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!

What type of holiday do you want OP?

Do you want to get to the hotel and not leave, do you want to explore or have day trips to places?

Do you want evening entertainment?

If you book AI you have paid for your food and drink before you get there, if it's not good then there is not a lot you can do about it.

Do you want to be in the middle of nowhere? Do you want to be where you can walk to shops, bars, restaurants?

How hot do you want it to be?

I've heard good things about Croatia with regards to prices and people.

Mallorca seems to have two sides, party Magaluf and quieter places.

I think an apartment / villa might be an option, you said you don't want to cook but on a morning it can be a hassle to get 6 people to a restaurant breakfast, in an apartment you can have coffee and a simple breakfast but eat out for the other meals.

I’d avoid Italy at the moment after their outbreak of coronavirus as you could run the risk of it being cancelled or being caught up in it if it continues to spread - on that note make sure you get good travel insurance!
Agree with PP about Croatia, you can get some lovely apartments really reasonably priced or there’s a great selection of different hotels and a lot of them offer activities such as water sports etc.

Go to a travel agents and tell them your requirements and see what they come up with. They aren’t more expensive and most will price match if you can find the holiday cheaper so once they have found something go home and see if you can get the price down and see what they say.
Booking everything yourself can be a hassle (I have done it many times).

Loads on here within budget

www.loveholidays.com/holidays/?WT.mc_id=pgo-37604252368-aud-370831582967:kwd-3887129557&ch=br&gclid=Cj0KCQiA4sjyBRC5ARIsAEHsELH_5iLvAbfKk3DboAfSt-Ovv7UTKVFXqLewRUaaW7cYFQ6OJkjawoIaAoxZEALw_wcB&state=BQoUAAAAA_____hQqkWhSwLwTRrZb87RIkx4gAAlDg

I’ve just had a quick search in the tui website and found loads from 3k mark to Europe. I would suggest you have a think about what is important eg distance from hotel (big one for me), slides, beach, distance from resort. Then sit with a note pad and pen to go through each holiday company and search separately for each day you are willing to fly. Put in all destinations and then use the filters

Sorry posted too soon.... use the filters to narrow down to destination by countries or just to Europe and other factors including trip advisor ratings.

Don’t forget to factor in the cost of passports which are expensive and travel insurance which is cheap - look on money saving expert for advice.

www.jet2holidays.com/search/results?airport=3&date=15-07-2020&duration=10&occupancy=r2c15_15_12_10&destination=38_39_26_16&sortorder=1&page=1

Lots of self catering and half board options here. My friend swears by jet 2 holidays.

We always go self catering in Europe, find a good supermarket and get bread, cheeses, hams, cereal etc and then eat out in the evenings.

This is towards the top end of your budget but has a free onsite water park.

www.tui.co.uk/destinations/europe/turkey/turkey-izmir/kusadasi/hotels/tui-blue-ephesus.html?im_id=PPC&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIjbf-scXp5wIVCbrtCh3JEAy4EAAYASAAEgKifPD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

At least four of the six people going are capable of sorting food for everyone so it shouldn't all fall on you.

If you go all inclusive you face a scrum at the buffet three times a day and if the food is not to your taste, you have to put up with it or pay out even more for something else. You also have to buy lunch on days out, or lug a packed lunch around in hot weather.

How about going self catering and eating out at least once a day, and easy food and barbecues the rest of the time? Stock up with drinks, snacks and ice creams from the supermarket.

We stayed here. Small private pool, washing machine, dishwasher, barbecue, walking distance to restaurants, marina, supermarket, beaches and other attractions not too far away. Try onthebeach to search for the best price on flights over a range of dates.

Do it right and the work is minimal, even the 10 YO can be on dishwasher duty, the DC can go to the shop for ice-cream en masse while you relax by the pool (give them an allowance for the week so they're not constantly asking for money). Nicer experience than the type of AI that's within your very healthy budget and far cheaper than high end AI.

Op I was you last year I ended up looking and looking online. In the end I just booked something that was a bit more than I wanted cause I wasn't seeing anything else that I wanted. Luckily it was amazing.

My advice, pick a travel company and just have a look around. Put which places you'd considered. Be really specific with what your ideal is. Then see what comes up and what you like the look of.

It's not a quick job. If you want to then go in and see a travel agent it might make you feel more comfortable.

How exciting for your dcs!

I'm not going to find a holiday for you but I can give you some advice about how to go about looking for one. I find tui and first choice work out cheaper for us but it may be different for you (I'm in s/e with younger dcs).

Have a think about what else you want. You've said pool and near a beach, what about the following :-

1. Do you want day/evening entertainment?
2. Are you happy with a buffet or do you want an a la carte restaurant too? Any dietary requirements - some AI struggle with this others are fine.
3. Is a snack bar important to you?
4. Do you want to get out an explore? Eat out occasionally? Is there anything your dcs would want to do or will they be happy with beach/pool?

Mnetters tend to be a bit anti AI, and definitely anti anything less than 4 but I wouldn't necessarily rule out 3 rated places. In my experience the star rating is just as much about the facilities (or lack thereof) as much as the quality. I stayed at a nice 3 last year, I don't think it would be suitable for your family as it is aimed at youger children, but the food was better than some 4 I've been to, soft drinks (including slushies), beer, coffee, wine was self service which was great for me as it was quick and no queuing. The snack bar is the best I've ever had, it was a smaller version of the main buffet and was replenished throughout the day. Many families ate lunch at the snackbar which meant the main restaurant was quite quiet at lunchtime. It is 3* as there was no a la carte restaurant, gym or spa.

I'm not too concerned about what star the tour operator and hotel use, I'm more concerned about TripAdvisor reviews. Of course these can be faked but overall it gives a good gist of the hotel and is great at narrowing down things that are important to you. You can do a key search on TripAdvisor for 'beach' and find out how far the beach is, whether there are any facilities at the beach etc. Also useful for finding out about hidden charges such as aircon, safe, fridges, mineral water (!). Also remember tourist tax in Spain is payable when you get there/leave.

Whilst I can understand not wanting to be in a stag hotel (filter family hotels as they often won't allow large single sex groups) I wouldn't necessarily rule out a stag resort. The 'brit abroad' resorts tend to have a lot going on (Salou for example has two theme parks, a water park, close to Barcelona, family orientated evening bars, lots of jetskis etc on the beach plus loads more). There is also a lot more competition with bars/restaurants so eating out is a bit cheaper if you do want a meal or two away from the hotel.

Enjoy!

OP seconding the suggestion to get good travel insurance, I would actually speak to the insurance company to confirm it would be covered in case of coronavirus cancellations. Not being alarmist, it's just a fact of life at the moment, my friend had her place in the Tokyo marathon and her whole Japan trip cancelled.

Did you book anything ?

I think your budget is fine you just need to keep an eye out for the right deal. Watch Italy come crashing down any time now and the Italian lakes are amazing. We went there last year more reasonably than Majorca.
Other than that I would say if you go in may half term stick to canaries/Cyprus to ensure weather. The playa Blanca/playa flamingo area in lanzarote is very family friendly.
Other than that I would say Portugal for main summer is always a winner or Greek islands but be flexible. Set loads of destinations on TUI or select all and see what comes up!

www.booking.com/hotel/es/hostal-bonanza-sitges.en-gb.html?aid=839822;label=booking-202e8020fc6846db9255ea8d343c5e2f;sid=206daf07dfe75aefaceb40fa027a5ee4;age=9;age=9;age=9;age=9;all_sr_blocks=117629908_130254878_0_85_0;checkin=2020-07-20;checkout=2020-07-29;dest_id=197;dest_type=country;dist=0;group_adults=2;group_children=4;hapos=3;highlighted_blocks=117629908_130254878_0_85_0;hpos=3;nflt=mealplan%3D4%3B;no_rooms=1;req_adults=2;req_age=9;req_age=9;req_age=9;req_age=9;req_children=4;room1=A%2CA%2C12%2C9%2C8%2C6;sb_price_type=total;sr_order=popularity;sr_pri_blocks=117629908_130254878_0_85_0__371899;srepoch=1582837040;srpvid=344e9358429a0102;type=total;ucfs=1&

£3128, 2 bedrooms, 9 nights, AI. You'd have to get flights on top but should be able to get 6 returns for 2k. Sitges is nice :)

You can get 10 days all inc in Spain or Balearics for 18th July approx £4000 total. It's only slightly more to book through an agent though. First choice and TUI are the same company, jet 2 and on the beach are usually the cheapest.

I'd also second everyone's warnings about AI.

I live in Cairo, & take a brief lazy AI long weekend with my 3dc maybe twice a year in Hurghada or Gouna or Sharm. It's the easiest break imaginable for me - I get to read my Kindle on a sun lounger whilst staying mildly buzzed all day on Long Island Iced Tea as the kids go water park nuts.

But here's the thing - it works for 3 days, max. After that you're very over the queueing for the same buffet of meh food 3x a day.

If you're going for 7-10 days, definitely go for self catering. Send the teenagers out to the handy local supermarket to buy bread, yoghurt, fruit, cheese or whatever for breakfast. Give them each a daily budget to buy something for lunch - chips, pizza or ice cream, so long as they're happy - AI unless top end is an endless procession of junk at lunch anyway. Eat out in the evenings.

Egypt might work for you actually 😉. Our weather is lovely in May!

@Suetheliar

I need the name of the self serve wine hotel!

@thenanny23

It's Tui Suneo Victoria Playa in Menorca. Also some self-service pre-mixed cocktails just to enhance the class factor