Cost of eating out Greece/Turkey/Tunisia

[suddenlysix]

So we're looking at holidays for our large family - 8 of us now my step children have moved in - and we were thinking we'd have to do all inclusive to make it better value. But I'm seeing a lot of self catering holidays coming up last minute which will be about £200+ cheaper. So just wondering if anyone can tell me whether it's worth considering. I do not want to go on holiday and end up cooking dinner every night like I do at home so I'd want to eat out every night (obviously we could have breakfast and lunch in the apartment). Anyone have any experience on whether we'd be better off just going all inclusive or if it's so cheap to eat out abroad we could consider it? We don't have anywhere particular in mind to go but have been thinking about Greece, Turkey and Tunisia. Any others suggestions very welcome though!

Thanks.

We had a week in Crete recently and I wouldn't have described eating out as a cheap experience. That said, we don't tend to go on holiday to save money and there are only three of us so we tend to eat at places that have been recommended by other diners.

As there are 8 of you I would think that all inclusive is going to be cheaper, although the food probably won't be as good.

Hi

Thanks for your reply. Yes that's what we're worried about. If the hotels food is rubbish we're stuck with it. But like you say with 6 kids it's probably going to cost a fortune to feed them all. I was hoping someone had some little gem of a destination where the restaurants were really cheap!

We go all inclusive ( 3 kids), and where we find it such a financial advantage isn't so much in the meals but in the snacks and drinks. Ice-cream, slushies, juice, coke, coffee, crisps, pastries, rolls, fruit, cake - that's all included when we go AI & that makes a huge difference.

Yes that's true. I get asked 40 times a day "can I have something to eat?" at home so imagine they'd be even worse while away. I've had to write our weeks meals on a chalk board because I can't stand being asked 12 times a day "what's for dinner?" (They forget and ask me more than once!)

Places like Greece are not 'cheap' any more.

We eat out every night in Greece and an average (amazing quality) meal, and on average, for 2 adults, 2 kids with a couple of beers costs around 50 eur per evening. We usually have one or two nights were we get a pizza or eat at one of the 8 euro a meal places though.

You'd probably be better off at an AI in your case. It would save you lots during the day on ice creams etc. Don't do this in Turkey though!

Just got back from kyrenia in northern cyprus and lunch was about 10 to 12 lira for a sandwich with chips or pasta at our hotel. Tuna salad or Kebab was abiut 15 lira. A can of coke was 3 lira in the hotel and at restaurants. Iced coffee was 5 lira .
Lira was 3 .6 to the pound. We were half board so only ate out at lunch. We did an evening sunset cruise which included dinner which was £15 each.
Traveling is very cheap as well.

Hi Paula, why not Turkey? Is there something I should know about that? I think my first choice would be Tunisia if possible but we are open to anywhere sunny with a beach.

Thanks bruffin. Both dh and I have been to Cyprus when younger but before we met. We have discussed going back together and with all the kids now. I went in March and found it a bit chilly but imagine August would be much nicer.

We hired a villa in Corfu for 2 years running and we budgeted 100 a day for 2 adults and 2 kids for lunch (cheap) and a 2 course evening meal plus ice creams, drinks for the kids and wine for us. We came home with money so didn't get through it all.

We have just come back from an AI holiday in Tunisia and it is nice not to worry about money and if the kids want a 3rd ice cream of the day!

It was the turkish side of Cyprus we went to which is supposed to be a lot cheaper than the southern side as it isnt in the eurozone. It was in the high 30s/40 last week and will be similar in August. It was too hot for us but we will go back maybe May or September.
The flight is long though we had to fly into Istanbul and then wait on tarmac for a while then fly the last bit to Nicosia, however i think you can fly into Larnaca now as the border is more open.

I live near the border of the trnc and can confirm it's cheaper for some things and certainly in the tourist areas. In southern Cyprus we were charged 26e for 3 toasties, 2 beers and a coke the other day, last night a moussaka, 2 mixed grills, 2 beers and a coke cost us 50e

I think the trnc is cheaper than mainland turkey too, we went to Antalya for the weekend last month and our hotel beach bar charged 15tl for a beer and a coke. I paid less than that on the beach in the trnc a couple of weeks ago and we always go to the beach there because sunbed hire is cheaper and you don't pay for parking which you do on the south side now.

We had a visitor this weekend who has been to Greece a lot and thinks south Cyprus prices are comparable.

Yes you can easily get from larnaca to trnc resorts but transfers are expensive and can take a while if they cross in Nicosia but this is the quickest way if you stay in kyrenia.

I would consider ai anywhere in your situation but I would choose the resort carefully.

AI in Turkey is only good if you pay a lot. Cheap AI is not good. It can be cheap to eat out in Turkey, we always go self catering and eat in local restaurants and it isn't expensive, although nowhere is really cheap any more.

I have heard Northern Cyrus is cheaper though and it is supposed to be lovely. My parents went a few times and loved it. I would love to go one day.

Does anyone have any experience of AI in Tunisia then? I think that's where I'd like to go. My neighbour just got back from Sousse and loved it so much she's going back to the same hotel in September! Hoping it's not just that specific hotel and that it's typical of Tunisia to have clean, friendly hotels.

I have been to many cheaper AI hotels in Greece and Turkey. We go for the smaller family run hotels the food has always been of a good quality and plenty of it. I would avoid big cheap AI hotels though.

We stay at places like this- www.thomascook.com/destinations/turkey/dalaman/hisaronu/yel-holiday-resort

£15 a night including room ( kids free-we often book directly with the hotel), all food, drink and snacks- the food was excellent.

Smaller hotels like this tend to serve better local produce and not go down tghe burger and chips route like some of the bigger AI hotels.

"Hoping it's not just that specific hotel and that it's typical of Tunisia to have clean, friendly hotels."

It's probably that the hotel is good. Our worst holiday abroad was in a cheap budget hotel in Sousse.

From my experience, even if you go cheap ai you can always find something to eat. I went to a cheap ai in Bodrum. It was fine for me but the ice cream wasn't very nice, none of the local booze was remotely palletable and there were no diet soft drinks but the rooms and the complex itself were lovely as is the resort and I don't look at ai on the basis of can I drink that much whereas I know people that do.

There is a small one near us here and ai means anything not just cheap stuff, they have a restaurant on the public beach and anyone with a wristband just chooses anything they want from the menu during the day. That's a really good way of doing it.

I've heard mixed reviews about Tunisia but if I found a hotel I liked the look of id try it.

We went to the First choice holiday village in May half term and the food was very good...drinks were a bit mixed but on the whole ok plus they had great water slides for the kids, plus kids clubs and entertainment all day long and most importantly ice cream! Service was brilliant and everything was of a really high standard. I hadn't been to Tunisia in over 20 years and it had improved a lot

We are actually going back in August.

I would pick all inclusives with a big family. I think the cost involved in buying and preparing breakfast, lunch, soft drinks etc would really eat into your holiday budget and be quite time consuming. Plus paying for a round of coffees/soft drink or ice creams does mount up.
I echo what others have said and would only go on a good all inclusive. As a very general rule I pick only 4 star and above with good reviews. The exception are small inclusives. I went to a lovely one in Coma Ruga, Spain that served wonderful fresh fish and salads etc. My preference are resorts with a mixture of nationalities but that is just a personal thing.

The 4/5 star stuff is very misleading. THe stars are awarded by local tourist authorities, travel companies and often not many meaningful.

Big hotels often have more stars but they can be awarded stars for having things like motorised water sports, all night reception, hotel hairdresser, on site clothes shop.

Unless you pay really top whack usually a big hotel of a 4 rating will be worse experience - certainly food wise than a good 3 family run hotel.

A "genuine 4/5* hotel in Tunisia or Turkey" doesn't necessarily mean for a good holiday.

I wold echo trip advisor though, really trawl though reviews, although be aware than many people will write a review for a rant, and sometimes because they found some ants or it was too hot.

Or no chips!

Ha ha!

Thanks for all your comments. I think we really should go all inclusive mainly so the kids can eat as much as they need without whinging. I have an 11 year old and a 12 year old boy and they eat like there is no tomorrow! Both skinny little things as well. Don't think we'll get much drinking in but it's nice to have the option of a drink in the evening. We went to the Dominican a few years ago before they all lived with us and we didn't really drink that much then - I can't drink in the heat.

I would love to go to the hotel my neighbour went to but it's all booked through the summer holidays and we're just going to look for a last minute deal anyway. But yes I agree about looking on trip advisor and trying to tell the difference between a bad hotel and people who just like to moan! As long as it's clean and the food is edible we'll all be so grateful to get away. My step children have had a difficult few years with a mother who drinks heavily, knocked them about and didn't really feed them or take them to school. Thank god social services finally stepped in and removed them to us. We got legal residence this year and I just want to give them the childhood they deserve. I know kids don't deserve all inclusive foreign holidays but I've saved really hard and I want to treat them all.

Oh and thanks for that hotel recommendation combust22 I'll be checking that out after dinner.

I have to say I have not experienced the "shit" food that coconutty talks of- but then I have always researched my hotels well before booking- we have been to 10 or more AI hotels in Greece and Turkey over the years. The food can be a little repetitive, but at such cheap costs you can eat out every night at a restaurant too if you like.

Most AI hotels will make you a packed lunch too if you book it the night ahead.

As others have said AI really comes into its own when you add up the costs of all the snacks, coffees ice creams, soft and alcoholoic drinks. In hot weather we all need to drink a lot, each of my kids would have 10 drinks or more in a day. Many AI hotels do an early tea, afternoon coffee and cakes, pizza, or in the case of the link I gave you suddenlysix a local Turkish woman would come all afternoon, set up a burner on a cloth under the olive trees in the hotel gardens and cooked pides ( stuffed pancakes) with a variety of fillings. As many as you can eat squeezed between lunch and dinner ( all included in the AI package)

All this from a "shit" 3* hotel. And the same hotel had loads of wild tortoises roaming around the gardens- a big hit with the kids!!