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.

I used Air bnb during Easter for Devon beak & that was good value.

National Trust holiday cottages are good value and in some beautiful locations.

Turkey is very good value. I remember going to Spain before the euro and it was so cheap, you could go out for a meal for 4 with wine for about £30

I’m currently on holiday but already looking at next year to get a deal and start saving. We come to Croatia pretty much every year in the last 7 so I know what I can get for where. You do need to plan and be ready to book in advance. EasyJet release their summer schedule in early October. I watch it like a hawk 😊

I think Spain prices have soared because it’s more popular again, my relatives have apartments they rent out. I’m sure that France is suffering a bit due to the terrorist attacks.

I know I need to book in advance but I’m not a natural planner.

Try Eastern Europe. Much cheaper than the Eurozone. We're currently holidaying in Slovakia and it's incredibly cheap. £8pp per night for the apartment we're renting.
No seaside, but plenty of little beaches by lakes for swimming in.
We drove here. Much cheaper than flying 4 adults over.

Get a tent off ebay and go camping in France? You could do everything you want that way.

We paid £2440 family of five five star in Turkey in June next year all inclusive with one child free place this includes transfers and luggage for 5. We literally booked a year in advance. The price has since jumped up to £2825. The time we go away the kids are at school but we put a request which was accepted. We wouldn’t have afforded it otherwise.

Holidays are expensive, but you do need to box clever, too. I would never consider Center Parcs or the Legoland hotel, for example. That type of holiday just sees you coming.

Last year we went to Spain for a fortnight for under 2K. Lovely apartment with private pool found on Owners Direct, cheap flights as we didn’t fly direct. There was a massive Lidl type shop near the apartment, so stocked up on loads of reasonably priced barbecue stuff —and booze—.

The same holiday on a package basis, booked last minute, would have cost twice as much.

I know for many people any type of holiday is out of the question, though, and that’s hard.

We’ve booked a cottage in Wales with its own swimming pool in August for £770

In my opinion, just too much of a risk weather wise. If it is peeing it down for most of the days (not uncommon in wales in summer!)
then that £770 is actually false economy along with 2 precious weeks holiday wasted.

No risks here. I want guaranteed sun and warmth. Caribbean all the way!

YANBU. If you enjoy centre parks you should consider looking at ones in Belgium. English and Belgium half terms are at different times so you can get a really cheap week there and maybe combine in with a night in Brugge for a little bit of culture. It's a beautiful city.

In February that is.

Menorca etc guaranteed in summer.

It will become even worse after Brexit - currency will tank further and will have to pay for visas for a lot of popular holiday destinations which are in the EU.

We’ve paid £1200 for a week SC in Menorca for 4 of us (4 of us and the kids are 16 and 13)

Our school has 2 inset days at the beginning of term so we’re going Monday-Monday the very last week in August - saving £1500.

It really isn’t hard to organise your own foreign holiday. With Expedia you can go for flights & hotel. Or skyscanner for flights and somewhere like booking.com for accommodation. I would never pay a travel agent. I went to Japan with my adult son for a whole month for 2.5k so a fortnight in the sun should really not be that expensive. All it takes is a bit of research.

I was going to say that Turkey seems pretty reasonable in comparison to Greece/Spain. But there's a lot going on right now and travel warnings in place.

I agree. As a teacher, we’re restricted to going in the school holidays. We have a decent income and live very comfortably. But £3-4grand for a decent hotel abroad is a lot of money.

YANBU
This is why we camp, very affordable holidays in school holidays but yeah not quite the same as a holiday house or sunny trip abroad :( The kids enjoy it though.
I think a lot of things are difficult for the average earner with children. We both work fill-time but everything's a struggle.

We go AI to somewhere warm with a beach every two years in August. It is very expensive but we book in December or January and pay in instalments.

We drive to France and hire a house. If you have friends you could holiday with and share the house, it becomes a bargain. I do understand the attraction to holidaying to a hot destination and staying in a hotel etc, but yes it has definitely got a lot dearer over the past 2 years. If you're used to UK holidaying though, I can't recommend France enough. You can use your Tesco Clubcard to help/pay for ferry or tunnel crossing too.

Dh is a teacher and we’re restricted to school holidays. We’ve not been able to go abroad since our honeymoon 18 years ago!

We’re going to Greece for a week in July - £3,500 for a Bed and Breakfast for a week ! Including £600 easyJet flightsz.

Madly expensive, feel resentful already.

Elasticity why will we need visas post Brexit?
We never needed a visa to travel in Europe before the EEC/EU was invented.

We have just booked a week's holiday in august in France for £277, including the ferry. We are glamping with Canvas holidays. Tent has proper beds, fridge, electricity. Campsite has a good pool complex, lots of activities, little restaurant & bar. I estimate we will spend the same again on diesel, road tolls, food & activities, but could easily take own e.g. table tennis bats, boules set & not pay for any activities.

We manage to find similar every year, so for us it is certainly not the case that foreign holidays when schools are off are too expensive.

One of the biggest expenses is passports, but even that only works out to £10 per year per person, so not too bad.

We only holiday UK but we are paying significantly more this year then last. (Same place)

Won't fly so never price up abroad.