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.

Have a look at loveholidays.com. I've just been playing around with the random two adults/5 kids of varying ages and found 5 night holidays in Costa Dorada - all inclusive, with swimming pool etc starting at £339
Obviously I have no idea of specific ages, boys or girls or whether one adult would have to sleep with 2 kids etc or where you are flying from - assuming any London Airport (as you were talking France etc) The fact that it might not be a full 7 night holiday is neither here nor there - it's just a holiday away somewhere hot as a family!!
Happy hunting!!

Center Parcs Netherlands? 7 nights over Easter = €1,216 (I did a quote on 4 adults and 3 children) plus some local taxes.

You'd have to get there obviously though.

It might not be hot and sunny but with an indoor tropical pool area, etc, it might not matter.

Alternatively, as others have said, try and get a place on AirBnB or VRBO.

Have you looked at Centreparcs in say belgium - i just did quicky and can get 4 bed cottage for 7 days in august for under 1300€. So still gives you money for extras including car hire if needed.

It's not any more. The ferry during the school holidays is the best part of £1.5K return for a family.

Have you checked out Eurostar?
Change at Lille to the HGV to Provence (south of France)

Check with your employers if you have any corporate discounts. We got a discount with canvas holidays with my husband's employer and a discount with Avis for car hire for mine.

Or anyone you have a loyalty card or subscription with, e.g. supermarket, mobile phone provider etc. Putting together a good cheap holiday can be done but can require a lot of work.

We have managed it for that budget but it's not easy. We use ryanair, it's probably a bit early to get cheaper flights, about 6 months before you go is better ime, and we usually book an apartment through booking.com. We look for a place that ryanair fly to frequently, not too far from the airport, then we find an appartment we like that's near everything and book if it has free cancellation. Midweek flights near the end of August are usually the best value. Lisbon, Malaga and Madrid were the best value last time we looked.

Brittany Ferries are, Dover to Calais with P & O much cheaper.

Have you considered a Time Share presentation?

We have been able to stay in some amazing accomodation in Spain and Turkey because we were willing to sit theough a 2 hour presentation and undergo a hard sell for a timeshare.

Ferry to France
Drive 5 hours South and you should have plenty of sunshine
Stay in a gîte from here: Gîtes de France®. holiday rentals, bed and breakfast, holiday rental - official website (gites-de-france.com)
There are lots of filters you can use. You should be able to find one with a pool, for example
We've hired a luxury one for 8 and it's just over €1000 for the week. It's in the Poitou Charente area
That should leave money for food/activities.
Have you factored in the cost of passports for everyone?

I love finding holidays for people. How about somewhere in Malta like this:
https://www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/671717447201387166?adults=6&children=1&check_in=2024-07-24&check_out=2024-07-30&source_impression_id=p3_1691501642_%2BpENeQCuGsTwYdHC&previous_page_section_name=1000&federated_search_id=7346709e-212b-476c-a569-7e68a9928026

If you go onto Skyscanner for the same dates, there are flights from Stansted for £191 per person.

(Note that having a holiday for a number of nights that isn't a full week can work out better/cheaper). You could also go for fewer nights.....

Has anyone suggested Romania yet? Hot weather in summer, beautiful, cheap to stay and travel in, then it's just flight costs to consider.

Have a look at easy jet Holidays, Turkey , this looks like it could be in your budget, though I don't know how many are adults/children.
Easyjet Holidays are out now for next year.
Easy jet Holidays are good as they include your luggage and transfers.

Took 3 of mine to Corfu before Covid. Beginning of August.
Including flights and hotel (Breakfast included) was about £400/450 each for 10 days.

Some good prices on Tripadvisor = "Dora's Apartments" just over £1k for accommodation for all of you

We stayed in Antibes this summer and didn't hire a car but instead used the trainline that goes along the coast for days out and to and from Nice airport. It's quite cheap and goes all the way to Ventimiglia in italy. Only thing to watch is that it gets very crowded. We had days out in Cannes, Nice and Monte Carlo, average fare was 16 Euros for all 4 of us, dearest was 64 Euros return to Ventimiglia, again that was for all four of us. Way cheaper than hiring a car.

There were also some nice looking beach resorts along that line which would be cheaper than the main ones.

https://www.holidaylettings.co.uk/montreuil-sur-mer/adate1.8995/adate2.9009/hom_sleeps_max.7/orderby.default/

Holiday lettings for any location to can get reasonable transport too, montreuil, berck, le touquet are all sort drives from Euro tunnel, Calais...

So compromises to keep budget as low as possible

Apartment with number of bedrooms you need or possibly a villa with a pool. Son Bou in Menorca was the cheapest family villa we ever had, then Paphos, Cyprus and then Pollensa, Majorca.

We self catered to restrict eating out prices. Family were expected to man the BBQ and help sort drinks etc. They loved it and you are using the pool area to it's best advantage. Try and get a place with a outside but covered area and then you can do this even if it rains.

Ask when is best to book flights as I think there are times recommended to nail best offers. Can't be hanging around with so many to book for.

Check their passports are in date and don't forget the new rule which means some expire before their expiry date.

A large vehicle hired is worth pricing up as might be cheaper than so many shuttle bus costs.

Homeswap might be a possibility worth looking into.

Or you could cross fingers on the weather and come to Cornwall!! That budget might be doable.

I would look at Eurocamp sites you can reach from airports on public transport, near Barcelona, for example, or Perpignan.

Can you try flying into a smaller airport? We flew to Naples this year and stayed in a eurocamp. We were in a small mobile home (2 on a fold out bed one one on the tiniest bunk one underneath) https://www.eurocamp.ie/campsites/italy/campania/baia-domizia-campsite?utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=baia+domizia+campsite&cq_src=google_ads&cq_cmp=17959645089&cq_con=145037390372&cq_term=baia%20domizia%20campsite&cq_med=&cq_plac=&cq_net=g&cq_pos=&cq_plt=gp&gad=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI3oG69JjNgAMVGO7tCh0XKwLmEAAYAiAAEgKawvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds Fab holiday!!

Scanned a few pages - couldn't see anyone pointing out that easyjet flights aren't released yet. Keep an eye on the release date. Book a couple of free cancellation air bibs before (they have been released and best deals already going).

Search on air bnb whole regions with multiple airports (eg. Cote d'azur or Costa del sol), put in your filters. Scan looking at reviews to find the best bargains and check they are free cancellation. Snap one up now. Then, crucially, book flights as soon as tickets released .

eurocamps could work but 2024 also hasn't been released .

I always do this method and have had some absolute bargains.

Lakes and mountains holidays. Great deals on last minute packages with Inghams. Some half board offers under £500 pp this summer. Swimming in pools and lakes rather than the sea though. Lots of glorious scenery and outdoor activities if your family would enjoy that sort of thing.

Skyscanner
Select all airports and everywhere
End of August is cheapest - try to fly mid week with early or late flight times coming back the night before you go back to school( last 2 years I ended up with only a couple of hours sleep before I had to get up for work, I work in a school but it was inset day so survived)
Try to travel with under seat bag only- especially if you have access to a washing machine on holiday
Self cater and have a few nights in
Accommodation -
Holiday lettings
Vrbo
Booking.com
Facebook- ie Costa Blanca legal holiday lets
To give you an example for 4 all adults I managed to get flights to Valencia last week of hols for £500, they have gone up loads now
Villa for £1200, sleeps six and has private pool
Top tip is book flights then sort accommodation

ferry to Normandy or around there, then do airbnb, villa or even Eurocamp.

Just had a look on easyjet Holidays and for 7 nights , for 7 people in August next year, there's self catering packages from £2682 , all inclusive for around £3800 , I've not been to Turkey but the apartments/ rooms look nice enough, 3 star, that includes everything, so quite a good price