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.

The trainline runs along the whole coast as far as La Spezia in Italy. Easy to find a town where you can get about by train. Places we have been: Antibes, Juan Les Pins, Nice, Villefranche sur Mer, Ceriale, Loano, Sestri Levante, Deiva Marina. Boats, buses, and trains galore in many places - we have never taken the car. Juan Les Pins has the best beach.

Sounds great thank. I wonder if this would work as a destination for first two weeks October. Just wonder if the kids would find the travelling hard in July heat

@Bartg we once stayed here in a mobile home - dirt cheap and2 minutes walk to coastal rail to anywhere- very easy to get to amazing beaches- just outside Antibes. Nice pool etc - not mega fancy but very pleasant

https://www.antibesjuanlespins.com/en/accomodation/accomodation/campsites/camping-du-pylone-2671424

We went in the October half term (and have been twice in summer). October was much quieter than summer and for us, a bit too cool for the kids to go into the sea. This was late October though.

Our first summer was hot but not unpleasantly so - about 26-27. Last year was warmer and we spent a lot of time in the sea.

I agree, and would add Menton and, if you want a city vibe, Genova as destinations. Genova has lots of suburban beaches that are gorgeous and it's very close to the Portofino peninsula- all very easily accessible by train.

Also plenty of trains if you go the other way along the coast towards Spain.

Genoa seems to have about 30 stations :) as you go through it - and indeed some by the sea. I've mostly been either May or end Sept/early to Oct to French and Italian riviera, but we went October half term to Villefranche and swam in the sea on 1st November. Most of the beach clubs shut down in October.

Not only does Genova have a kazillion train stations, it's also quite a vertical city and has a cracking selection of FREE lifts and funiculars taking you to the "upper levels".

Were you swimming in the sea in Villefranche on 1st November last year MissAmbrosia? I was doing the same in Marseille!

We swam in the sea off Zante several times in the last week of October last year. It was considerably warmer than the hotel pool!

Schools in Scotland go back earlier so look at flying from Glasgow or Edinburgh.