To ask more experienced holiday takers to help me find and book my first ever holiday abroad?

[Hollyboba]

I probably am. But it's not laziness. It's sheer confusion and inexperience!

If anyone can help me I would be super grateful.

So I want a sunshine holiday between 20th July and end of August.
2 adults. 4 kids. Twins 15. A 12 year old and 10 year old.

Any where sunny that has a nice pool.
Preferably a beach within walking distance or short bus ride.

All inclusive.

7 to 10 nights.

Budget is 5k.

I'll go anywhere in spain/greece/balerics etc but has to be family friendly NOT a stag do type place.

And I don't want to go to Turkey.

Would massively appreciate any help!

Plus £14 pp return transfer.

Snowdropdelight it isn’t a massive budget for 6 people all inc in the school holidays.

Try a cruise - great value for money, loads to keep kids amused and lovely ports to explore, you can do your own thing in the ports and don’t have to book trips etc. Try cruise nation

Holy your not out of touch it is a big budget. Your over paying for having packages and people doing things for you..

You could get much nicer by just looking yourself.

It is to me and I've had wonderful holidays but never ever through packages to typical '' resorts ''.

Op has no experience, and I really want to impress upon her that she can get cheaper holidays with that budget which she absolutely can.

Try the BritishAirways website and the ‘holiday finder’ option. You can choose a month or specific dates, set your requirements and see what it recommends. It’s great for inspiration and price comparison even if you eventually book elsewhere. You might want to consider the Caribbean as well - often similar prices to Europe all inclusive and waaaaaay better for the money of AI is your thing

Flights alone to Crete are £445 each for that week

Not necessarily.

You don’t say where you want to fly from. I’ve found these, I think they all go from Manchester but you could edit the searches for your preferred airport.

Good price, beautiful area

under budget but a long transfer & less than 2 miles to the nearest beach

over budget but it is a beautiful hotel, really short transfer & the beach it’s on is lovely

I searched Turkey because it’s a lovely country & if you were to decide to stay 1/2 board (which is what we usually do wherever we go on holiday) it’s reasonably cheap. They’re also scrapping visas for UK travellers from March. It’s still a short flight from here (depending where you flying from, max is around 5 hours, we tend to go from BHX, usually just over 4). Some areas are probably a bit ‘Stag doo’ but I’ve stayed in the areas I’ve linked to & have found them very family friendly

Below is the general search from jet2 for various destinations out of a few different UK airports

www.jet2holidays.com/search/results?airport=98_63_1_99_3&date=19-07-2020&duration=7&occupancy=r2c15_15_12_10&destination=169_139_99_94_103&sortorder=1&page=1&boardbasis=5_2_3

@Snowdropdelight - for 6 people in the summer holidays? Sadly 5k for all inclusive isn’t a big budget in the school holidays.

I’d try TUI or on the beach, see what comes up if you select the dates and location you want

You pay more at a travel agent partly because the ATOL protection is added to the price, and because you are paying for them to look for the holiday you need.

If you want to save that cost, I’m not sure asking randoms on the internet to do it for you is the best way to go about it.

First Choice seems to have quite a few that might be within budget for the summer, depending on where you can fly from.

If the airports suit, put your requirements into the jet2holidays website and look for family resorts, you can filter for good trip advisor reviews, sort by price, and look for cheaper dates once you've picked a hotel, but you might struggle to combine AI with your room requirements unless you look at a suite or aparthotel and the suites are probably above your budget.

@Hollyboba

Onthebeach is generally my go too package holiday site.

May will be indefinatly cheaper. But depends how hot you want it.

Why dont you want to go to Turkey? Ive been about 7 times and its lovely. Im assuming egypt is out too? Probably the warmest and best value for May.

I wouldn’t go with kids to Egypt

End of August is cheapest out of all your dates.
May half term is often more expensive because that’s when everywhere in Europe does a festival of some sort or another ( hotel prices soar).

Agree you are probably best of with a tour operator. However all inclusive hotels are open to everyone not just those on package tours ( the package tours hire a plane to take you out and transfer you and pass the savings on). Worth checking if you can fly out on a budget airline and book yourself into a AI hotel if you can’t find availability.

If you’re looking for all inclusive, Mexico and the Caribbean are much better value for money.

Fuerteventura is a lovely destination for families.
And not a hen or stag party in sight
Lots of all inclusive deals there too.

www.tui.co.uk/destinations/packages?airports%5B%5D=LGW%7CLHR&units%5B%5D=MEX%3ACOUNTRY&when=20-07-2020&until=&choiceSearch=false&flexibility=true&monthSearch=false&flexibleDays=3&flexibleMonths=&noOfAdults=2&noOfChildren=4&childrenAge=15%2C15%2C12%2C10&duration=1015&searchRequestType=ins&searchType=search&sp=true&multiSelect=true&room=&isVilla=false&reqType=&sortBy=#22e99442aabe1da6027fb02b198f8edf39d544f9

If you filter for 7 days holiday duration, that should be more in line with your budget.

Taurito princess gran canaria x

Cheapest for Mexico is nearly 9k, plus it will be boiling.
www.tui.co.uk/destinations/packages?airports%5B%5D=MAN&units%5B%5D=MEX%3ACOUNTRY&when=08-08-2020&until=&choiceSearch=false&flexibility=true&monthSearch=false&flexibleDays=3&flexibleMonths=&noOfAdults=2&noOfChildren=4&childrenAge=10%2C17%2C9%2C5&duration=1415&searchRequestType=ins&searchType=search&sp=true&multiSelect=true&room=&isVilla=false&reqType=&sortBy=totalPriceAsc#0132e8989a4ff95bfa8f53cccf1f4f0d1ec8f454

I wouldn’t go to Mexico for a week, it takes 4-5 days to get over the jet lag and more when you get back.

@lalafafa, Mexico was coming in at just over 4k for 7 nights. Also, July is one of the cooler months in Mexico (still warm though).

www.firstchoice.co.uk/holiday/packages?airports%5B%5D=LCY%7CLGW%7CLHR%7CLTN%7CSTN%7CMAN%7CBHX&units%5B%5D=002315%3ARESORT&when=01-08-2020&until=31-08-2020&choiceSearch=false&flexibility=true&monthSearch=true&flexibleDays=&flexibleMonths=0&noOfAdults=2&noOfChildren=4&childrenAge=15%2C15%2C12%2C10&duration=7115&searchRequestType=ins&searchType=search&sp=true&multiSelect=true&room=&isVilla=false&reqType=&sortBy=#b6d1afbfb7dc6ea5770d3a1c884df8c16478126e 7 nights here for slightly over budget at 5.4k. Perks of theme park entry and two rooms. Food vouchers to use in the theme park as well. Fantastic pool and snack bar.

Link didn't work but it is Hotel El Paso Portaventura.