To think you can’t get a family holiday for £500

[Lalalawhitenoise]

inspired by a thread of a woman who’s taking her kids to florida, one of the poster said It was obscene spending that amount of money and that some families spend £500, maybe £1000 max on a family holiday for a family of 4.

I read it got me wondering, can you really get a family holiday (not tent camping) for £500? If so where? That would really help us out as was maybe thinking we might not be able to get a hols this year, what hols can you get (summer time ish) for under that £1k mark? Is it even possible?

I got a week in Yorkshire for 525 may half term. 5 of us in 3 bed caravan. Pool etc on site

It's fun, Liverpool would probably be better on a budget though. The Premier Inn type breaks are normally cheaper during the week too- I know you said weekend but if you could rustle up the annual leave for October, the money would likely go a bit further midweek. Be careful with Liverpool on Mondays though cos the museums are mostly shut then.

It's possible but unless you're really on a very tight budget most people will prefer to spend more to be more comfortable. It's a lot easier to slum it a bit without children too.

A quick glance at booking .com shows you can rent an entire 4 bedroom vacation house with aircon and pool in Marrakech in August for £190 for 6 nights. So I guess if you can get a decent price on flights (hopefully one of your kids is under 2 and traveling for free!), maybe share one check in bag and do some self catering (although eating out is cheap there) then you could possibly manage it for under a grand?

It's possible but unless you're really on a very tight budget most people will prefer to spend more to be more comfortable. It's a lot easier to slum it a bit without children too.

With little kids it's often kind of a middle ground.

So you're right that a lot of the tactics to keep things cheap pre kids are out. You're probably not going to spend 12 hours sleeping in an airport to shave a few hundred quid off flights when you've got toddlers, that type of thing.

However, with little ones, some of the more expensive things people like to do aren't worth it anyway. In the pursuit of an easier life, you often end up doing things on the cheap. So for example some people have talked about wanting to go for nice meals, but even if money were no object, toddlers and meals out often aren't worth the non-financial effort. A 2 year old may very well cope better with the beach next door than a busy theme park, whether people have the money for expensive tickets or not. Sometimes you end up being inherently slummy with young DC just because of the way they behave.

@Lalalawhitenoise
If you book in advance and online think we paid £65 ish for adults
And I will admit my kids were under 3 so didn't have to pay for them

And food wise definitely a rip off but that's why we only did 1 day there
The rest of the holiday we made breakfast at airb&b with groceries we brought
And ate street food around Paris
So was cheap
And didn't mind paying more for stuff in Disney cause we saved 1000s compared to if we were to fly somewhere

parkdean, 7 nights for 4 people in a caravan from Monday 28th August has options at a number of sites for either just under or over £500 Holiday Sales (parkdeanresorts.co.uk)

All depends what you class as a holiday

However, with little ones, some of the more expensive things people like to do aren't worth it anyway. In the pursuit of an easier life, you often end up doing things on the cheap.

This is very true. I never thought I would choose to holiday in Butlins, but we went several times when the DCs were tiny because it is just so perfectly catered towards them and was cheap enough that we were OK if it turned out to be a disaster. If DCs are happy, then you have half a chance of a reasonable and fun holiday (I still wouldn't use 'relaxing' though!).

We got one for about £250ish for Mon-Fri in June this year. Maybe because we booked early?! It’s Haven in Dorset. We’re going to Spain in the school holidays & it wasn’t ‘’cheap” cheap, but £1.5k ish - for four of us in july/august for a 4* all inc. I’d say do your research, look for codes and look around. It’s definitely possible

A grand. Lol fuck that

We usually just go for long weekends or midweeks but our caravan hols never cost more than £500. Usually only a couple of hundred.

@Amanduh where do you get a cheap all inclusive for 1.5k in August? I can't see anything for less than 4k for summer hols 2024. Maybe your kids are very young though? where as mine aren't.

I guess different people have different ideas as to what "family holiday" means. For me it's seven days, minimum, and as it's family it has to be in school holidays. Not four days in a caravan in brid in January. I mean yeah you can do that for sub-500. I would hope, anyway. But it's not really the big main event all dancing all singing point on the calendar to look forward to that one envisages when one hears the phrase "family holiday".

Sorry you really need to look closer. Aslong as you don't pick school holidays or other holidays then 500 for a week is more than do able providing you dont want saunas hot tubs etc lol...well used to having holidays in uk this years main holiday Northumberland 8 bed cottage own garden and parking next to the sea for 2 weeks for £842 for hubby me and 4 kids and sister in law and her daughter and my dog in 2 weeks time lol...been to this one before and its basic yes but 2 ensuites living rooms etc. You have to know where to look. Last years was in Wales that was around the 710 for 2 weeks

So freezing then.

Live in Scotland, holiday in England in late June into July. Plenty of caravan holidays for around £500 for 10 nights.

Not everybody needs heat for a holiday. 🤷‍♀️

We stayed there for a week last month, 3 different cottages, the were all clean and tidy well equipped and it's a good base to explore the area. We will probably go back later in the year. Hope you have a lovely time too.

Yeah don't bother going to the Costa del sol. Just stand around in Filey with your coat on. It's the same!

I know this may come as some surprise, but the sun does shine in Filey, amazingly it even reaches the extremes of the north.

I will not hear a bad word said about Filey.

Lol I do like Filey but it's not malaga

We've booked a very nice 2 bedroom lodge in the lakes in summer hols for 7 nights for £870 through sykes cottages. Usually I book through hoseasons. If you don't mind where you go there's always bargains to be had. Last year we had a week in a hot tub lodge in Cornwall for £550 in the Oct half term. It was 30min drive from the coast which probably explains the price but was a brand new lodge and lovely

You can get a cottage or cabin for 2 adults + 2 kids in West Wales close to the coast for £500 a week in the summer holidays. westwalesholidaycottages.co.uk or airbnb.

Not holiday related at all but your username made me giggle

Of course you can! We were looking at hiring a caravan in cornwall that sleeps 8 in July for 5 nights and it was around £450