Holidaying abroad is not an option for most people - is it???

[Heyduggee123]

So looking for next year - looking at Ibiza in June for 10 days AI - costs for a half decent hotel, not in the middle of nowhere are coming up at nearly £4k!!

By next year I'll have 4 year old twins and haven't been on holiday outside of the UK yet. This isn't even in the school holidays. How on earth does anyone afford this?

For context yes there are cheaper options, but anyone wanting anything other than just a room with separate bathroom for 4 of us with half decent reviews the costs just spiral.

I think I'll have to stick with our annual 2 weeks in Wales for a few years longer

Everyone on my Facebook friends list seems to have been abroad this Easter. I’ve no idea how they afford it, we can’t, I wish we could!

We searched for days but managed to find an 11 nights holiday all inclusive in Crete with a built in water park with TUI leaving mid June for £2,400. It was exhausting finding a deal, but they have multiple online deals on for £200 off etc.

@Wavygravy1 same here.

Which eurocamps have you all been to? Not something I've ever looked into. We used to go to Playa Bara in spain when we were kids when it was a caravan park. We travelled on a Siesta coach and loved it

I’ve been to camping fabulous near Rome and Villanova park near Barcelona. Didn’t go with Eurocamp though, in my experience they tend to more expensive and the accommodation no different. Venue holidays and canvas holidays are a bit cheaper and canvas even do a 10% NHS discount

@Workyticket

Which eurocamps have you all been to? Not something I've ever looked into. We used to go to Playa Bara in spain when we were kids when it was a caravan park. We travelled on a Siesta coach and loved it

I used to work for Eurocamp and my family once went on holidays with Sunsites. You stay in a tent, but you have electricity and separate 'inners' as bedrooms.

@thethoughtfox I booked through a local travel agent (I'm in Ireland) but I'm sure somewhere local to you could find similar!

We have been to La Croix du Vieux Pont four times and are going back for a fifth time this year. The DC were 5 and 3 the first time and will be 11 and 9 this time. They still love it. The pool and the lagoon are the biggest pulls for us.

www.eurocamp.co.uk/campsites/paris/pa012-la-croix-du-vieux-pont/ataglance.html#&gid=1&pid=1

We've also been to Beekse Bergen in the Netherlands which was fantastic. It's lakeside and on the other side of the lake (accessed by free boat or bus) is an amazing safari park and 'funland' which are both unlimited entry when you stay 3+ nights. DC were 7 and 5 that year.

www.eurocamp.co.uk/campsites/holland/hl013-beekse-bergen/ataglance.html

Ibiza is really expensive though!!!. Try Menorca - not as “hip” but great for kids and cheaper. Portugal is also cheaper than anywhere in Spain too….you can book nice small villas (ideal for a family) on air b&b for decent prices.

Er don’t do 10 days AI somewhere known to be pricey?

Do less nights, don’t do AI but half board or self catering, go to the “wrong place” Rome in August, South of France in the autumn m Spain in early spring.

Definitely go abroad while it’s still legal…

We have booked a villa for 11 nights for 6 people and flights for six people and its approx 500 each so can be done a lot cheaper. We will eat out occasionally but we will also shop and the local markets and supermarkets and cook some nights.

OP this one is 3k for your family for 10 days, 4 star all inclusive, two separate sleeping areas. There are others on Tui for under 4K in Ibiza.

YANBU but I'd still call it affordable if you look for various options to save money, i.e. trying different airports, using id photo makers for visa photos, looking for destination ideas within budget, comparing lodging options etc.

I just costed up our holiday abroad this year. Easter not Summer, as cheaper. Cheapest flights I could find to somewhere sunny. Booking.com. 6 nights for 5 people for £950.
This includes flights, luggage, seats, airport parking, city centre apartment with balcony walking distance to beach, insurance, airport transfer, and pet sitting.

@girlmom21

People don't generally go to Ibiza with young children, to be fair.

A family holiday won't normally cost £4000, even AI, and people spread the cost over monthly payments. It's completely unaffordable for some families but not for most, I wouldn't say.

With the rising cost of UK holidays you might find that two weeks in Wales in school holidays isn't much cheaper than 2 weeks in Spain.

Yes they do!

Since having our baby we’ve gone for self-catering/Airbnb rather than hotels - cheaper and gives more space for toddlers to explore. We just did a week in mainland Spain, lovely central 2 bed apartment with a roof terrace and hot tub - the whole trip came in at around £2.2k for a week including business class flights (we wouldn’t usually but wanted the extra space with a toddler that’s not in her own seat yet)

I get confused when people say that they are staying in the UK as a cheaper option. For my family, I believe we would spend much more overall; it’s one of the reasons we always go all inclusive abroad.

We went to Greece for 11 nights all inclusive last August. I’d looked at Butlins, and to go there, with their premier dining package, would actually have cost more. That isn’t an all inclusive package either, I think it worked out only at half board. I didn’t even bother looking at centre parcs prices!

With 3 DC, it would all add up in terms of drinks, ice cream, snacks, money for extra activities… when we are in an all inclusive resort then that it is all covered, including any children’s activities they want to attend. Plus I don’t have to cook anything ever, and the fussy ones can just pick and try what they want.

It depends what you're looking for. Something like Centreparcs in th UK might well be more than a cheap package abroad. But I can book a perfectly nice SC cottage in the UK for the four of us for 1k, and all it will cost me is a tank of petrol to get there. We'll probably cook 4 or 5 nights and eat out in the pub the other two or three - so maybe £300 absolute max on that. We'll generally make picnics in the daytime, with the occasional cafe lunch plus the odd ice cream, so no different than if we were at home. We'd spend most of our time beaching or walking, with a couple of paid-for castles or whatever - so again, not much different from an average summer holiday week at home. That's far less than I'd spend on a foreign trip.

Inspiring thread. Thanks to contributors!

I had five lovely holidays in the UK during the Pandemic they were all really good (extremely lucky with the weather) but they were so expensive.

Booking flights and hotel separately. I've just come back from somewhere AI. We paid half by booking separately than those that had booked through Tui. Its a bit more faff and and you need to get in early for the cheaper flights but usually works out cheaper depending on where your going - Spain / Morocco etc.

@Wavygravy1

Everyone on my Facebook friends list seems to have been abroad this Easter. I’ve no idea how they afford it, we can’t, I wish we could!

I imagine quite a few are trips that have been paid for and postponed in 2020/2021.

We cancelled our 2021 one as the PCR rules basically doubled the cost. I half wish we'd just moved it to Easter this year.

@Heyduggee123

I've been told that old town ibiza is absolutely beautiful and not at all to be associated with the clubbing and hedonism that most people associate it with

It is. Of course people take children to Ibiza.

@Chely DH had a decade of travelling constantly with work with absolutely no pattern to it, I was working FT then. He sent me a txt sat by rooftop swimming pool views amazing, he was in Singapore. I replied I’m wrestling with toddler DS in the queue at Asda. I was very resentful at that exact moment in time. We did however we have lovely holidays every year, that must be hugely frustrating for you.

Free child places are your friend. I'm going to Ibiza in August with DH and DD and it's worked out really cheap as we got a free child place: about £1800 for a week half board in a really nice 4 star hotel in the far north of the island where its quiet and family friendly.
This is with Jet2 who I have found to be really good and often have money off offers if you keep checking.