Summer holidays not going away

[Totallyfrazzledmum]

Starting to feel stressed about the summer holidays, we cannot afford to go away anywhere and looking for ideas but most day trips look super expensive. 3 primary age children who are very demanding :(

The reason I mention legoland etc is this used to be possible (albeit with less children) a couple of years ago and what we used to do. But with the cost of everything now gone up and all our bills we don’t have enough left.

I will probably aim for a London trip and one overnight stay if I can find anything cheap - camping I don’t have the stuff, any campsites which are more like “glamping” anyone could recommend ?

agree I would need to book holidays on instalment more than a year ahead !

Legoland has always been an expensive day out.

My dc are adults now, and we went once, but used their Blue Peter Cards so they got in for free and we managed to find some sort of '2for1' deal for us to go in. So not being able to afford a day at Legoland is nothing to do with recent cost of living rises.

Places like Haven or John Fowler have cheap last minute deals but you’d need to wait until a week or so before the holidays start. 3 nights in a caravan for £250 sort of thing if you can afford that. Usually includes swimming pool access.

Also I didn't know it was possible to go to IKEA and not buy anything!

That's why Ikea is hell on earth for serious shoppers actually wanting to buy something.

If OP does like the idea of camping, Facebook Marketplace is her friend. People sell entire camping setups very cheaply on there.

Unfortunately the "glampy" campsites in the UK are usually very expensive- much more expensive than some second hand camping stuff :(

Adventure Island in Southend is £50 each for an annual pass, go as many times as you want.
Is that too far away for you.

Ah well.

I could never afford to go away in summer hols. I got a national trust card that allowed us to spend time in the gardens and grounds of the places local to us. We did a day trip to the beach, local parks and if it was hot just a paddling pool in the garden with lots of treats like ice pops kept them happy. Sometimes just being home and relaxing together can be nice, long lazy days with no where to rush to. I really miss those days now mine are grown.

I did work term time when they were primary age though so it was a lovely break from work for me too.

Google free days out with children Hertfordshire and see what pops up.
Its work for you and DH but embrace the picnic, food out really ramps costs up.
Be honest with the kids (age appropriate) and see what ideas they've got.

https://www.visitherts.co.uk/visit-herts-blog/budget-friendly-days-out/

have you looked at gullivers?

sure ive seen an offer for family of 4 £49, family of 5 £59.

If you dont have the stuff to camp have you considered a youth hostel?

Bunk rooms, some have an en suite, some you share facilities (which are normally spotless), and then most have family / games rooms, with games and books etc and a decent kitchen, so you can cook normally, make yourself a picnic etc and dont have to pay extortionate prices to eat out.
Also you have access to a fridge and a freezer etc.
Most have gardens

and the majority are in nice places with free walks etc on your door step.

My children absolutely love a youth hostel break.

We got 2 nights in scarborough on booking.com for £80 during may half term.
a room, which shared facilities (including a fully equipped kitchen) with just 1 other room.
One day we did a very long walk along the coastal path, then took the bus back (my kids were £1, i was £3, we took our own picnic lunch, which we ate on a beach, i made breakfast in the kitchen in our accomodation, and we did have fish n chips and a doughnut for tea at the beach, but we could have cooked our dinner as normal in our accomodation) My only expenses that day was an ice cream, fish n chips, £5 bus fare, and £40 for the room for the night.

Also look at planet offers for half price days out, which currently include flamingo land (Under £100 for a family of 4) and alpamere water park for £35 for 4 people

Leicester used to do a stay play and explore package with a hotel and 3 attractions for a decent overnight price - worth checking

if you go to London, lots of free things like yeh history museum and we did meal deals or maccies to keep it cheap-ish food wise - not proper restaurants

Also.. a car to transport it in.. Not all families have one (we don't)

We aren’t going. Going to do a staycation for a week in our home city and treat it like a holiday. Will eat out cheaply a couple of times and go on day trips etc taking a picnic. If they want to come that is as they are teenagers. It will still cost but not as much as going abroad.

Could you do a car boot sale and sell things you no longer need to find a few days trips out? Otherwise visit a relative, BBQ in garden, paddle pool, bike ride, scooters, play parks, play dates, library activities. Also I keep seeing a free National Trust day out advertised.

https://membership.dayoutwiththekids.co.uk/our-offers/theme-parks

Just seen an advert on Groupon for holiday parks from £42 a night. Ladram Bay Holiday park in the school holidays. No idea where this is though.

http://www.groupon.co.uk/deals/ga-ladram-bay-holiday-park-3-1?utm_campaign=UserReferral_mih&utm_source=undefined

I‘m in Herts. What about train to Brighton? (If you are on the direct line). Church farm Ardeley - book last min when good weather (have never been tho)
visit to a lido (Hitchin, Letchworth)
shepreth (it’s not huge but go early, the otters are great)
appreciate the above cost money but there will be local free events too

When it’s good weather see if you can Get a last minute beach hut on the coast - we’ve done this with two hour drive and spent the whole day in the hut!

We are skint this year so unable to have a holiday either. We will likely go to different places where the kids can ride their bikes, country parks or places with ‘fun’ cycle tracks. Wears them out and they enjoy it. They love swimming so will do lots of that too and will try find fun places such as waterworld for more of a day out as well as the local swimming baths. We plan to go to a theme park one of the days as well as parks and soft play for my younger two. Hoping to get away for 2 nights/3 days somewhere near the sea but having similar issues with pricing so may be more likely to be a day trip and then a weekend at the seaside outside of the summer holidays where it will be less expensive. We did find some camping pods in Norfolk which were quite reasonably priced, very basic site off a main road it location looks good to use as a base and somewhere to sleep while spending the days at the beach (weather permitting!). Aiming to save to go abroad in May half term next year and pay in instalments if possible! We looked at pricing for Gullivers Kingdom which didn’t seem too bad even for an overnight stay there.