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.

Ha, I saw this and thought it was bonkers! Obviously some people must spend those amounts but it’s a pretty narrow audience. An article focusing on destinations rather than resorts would be much more useful.

Our holidays abroad as a family of four tend to be Eurocamp type things for a week plus a night or two in a hotel. Usually c£2k for travel and accommodation.

With a toddler OP you want:

• short daytime flights from your local airport


• a nice, shallow toddler/kiddie pool with a fence round it


• a gently shelving, sandy beach


• not too hot


• preferably a suite or apartment rather than one hotel room, although if you have a balcony one room can work.

Balearic Islands are great in Sept. Puerto Pollensa is popular with families, but lots of resorts work well and have nice beaches. I'd look at Jet2 for packages, if they fly from an airport near you.

No. Never.

No you definitely do not need to spend that kind of money. Just look on easyJet holidays for a package holiday they were cheaper than jet2 when I compared the two last week

I guess some people can afford to spend £30k otherwise these very expensive resorts wouldn't exist.
But even the cheap end is more than I am willing to pay 😄
My DH would hate inclusive resorts and DD doesn't like being hot. I don't like travelling so a few nights in the UK suits us best. Horses for courses.

Of course they do. Holidays are ridiculously expensive, which is why we've never managed to go on one. I remember looking at Disneyworld a few years ago and some of their packages were in the 40-50k range! That's 4 years salary for me!

We just came back from a nice hotel in Portugal called 3HB Humbria. Hotel was clean and rooms big, food really good, kids entertainment (although mine are teenagers, the hotel is geared up more for younger children). Cost us just under £2k for 6 nights all inclusive, flights separate think around £1k. Not loads in the local area but we got Ubers to the water park, mini golf etc. And the hotel has some slides.

en.magicnatura.com/bookcore/availability/rooms/magicnatura?lang=en&occupancies=%255B%257B%2522ages%2522%253A%2520%2522%2522%252C%2520%2522adults%2522%253A%25201%252C%2520%2522children%2522%253A%25200%257D%255D&rrc=1&adults=1&occp=1

plus flights - unless to let us know your nearest airport

We definitely don't. Just back from 9 days in an expensive city in Europe with two children and it cost about £2500.

Have you looked at Madeira? That's beautiful and often has good packages available.

Cheaper holidays mean fewer conveniences and facilities - so while the costs in this article are absolutely in line with what lots of people pay, if you reduce the luxury of course you can go cheaper. We're big fans of self catering accommodation and have had success via AirBnB.

We also have done Thomson/Tui family holidays previously at family resorts. They tend to be much more basic than what you see in this article, but certainly the last one we took to Spain with DS who was 4 at the time was fine for us. And much cheaper than these ones!

I’ve had a look at the article and over the last 10 years we’ve stayed at 10 of the resorts listed: they’re amazing and yes that’s what it costs and they are full - so people do pay that money.

A decent all inclusive in Europe, school hols for a family of 4 will cost from 4k upwards, so not I’m not surprised. Increase fuel costs + staffing costs aren’t just a UK thing.
tbh a wk in a Dorset camp site for next July was nearly 2k, an all inclusive in the sun for 4k seems like a bargain by comparison!

We spend under £3000 for 6 of us (2 child free places) in AI resorts in Turkey

We're going to Egypt
5 star AI. 4.5 k for 2 adults and 1 child.

In the 1980s we had a self-catering cottage in the UK for a week. Cost £200.
Twice in my childhood my mum splashed out on a Teletext holiday in Spain - £300 for a week self-catering.

To me, £7k is what you spend on a car. Or put into your life savings.
But I generally don't give a toss about holidays.

Ww spent about 6k at Easter in the canaries for AI 2 adults 3 kids and it wasn't even the most expensive TUI resort, by far.

We haven't stayed at an expensive resort like this but we have done a long weekend at Disneyland Paris. It was hilariously expensive.... but the experience was very different and much better than the cheap and cheerful places we've been to.

What we noticed at Disney was just how well organised it was, how everything was pleasant and clean, there were plenty of staff around and while we queued for rides and experiences, there wasn't much need to queue for other things like getting snacks/drinks or getting into the park etc. The food at the buffets was better by 1000 than the more basic all inclusive holiday place we went to just before Covid etc etc.

So there's an element of you get what you pay for. Doesn't mean that cheaper holidays aren't good. Just that you won't have the same level of service and comfort and choice.

That was 40 years ago.

Cars cost a lot more than that, and if 7k is your lif savings, you're in trouble.

Wow! I’ve never done packages, we’ve always road tripped. I was vaguely wondering if DD would enjoy a resort type thing, and I would enjoy the break. Looks like we won’t be finding out!

Yes, we are going to one resort on this list next week and paying that much - it isn’t for everyone, it is right for us this year. As others have said, there are many options for different budgets out there - most unlikely to be included in The Times.

We go for cheap and cheerful holidays in exotic-type locations. People often imply we must spend a lot on holidays. I know we spend less than people going to Cornwall with a hired cottage or all-inclusive to a five-star resort in a popular holiday destination.

We did AI in Spain and Greek Islands when the kids were younger. Never spent more than 3000 and I have to go in school holidays. Greek AI was ace for kids.

We're back to sc again now and generally spend up to 2500 for a week in school holidays. Sc tends to end up more expensive than A I, but you don't have to eat in a canteen every night.

It’s The Times, they’ll have a certain reader demographic who can afford it.
Meanwhile I’m a Daily Mail online reader (cos it’s free) and am going to Majorca with Jet2 for £600.00 each.

Does anyone have a share token for the article?

No that's a ludicrous idea. We budget around 1.5-2k for all inc holidays. This years was only 1.3k