£10k, family of four - holiday for a month but where?

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Hi all,

I'm so sorry to ask on aibu but it gets more traffic so I'm hoping I'll get more opinions and recommendations posting here rather than on holidays.

We're a family of four, 2 adults, a four year old and two year old and I'm wanting to go away for a month at the end of February until the end of March as a once in a lifetime trip sort of thing for my 30th birthday.

I have £10k for flights, hotel and spending money for food, activities and merch.

Where the bloody hell do I go? I thought of Japan as per a previous post but I've had mixed reactions to whether I have enough and don't want to go to find out we're short, also thought of Thailand but apparently it's hot as hell at that time of year so please can I have some ideas of what I can do?

Any and all ideas welcome, might be something I haven't thought about!

Thank you all xx

Malaysia,
it’s cheap, to see and do.

I don't think it will be enough for a month in Japan

February / March will be boiling in a lot of places - have you looked at Cambodia / Vietnam? Both are amazing

America roadtrip?

On a similar budget, and length of stay, we did Cambodia & Vietnam (backpacking, but reasonable hotels), with a week in Bali (beach style holiday).

2 adults, 3 teens (so full fares), and one child. Came in at around £10k, but this was pre-Covid.

Our dc tell us it was amazing. dd1 and ds hit COVID at university, and say that at least they had some of a gap-yah experience!

Definitely not enough for Japan. I've just done 2 weeks from the UK (3 adults) and it cost £15k. Admittedly we had some expensive bits added on but I still doubt you could do a month.

Asia will be hot but that isn’t necessarily an issue unless you hate the heat. It is however a very low cost of living and so a month in good quality accommodation will be cheap by British standards.

if you cross of Merch from your spend list it will save you loads and you don’t need it!

Thailand!

We did a similar length trip (5 weeks) for £15k with our 3 kids who were 2, 6 & 9 at the time. We flew to Bangkok (had a nice hotel with pool etc) for 4 nights to give the kids a taste of Thailand (we had spent a few months in Thailand pre kids), then flew to New Zealand for almost 4 weeks and rented a motor home, then home via Brisbane, Australia for 3 nights to visit friends before flying home. This was all in 2018 so I think this kind of trip will have increased significantly although we did go in November/December so an expensive time I'd imagine compared to February, plus we had one more child than you do. We also booked the whole trip through Trailfinders who, although a brilliant company in other ways, I have since realised tend to be very expensive. Either way, I'd thoroughly recommend New Zealand and Feb would be a great time to go

Oh I should add that 5k if that 15k was spending money and campsite costs. The rest was flights, hotels in Bangkok & Brisbane and the motor home.

You definitely don't have enough for Japan. I'd second the Vietnam/cambodia/Laos suggestion.

Cambodia/Thailand/Vietnam would be totally doable for 10k, and that’s a good time to go. We did overnight sleeper trains and cheap airlines like airasia to get around. It was great! The sleeper trains in particular were a hit with the kids!

I think on that budget South East Asia is probably your best bet. Thailand and Vietnam both easy to travel around.

You can probably get flights for ~£800 return, then staying in cheap hotels etc. Internal flights are cheap.

Check the weather carefully as it can be vastly different within each country due to monsoon seasons etc.

You could fly into Hanoi with Qatar and travel down the country by train (it’s nice) - flying back out of HCMC.

Bali and Lombok - kid friendly and lots of different landscapes in a smallish area so not too much travelling once there. A month with small children is brave though!

I think given that your kids are so young Thailand would be a bit of an ordeal. The flights are long, and I got dodgy tummy a few times when I was living there, even if you're careful and don't drink the water.

Why not look at somewhere a bit closer to home and rent a villa with a pool or something. Or even a Disney cruise with plenty of stuff for kids.

I understand from your other posts you want to do a once in a lifetime type trip for your 30th, but your kids are so young to try and fit into that, it's not like they will remember much anyway. It might be less stressful to do a holiday that is fitted more around them at this stage, and then when they are older you could bring them somewhere like Japan.

I agree with a previous poster that Thailand/SE Asia will be hard for a whole month with young kids. It will be extremely hot and the chances of getting bad tummies is likely in that amount of time being there. A stop off for a few days maybe, but I don't think a month would be that relaxing. A country that's similar to the UK in terms of ease but very different in terms of stuff to see and do. Eg Canada, USA, New Zealand.

I’d do a camper in NZ - my best friend did it with her kids at similar ages and they had the most amazing time. It doesn’t really matter if your kids don’t remember it (though your 4yo almost certainly will, all my kids can remember holidays from 3 onwards as can I from my own childhood). It’s for you as well as for them!

We did a once in a lifetime trip when I was 11 and had similar aged siblings. I hardly remember it. My mum says logistics were very difficult. Jet lag and food was difficult.
Whereas the next year two weeks in North Wales with the dingy on the lake, visiting the beach and eating out with adults was great fun. Not many 4 and 2 year old from British weather and food that won't have some tummy upset or heat issues with those destinations.
Trains around Europe with long stop overs worked for us when ours were that age.

I'd do NZ as outlined above. Incredible country (esp the south island). Its not cheap, but if you're willing to rent a campervan or stay in edge of town motels while roadtripping, it'll be doable.

What about South Africa? We did 3 weeks there a few years ago for about £6k. Amazing experiences and such variety. Weather should be ok too then I’d imagine.

How about a villa with pool in florida? I know not as 'exciting' but much more comfortable and enjoyable with young children. Or, dare I suggest, the Canaries.

We were just talking about going back to Florida - might be an idea. It won't be a month but will still be an awesome holiday.

Thank you for your answers everyone

Disney and Universal !! I go twice a year to Florida - such a wonderful great holiday and wonderful for children

You could have a month in Lanzarote. You could rent a car, hire a lovely villa with pool and have a very chillaxed time.

We went to Japan last year and 100% recommend going. Once you're there food is relevantly inexpensive, the transport system is incredibly easy to use. It's a really good mix of modern and historical, loads of child friendly things to do including Disney and Universal. Flights were long but once we were there leg lag wasn't really an issue. ( although that was a different story coming back! 😂)

If you've been i wouldn't go back. If you can go on holiday for a month go to Australia!