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.

Yes I agree @StillWantingADog, if I was looking at the Eurocamp sites in southern France/Spain/Italy etc, I'd definitely look at going in the may half term holiday. The weather in southern Europe is gorgeous then.

My daughter went to the Netherlands last August and it was 36C !

We had a 3 week holiday there when the kids were little and had a great time - but we weren't on a tight budget. If you can all cycle it would be an ideal country to go to - perhaps with some sort of family rail pass?

Could you do a house swop or youth hosteling?

If you go onto Skyscanner you can search flights to ‘everywhere’ and they come up in price order. I would do that for all London airports to know for sure if ruling flights in or out. The last week is sometimes cheaper.

Something like this on VRBO sleeps 10 and is just under £1400 for the week (with pool): https://t.vrbo.io/CqHrEBp55Bb - not recommending it, but just first option when I searched for accommodation for a larger group!
If you look carefully for flights at all south of France airports, you can often grab a bargain for around £100 return each, if not less.

If your budget's really tight, have you considered your budget for food/drinks/transport/days out as well as the accommodation budget? Some places are cheaper for food/drinks etc than others. I've been in a similar position and done some comparison calculations for different locations, board basis etc. When I've put all the estimated costs on paper I've sometimes found that the cheap self catering option is not actually the cheapest. When we've travelled in a larger family party with a wide age range we've actually found that a budget all inclusive works out loads cheaper and less complicated than trying to self cater. The food/drink does get a bit repetitive but with a big group we've found it's much easier than trying to cater for everyone or agree on eating out, and less stressful knowing that all the essentials are paid for up-front.

Look at easyjet holidays.

I can find a 2x apartments in Crete for £2.5 k last week of July so should be summer hols, Petraeus village I can't link as using the app, others in Turkey.

We're going to Turkey in October and it's cost us £1.5k less than if we'd gone in the summer. The weather will be mid 20s which is perfect for sightseeing.

Airbnb and no hire car - somewhere like Valencia where you don't need a car and can go to a beach

Do a eurocamp!

Your best bet would be to book a gite in South of France and get a hire car. You would need to find cheap flights into somewhere like nimes.

Honestly it will be possible.
Look now on vrbo (slightly more pricey than Airbnb often but more reliable) and look at Italy, France, Spain or Portugal.
Look on Skyscanner for flights to nearby airports or airports accessible by train to the apartment/house. We often fly from one London airport and back to another to make it cheaper.
We usually go for 2 weeks in the summer holidays somewhere very hot like Italy or Portugal. There are only 4 of us (adult plane fares) but we never spend more than £1500. Accommodation tends to be cheaper per person the more of you there are (assuming room sharing etc) so I think you will be able to do it.

You'd be mad to fly or get a ferry with 7, so expensive. Dover ferries always take ages. Use the tunnel prob about 300 all in return for all of you. If you check in 1hr before you can jump on to the next train.
Def canvas holidays, eurocamp or cenetreparks. All the Netherlands ones looks good just make sure it has a pool and arcade not too boring for the kids.

plymouth to Santander ferry? Hire a nice people carrier. Rent a big mobile home or camp. You’re gonna be self catering on your budget anyway but most of those sights allow barbecues and have supermarkets.

If you are in/near London you could save a bunch of money by putting the house on house swap sites/FB groups. You would then have accomodation for free and just pay for flights.

https://www.eurocamp.co.uk/reservations/search-results

I’m an independent travel agent and just had a really quick look, 3.2k for all of you self-catering in Spain with flights, luggage, accommodation and transfers. Early August 2024 using a trade-only supplier. I’d most likely be able to get you somewhere for less if I spent more time on it.

Please use a proper independent travel agent. Yes you may save a couple of hundred quid booking things separately but if any element of your holiday goes tits up it won’t be covered by package travel regulations and you’ll be left sorting it out and possibly out of pocket.

Lots of options on Love Holidays. I’ve been booking with them for years. Always cheaper to fly on Tuesdays. This one in GC £346pp as an example

https://www.loveholidays.com/holidays/l/?masterId=1857690&nights=7&rooms=2-6-12%2C3&date=2024-08-27

Also they have not yet released all of 2024 accommodation, call eurocamp and they can help or email you when the big caravans are released

Pet sitting! There are websites you can register and can do this all over the globe.

Sky scanner is your friend. Just search ‘everywhere’ and play around with it.

Eg I just went on and found flights from Standsted to Milan 27 July - 3 August for £789 for 6 adults and 1 kid.

If you can - don’t bother with luggage. Order the bags on Amazon for £11 that fit the under seat dimensions exactly. They fit loads in. You could supplement with 1 large suitcase between you if needed (or 2, you can play around with it). Basically though you’ll pay a fortune if you want luggage for everyone so avoid it.

Hotel Bellavista in Lake Como is £2.5k for those dates.

That was a 5 minute research job. You can obviously play around with destination a lot - but it’s doable. The cheap flights are key.

You can do this OP! Even Northern France is generally a little warmer and more settled than the UK because it has a continental climate. If you're happy to stay somewhere without a pool it will be cheaper - we've stayed in gites in the past where there's been a lake or river swimming spot very near.

Easyjet flights booked early to somewhere like Bordeaux or Barcelona or Nice somewhere with lots of flights. Then book your transfers/public transport to either an air bnb or a french campsite. However a lot of the sites have the big caravans and sleeping 7 is a bit difficult.
I would look at air bnb house as they have twin rooms/ sofa bed options.
Maybe 10 days instead of 14. Some air bnb blaces I looked at in Bordeaux had pools and quite reasonable.

If up for camping, camping in northern France. This lovely campsite is one hour drive from Le Havre (Brittany Ferries)and 3 hrs from Calais (P & O, cheaper). Sun not guaranteed but v possible.
https://www.campinglebrevedent.com/?lang=en

You could do the Rail & Sail from Harwich to Hook of Holland. The overnight boat is a big adventure (and gives you two nights of your accommodation).

Youth Hostels there are great and we have used them very successfully for multi-generational holidays. Your older kids could stay downstairs playing pool, for example, when you put the younger ones to bed.

Especially recommend: https://www.stayokay.com/en/hostel/den-haag or https://www.stayokay.com/en/hostel/amsterdam-vondelpark 

Have a look on eurocamp, they have resorts in Italy/Spain etc.