£350 for 1 week in July term time- family of 7 - or £1100 in school holidays??

[devonvalley]

Yep that old term time holiday chestnut-
We are a family of 7 we can only afford to go on a Uk term time holiday, or have no holiday at all!(yes I know some do not holiday at all !)
Why is it seemed the, one holiday a year family, like us, have to be penalised , and berated?
It appears to my friends and I, that in our experiences, the people who can afford there £3000-£4000 a year on their peak season holiday, have little regard for families such as ourselves and our friends predicament, because money appears to not be an issue for them.
Travel, new experiences, and valuable family time are great educators , are they not? so when those of you who resent , parents who take our children out for 5 days once a year, spare us a thought, its most probably the only time we can afford to go.(and avoid fines by ......!)
Also when school residential trips seem to cost £270 upwards- £350 for 7 of us to go away, not just one of us seems to be preferable!

True resilience and adaptability is a French council-run campsite in August.

rabbit
especially the one we like where nobody speaks a word of English and the wifi is a mile away.
and its away from the peage roads across a cheap ferry route

I hope you don't mean Calais?!

We'll if you get to it via non toll roads you'll be travelling less direct routes which mean more petrol and if you do Calais/ Dover(the cheapest) some of us will pay a shed load to get to it and our destination after.

We do the cheap crossing but it doesn't save anything as you simply get any savings eaten up in driving costs.

Retropear - you're just so defeatist.

You could always try going on your .

It might take you a while, though - you could have to take your kids out of school before the end of term.

Oh we're doing it,in our massseeeeeve car of which our tent fills the entire boot alone.But cheap holiday it ain't.

retro
from where I live and then go to , Dover-Calais adds two days of driving
and the ferries are remarkably cheap at certain times of day
remember I'm an accountant professional tightwad

our tent is 14 feet long, 7 feet tall and 8 feet wide - three bedrooms - and fits in the boot of our car with the bedding, cooking stuff, clothes bags etc
and the campsite is 18 euros a night in August for four of us ....

WOW - how much does a 14ft long, 7ft tall, 8ft wide tent cost? And how do you work out how to put it up and pack it away again? I hope something that big didn't come in one of those stupid once-unpacked-never-to-fit-in-something-so-small-again sausage shaped bags so beloved of camping supplies manufacturers?

it was under £300 four years ago and packs away to 3 foot by 2 foot cylinder - takes about 30 minutes to put up and 40 minutes to take down - we've done touring camping in it (two nights in each place) - big enough to sit at table and chairs in the central area if its raining !

Quite a big sausage, then.

We've camped a lot.Mostly in the rain in Cornwall.It is exhausting and can often be more trouble than it's worth and sun free.Most of our friends camp and feel the same.All have big cars or trailers to facilitate a lot of gear.

Many families who work hard need a rest and some sun which is sadly lacking in this country these days.

After the last exhausting 10 days in the rain,my dp said no more.He'd rather stay at home.His job is tiring and stressful.So we looked at the a South of France.To get down there was the best part of £900. Ferry,petrol,hotels(our tent is huge and a pita to put up), tolls etc.That is on top of site prices and equipment outlay.

So we've stumped up the cash for a Canvas holiday instead,we can as we can afford it.Others can't.

Sorry this just camp line trotted out on these threads is a tad disingenuous.