To think nobody spends THIS MUCH on holidays with kids?

[GrahameSylvia]

Scouting around for September holiday ideas for us and our 18 month old and came across this in today’s Times.

25 cool family resorts in Europe, the cheapest is about £4k for a week, the priciest £32k but on average about £7k. Admittedly they are mostly all inclusive but REALLY?!?!? Is this the kind of silly money people spend on holidays are once they have kids?

www.thetimes.co.uk/article/25-cool-family-resorts-in-europe-g9knl5n7l

On a side note, if anyone has a great hotel or self catering recommendation for somewhere sunny in Europe that will work well with a young toddler do share, finding places that don’t cost the kind of money we can - but are not willing on principle - to pay is a nightmare.

Yes, I think people do spend this. Holidays are expensive. All inclusive resorts can work out cheaper or, at the very least, reliable in terms of cost with fewer ad hoc expenses. But holidays are pricey.

There are three of us (2 adults and 1 three year old) and we spend circa 3.5k for one week all inclusive at a 5* resort which doesn’t include a free child place so o can definitely seeing it costing 4/4.5k if there are two children.

Well I’m guessing the times are going to be showing the cheap and cheerful places! But when you factor in the cost of flights accommodation food etc then yes it will get expensive

This year two weeks AI in Ibiza was just over £6k, people can do spend a lot more than that! I would if I could afford it.

Highly recommend Ibiza or any Balearic island with a toddler, short flight, totally set up for families, safe warm beaches and I would never have done AI pre kids it really is great, you could come here and not spend a penny if you can cope with the same food for 14 days in a row

We could afford that but much prefer an Airbnb somewhere with a beach and other things to do - e.g. Lisbon, Barcelona, that sort of destination

I saw this this morning and thought it was completely ludicrous too. So tone deaf.

Yes that's what holidays cost.

Had a fortnight in canaries self catering. The property is in the family so that didn't cost me as much as it should have. But the flights alone were £600 a person. So £2400 before anywhere to sleep or any food.

We had one night AI to bridge the gap before flying home. That alone was £450.

Florida next year for a fortnight we won't have change from £15k and we aren't staying anywhere luxurious and again will need spending money.

Of course they do. £4k is on the cheaper side.

Well yes, OP, if they can afford it (which obviously, many people can't). But if you want to go to a swanky AI resort in the school summer holidays, that's pretty much what it costs.

For all inclusive somewhere nice-ish in summer hols especially if last minute, yes £4k won't get you much. Prices go up hugely in holidays and have risen a lot in past 5-6 years too.

It’s The Times - it’s not aimed at people on a budget.

Holidays are expensive 🤷🏻‍♀️

We don't have children so can travel term-time only but once you factor in food, flights, passports, transport, day trips, transfers etc. for multiple people then it won't be cheap.

We usually pay around 2k for a family of 4. Thats for 7 nights AI with waterpark....
Last holiday was May 2019, we did book for April 2020 for a similar price but obviously covid happened.
I've looked since but hard to find much under 3k now, I'm guessing that's just what we will have to pay if we want to go abroad again!

You either take your kids out of school or you pay silly prices - it's not the 'kids' so much as 'term time' so hopefully with a toddler you aren't hitting it quite yet.

Flights for four are going to cost twice as much as flights for two, flights for four in school holidays are going to cost again. We have a 16yo who is too tall for a pull-down bed, so that's another room... it soon adds up.

We spent a week in a beautiful Spanish city - 2 adults and one dc renting a beautiful apartment. 250 for ryanair flights and 1000 for the apartment. With spending money, the holiday cost 2000 euro. Holidays don't have to be extortionate.

Yes they are expensive - the tourism industry has 2 years of lost profits to try and recoup.
There are much cheaper options out there though for people on a lower budget.

We have tbh and a bit more but we usually like resorts and need two rooms for five

Booking for this year I’ve found prices even higher

This! Times recommendations are always pretty to extremely expensive

Term time you don't have to spend that much. We used to go half board, all inclusive is a bit wasted on small children. £1k is the absolute max we spent for a week in the Canaries or similar.

Since dd1 started school we have camped in France. Also £1k pre COVID, now the ferry is more expensive so it's more like £1.5k for a fortnight.

Well holidays are expensive.
we’re paying 1600 flights for 4, 200 transfers and 1500 for two weeks air B and B. We will do a combination of eating out and in depending on costs. We don’t drink. So 3300 before food. Having said that we holiday abroad every 2/3 years , we can’t afford it every year. The in between years we remain at home where we are lucky enough to live near fab beaches.

I know it’s not what you’re getting at but thanks for sharing, I’m bookmarking for next year!

On a side note, if anyone has a great hotel or self catering recommendation for somewhere sunny in Europe that will work well with a young toddler do share, finding places that don’t cost the kind of money we can - but are not willing on principle - to pay is a nightmare.
With a toddler I can recommend Riccione - lots of hotels/apartments, never had a bad meal there and the beach is really set up for children. Plus interesting places to visit nearby if you get fed up of the beach!

We paid 3k this August for a family of 4 AI in Portugal, took a lot of searching though. Thought I was going to have to pay 4-5k - which is a lot for us.

We are just desperate for a break after the last couple of years and feel it's worth it, but we wouldn't normally spend more than 3k unless it's long haul.

About average for Europe we refuse to pay it. For around 4-5k you can get two weeks 5* all inclusive in the Caribbean in October if you take them out for two weeks or just over 5k if you include the October half term as one week. It's about the same doing February half term aswell.

For the summer we like Egypt, Turkey, Morocco again around the 4-5k mark for two weeks. Jaz Mirabel in sharm is currently 3:5k for the middle of august 2023.

It's not silly money, its what it costs.