To be shocked at the cost of holidays?

[Fourpawsblack]

We haven’t been able to go away for years (pre DC!) due to finances. A falling down house, part time work due to childcare and the cost of living has made for a rough time.

Just started to look at a week away for a family of 5 (2 adults, 3 DC under 6) in Spain for August 2026…£4k was the cheapest I found and that was not a great hotel. It was more like £6k for somewhere with half decent reviews. AIBU to think this is crazy? Is this just what I am looking at?
It would mean saving at least £400 a month for a year to be able to do it which would be very rough.

How are almost all of the kids in my DC classes on holiday every year. Maybe I’m missing a trick. I feel sad for my DC that they should be able to experience going on holiday and can’t. I know it’s a first world problem.

Before anyone brings it up, there’s 0 way we can go at a time not in the school holidays so we are stuck with over inflated pricing. The joys of teaching.

My dc didn’t have an abroad holiday til they were 7 and 9. And then Covid hit so they didn’t go again til 11 and 13. They have very fond memories of summer holidays on Scottish beaches when they were little. Or visiting grandparents . I don’t think they really need to do anything else at that age.

Book a cheap holiday cottage in uk and get supermarket delivery and self cater for the week. Kids will be happy with that

You're not being unreasonable being shocked! I have a DD 2 and we looked at August just Wales and it would be £800 to stay in a caravan for 4 nights for goodness sake. I suddenly understand why people take their kids out of school for holidays. The £160 fine is worth it imo

The last week in August is usually the cheapest of the four for UK breaks, if that's any help to anyone.

Scottish school summer holidays are end June to mid August. If you can fly outwith these times, you could save £

Have you considered home exchanges? We did lots, only paying for the cost of the flight. It's a v cheap way to gave holidays

I’m completely shocked at the cost! I expect holidays to be a few hundred per person for an all inclusive - not upwards of £1000. I freely admit I’m stuck in the past - I audibly gasp every time I get a round in!

Book your own flights through easyJet or similar and your own accom through Expedia. We do this and it’s way cheaper than TUI.

If you need to be home during GCSE results then look at going that following weekend (which is usually the bank holiday Monday) from Edinburgh. I'd expect it to be cheaper than flying out of Newcastle.

What do you call cheap ?

we stayed in Devon in a caravan/mobile home which was £800 ish and more costly then a week in tenerife £350 ish

yes I have flights on too but then have a pool and guaranteed sunshine

Fly and hire a car, use Airbnb or similar, also look at Capfun which is similar to Eurocamp but has more European families. It can be hard with 3 children, especially as they get bigger as hotel allocation becomes 2 rooms. Private rented apartments/ villas can mean you get more for your money and I find are a much calmer, enjoyable experience where you can immerse yourself in local culture more.

I don’t think it’s necessarily cheaper to book that far in advance. There is deffo a sweet spot. Just booked 10 nights for 3K this summer (self catered), so probably 4K all in. Although my youngest is still under 2 so we can just about get away with a 1 bed apt. 2 bed apt seem hard to come by so not sure what we will do next summer

Not sure if it's been mentioned but look at Jet2 rather than Tui (and second flying from Scotland if you're looking at mid-late August as their schools are back in anytime from 3rd week in August depending on where they are). They're fairly family friendly, often have free child places and can pay in installments too.
Loads of different destinations to choose from across Europe and transfers and luggage is included so you can pack plenty for everyone!
Having 3 DC isn't the easiest as most holidays are set up for 2 adults and 2 children but a lot of places have bigger 2 or 3 bedroom apartments or family suites.
Good luck!!!!

I guess it all boils down to how much money you earn, your out goings or what you spend your money on etc. So if you had a small house but your mortgage was paid off you might be better off than someone with a higher salary but a higher mortgage! So disposable income is the key! I am guessing the people you are comparing with actually earn more than you think, or have other income streams, or family who pays for their holidays etc. They could also be in debt and putting the holidays on credit cards!

Personally I believe in living within my means, we do two international holidays a year, one long haul to Asia and one somewhere in Europe. We only holiday in the school holidays so it is expensive. But we prioritise this over everything else. I have a lot of friends who take their kids out every weekend and spend £100 for entry fee to play areas, food, snacks etc. But then say, no money for holiday. We go to parks or play in the garden, do play dates with friends etc. But save up to go abroad twice a year. During the year we also do two cottage holidays in the UK with friends and rest we either invite friends over to ours to stay or they invite us over. We have friends all over the UK so that helps. This way we have a lot of holidays but it is affordable. We could obviously have much higher annual savings if we didn’t holiday at all but we would rather make memories and enjoy life while we are able to. As they say, getting older is a privilege denied to many!

Try the Baltic Coast in Lithuania. Palanga is lovely. Try North Macedonia or Albania or Montenegro. Half the price of Spain. Black sea, Slovenia. Lake Bled for a outside pursuits holiday. Orchid Lake in North Macedonia. Beaches Bulgaria and Black Sea.
Poland Coast is great in the summer. All significantly cheaper than Spain.

It's still cheaper than going to Devon. I was told this, by a family of five this week. Canaries was cheaper than Devon this week.

Yep

i said the same above

the accommodation in Devon £800 was over double what I pay for a one bed apartment that sleep 4 - £350a week

Yes, holiday prices are nuts.

We have tried it a few ways.

This year we are 10K for family of 5, 2 weeks all inclusive 2 weeks in turkey, last year we done a Villa which was significantly cheaper than a hotel but once you factor in the shopping and dinners we were actually more expensive.

We really love our holidays, my bonus covers them but without that we wouldn't be able to do it unless we really looked at very basic hotels.

I haven’t read all of the replies so somebody may have already suggested this but have a look at villas on Airbnb. You can get a beautiful 3 bedroom villa with a private pool in Spain for around £1700. With flights you would be looking at another £800-£1500 (depending on whether you’re happy to fly at night or not). Package holidays are extortionately priced nowadays!

I am pretty sure holiday prices have gone up same as everything else. My son and I are going to a european city soon and budgeted £200 per night for the hotel which I have never had to do before, we haven’t been abroad since 2019.

Could you do a Haven holiday in 2026 and save up to go abroad the year after? I have always found TUI reasonable tbh although can see others don’t agree. DS was very happy with a caravan holiday when young. Beach, swimming, activities, entertainment and a chance to make friends. All good.

August is always the most expensive although if you are still off school in your area the bank holiday week that can be cheaper. You need to consider Easter, May or October. We went to Rhodes one time at Easter and the weather was good though a bit mixed. Most days were warm enough for the water park though the evenings were chilly.

@Charlotte244 I think a lot of people are fooled by the ‘free places’ aspect which doesn’t work out free when those paying in full have prices ‘loaded’ - also many people with kids seem to want the ‘AI’ places and these are often harder to find doing it independently as the package companies book them all up. We’ve always done it separately anyway as don’t like AI - I like going somewhere to eat different most nights and drinking in different places too - we’ve only been on an AI twice and my H in particular really didn’t like it-far too many tanked up bolshy blokes around ( many with young families too) as they saw it as ‘free’ - I think they work out expensive too in season unless you get an absolute bargain or drink a hell of a lot - I just think sometimes there’s not much sideways thinking going on and people want to pay their lump sum ( even if inflated) and not have to worry about paying out when they are there- I personally stick my holiday money into my ISA so I know I’ve got that ‘in hand’ before I set off - and I pay the flights in 3 payments- only one I know that doesn’t offer this facility is EasyJet

It is all horribly expensive but we’ve found doing air bnbs a slightly cheaper option. Ideally in areas where you don’t need a car (south of France).

Where is south of France can you manage without a car? Would love a recommendation for this area

Antibes! The trains are really good so we often travel along the coast for days ‘out’.

Thanks. Will do some research

Look along that whole stretch of the coast. We are going to Antibes and then onto Menton (near the Italian border) this year. No intention of hiring a car (I did in Spain and it cost nearly the same as the flights)!