Family of four trip to Spain

[Autumnleaves888]

Hello

looking for ideas please. Family of four , myself , Dh and 2 primary aged dc are going on holiday to puerto pollensa in June for a week. We are just discussing how much to take for a week’s holiday? Has any one been recently? Is it expensive to eat out? We are self catering so will eat out most of the time.

Thank you

I’ve not been for a couple of years, but when you add up snacks/drinks/ice creams/sun beds etc, I’d take 300-400 euros/day.

I’d budget €1500 and have one meal in the apartment each day.

Thank you Both @AgentProvocateur totally agree it is all the small things that add up!

great idea @TunaCrunchy I will suggest this to Dh. We can always find a supermarket and stock up on essentials !

Majorca is not cheap, but if you budget as if you were taking the same holiday n the UK you will be OK.

One way to save is to take the set lunch meal ("menu del dia") at a place where local people eat, a block or two back from the sea front. For example, here you can get a 3-course lunch for around €15 per person and they put wine, water, and lemonade on the table for you to help yourself. The children might be OK with a tapa or two. https://maps.app.goo.gl/AWaXCeRPXmA7CPnf8

Also remember that you can share anything in a restaurant. If you've ordered a drink, don't feel the need to order a separate dish of food for everyone. Starters, in particular, are intended to be shared around.

You can pay by card in most places, so don't take too much cash. Changing pounds into Euros in cash is more expensive than paying with your UK card (even if you don't have one of the "no/low fees for overseas use" cards), and a big pile of cash is an accident waiting to happen.

I think you will be fine at around 1400 euros - 200 euro a day - but buy stuff in for breakfast -

I agree with PP about sharing when eating out. We are a family of four and a couple of pizzas and a few sides will suffice for a light lunch.

I agree that Mallorca can be expensive. We tend to eat out once a day and have easy food in the accommodation the rest of the time, or get something small while out like a slice of pizza, few tapas with a drink or ice cream the have a BBQ or substantial picky food like bread, cheese, olives, crisps etc. Also make sure we have plenty of drinks etc in from the supermarket. I don't really want two full restaurant meals in a day anyway.

As for 'how much to take' we don't take money as such, we just do what I've said above and check that we're not inadvertently eating anywhere 'expensive' unless it's somewhere that we particularly want to eat at - so we don't mindlessly eat out when we're not that bothered about doing so.

When we did self catering when with the children we always did breakfast in the accommodation. Cereal toast and hubby sometimes cooked sausage bacon eggs etc. Either had lunch or dinner out and other meal something like pizza rolls etc from supermarket. Also supermarket drinks snacks etc and never eat in beachfront places

Thank you everyone, this is really helpful!

Also, we mix it up as we get sick of restaurants so we do picnics on the beach +/- street food, a late brunch followed by early dinner with a snack in between, or late supper.

The great thing about self catering is the flexibility of it.

Do go out for breakfast once or twice. A standard café breakfast in Spain is tostada con tomate, toasted baguette with crushed tomatoes and olive oil, with a thin slice of cheese or Serrano ham on top if you ask for that. Cheap and delicious. And any bar will do you a bocadillo de tortilla francesa (omelette baguette) at any time - a full-size one for €5 will feed two kids easily.

we did this few years ago, so one meal per day would be a supermarket meal. they have amazing pizzas that you heat up for free in the supermarkets, and bought sides like olives, pickled veg, hummus etc. It saved a lot of money, but also saved time looking for somewhere to eat.