AIBU to ask where the hell can I take seven people on holiday without bankrupting myself?!

[Whysomany]

Not really an AiBU but posting for traffic after weeks of research and coming up blank.

Promised the kids a holiday, specifically abroad, as they've never been. August 2024. Made the mistake of promising before fully researching and quite frankly I feel a bit fucked now.

I think they'd all like to travel by plane having never done so before and probably unlikely to again but blimey, flights for seven people. I severely under estimated. Looking at driving instead. This we can do but DH doesn't want to drive too far because his car is old and crap, basically.

Originally looking at South of France, Italy, Spain, etc. They all seem out now because of flights and hire car costs. And I don't think I could persuade DH to take his car that far. I have since looked at pretty much every destination in Europe...

All I've got at this point is a week in the Netherlands but honestly at this point, that feels a little disappointing after dreaming of a hot destination and somewhere a bit further away to the UK.

Am I doing something wrong or basically I'm right and it's just not doable? We were looking at Eurocamp and the equivalents.

No set budget. Originally looking at 2.5 - 3k plus food, days out, etc. Might be able to go a bit higher.

Can''t the DC who has a full time job contribute?
Do you all have passports? Adult passports are £82.50 each, and children's passports are £53.50 each.

Canvas holidays in Brittany or Loire valley with a great pool and flumes. We’ve stayed in a few when dc were little - always opted for static caravan and took massive bag of pasta and Ragu sauces to have with bbq meat (purchased at the holiday location) using the caravan bbq. Really nice sites - very different feel to uk caravan sites.

@Whysomany just for example
This is for 2 adults -5 kids

@Whysomany

Bulgaria. www.greenliferesorts.bg/en/sozopol/about-the-resort

I agree about northern Spain - lots of well priced accommodation close to Reus, Barcelona or Girona airports, and you could get cheapish flights late in August with Ryanair or Easyjet.

Don't forget the cost of passports if you all need them, that's got to be around £500 or more?

But I'd definitely ask the older two if they actually want to come. You don't want to be spending hundreds of pounds on a holiday they don't really want.

But if they do come, it's not unreasonable to (indirectly) ask them to contribute towards the cost. If they're working, they should be paying board and paying their own mobile and possibly other costs depending on what they earn, which might free up more money towards the holiday.

Can you also make some extra money to boost the holiday fund? Switch your bank account for the introductory bonus- £150-200 in the holiday fund. Sell some unwanted clothes or other household items, more money in the holiday fund. Do overtime, baby sitting, etc, money in the holiday fund. Put in a savings account and earn a little interest along the way too.

Check out crossing Newhaven to Dieppe, then driving to the Vendee is approx 5 hours. Eurocamp have amazing sites in that area. A fab small resort is La Tranche sur Mer, and if you are campers you can do it on a shoestring budget. The Vendee has better weather generally speaking.

We did ferry, tolls, petrol and 2 weeks camping for under £1k last year! (obviously spending money on top) The campsite had a pool, and was fabulous.

Looking at Eurocamp for next year and it will be £2k plus ferry/travel but easier than camping.

Oh and yes 7 seater cars are extortionate. We always book two smaller cars and it works out much cheaper than one 7 seater weirdly? But in Spain public transport is great and trains have deals I August such as free for under 16s to encourage travel on trains

We're not long back from a trip to Italy this summer and the park was really lovely (a Hu Openair one). Just taking a wild stab in the dark at suitable dates and ages of your family, I got the following search results:

7 return flights from Gatwick to Florence totalling £986 on Skyscanner

7 nights at Hu Norcenni Girasole in a 3 bed lodge (sleeping 8) totalling £979 via Eurocamp (I couldn't get Hu's own website to work just now, but it's worth checking as they seem to have nicer lodges and have 3 beds)

Add approx £700-£800 to hire a people carrier for the week, or save and take trains to and from Florence

Check out the Centre Parcs in Belgium and the Netherlands for late April. Waaaay cheaper than the UK.

Would you consider going to Spain by coach?

https://www.siestaholidays.co.uk/brochure

Used to be all the rage before the advent of the budget airlines.

How about camping in Duinrell in the Netherlands with overnight ferry? End aug might be cheaper because European kids back at school by then.

Dover to calais is fine. DH is happy to drive anywhere within 5 hours of calais but ideally no more because the car is a heap of crap which is annoying really because if we had a more reliable comfy car he'd happily drive right down to the south 12 14 hours ish.

Have posted about this before but Folkestone to Calais and then it's 4 hours drive to either Netherlands: Centerparcs de Kempervennen or Belgium: Centerparcs De vossemerren. Both have sleeps 4/6/8/10 lodges and you just pay for the accommodation, then self cater. Aquamundo splash and water slides and there are extra activities if you can pay. Belgium one has Discovery Bay, De Kempervenne has ski centre.

It's not "hot" climate but it's a lot more affordable compared to the UK CPs. We love it, have been going for years and my two are 20 and 17!

Don’t bother with the car, you can definitely get cheap Ryanair flights and Eurocamp at a nice campsite for that money.

The flights for next year are not even out yet, why are you so disheartened?

ferry and car costs way more than flights, camping in France is not a cheap holiday anymore.

what will cost you a lot though are 7x passports and holiday insurance. That’s a fair amount of money and I would get them sorted before January.

House swap? There used to be house swap “clubs”.
West France. La Rochelle, Ile de Re area? Inland in France you get campsites around a lake. Kayaks usually available with safety equipment.
Weatger not so reliable but west Normandy- Brittany area easily driveable.

*sorry to add this is Channel Tunnel and shaves off an hour and a half journey time compared to ferry.

Right number one, easyJet flights for next summer aren't out yet. You need to set an alarm for when they go on sale and book straight away. Be flexible with location and country.
Dubrovnik is usually cheap to fly into, also Naples or Pisa. Look on booking.com, not air bnb. Do cheapest to highest. Self cater.

We did this for four adults two kids.
Flights booked as soon as available £120 for me and two children. £60 return for adults.
Holiday apartment £599 for us all for a week. Looks ok, no pool but plenty of local pools nearby and also THE SEA!
Do not book packages.
Use google translate or a Spanish friend to book Spanish accommodation as its nearly always cheaper.
Don't fear local public transport.
Research your areas.
Check out flying into one place and out of another to avoid cost.
Remember travel is adventure and getting a bit lost and eating at local places is part of the fun.

Get your car checked out in advance and get European breakdown cover. I’m driving to Italy on Friday and getting a mini service / safety check tomorrow. You need to factor in the time it takes to drive, the cost of motorway tolls if you want to get there as quickly as possible and cost of an overnight stay, unless you’re both going to drive in shifts (about an 11-hour drive from Calais). Also, don’t forget the cost of the ferry.

If you’re able to drive to France, maybe you could investigate somewhere to park and consider hopping on the cheap train a bit further south? It’s called Ouigo

I live in Scotland and because our school holidays are different, flights from here will be significantly cheaper than from England if you went in the second half of August. Obviously you'd have to factor in driving or getting the train to Scotland which might cancel out any savings but it's worth looking into.

Definitely use skyscanner for flights but it might be too early right now for all airlines to show August 2024. You'll likely have better luck from November/December onwards. I don't have a large family but I regularly book travel and accommodation for my work team and love doing this kind of comparison research, I do think it will be possible for you.

Oh, and use TopCashback - Expedia and booking.com regularly have good cashback deals, expedia has been 10% for months now.

Some airlines even the 12 year old would be an adult fare. So 6 adults and 1 kid. There aren't late bargains there used to be. You may be better off booking for next Summer and saving.

Oh OP, I'd really like you to go! We're going here, flights to Reus with Ryanair are cheap and you can book this through Eurocamp, but cheaper if you book direct.

Try Latvia....fly to Riga from Luton....the beach is not that far from Luton. Is such good value!

If you get the ferry from Portsmouth to Bilbao in Spain you can get to South of France in c 4 hours drive. Might be worth investigating.