any ideas for really cheap summer holiday??

[cheekymonk]

Thats it really. It would be for me, dh, ds aged 8 and dd aged 2. We are very skint, have so much debt but I really don't think that the kids should have no holiday because of it but am trying to be responsible too. Any ideas would be very greatfully appreciated!!

Few days camping at inland campsite somewhere - check out camping pages for suggestions.

true,any other ideas?

thanks dinkystinky for replying x

The other thing a couple of people I work with do is use the sun vouchers for cheap holidays.

What about staying at home but doing lots of fun things that you dont get round to. Are there things the kids especially your eldest ask to but you dont have time in term time.

If you are all off work you could just enjoy having time to explore your own area, local parks, pool etc maybe day at the beach if near enough?

Yes i did think about that orangepetals... thank you

Kids that age love camping, they don't mind if it's wet. I hate it but did it when they were small and we were skint because they loved it so much. You just have to suspend normal standards of cleanliness and nutritious food.
How much do you realistically have to spend? If we know we could suggest places.

We've booked a week in a travelodge near Padstow in August for £19 per night. We've reasoned it's cheaper than camping and are treating it as a posh tent! Can even take the dog!

where abouts are you? I'm really hoping we get to try out this campsite this year: here It's cheap, on the beach, looks like the cafe's nice and it's also a farm - sorted..! Camping's great and if you haven't tried it before, try to borrow some equipment from friends before you buy a load of stuff - we were lucky to be able to borrow a friend's tent the first time we went, then once we had, I got a tent from ebay.

Ah - just seen from your profile that you're down South, so that campsite's probably not practical...

I agree that another option is day trips. I've got a week off at Easter with ds's but we're not going away anywhere. Instead we'll do a few day trips I think - we're close to North Wales so that's a day to Llandudno - with packed lunch so no big spends, and there are a few parks we don't often go to that will be on the list. Picnics + football and they're happy, especially if I can be bothered to take one or two of their friends with us

sorry - last one from me but the old Etap chain hotels are also really cheap, modern and each bedroom sleeps 3 - double bed with bunk bed over it so I can take ds's away on my own for the odd night. My brother lives in Leicester and the Etap there (think it's Ibis now) is £19 a night, so they're worth looking out for - the Etap website still works and they just let you know what the hotel is now when you search.

house swap? I did a few when my first two children were tiny, also house sitting?

and some hostels have family rooms

Thanks all, still figuring it out!

Surely camping is expensive if you have never been - you need to buy equipment

Go in summer half term week rather than Aug - it's a lot cheaper! There are plenty of nice locations for