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.

And only take minimal (under seat) luggage on flights. If you rent a house, it’ll come with a washing machine and clothes take no time to dry. You only need minimal light clothes and some sliders. Take cottons throws for the beach rather than bulky beach towels.

You do not know, when looking at those photos of other people gurning in front of the Eiffel Tower, whether they are staying in a 5* hotel round the corner for £500 a night, or whether they're staying in a campsite 30 miles away for £20 a night and caught the train in. I'm definitely one of the latter, yet people are always telling me how impressive the holiday photos I share on social media are.

Think smart, my friend.

That's 2025 - OP says they are looking at 2026

Package holiday sounds expensive. I took my youngest to Spain last year (Dh and older one stayed home as they had a separate holiday for a sport booked for later). Flights were £150 for both of us total. And the Airbnb was £80 a night. Beautiful flat 2 blocks from the beach. 3 bedrooms, slept 6 people, though was just the 2 of us. £710 for flights and accommodation. Obviously would be more for extra people for flights but not accommodation.

We went to the supermarket and the local markets for food, which was a highlight of the trip. No hotel buffets, thank god. Pastries and coffee for breakfast (coffee and milk free from Airbnb), we’d have a baguette with cured meats and cheese for lunch and fresh fruit. All of which was minimal cost. We ate out for most dinners, maybe 20-50 euros depending.

Beach days were free. Airbnb even had beach towels, toys and chairs. We did a few things like going to the aquarium (maybe 30 euros each) or the water park, but we went to a municipal one, so was literally 4 euros each with plenty of waterslides for ds. Got a weekly travelcard for buses and trains, which was like 20 euros and ds was free, so we travelled all over. I don’t think we spent more than £1000 give or take. Obviously, that was for 2 of us, but you could absolutely scale that up to 3 children and it would not cost you £4-6k. 😳 We had a lovely time. Ds still talks about it almost daily and it was nearly a year ago.

Most people live off credit cards, did you not know that?

Skyscanner for flights and then Airbnb or VRBO and book the cheapest half decent looking place. I can get my family of 5 11 nights on the coast in Croatia for summer 2025 for about £1500 and that's with 3 bedrooms so the dc can separate out a bit. Self catered so can cook fairly cheaply plus a couple of nice meals out for a treat. I'm NE so can be trickier than when you have somewhere like Stansted in striking distance but doable.

Try easyJet holiday, we’ve travelled with them a few times now and they’ve been absolutely brilliant. Great deposit scheme and only payment 6 weeks before rather than 12. The prices are always much more competitive than TUI or jet2. Although if your a teacher, your blue light card with get you a small discount with Tui/jet2.

Egypt and Morocco are a great option in October, fantastic weather and a little more budget friendly. We often book 12-18 months in advance if we are doing a package to get the very best prices.

I always find Spain and Balearics very expensive.

You need to think outside of the box when it comes to Summer holidays. Spain is the most expensive place to visit during summer school holidays. Sometimes going longer haul can be cheaper or going to less popular European destinations.

What a stupid comment.

Three children under six will love a seaside holiday in the uk. Hire a big static caravan from somewhere like Park Dean. Yes you might get some rain but in hot countries you might get a heatwave.

Try less in demand locations - I suggest looking East rather than South.

My family used to go to the Île de Re in France every summer - sunny, beaches, pools, extremely flat so great for cycling with kids etc. But every year it was getting more and more expensive.

On a whim, we started looking into Eastern European alternatives and found the Curonian Spit in Lithuania - it’s only about 2km wide with sandy beaches, forests, sand dunes, beautiful wooden houses. It’s everything we got out of the Île de Re but flights are half the price (we fly to Kaunas and get a coach out there) and accommodation is barely a third of what we were spending to go to France. Renting bikes is also really cheap.

We’ve also branched out into Latvia and Estonia (though the latter is a bit more expensive). I’ve become a huge fan of the Baltic states and honestly can’t recommend them enough for cost effective family holidays.

There really is more to Europe than Spain!

You can be shocked if you’ve been living under a rock for the last few years yes.

@mindutopia absolutely - it’s a bit of sideways thinking needed- I think far too many constantly post about AIs and must have multiple water slides etc - and oh I can’t get it under£4.5k in July or August- not all kids like buffets- my H for one hates them and only time we got food poisoning was on our one and only AI holiday . Also I don’t like the idea of sitting round same place every day just because it’s included - most of them are massively overpriced too especially if you aren’t big drinkers or your kids are small - I appreciate some people do like those holidays though but don’t kid yourself it’s cheaper unless you get an absolute out of season bargain

Agree. That’s what I’ve always done. Cheap flights, a lovely holiday house with outside space, e.g. a roof terrace. Then live like a local while there. We never go for expensive days out. Never go out to eat, apart from maybe once in two weeks. Just the beach with packed lunch/fruit, then dinner back at the house, with food, beers, wine bought from local markets/supermarket, e.g. pan fried fish with salad or a pasta dish. No hire car, just local buses.

Go right now to Booking.com and look for accommodation in Nida, Lithuania - you can get an entire apartment with 4 beds 250m from the town centre for 7 days this August (not even booking a year ahead) for less than £1000.

Your kids get the full experience of being abroad - and they’ll be able to impress their classmates with their unusual holiday destination. A holiday doesn’t have to mean an all inclusive in Spain.

I agree with this. We always go for cheap accommodation that has good reviews as we dont spend our time int eh accommodation.

Thanks all of you!

Because I’m not well travelled (understatement) I’ve been scared of getting things wrong and ending up somewhere dodgy! Or missing something important off a booking that ruins things. Lots of places to look at so thankyou.

I was looking at 2026 to have time to pay for it. No way can I afford this year. I have PayPal credit but wanted to pay in advance not after.

Just looked at the ferry to Rotterdam but don’t think I can manage the 11 hours! 2 out of 5 of us get travel sick over an hour. We also can only go for a max of 7 days so that’s 2 of them gone on travelling 🙁

Weve done a few UK breaks. Camping was the last one and to be honest it was not at all fun! Not really fancying a repeat of that. We haven’t tried caravans as they are also pricey and I’m not sure if it would be any good! We already live on the beach so would prefer something different to that.

Definitely try easyJet holidays, they have a good website that you can filter to your local airport, board options etc. Have been to Spain and Croatia with them, all very smooth and you can book your flights, transfer, hotel/apartment all in a few clicks. Was very happy with them.

Have a look at Lalandia in Billund, Denmark.

We priced up return flights, 3 bed cabin for 2 adults/3 kids and Legoland passes this year. That was going to be about £3-3.5k.

Food is a bit on the expensive side but the facilities at lalandia are amazing for kids and Legoland is quiet in late August as danish schools go back much earlier. Weather is maybe not 100% reliable but honestly best trip we’ve had. Kids loved it so much we’ve been several times and only aren’t going this year as we couldn’t get dates that worked for us. Ryan air do direct flights from Edinburgh or you can go on connecting ones.

Billund is teeny and virtually everything is walkable

As it's actually 2026 and that wasn't a typo, that will be why things are so expensive. A lot of the big operators won't even have reserved their accommodation at this point, let alone released it. You are much better off waiting until the end of this year.

I assume many people put holidays on credit cards and then spend the rest of their lives paying it off.

Our daughter is now 29, up until she left home at the age of 21 she came away with us. She knows how lucky she is to have had a holiday abroad every year, sometimes twice. Having just one child is easier and cheaper for holidays, but I’ve got to say they have gone up dramatically since covid. There’s just the two of us now, but begrudge paying the package holiday prices. We’ve done quite a few Airbnb, booked cheap flights and hired a car. It’s great having an apartment instead of just a bedroom, having only a door between the bedroom and toilet, and the bathroom has no windows or extraction in 40 degree heat, NOT NICE (Portugal)

I heard Rio Ferdinand doing an interview, if they’re in a hotel room he’ll find the guests bathroom in the hotel as he won’t have a poop in the one in the bedroom, which I think is fab. When my husband has been you need a gas mask afterwards, how do they manage to make such a stink. I make my own natural air fresheners, and make sure I take a miniature away, don’t have a gas mask, I do have a snorkel and mask 😷🤣

Sorry, but that's nonsense. Perhaps it's impossible to have a cheap package holiday- I wouldn't know, it's not my kind of thing- but other kinds of holidays exist.

I have 2 DC and our usual holiday budget is around £1500. For that we have done massive camping tours of France and Spain (drive and ferry), Interrailed around Austria and Italy- and we're going Interrailing again this summer around Germany, Romania and Bulgaria. Yep, no swimming pools or all inclusive buffets, but we have a hell of a time.

We self cater, go in October half term as DD gets 2 weeks, look at easyJet holidays and sky scanner. Being limited by sea sickness and 7 days only etc will also make it more expensive. The more flexible you can be the cheaper options you will have. And if your DC is only 6 is he really that bothered? DD only went on a plane once or twice by age 8 and would have had no clue what her friends were doing!

Spain is ridiculously expensive in school holidays. Tunisia, Egypt etc all have cheaper packages and sometimes bigger resort hotels with more going on