£2.5k for family of 5

[EloiseBridgerton]

Someone please help us we are going around in circles. We want to be careful with money and not dip into savings so realistically £2.5k for a one week holiday this august. Dates are set with work. Our biggest focus is to have the kids swimming every day so their swimming comes on. Package holidays are £££, doing flights and Airbnb ourselves is £££. At this rate it will be a staycation with an Argos paddling pool in the rain (will be just our luck to be peeing it down in the Uk on our week off. Any thoughts? Doesn’t have to be fancy, just be nice enough to enjoy for a week x

How old are the DC? (usually need ages to search)

How old are the kids? That will impact what you are looking for.

Have you looked at holiday /caravan parks? Lots with on site pools and loads of kids entertainment. People can be snobby about them but we go every year to one and kids love them.

Camping, fun and super cheap which leaves money for plenty of treats

I'd look at rentals in France. If you're prepared to be inland, you'd probably find a rental with a pool and manage ferries, food and fuel for that budget.

Impossible to help without dates and ages of kids

Need the exact dates before anyone can answer

airports would help too

Sorry I wasn’t looking for an exact holiday..though totally loving people are keen to try for us!! Was just hoping for some inspiration! It’s from 13th august and kids are 7, 11 and 14.

we have looked at gites. We know France v well and know you usually have to go below the Loire for reliably sunny weather. Have also looked at a caravan type place but don’t know where to go really. We’ve looked at eurocamps but they are £££ so quickly become out of budget when you factor in eurotunnel, petrol and food.

we would 100% camp in the Uk but just can’t guarantee the weather

sorry this is like mission impossible!

Some camping places in the uk have indoor pools - we stayed in one in Wales but ages ago so won’t recommend. But there must be others

Gran Canaria or Fuerteventura look to be your best options, maybe somewhere like this?

www.onthebeach.co.uk/holiday/32269438450/71a41c26de67281d8fa28771f843f11e?childAges%5B0%5D=7&childAges%5B1%5D=14&childAges%5B2%5D=11&departureDate=2022-08-16&adults=2&bags=0&children=3&infants=0&nights=7&rooms=2&location_ids=5&search_id=310000556&priceFormat=TOTAL_PRICE

But if you just go to On the Beach and search 'anywhere' and your dates, a few come up!

Try french / Spanish campsites in the area you want to go. Most have mobile homes you can rent which will be cheaper than euro camp. Also gites somewhere inland/ non touristy in rural France can be quite cheap.

haven’t tried on the beach..will take a look thank you. We’ve been looking at tui and jet 2

Have you looked at pierre et vacances in france. You will need to factor in petrol and crossing the channel but they tend to be reasonable. For instance I've found one week self catering for €500 but in the mountains not near the beach

We’ve just booked with Huttopia in The Netherlands for 6 days with an over nighter in Bruges on the way back. We cashed in our club card pints for the tunnel & without petrol it’s come to £500 so far.
DC are 9 & 13. We normally do France with Yelloh! or Eurocamp but want to check out Dutch centreparcs for next year!

Try the French site www.amivac.com. You can filter thé results.

Also there's a eurocamp site at Guînes l'ESS than jour from Calais. Logis de France on site, with restaurant, snack bar, pool etc. Miles cheaper going direct than going with Eurocamp.

Love holidays also with a look. I know some people do not rate them but I have never had an issue and looking at your dates they do have options within your budget.

I'd look at Germany. It is 9 euro for a month long travel card so getting around is cheap this summer. They also have really good public outdoor pool areas and you can combine with sightseeing.

You'll get flights for a couple of hundred each, even in august

Have a look on sky scanner for flights? Then booking.com for accommodation?

Lanzarote via Jet2 had a fair few reasonable holidays staying in two bed apartments with swimming pool when I looked recently. We didn't book because our kids are much younger and the flight time was too long. Self catering for the most part I think.

TUI & Jet2 are often ££££

Look at On the Beach, Love Holidays and here www.sunshine.co.uk - it's actually a really good little site that we've used a few times!

Another thing that I do is look on easyJet for example and find some cheap flights, then get the accommodation off On the Beach or similar.

Get yourself yo a lovely sunny pool OP, it's definitely doable with a bit of internet wizardry!

Fabulous suggestions we haven’t thought of so thanks all. Will report back

I would suggest caravan in UK. Quite a few have outdoor and indoor pools so helps with weather!

Or drive to France and camp at ready erected tent?

For swimming we went to The Merton in Jersey at half term, it has its own pool (there's a small lanes bit). But likely to be much more £££.
We are going to Northern Spain and renting an AirBnB with a pool for a lot less than your total (but the car hire is very pricey as we are staying in a rural apartment). Most medium sized Spanish cities have open air pools in the summer e.g. I went to Salamanca once with a friend and obviously there is no beach but there is lots of culture, shops and the pool.
At that time of year I would recommend the North TBH. Try Santander or Bilbao.
We've also been to Nice, rented an apartment through Nice Pebbles, and spent loads of time in a public pool we got to on the tram.

(By North I mean Northern Spain. But there are, to be fair, caravan sites in the North of England that have indoor pools).