To not understand holidays

[RandomlyChosenName]

Aibu to not understand how people choose and book holidays and what they do when they’re there. Except millionaires...

My childhood was spent self catering in the UK. I get them! And as a couple we went on short city breaks. I get them too. And we had an expensive all inclusive chill out honeymoon. Also easy! But I can’t work out how to do an abroad family holiday without being a millionaire.

All holidays seem to cost £2,500+ for the family for 2 weeks- I’m looking on First Choice, Tui etc. And the cheaper ones are a self catering room and a shared small basic pool. My children would be bored after an hour or two. Whilst they love swimming, they’d need to do something else for some of the day. Do everyoneelses children just happily swim non stop for 2 weeks? All the holidays seem to be miles from anything. Everywhere with lots of things to do is horrendously expensive.

I can’t work out where you find self catering villas abroad- I looked at AirBNB but couldn’t understand it. I thought it might be cheaper we could maybe go sightseeing or on walks or something. I cannot work out how to even start finding something!

AIBU to not be able to adult enough to even find a family summer holiday that won’t leave us bankrupt? And to not understand how everyone else does it?

Why not go further afield like say Thailand or something. Lots to do, absolutely outstandingly beautiful and not expensive in the slightest. Lots of culture too. Or anywhere else in Asia for that matter

But getting there isn't going to be cheap is it?!

I love booking holidays and love finding good deals. Start with location and how to get there eg drive to France/Italy/Spain or cheap lo-cost airline flights. Then look for accommodation. Canvas Holidays or Cool camping are good for a mobile home/tent. Safari tents are great. We often do second week in a cottage type place. Try home away or trip advisor holiday rental function.

You don’t need to be rich but you don’t need to spend a lot either. I’m stunned by many people’s ideas of reasonable cost, don’t think we’ve ever spent close to £2500 unless it’s a really special holiday in the us or Iceland.

It’s the time together that counts, not where you go ultimately.

My no.1 life tip is never to try to keep up with the Joneses, they probably are deep in debt and lease stuff for appearances. Do your own thing and teach your kids to do the same.

We have found going away at may half term is much cheaper and often lovely weather and much less busy (Sardinia was perfect). Then in the summer holidays camping or self catering in France. You can book nice villas through villa plus. We usually do beaches if near them, some swimming, some sporty type stuff, and some exploring day trips. Generally lots of shopping for food and preparing barbecues and eating croissants in France.

@ChihuahuaMummy1 what a waste of money. Get outside of europe and give your kids a lesson in different cultures instead of shitty package holidays where you are all herded like farm animals. There is a whole world out there to explore and for less money. I'm usually around £1,200 for 2 adults and 1 teenager to go off to Thailand in the islands for around 16 days. For spending money it's only another £1,200 so thats less than your holiday in Europe. We don't need to see another British person the whole time, we eat local and chill and do trips and have a ball. And it's so hot and so beautiful and my sin learns so much about different cultures and currency. We usually do a day or two stop in the middle East or India or this time Singapore. Get out there and explore the world. Dont be a sheep.

Try on the beach. We used them and it was great.
Greece is fab for kids.

Book direct with owner we are paying £750 for Aug villa in Algarve

@Dungeondragon15 yes it is! That's the thing, it is far cheaper!

@Lifecraft I don't understand why you WOULDN'T have to be a millionaire or something to spend 2,500k or even 10,000k on a family holiday. I have 5 children. My husband and I work hard. Yet we still get around £1200 a month. Any holiday for us takes a lot of savings and sacrifices. I'm not moaning, just saying that to some people those amounts of money are a fortune.

I agree with you OP. It is very expensive. Tbh I can't understand spending 5K or 10K on a holiday unless you do have more than the one child. When I was a kid it was a holiday in Norfolk most people had and no one spent that much money on a holiday unless you were rich,but then people didnt holiday abroad as it was more expensive then.I think holidaying in the UK has been made to look unfashionable and the term 'staycation' I've always thought has a kind of almost nose-up snobbery about it.
I don't understand those who take very young babies and small children to exotic or far flung places,not only is there the expense but it's not like the kids will even remember it.
I would recommend Homeaway too though. It might be a lot cheaper.
I personally think it's a scandal how much travel companies rip people off for in the summer months.

I just took myself and two children to Greece... budget Flights (700 with luggage), 75 pounds a night for eight nights in family run hotel. Me and children share a room though there is a sofa bed in the tiny kitchen dining room area. Balcony with sea view. Lovely pool. Beach five mins away. Buses to town and other parts of island. Mix of
Expedia and TripAdvisor for last minute bookings and recommendations (this place very well reviewed). Had to do research. We’ll spend 2000 in all with excursions etc but could do it for less

@Dungeondragon15 yes it is! That's the thing, it is far cheaper!

When do you go? I looked into it one and in August the flights were about £400 per person so for four of us that would be £1,600. Not what I call cheap.

Agree some package tours, especially to “ upmarket” resorts can be insanely expensive. However, as others have said, cheap flights plus campsites ( with activities); city breaks or some of the cheaper holiday websites can always throw up bargains. I’m on a tight budget, and for £2000 I would want bells, whistles and chauffeur driven!!! By starting searching REALLY early, signing up to holiday company’s promotions, searching online you can save an absolute fortune. My friend is an absolute champion at bargain hunting, and one of the best breaks we had was cheap flights; Small hotel but set in great grounds with small pool and plenty of places to explore. We’ve also done volunteering holidays , which keeps everyone occupied, you meet new people and learn lots of things!! Other countries are not all as expensive as ours, so if you can bite the bulletin over flights or Eurostar/ ferry and then find cheap accommodation; often the meals/ living expenses/ activities can be more reasonable ( and a lot more fun!) than being at home, but definitely the secret is to be very well prepared beforehand ( even signing up to discounts in country you are visiting). Good luck with it all. I hope you manage to find something.

I found the smaller the budget, the longer time it takes to find a holiday... We often camp which is easy, but every 4 years or so we try to go abroad. This year I had a budget of £1000 for weeks holiday for 2 adults and a 15 yr old.. I ended up spending £1200 for a week in the Algarve, using HomeAway (Owners Direct are now owned by these). Flying on Easyjet. Lovely appt with swimming pool very close to the beach in a nice small town. Really looking forward to it.
It would have been lovely to know I had more to spend and it certainly would have been easier and quicker finding somewhere, but we can't so that's it.
Definitely found on that budget we had to book flights and accommodation separately, but it's easy enough to do.

Good luck with you search :-)

If you are imaging buttons abroad for preteens then look at human travel. We are going for a week to pra delle tora in Venice next year in May . £290 for a week.... flights will be £100-150 each. The sites with human are amazing and we love them. We just got back from a week in parc albatross in Italy and including caravan, flights and car hire it was £1200 for 8 of us ( 2 cars) and was the best holiday we've ever had even though it was self catering. The deli sold whole trays of lasagne for £18 that fed us all.

Last year we did 10 days in Portugal for10 in May for £119 each for a private air bnb with its own pool. Food was £400 , booze , £250.

I'm not really understanding what your issue is or issues are?

Is it that you can't understand how people afford holidays and are they really 2.5k plus? If so, then everyone has different budgets, income and priorities. In my experience holidays during term time (which we always did) usually end up around £4k in total, home or abroad. DH and I both work, we don't smoke or drink much so we spent what we could on having a family holiday,

What do you do all day? When DC were younger then we'd spend some time in the pool, sometime at the beach, a bit of sightseeing, visiting the local markets, playing games, reading books, generally relaxing, then getting gussied up for dinner etc.

We now have older teens, we go walks, swim a lot in the sea, play pool games, read books, play cards/board games, eat out, go visits to local towns, have a siesta...

Probably spend a good hour just applying sunscreen!

You might like something like Duinrell or a camp holiday where they have entertainment on for DC but honestly mine just liked jumping off stuff into the sea (and still do) and doing a bit of snorkelling.

We went on a couple of foreign holidays when the kids were small, but decided it wasn't worth the money for us because they were happy as long as they could build sandcastles and play on 2p machines every evening. We used to get a cottage for a week in Cornwall and we loved it. The weather wasn't always great, but it was still a break from home. I guess it depends on whether you can afford it and whether that's what you want to spend your money on

I took my kids to the River Dart Country Park. it's brilliant. if they get bored there then they need help. there is so much to do.

We just did the holidays we wanted to do, castles, cathedrals, hiking, stuff what the kids wanted. Mostly road trips (we would find parks etc for them and book hotels with a pool, I'm not that mean). The kids (now adults) love reminiscing about the holidays they complained about at the time!

When I was a kid we did Eurocamp in France last 10 days in August when it's cheaper. Loads of stuff for kids: pool bike hire kids club site restaurants and shops etc. We'd do days out to local markets, canoeing, walking etc.

Search chalet camping holidays on the Brittany ferries website.

There are various ways to do it. Eg book through somewhere like onthebeach, 10 months before you go and pay it off in installments, if you want a package deal. If you don't want to stay in a resort hotel, book flights on Skyscanner and an apartment through Airbnb or owners direct or somewhere like that. There are loads of little one and two bedroom places on the continent that are way cheaper than hiring a cottage in the UK. You can book your own trips, theatre outings and transport online as well before you go - it's never been easier.

The most expensive holidays are in the UK, I think, because accommodation is so expensive here, and days out are pricey too. Compare going to say a castle in Spain which will cost you a couple of Euros each to the same in the UK which is more likely to be a tenner. Eating out (essential on holiday imo) is also far more expensive in the UK.

Oh ofc forgot about camping which makes for a relatively cheap UK holiday - but you need the kit, and a car, so have to have a certain income level, and also we really don't have the climate for it.

We're certainly not loaded and only have 1 child, who isn't too bothered by swimming (once a day for 30mins is enough for him , unless there's slides then 50 min/50th time enough for us) and he doesn't like sand. But we (parents) like to laze around in the sun.

So we love self catering with a bit of our own garden. Tried mini villa (bungalow apartment type thing) on a complex in Algarve (took a paddling pool to beach as otherwise wouldn't leave the mat), Eurocamp mobile home in South of France (the kids clubs we could drop him at were fantastic!), sunparks in Belgium (he love love loved the flumes and playing lego for hours in our little holiday house)

... But a basic apartment with huge terrace about 30m from a rocky beach in Greece is probably the best. The little complex had a small pool, the beach was rocky so no sand to deal with, the terrace was big with enough shade that we could read our books and leave him to watch ipad or play.

TBH on holiday I don't think we have to be 'holidaying' all the time. My DS is much happier playing lego and ipad than building sand castles on the beach. So where we go has to have decent personal space either a good garden or terrace so we can sun bathe and read books and he can do his thing in the shade. No way in the world would a hotel room suit us! Self catering all the way.
A typical holiday for us is lazy getting up, perhaps a walk to bakery for croissants or bread if it's not too far. Eat bread and fruit and drink tea until about 11am, probably while reading a book. DS will probably be playing lego. Get showered and dressed. Go to pool/ play area/ a castle or drive to a beach/cove or something to explore. Lunch out. Laze about/ DS may possibly nap if lucky otherwise lego, ipad etc, pool or beach, back to shower, then either BBQ or lazy pizza type dinner or out for dinner if early enough and DS not too tired! Then put DS to bed any we sit outside in our terrace/ garden playing cards/ watching the world go by/ putting the world's to rights/ reading.

So anyway - we don't need much. We know what makes us happy - space, bread, cheese, wine and beer mostly! Really don't need luxury. But we do need two bedrooms, a garden or terrace ideally with a view, a bbq, and preferably a dishwasher (I can't stand washing up!) and some sort of pool ideally with a slide. And enough luggage allowance to take a good bit of lego!!!
A big pool complex and sandy beach is totally wasted on us! Lying on sunbed all day - no way!
Having honed our requirements it's much easier to find the right thing! Also just happy that DS is happy is fine. If he wants to stay in the apartment playing lego, hey why not as long as I can see him over the top of my book that's great!