Novice questions - budget

[10poundstogo]

I know that this is not an exact science but any advice gratfully received. basically we are sknint so looking for a lo cost holiday but have had enough of weekends involving waterproofs and eating picnics in a steamed up car. Want to get warm to my bones.

What would you budget for

Ferry or Chunnel to France or Spain
Site Fees
Food for a family of 4 (mostly camp cooked with the odd meal out chucked in as treats)
Spain or France - and where - clueless??
Any bits of kit that we cant live without.

(we have a tent, and things to sleep on/under but thats about it)

Would it work out as costing the same to book a cheapo package deal? I dont know if i would enjoy that tho. Prior to DC's DH and I would take a two man tent/scheduled flight to Greek Islands then wonder.

This will be our first proper holiday since DC's came who are now 2 and 4.

slighty different for us but campwith ds's aged now 7 and 5( first went last year). we are also in australia.

we spent around $2000 on all our camping needs.we have:
tent( big and will last us for years!)room for blow up beds and changing area and storage!
fridge that runs off a little gas bottle( we also got gas bottle!)fits a 2 litre of milk, bottle of wine kids water bottles and food for that day and marg
camping stove and table that goes with it
2 lamps and one stand( another stand comes with stove table)
pinic table
blow up beds
pinic bag(has 4 plates,bowls ,knife forks and spoons in one side and cool area on other side for food)
fly tent gazobeo type thing
fans that can fit in tent
chairs
sleeping bags

we have just been on a weeks camping ( height of summer and school holidays here) and spent about $1250
this included:
$371 for 7 nights on campsite( with pool, campers kitchen, showers, toilets, playground)
petrol there and back( about 900kms) and petrol driving around area
food( we cooked our own food all week bar 1 lunch and 1 dinner)and ice cream
entry into a couple of places
wine (lots)

have fun

There are 5 of us, 2 older teens and a 5 year old which all eat loads. Therefore, much of our budget goes on food.But, I budget for around 2 - 2.5k for a camping tripe to France in the height of the summer holidays. Thats for 2 weeks. Eating in nearly all the time. That would be the cost of everything though. Ferry, fuel, tolls, site fees, spending money and food. As your children are not school age, I would say a package holiday would be cheaper if you can go in term time? If you can camp abroad in term time, that would be cheaper still!
Good Luck with your plans.

Sorry not camping 'tripe', I meant trip

I think we paid site fees of around £200 a week for sites in France in peak season last year, for a family of 5. Some sites are a lot more, but there are also much cheaper inland municipal sites that we sometimes stay in and like. Small children, under 5, are cheaper or free. Mine are all over 5 now, the sites cost a lot more then.

We pay a lot on the ferry cos we live near Plymouth so we take the expensive longer ferry trips to save on driving. maybe £550 last yera to Roscoff, will be maybe £1100 to Spain this year if we go. but Chunnel/Eastern ferry crossings are much cheaper.

at price of ferry. We are tied to schol hols as dd in reception and school very strict on that sort of thing (dont expect place when you get back). Is spain any cheaper? How long would it take to drive to the border? Whats the northern coast like there? sorry more q's, this is all very helpful tho!

Northern Spain is very good for camping, Picos de Europa are great, and there's lots of sandy beaches, and the Pyrenees. I camped there a few years ago and we are thinking of going this summer. You can actually camp rough in lots of places in Spain, it has a lot of wild empty places, but you might not want to do that with small children.

Ferries in peak season are a lot. but as I said we pay more cos we are taking the longer Western routes. you get better bargains on the busy routes.

I'm not sure about cost of Spain, I haven't been in the last couple of years, but I think it's quite a bit cheaper still than UK or France. last year it was supposed to be about 30% cheaper than France for food, accomodation etc.

Just booked euro tunnel for the last week of the school holidays in August prices are £59 - £69 each way (depending on time) for car plus 5 people and campsite with Yello Camping (they have 40 sites in france and are cheaper than Euro-camping etc...) lots to do on site, swimming pools, kids entertainment. Price £180 for our own tent plus 2 adults, 3 kids (ages 6,5 and 2) for 7 nights with elec and water that is the last week of school holidays, mid august prices for camping higher around £250 for 7 nights.

Thats great. I can feel a plan coming together now. Does anyone know if you can run normal appliances like kettles, and laptops off the electric (I am cluless about this sort of thing, sorry) or is camping lectric on a different voltage? I am trying to think if I had electric what I'd do with it tbh. And also that I should leave the trappings of everyday life (like laptops) at home.