To think that I could find a nice holiday on a tight budget?!

[Teddypear]

Just wondering if anyone might have any ideas.

I separated over a year ago from exDH. We have three teen dc and it's been a difficult time for us all.

I really want to give the dc a nice summer holiday this year if I can. The trouble is, money is tight. I have a budget of around £1500. This would be to include everything - travel, accommodation, food. One of the dc won't be coming as they are working, so it would be me and 2 dc. I have a few weeks off work in the summer as I do contract work, so time is not an issue.

I don't think I can afford a holiday cottage in the UK. We could do camping or a caravan, but one of my dc is autistic and hates being in cramped accommodation. We would all be fine with any standard of accommodation, it could be very basic, but would probably need for it to be a bit spacious.

I went backpacking in Asia years ago, and you can get some very pleasant cheap accommodation and food there, but the flights seem quite expensive.

Flights, food and accommodation in Europe are expensive.

I'm probably looking for the holy grail here, but just wondered if anyone had any ideas that I hadn't thought of!

Yes, don’t get me wrong, it’s not in my top 10 Italian towns! But for the OP and her teens on such a budget there’s no denying that the proximity of the airport is a huge bonus, cheap flights and the “instagrammable” leaning tower. The fact they can stay at a quieter camp with pool within budget is another bonus.

I find Italy very budget friendly compared to Spain and France. For the OP I’d recommend the Italian lakes above anywhere else. But if doing Eurocamp style avoid the awful Bella Italia in Peschiera! Go further up the lake to Camping Lazise or Cisano. Or stick with easy flights to Milan and simple transfer to Maggiore.

I haven’t been to Belgrade but enjoyed Frankfurt (many years ago) but mainly as was part of a wider Rhine Valley trip. I don’t like Berlin, the only city in Germany that I thought was dirty, if I want a scruffy city I’ll go to London!

Look somewhere like Montenegro or Macedonia, like mainland Greece but much cheaper.

You can also filter smaller sites on Eurocamp.

@Teddypear do you all have passports? (ergo no other expense on top of your budget)

Do you drive/live near the airport?

Eurocamps are so well spaced they never feel too busy. Far more chilled than most Ai holidays I’ve been on.

OP that is plenty of budget! It's more than we spent on a lovely 2 destination honeymoon in the sun.

It's often cheaper to go abroad so I'd search for cheap flights to anywhere using skyscanner. Once you your destination you then scour booking.com for affordable rentals in that location (self catering).

You can go somewhere really, really nice for that money if you do the legwork yourself. AI deals are such rip-offs.

When you see prices on flights on small bag under seat only though - it literally means very small rucksack and I mean small or a handbag - the minute you want to take what i call hand luggage ie a modest sized cabin bag it totally ramps it all up and I personally can’t manage with a very tiny rucksack - as I said if you all can and just take 1 hold bag between you then it may be just about doable on flights - but I still think it’s very tight to go anywhere abroad in school holidays factoring in food, flights and accommodation -

Ah, now that is one thing about taking the train- no baggage restrictions.

Its all the extras, transport to the airport or airport parking, bits and pieces you need because of security that you might not need in the same way for staying here, the luggage issue (with kids its even worse to try to travel light), the transfer once you get to the destination, phone allowances or wifi abroad if the kids want that, exchange rates, self catering means you'll buy a lot of food you wont necessarily use, if in a hotel you'll need to eat out. In the UK, if really pushed for money you can batch cook and take some dishes with you, or travel with some of your basics so that you dont have to do a massive shop

If people really are strapped for cash a UK holiday, if you really search properly is much cheaper. I think people just dont know how to find things, they might look at companies like caravan sites etc, they are very pricey in my view.

And that's another thing about taking the train- no airport parking, and most stations are already in city centres! 😉

Search on facebook and join an “extreme day trip” group for Heathrow/Gatwick. My local one is full of people ferreting out the cheapest flights and the airports closest to cities.
My tips would be Poland or Latvia as costs are really reasonable when you are there. Also look at renting an apartment as that can be more cost effective than hotel rooms and means you can self cater.

You can easily find a Eurocamp site in Northern France for around £1000. Tesco vouchers for tunnel or ferry and you only need to pay for fuel for travel.

@Teddypear how about Budapest, 1 week, 16-23/7/25 for £930?

The problem is the train is prohibitively expensive for most people

It's possible to dream. For instance a quick search revealed that 1 adult and 2 kids aged 8 and 12 could stay for a week in a hotel with sea views in Spain, based on all three having back-packs and 2 having carry-on suitcases, for less than 1200 pounds., at the height of the season: August 11-17.

That was literally one search. It's possible to find cheaper.

Look up north if a UK break is OK with you. We had a sizeable farm cottage (3 bedrooms) with horses that came to the kitchen window to say hello every morning. It was in Northumberland though. We are from Surrey. Anyway, the cottage was 400 quid for the week. £150 for a gorcery shop for the 4 of us with lots of treats. Couple of pub lunches and we did (free) country walks, picnics, national trust places and a kids farm, found a local pool that was 3 quid per swim session, ice creams and cream teas daily. All in including petrol was less than a grand and we didn't feel like we restricted ourselves. Kids were 8 and under.

Hmm, the underseat bags are deceptively big. Nobody needs a massive case for a week in the sun. We have travelled all over with them. You can also take a bag from the airport. I feel like PPs are trying to put her off something that is completely doable.

Trains directly into the airport booked in advance with a railcard tend to be cheap. Choose a location (hence Pisa suggestion) that is a€2 bus ride away from the airport. You just do a boots airside order for toiletries and pay with points if you have any. It’s not difficult or expensive.

Eating out is much nicer and cheaper, and just that feeling you get from the sun, different way of life, culture, is worth the faff of organised packing.

Yes one of the options that just came up when I was browsing for this thread was a cottage in Lincolnshire, 15 mins from Skegness, 500 quid for the week.

Of course Im sure most people turn their nose up at Skeggy, but Lincolnshire is beautiful, as is most of the East coast and midlands actually.

Going against the grain here a bit - I’d apply your £1500 and plan a week of activities you’d not otherwise do - theatre, cinema, museums, historical sights, favourite meals out, theme park, beach day, walking trails, bike rides, whatever - your child with additional needs will be in familiar territory, you will all get to do something different (even the one working, in the evenings) and you won’t be constantly worried about your budget

In the UK, at least. But that's why I mentioned Interrail passes upthread. Although depending on your proximity to London, whether your DC are over or under 12 and whether you're confined to school holidays, point to point tickets could work out cheaper if bought in advance.

Certainly, as a non flyer I'm shocked at some of the prices people are quoting for flights in the school holidays- they certainly don't seem cheaper than our 10 day Interrail passes this summer, although I bet there are better bargains out there.

Maybe try a weekend staycation during term time staying in an Air BnB. Could be pleasantly surprising.

I don't know this obsession with saying Eurocamp is a good budget option. It certainly hasn't been in my experience! 2.3k for two weeks including ferry and veryyyy long drive, plus a whole lot of spending on top.... The holiday (admittedly 2 weeks) cost us over £4k and involved hassle and lots of cooking for ourselves. Could have flown to Spain and had some meals provided for less!

On £1500 OP you should be able to find a week away for the 3 of you somewhere. Stick some criteria into Jet2 or easyJet and see what comes up. If you can be savvy with dates (last week of August into Sept is often cheaper) then I reckon £500 pp is doable, just.

Ok @Teddypear I’ve done a bit of searching and I think this might be very doable - leaving flights out of it.

a week in Eurocamp on edge of Paris- easy to do a bit of cheap sightseeing too , plus the Eurostar both ways- so no luggage restrictions. I had to guess both children were under 11 but if not add about £130 - Eurostar came in around £380 return going out very late afternoon coming back mid afternoon on 18th July returning 25th july

site is £481 for simple nice 2 bed cabin and you can do picnics and self cater easily - site also has cafe etc

the site with great dacimities plus nice pool etc is near a village plus a train station etc so no big difficult expensive transfers without a car. easy to pop into Paris for a day too

well worth thinking about

https://www.eurocamp.co.uk/campsites/france/paris/le-grand-paris-campsite

They also do pizzas, burgers, salads takeaway etc

There are a few self-catering beach holidays on Jet2 at the end of July /August around £1300. It only leaves you with 200 to spend on food, which isn't great, but you don't have to pay for luggage or transfers. If you can leave earlier in July then it's cheaper, obviously, but I presume the kids are still in school.

You quoted £760 for a 4 day pass for the 3 of them. Thats so much more than the flights I quoted even if the OP includes a check in case.

How could your 10 day pass be cheaper than the £220 return flight I mentioned upthread to Milan (for all 3 of them), one of many examples.