Mini break with a 5 year old

[Dilemma8188]

Last resort, I'm asking Mumsnet! I'm incredibly indecisive. I STILL haven't booked anything to do with my 5 year old during half term. I can leave her younger sibling with my husband so it's a chance to have a little adventure. We've flown once (she found it incredibly exciting) and travel by train a lot.
I thought another flight might be fun. No idea where. Ideally less than 2.5 hours away, budget about £250/300 tops in total, for say, 2-3 nights.
Ideas?
Thank you!

Which airport would you be flying from? I’d start by seeing if there are any cheap flights left and if so where

Thanks very much! So, I'm thinking Gatwick is the closest and easiest choice. Problem I keep looking at loads of options and end up overwhelmed and not picking anything (very first world problem I know!)
That's why I thought maybe someone has a random off beat suggestion. But I'm also considering the UK, a not too expensive train ride a couple of hours to somewhere a bit different a 5 year old might enjoy (live in London)...

I think probably staying the UK would be easier on the budget given it’s only for a short period of time. Would you prefer something coastal or countryside? Or a city?

Maybe Edinburgh - can do Edinburgh zoo which has pandas and stay at Holiday Inn next to it which has a swimming pool then maybe see the castle. Can fly there cheaply.

I don’t think you’ll get 2-3 nights and transport to Edinburgh for that budget. It’s very hard to get a hotel under £100 a night at the moment.

You could do the Isle of Wight if you think your DC would enjoy the ferry over - you can get the train to Portsmouth Harbour and then the FastCat to Ryde.

You can then use the train to go down to Shanklin or Sandown.

You could do two nights in a Travelodge for £110 in Ryde or two nights in a Premier Inn in Sandown for £105.

You can usually get advance tickets from Waterloo to Portsmouth Harbour for about £30 and then the ferry is about £50.

Thanks so much everyone. Those sound like really fun options (quite like a bit of nature but don't drive,) I like the isle of Whight idea!

Nice is a great city for a mini break with kids. Airport is close to the city and there’s a tram connecting them. Plenty to do. Take the train to Villefranche for a sandy beach. To Monaco for an aquarium. Plenty in Nice itself.

All this for £300 max during half term?

Op is your budget per person or each?

Even £300 each it’s very late to get anything cheap abroad for half term. it’s premium holiday prices due to limited availability.

I would look at Dorset. Maybe Swanage? Buses go to Bournemouth and you have the steam railway to Corfe Castle. My Dc loved Corfe! There’s also Durlston Country Park. There’s also the South West coast path.

A bit further afield is Dorchester with a great little dinosaur museum.

Ok you can get flights to Edinburgh for under £100 with just a small bag and I've found a couple of b&b's including breakfast for £100 a night.

If you haven’t been legoland is great for that age. Dd2 loved it when she was 5 and we went for the weekend.

your budget will be tight for anywhere abroad in half term but might stretch to somewhere like Bilbao in northern Spain. A friend went recently and she thought it was really well set up for kids with lots of playgrounds etc. might be worth a look.

Budget airline flights (small case/hand luggage only) to a European city. Rome? Venice? Dubrovnik? Paris?

If you go on the skyscanner website you can put in the dates you want to travel and choose "anywhere" instead of a destination and it will show you the cheapest flights on those days.

Train to Edinburgh is way easier. Cheap if you go off peak and book in advance. No hanging around at airports either so much easier with a 5 year old. Train station is right in the city so very convenient and cheaper when you get there if you stay in that area - New Town. On balance though, Swanage is much easier!

£300 all in, in half term?

Wow so many suggestions, thank you! The reason I say £300 - and this might be outing - is because we went to nice 3 days last half term (we flew and stayed in an Airbnb and visited friends who live there) and it cost £300. Didn't want to do the same again. I found really cheap tickets to places in Northern Europe but tbf I'd rather keep my money for places I really wanted to go to and go in the near future. We did think of Lille on the eurostar, but the recommendations for the UK are really great, thank you. Isle of whight /Dorset /legoland all great. Bear in mind that budget was for a couple of days, so it should be doable.

And I say outing because I keep banging on about that trip and how fun it was to travel with my daughter to everyone who knows me 😂

Is the 300 including spending money or just for flights + hotel? Disneyland paris could be a nice idea. Flight to Paris and stay in an Airbnb

no way you could do DLP for £300 for 2 people in the October half term. It’s one of their busiest and most expensive times of year. I wouldn’t take a 5 year old then when it’s so busy.

Tbh no, not spending money. I'm not a fan of Disney and my daughter hasn't expressed any interest, and it's expensive! I do think the UK options are good for this time around. Thank you very much, everyone, for your recommendations!

Not sure about prices as it’s a university place but how about train to Canterbury for a couple of days and stay in a hotel, most are in the centre by the station.