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 guess it depends when and where you go, and how many there are of you. I'm a single Mum, on a low income.
I have taken my boy to France for the day, we have spent Christmas in Prague, and also went to Majorca AI this Spring. I don't own a credit card, just save up the old fashioned way. We are lucky enough to live in a beautiful place, and go camping lots too. We are now saving up to go Interailing in a few years time.

I don't own my own home, and there is no way I'll ever be able to afford to, so I'm spending what little money I have on experiences for the both of us.

If you can reasonably get there the end of English school holidays fall when Scotland have already gone back. We have enjoyed lovely sunny weeks up there at the end of August. Also flights from Glasgow drop in price then.

We go away every year, we go either a few days before may half term or come back a few days after. So the kids miss a couple of days of school each but they have great attendance otherwise so I don't see it as a massive issue.

I also book a year in advance, so when we get back I book next years and pay it off over a year. Thomas cook now do a direct debit scheme which makes this even easier.

We have to cut back on other stuff over the year, for example I hardly ever go out in the evening to socialise, I rarely drink and don't smoke. I have a 10 year old car, don't have gym membership. We as a family don't eat out very often but it is worth it to me.

Yes it's quite shocking how much it is in the holidays. We looked at Butlins in August and it was £3k for a week (Centre parks was £2k for the same week). A Eurocamp place in Spain was £2200 for the week and then there's flights for 5 on top of that so would be approx £4k.

We went to a Eurocamp place in Picardy for £750 all in including the ferry for the May half term but the weather wasn't great and site was a bit crap too - The swimming pool wasn't good for the youngest 2. All in it was £1k but we packed all our own food and sat about the campsite or spent hours in the car doing trips out. So not really what we'd want for a holiday. Camping isn't a holiday for me as all I do is cook and shop and sleep badly. I'd often rather not bother.

Holidays have always been unaffordable for the majority of families.
What has changed is now people feel entitled to a holiday.
Maybe it's because duel income families feel they need a holiday more than we used to when we all had more leisure time and there wasn't the same pace of life.
It's still a luxury that many can't afford.

Glamping in France with pool 900m from the beach 489 for a glamping tent which sleeps 6 from 4th to 11th of August Ferry to Roscoff would be another 700 pounds or so for a family of 4 including a cabin, then its an 83 mile drive, so petrol costs to and from the ferry.

So a holiday abroad for a family of up to 6 for under 1500 pounds, in August.

I think you have to look around. I’ve found a lovely, large apartment in central Oslo for £645 for a week.

We pay £1299 for 5 days a Center Parcs every Christmas and that’s their most expensive week.
Would have thought you can get a week there for around £899 in summer and other than food, which you’d be buying anyway, you could just use the pool and cycle etc for free and not pay more for activities.

I'm always shocked at the prices to holiday in the UK. Last year we were quoted just under £1000 for a week in a caravan in Weymouth for the last few days aug/first few days Sept. We went to Spain all Inc for £1,200 instead (2 adults and a 2 year old). This year we looked at Longleat, Centre Parcs for first week Sept and again was quoted just under £1000 for the cheapest accommodation. UK Holidays are only cheap if you want to travel outside of the summer season. That was fine when we didn't have DD and spent our holiday sightseeing and pub crawling but that's no fun to our now 3 year old who wants the beach and playgrounds.

The other problem with holidaying in the UK (and the same problem with 'we go camping because it's cheap') is that you need a car. It's all very well saying it's cheap to stay in Tenby/Scarborough/Scottish Islands but if you live in Hertfordshire you need to catch a train or two to get to those locations which will be really expensive especially if you need to pay for children otherwise you lose a day's holiday each way catching the coach. Camping in France is going to be hard work unless you have a car plus you need all the camping equipment which can be a significant cost.

My dd starts school in Sept 19 so we're pretty sure we'll be booking the October half term as our holiday (or possibly a Sun holiday before she starts school). But, we'll need to book that soon to get a good deal and will need to go abroad for nice weather, however, I'm concerned about the Brexit scaremongering doing the rounds so unsure what to do

The only way we can afford to go abroad is by house-swapping, and then either driving or getting cheap flights in the middle of the night from random airports to get there.

I hate the cleaning and getting ready to go, but we've had some lovely holidays, with lots of room for everyone to spread out, which doesn't happen in a caravan.

We live in a non-touristy destination but with quick access to lovely tourist places. If I lived in a house in London, Edinburgh, Oxford, Cambridge, the Cotswolds or similar I could probably choose to go wherever I wanted, as those places are really in demand. As it is we have been to France, Switzerland, Austria, Scandinavia and North America. Funnily enough no one in the UK wants to swap with us so our DC rarely get the chance to explore the UK. But a holiday cottage here would be double or triple our travel to the house swap to Europe.

Center Parcs Holland €1200 7 nights for 2 adults, 2 children compared with £2500 for the same week in Uk mid August, plus 20% discounts for early booking. Euro camps in Normandy/Brittany are also fab and all are a reasonable drive from the relevant ferries.

Well I think that glamping holiday just proves how expensive it is since you have to own a car to get there. Owning a car is also incredibly expensive now - glad I don’t need one in London.

Is that place nice Catina? It looks amazing for kids but I do worry what the accommodation would be like for that price.

We're the same really dextro have a mortgage but nothing else, no other debts, drive old car, no nights out for dh and I just a few family day trips through the year.

We could probably just about do it if, like you we book ahead and paid it off through the year, we haven't planned ahead this year so think I was hoping for a miracle.

Lauriefairycake that's a good point, lots of UK holidays require a car too dep being on how you're going to do it.

Clubbing together with friends really reduces accommodation costs because a 4/5 bed rental isn't much more than a 2/3 bed. We're off to Cornwall in August, sharing a stunning, large period house with sea views and it's only costing us £900. In the past we've paid £1400 for a 2 bed cottage in Cornwall that wasn't nearly as luxurious.

In Provence you can easily rent luxurious, very large houses/chateaux + pool for as little as £400 per night. Split that between 4 families and it's an absolute bargin. This is what we're doing Aug. 2019 and the place we have booked looks like a film set + comes with a chef. Our share is roughly £750 for the week.

We are camping in France this August and I thought the ferry was not too expensive - £400 return. If it was just me and dh I would be horrified but with two dc it compares favourably to flights imo. Campsite was another £500ish for 10 nights. I figured that was the best price we were going to get 10 days abroad for. Hoping beach / campsite provides a decent price of free entertainment.

It's been a while but last time we stayed at a resort we booked direct with the hotel and saved loads that way.

Look at Center Parcs in France, their school half term holidays are different to U.K. So 'peak' prices are at different times.

You don't have to own a car Laurie you could also get the train for around the same price as the ferry for a family of 4, although you'd have to change in Paris, and then a taxi, that's where you have to think flexibly. But if you are so instantly defeatist then you end up believing there is no way for a teacher's family to go abroad at the beginning of August for under 3.5k. Doesn't make it true though.

I take my kids out in term time. If you're not willing to do that then I agree that it can be very difficult to afford to go where you want to go and not compromise.

The travel warnings for Turkey are for the Syrian border area, and I’d be possibly a little cautious about visiting Istanbul with children in case of demonstrations etc but Turkey is a massive country and the tourist areas are small towns and villages hundreds of miles from the borders.

The only thing that is likely to be an issue with a holiday to Turkey is that the airline security is very annoyingly tight, and this can cause long queues at the airports and no iPads etc permitted in hand luggage. As long as you arrive for you flight in plenty of time and accept it might involve your luggage being scanned 3 times and your hand luggage being unpacked and checked it’s probably worth it for the value for money.

Airbnb often works out much cheaper than staying in an hotel. You can a whole house, cottage or whatever and, obviously, then have the freedom to cook for yourselves.

Me and DH only use Airbnb now. No set breakfast times, no having to go out at a certain time so your room can be cleaned etc. We are going to one in the UK at the end of July and have a large bungalow for just under £50 a night. The cheapest hotel in the area is a Travelodge and they want £80 a night!

Search flights to a country you want to visit and then search Airbnb. We have done that in France, Sweden, Spain and Holland.

We have had Sun holidays in the UK and twice to Holland. We stayed at Duinrell which has an amusement park on site. It's lovely there and we paid far less for a week than the people staying who booked with the site.

I also agree about camping in France. You can have an onsite tent but if you have your own it is much cheaper. I hate camping in this country but in France it's totally different. Loads of toilets and showers. The showers are usually free too unlike a lot of sites in the UK.

Also we are quite content to go away February and October half terms. Much cheaper then.

For flights I look at cheap offers via Jack’s flight club - some amazing deals. In the UK I rely on Airbnb but camping is also a great money saver. You do have to be a bit creative but that’s always the way when it comes to spending money.

YANBU. I've just looked at the current cost of the last UK family we took with our dcs , around 15 years ago. The cost has increase by around 4x since then. Our income hasn't. In fact, our income remained static for most of that time - I'm public sector, so no pay rises for several years and Dh worked for a financial institution who stopped giving pay rises due to the financial crisis in 2008. Our children only ever had holidays in this country, and none after 2008 because we couldn't afford it. I don't know how anybody does afford a family holiday if they're earning average salaries.

Tractor I haven't been to that specific site, it just came up on the Canvas holidays 50% off last minute deals which was the only place I looked. We've stayed on very similar Canvas sites though and always been pleased. Lots for kids to do, especially perfect for primary aged kids. They usually have more than one pool, kids club if you're so inclined, a reasonable shop and at least one restaurant/ take away on site, and the accommodation is always clean and fresh with far more space to spread out than you'd get crammed into a family room in a hotel.

We've done that sort of holiday every year for the last ten years, as well as usually something else.