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.

We cant afford it either. We both work, earn under 40k each but holidays abroad in school holidays are just too expensive for us sadly

some good tips on here thank you all

Depends where else you spend your money.
I have old car, second hand furniture, don’t really buy much in way of clothes, beauty treatments, takeaways or haircuts. Always (if asked) request luxury items of beauty care and other stuff as gifts (becuase I do love them but would not pay for them otherwise) I choose Vinted for DC clothes trends (actually they aren’t very fashion conscious and that helps). I prefer to spend money on days out and holidays. Always look for deals or second hand options before paying full price for brand new and before I buy treats, search for deals e.g cheap cinema tickets, rail card discounts for days out, last minute theatre tickets etc etc
Recommend for an affordable August Holiday, start by looking for cheap flights at any European destination and then find the accommodation. Might have to take the undesirable flight times to get a good deal (very early morning or very late at night).
We booked a eurocamp in Italy (Lakes for 10 nights under 2K, in August. Needed to add flights (but they were under 1K and would have been under 500£ if we had early departures). Also have booked an airbnb house in uk in may half term 600£for a week, last year Scotland in august £800 for beautiful large farm house with fields and fire pit etc (they go back to school mid august in Scot so cheaper to book).
it can take some searching whether uk or abroad to fly, find cheap flights first, then find accommodation nearby. Don’t go package in August. If you do, Egypt package deals are often cheapest because it’s too hot for locals to holiday at this time! But fine if you stay at a water park resort).

Love holidays I use religiously there prices are great

God, definitely don't go to Tunisia in August unless you want to roast. May half term would be much better.

We can usually do it for about £2k with 2 pre teens- we're going to a Spanish Eurocamp in May half term and taking the train there and back- this is about £1700 in total and we'll be self catering. Last year was a bit more expensive but it was 12 days in a pricer location. I research, book and organise it all myself though (I'm really well travelled and love the planning bit).

Also try unexpected locations- we had a great week in Marseille for example. You don't need to go to a resort.

@EdithBond I do think it helps on this kind of holiday if you are all on the same page- I would be ok with your kind of holiday - my H definitely wouldn’t - he wants the very nice accommodation and eating out most nights and would rather go less but ‘reasonably ‘ high end-

It's the 3rd child, as holidays are priced on a family of 4.

and May half term is cheaper than August.

Eurocamps are a great option. We are going to a Eurocamp in May half term and for flights and 8 days we’ve paid around £2.2k. In comparison package holidays were all coming out £3k plus for one week self catering in generally basic accommodation.

Another thing to look at is flying from Scotland. They have different school holidays to us so if you fly towards the end of the summer holidays or in the May half term it can be ££££ cheaper. We’ve flew before and found same holiday half the price than if flying from UK airport on same day.

Finally, consider non typical holiday destinations. You can often find good deals outside the typical Greece, Spain, Turkey, canaries in the summer.

I agree with this
We have been abroad every year sometimes twice a year plus UK holidays too, but our house is semi detached , quite basic and we drive brand new but basic model cars.
We don’t “keep up with the jones “ in that we only have one bath room in our house whilst others strive for the new build with three bathrooms , also we do not drive range rovers or Audi etc.
Our house manages fine with what we have and we have a car each
We know families that have the “ new build “ dream and a fancy 4x 4 but have to share the car so can’t do their own thing :/ hobbies and also are so tied to a huge mortgage that they have no life .
Holidays are great experiences and are things we remember as youngsters so we try to provide these for our kids .
So similar holiday spending to @simpledeer but we do like wine lol 😂

So we go on two holidays a year. We book everything separately and do bed and breakfast at most, no resorts or all inclusives.

Where are you looking?! There are only 3 of us but we did a week all inclusive in Spain last year for £1400. Budget airline but 4 star hotel.

I've read all your comments OP and much of the rest of the thread. Has anyone mentioned house-swapping? You said you were by the beach - there could well be a Spanish or Polish family who fancy a stay in your neck of the woods.

With it being 16/17 months away you'd have time to make sure the house was totally guest ready.

I've not done it but friends who live in a well known golfing town on the West coast of Scotland have. They swapped with folk in the US eg.

Really good tip from PP about looking for flights from Scottish airports at end of August because of the schools going back that much earlier.
Agree Skyscanner searches (do it incognito) Pick a region in Poland eg and just enter in UK as departure airport. Gives you wider choice of times and dates than just your nearest one.
Good luck!

Foreign holidays are not compulsory, especially for under 6 y.o. Never been abroad as a child, not once. Had the most amazing hols at home though.

Use inset days to your advantage so you are either flying out or in one one of those days.

Sign up to easyJet, Ryanair and Wizz Air and book the day the flights are released, usually in the same. I have booked many flights in school holidays sun £135 each. There is so much variety and options for accommodation, it is flights that can really rack up.

Accommodation, Air BnB, self catering, Eurocamp, hostels with private bathrooms are all worth looking at.

Use Google flights tracker. Put in travel dates and location then track flights to that destination. You get a daily email with the cheapest flights as at that day. When you see flights reduced buy immediately but directly with the airline.

Collect Avios points, that add up over time.

Hi OP, I'm not sure if you've tried all of this, but I'm a very experienced traveller. I've been travelling the last 20 years as much as I can afford (over 50 countries) which has been very variable (student, mat leave, low paid, high paid jobs) but my greatest strength is finding cheap holidays for me and my family no matter my circumstances. These are my tips:

-Avoid package unless it's off season and last minute or an amazing deal
-Use Skyscanner to find all the destinations your local airport flies from and the cheapest time to fly. Consider not the usual destinations or ones you've never heard of. Generally book a year out for high season.
-Use booking websites like booking.com and Agoda for best deals. Appartments are often better for families. Google for discount codes. Use Topcashback to get moneyback.
-If you use credit card, get a BA amex (pay everything on it and pay off immediately but collect the points).
-Sometimes far flung destinations work out cheaper as the flights are less affected by school holidays (i.e. you might well find that for £6k you can do 2 weeks in Asia - the flights are the expensive bit then once there it's really cheap ex. Thailand & Vietnam).

Anyway it takes time but I don't pay much compared to most people even now I can afford it more. Feel free to ask me for more tips.

Holidays abroad are a luxury. Some people make more money than others. Not all options cost the same, not all options are equally nice. Look for a less busy month in a less expensive area, if finances are an issue.

The flights for budget airlines won't be released until August 2025 that's why you're only getting the more expensive holiday operator flight prices. Wait until a year in advance and don't pick the most popular place at the most popular time for Brits to go. Egypt or Turkey in April or Malta in October would be much more affordable for example.

Yes this! I think it's easy to take a much cheaper week abroad somewhere but it might not be somewhere hot or all inclusive. You have to cut your cloth a bit. I would never dream of taking a £2k holiday (as a two person family). It seems insanity to me. You could easily do it for half that. No wonder people don't have any money.

YAB a bit U. Hotels are always expensive, especially in August and with 3 dc. Try a self catering apartment, book everything separately yourself. Part of the holiday joy is going for the first supermarket shop to stock up, my dc say looking back that was always one of the best bits!

When my children were small we rented a house with a pool in France/ Austria. The weather was good and we spent most days in the pool, with a few days trips thrown in. You can keep the cost down with self catering, as it won't be much more than at home.

Obviously if you want to fly you'll have to rely on public transport but if you choose a biggish town it shouldn't be an issue.

Gerardmer in France is built around a lake, ditto Zell am See in Austria.

Many Alpine areas are quite cheap to stay in during the summer.

This is the most memorable bit for my kids too! We love a random international snack.

People assume that my husband and I are LOADED due to the amount of holidays we go on.

If someone asks if you're going on holiday, you don't tend to hear all the details of the flights/transfers/catering etc - you just hear a destination and how long.

But we self-cater, we go to the cheapest locations if going peak time, we don't pick where we want to go, we say, "where are the cheap flights to on roughly these dates".

If you say you want to go on a week to Spain in August, when yes, you'll get a high price for a popular holiday at a popular time.

We haven’t been anywhere for less that £1k pp for about 3 years. Thats both August and October times. Holidays are nuts now. ( even in the days where we could get a free child’s place it always evened out to at least £1k each)

No you are not BU. I have been looking for hotel rooms in Paris and the cost is obscene. It’s sad.

Holidays are crazy money nowadays. DDs are 8 and 5 and have only been abroad once and that was sailing rather than on a plane. I don't think they'll be going on a flight for a good few years yet.

We are planning ferry to France or the Netherlands, taking the car and self catering for our next foreign trip which when I looked online was much cheaper, as was going at Easter or the half terms rather than summer holidays.

Our most common holidays are camping or staying in a caravan. We've been to the Isle of Wight a few times which is great because the ferry crossing is exciting for DDs. If you're up north you could always break the journey up e.g. look at driving down a few hours and getting a Travelodge or cheap hotel somewhere on the way and exploring a new city, and the same on the way back and just do one of the Mon-Fri caravan breaks. That could be a much cheaper way of getting a week away but seeing a few different places.