Best budget holiday you’ve ever had

[BellesAndGraces]

I am planning next year’s holidays to get ahead of the game and find some good deals. AIBU to ask you to share the best budget family holiday you’ve ever had that didn’t involve camping or a caravan?

House and animal sitting for friends in Pay de Loire for a week. Just cost the ferry crossing and fuel to drive there, and food etc. whilst we were there. The animals were very easy to deal with and it was a great week of pottering around.

Santorini at the end of the season £15 in flights each way and £20 a night for the room. Lovely family run hotel and we enjoyed it so much we went back and got married there

£99 caravan stay in the UK a long time ago.

Allocated on arrival. It was a punt that paid off when I didnt know ay better and got lucky.

What do you mean by budget though?

centerparcs in europe.

This sounds perfect. What was the hotel??

I’ve heard a lot about Centre Parcs in Europe. Which one did you go to?
Interpret budget however you wish.

We just got back from Marseille and had a great time, far better than I expected. We only went because I searched the cheapest destinations from our local airport and Marseille had the second cheapest flights. Not something I would have even considered otherwise but I was very pleasantly surprised.

We found a really nice clean and quiet 2 star hotel a bit outside of the tourist area with great staff and a bus ride of 15 minutes to get to the centre with buses every 10 minutes.

Public transport was safe and easy to use, people friendly and helpful and most of them spoke decent English. A few museums with free entry and they had made an effort to make them interesting for children too. Nice beaches and parks easily reachable with public transport and the beaches had showers, changing cabins, toilets and supervised lockers where they would look after your bag with valuables for free. Lots of other activities for kids and families too, most of them with reasonable prices.

On the last day my son was crying his eyes out because he didn't want to leave and still mentioned everyday that he didn't want to leave and wants to go back next year.

We got our guests to stay here https://www.roulavillasantorini.com a simple little hotel but the family who run it are amazing and 12 years later we still keep in touch. And our wedding was at Theros Wave Bar

De Kempervennen

We also did a cheap flight to Marseille that turned into a real hit. We hired a car and stayed at a tiny Eurocamp site to the south of Toulon. It was right next to a gorgeous sandy beach and we did day trips into Toulon, kayaking in the Calanques NP and on a boat to Les Porquerolles. There was a pizza van just outside the site that did excellent pizza - DS remembers it 9 years on. Toulon isn't somewhere I'd ever considered a holiday destination but we had a relaxed, warm week and really enjoyed it.

This is where we stayed: Camping Presquile

We stayed at this one https://www.centerparcs.eu/in-en/netherlands/fp_PZ_holiday-park-domaine-port-zelande/cottages

when our daughter was 2. Great value holiday

Eurocamp in the Netherlands. Got the overnight ferry from Hull. Lots to do onsite with our toddler, stones throw from an amazing theme park (on level with Disney) and a few different cities to explore for the day within a 40 minute drive, picturesque countryside to cycle through. Can see us Eurocamping for years to come.

I think The Netherlands is overlooked as a family destination but we enjoyed centre parcs near Middleburg. It was just a lovely family holiday.

The Manor House Hotel in Devon. Tons of activities and sports and Crafts. Full board. Spa. Brilliant fun.

Allocated on arrival. It was a punt that paid off when I didnt know ay better and got lucky.

We did this about 20 years ago. Last minute booking to Greece (3 days before). Got lucky - locally owned low-rise apartment block right next to the see. Basic but spotless with the most wonderful vegetable garden tended by an elderly gentleman. He used to leave bowls of tomatoes by our door every day. That was an amazing holiday....

The Black Forest in Germany

I think Germany is massively under rated as a holiday destination. If you stay in the villages in the Black Forest you get a free KONUS card which gives you free public transport including most trains except the fast ones. Also includes use of their outdoor swimming pools....which are exceptionally clean. Most German villages have one.

Gengenbach was our favourite town

Black forest was slightly less expensive than uk and just beautiful. We were also able to pop across to strasbourg and colmar in France.

We went there this year by train, lovely relaxing clean. V. friendly people.