge of all the cooking and shopping and and driving and cleaning. I do that at home. If that offends people and makes them think I am a snowflake then that is ok. I’ve had kids for 16 years and my holiday camp type days are well and truely over, it is not a holiday to ME, even if I do go camping on the English Channel coastline and have all kinds of japers and capers in a French supermarket. I would prefer to spend my money and time on something perhaps cultural and shorter - an historical weekend city break in a hotel with the kids or a day trip somewhere cool for instance that actually feels like you have stepped out of your normal life for a short period, relaxed and done something out of the ordinary and special

The snobbery around self catering does make my eye rolls slightly.

I actually don't think it's snobbery (plenty of self catering is bloody expensive for a start - a cheap al inclusive deal is much cheaper). It's just people have different ideas of what makes a relaxing holiday. Not liking self catering isn't usually snobbery. Sometimes it's nice to have to lift a finger (washing up, buying food, cooking etc.). For other people it's nicer to have their own space and not have set breakfast times etc. It's just personal taste and not a criticism if you like different things.

Pookie I agree it’s a holiday for everyone and to me part of that is being waited on to have food served for me, for me not cook then clean afterwards not for me to take on my usual role that I would have at home.

PookieDo I agree, doesn't matter how cheap (or expensive) a holiday is, if you're not going to enjoy it what's the point.

The cheapest option is to find out which of your dog-owning friends has a house in a desirable (or even just "different-from-yours") location, and offer to dogsit! It's a win-win all around.

Actually, I would have to keep my space clean and tidy. It wouldn't be relaxing for me to try and holiday surrounded by mess, and I wouldn't be happy using a grubby bathroom thank you. The only way I would be prepared to try self catering would be to eat out twice a day.

And I hate supermarket shopping anyway, so the thought of doing it abroad really isn't pleasant. As for 'shoving some ham in a baguette' well, that's just not how we want to eat on holiday thank you. Doesn't make me a special snowflake to want to eat nice food in decent restaurants on holiday. Had enough of roughing it when we were students and poor.

My brother always goes camping with his family. Most times he's just an hour and a half away from home on a camping site with lots of activities but it feels really different for the kids. If the kids are happy, he is happy.

I don't understand why people are so averse to self-catering when on holiday.

I always just get an air bnb, it can be so cheap! You don't have to make duck a l'orange every night, we just eat toast, pasta, snacky stuff and have the odd meal out.

Food is such a tiny part of the day it's not worth spending lots of money and time on when you could be having an otherwise amazing holiday.

I don't like self catering either. I don't drive so the easiest option for me is AI where we get picked up from the airport and straight to the hotel. Last thing I want to do on holiday is trekking to the supermarket with a 5 year old, doing my own cooking and cleaning. I do enough of that at home. Holidays for me are for someone else to do all that.

Food is such a tiny part of the day it's not worth spending lots of money and time on when you could be having an otherwise amazing holiday

No way food is the BEST part of the holiday! Love eating in new restaurants and trying new foods. We base our locations on the food reviews ha.

We're foodies, and love trying different cuisines. It's one of the best parts of our holidays to be honest. And I have a cleaner twice a week so why would I want to suddenly start cleaning bathrooms when on holiday?

We bought a caravan so we could have lots of holidays for very little money. We spent £12 on our weekend away last weekend. £6/night. Before the caravan we had a tent!

Food is such a tiny part of the day it's not worth spending lots of money and time on when you could be having an otherwise amazing holiday

Bollocks.

Trying new foods in local restaurants is a major part of being abroad for me. SC is same shit, different location.

Meant to say - I love a caravan, but don't want to be doing anything more domesticated than opening a bottle of wine or making a cup of tea when on holiday.

Yes but where am I supposed to keep the caravan when I'm not on holiday? I don't have a drive, though at least I do live in a house rather than a flat. Moving to a house with a drive in this area would be another couple of hundred thousand plus moving costs and stamp duty.

SC is same shit, different view. At the end of a long day lazing by the pool, or exploring I love coming back to a tidy room, an immaculately made bed, pristine bathroom and looking forward to a delicious evening meal. And all of it done by someone else.