What holidays would you book with £3000 budget per year

[lking679]

Just wondering what holidays you would book if you had a budget of £3000 per year for a family of 5? (Theoretically no covid!)
Can't say I am fussed about foreign holidays to be honest so was thinking;
center parcs
holiday to see family (stay in air bnb)
August week at holiday park/holiday cottage near coast

What do you do?
Not much of a holiday budget compared to some, think one week abroad in summer would wipe out the whole budget!!

Buy a nice tent and some gear, hire a roof box, book the ferry to France or the Netherlands and go camping for 10-14 days. The overnight ferry crossings are an experience in themselves, loads on to entertain the kids. Amazing campsites await you on the continent. Book a couple and do a few nights in each.

Our budget is similar and this is what we do each year. Love it

We're doing our maiden trip to Centre Parcs as a family this year but I don't know if it will become a regular feature.

I'd have a week in France having done a drive down and the rest I'd have a long seaside weekend with each set of grandparents, maybe Norfolk, North Wales, Somerset and Devon from preference for me. We've four sets so I think that would be budget gone!

Depending on the age of DC I may do something such as a weekend to visit an attraction such as Alton Towers or a trip to London, then a week by the coast in the summer and a four day break to Center Parcs.
Center Parcs in the school holiday may use up a lot of the budget.
Or a one week/8 or 9 day break abroad booked with Love Holidays.

We paid £1500 for a week in a south coast holiday park this summer for four, nothing fancy. You'd need an extra bedroom unless you want to pull the bed out every night.

CP is stupid expensive, for a family of five your going to have to go up to another price bracket.

I don't think you'll get more than that for 3k assuming school holidays.

I’d probably try to squeeze in a European trip if you can - it’s a good experience particularly if the kids are learning a different language as they can practice basic stuff. You can get static caravan sites really central to Rome / Paris / Barcelona. I managed to get one for 5 people earlier in the year (near Rome’s chartered airport) for £19 per day including breakfast.

That's about what we spend for a family of four:

Week in a cottage at Easter (£700 ish)
Week in a cottage in summer (£1300 ish)
Three or four weekend breaks (£250 ish a time)

We did CP once and found it crowded and overpriced, I know some love it but we have since stuck to much cheaper alternatives.

Does this include spends??
We’ve paid £800ish for a cottage in Northumberland for June for a family of 4 and a 10 day break to Majorca in august which is more than £3k
You could get 2 U.K. breaks for £3k but I don’t think you’d get much for your money in Center parcs unless it’s out of season.
I agree that camping is great for holidays but the equipment can be costly.

The Airbnb to see family and a week om the coast sound ideal. If there is budget left, use it to upgrade your activities - meals out, maybe a day at a theme park.

Personally I wouldnt do UK centreparcs, if budget is a concern you will get stressed about the cost of all the add ons. There are so many cheaper options on the continent - I'd probably go with a campsite in France in lieu of a UK CP.

We had an amazing holiday at
one of the European Centreparcs in the Netherlands. European CP arent as good, but they are half the price. In the Netherlands you can cycle a lot and there are vast sandy beaches great for watersports like kite surfing, if your kids are older.

We split the road trip spending a night in Ghent on the way out, a night in Antwerp on the way home, then spent 4 days at the Centreparcs and then 3 nights in Rotterdam and a day trip to Amsterdam.

Because we only took one car, and self-catered, it was cheap - but it would use up most of your budget I suppose. It was our best family holiday we ever had though and if you have kids there are some fun water parks and theme parks (Plopsaland for example is good for little kids).

I only do center parcs on a Friday- Monday (we leave Sunday night) on a quiet weekend. Kids are 6, 3 and 1 so it has something for all of them. Not sure we'll continue to do it when they're older.

Back in the day if I got a bonus we sometimes go for a weekend at Christmas but yes it's silly money. But an easy holiday for smaller ones.

Your plan for your holidays sounds good OP.

Mobile home/chalet in france, city break in autumn or spring, a festival

Good ideas thanks!

I have some serious budget envy going on here. If I had that amount I'd book our dream trip to Iceland to hopefully see the northern lights. You could get a fantastic UK holiday for that if you're not bothered about going abroad.

I'll add personally I wouldn't do cp's as it's seriously overpriced, I'd do the Iceland suggestion instead as it will be similar!

At that age I'd get a load of weekend breaks from the Sun holidays, they work out about £150 / £200 per weekend. Then maybe some lovely day trips, and an Ari B and B near family.

Duinrell in the Netherlands - a week at Easter should be doable for that price.

£3000 isn't for one holiday it's for all the holidays across the year though and want to go on more than one. Probably will go abroad when youngest is eligible for her 30 hours funding and my childcare bill isn't so high! :S

Why not go to Center Parcs in Europe? It's a lot cheaper than the ones in the UK. We've been to ones in Holland and Belgium a few times and have had a great time there.

It's usually reasonable May half term as it's still term time in Holland/Belgium. A week there is about the same price as a weekend in the UK.