Advice for family holiday abroad please

[Tillow4ever]

Hi,

I'll start by saying, we haven't been abroad as a family since 2006, when our eldest was about 6 months old! We haven't had the funds to for various reasons.

I have been given £5k by my parents, telling me I'm not to waste it (you know on pesky things like bills) it's for the family - they'd like to see me spend it on a holiday for us.

So, given it's been such a long time, I thought I would ask for recommendations on here for suggestions of either specific hotels/resorts or general areas you would recommend that would hopefully fall within our budget.

We are a family of 5 - 3 adults (our eldest in 19), a 16 year old (17 in Jan), and a 12 year old (13 in Dec). I am presuming that our eldest will want to come away with us, and as he's at uni we would therefore be paying.

I'm leaning towards All Inclusive, to keep down the extra costs. That said, I'm not averse to looking at other options in a place with plenty of restaurants etc near by. Would also consider things like Eurocamps but wouldn't know where to start looking!

A decent swimming pool is a must.

Likely to have to be school holidays, for 7 nights, but would look at any of the holidays, not just the summer. May be able to get away with a day or two at the start or end off school!

A bit of sunshine would be lovely - doesn't need to be crazy hot though! A beach would be a nice to have but not essential with a decent pool.

Oh and we'd like to fly there - my youngest feels so hard done by that he's never ever been on a plane when all his friends have lol.

Thanks in advance!

A city break would be more suited to kids of that age range in my opinion - DD started to tire of the usual all inclusive beach type holidays by the time she was about 11/12, unfortunately playing in the pool and lazing on sun loungers becomes very boring very quickly for most teens 🙈 (which is sad as that’s my holiday cup of tea…)

Barcelona would be my pick - it really does have something to please everyone. You could stay in one of the neighbouring small beach towns (we chose Sitges) and get the train into the city both to keep costs down and to add a bit more of a chilled vibe to the holiday rather than having constant hustle and bustle. We alternated our days between sightseeing in Barcelona and relaxing back in Sitges which worked really well. Port Aventura is in Salou, an hour’s train ride the opposite way down the coast if you wanted to add a theme park day too.

I would look at Easter potentially as cheaper than summer. Ai makes budgets easier as in theory you can spend nothing, I for instance went to TUI magic life and spent £0! Lots of sports included, right on beach and 7 pools

You have to bear in mind that my kids have NEVER been on any sort of holiday abroad as a family, except my eldest who went away with us as a baby. We went to Center parcs recently, and all that all 3 of them wanted to do was spend all day in the pool! So think the novelty of that sort of holiday would appeal.

That said, I'll throw a list together and add in some different types of holidays including some city breaks. Thank you for the suggestions!

Thanks! I was looking at Feb or possibly May half terms, as thought they'd be cheaper than Easter or summer. I also would consider the week of our summer holidays as we get 1 week earlier than the rest of the country or October when we get 2 weeks instead of 1. I'm not sure if we could all get passports to go this October, so would have to be next year if we did.

In February you'd have to to quite far away to get sun (which you would want for a pool holiday). I think your kids would love an AI or HB hotel with decent pools (some have slides), and the older one can do things like jet ski at the beach too. Passports don't take all that long to come ime, though definitely don't book till you've got them!

@Tillow4ever where would you be looking to fly from? Applying for passports now should be no issue for October this year.

I think any London airport, East Midlands or Birmingham ideally. I guess Manchester wouldn’t be out of the question either!

Good to know that about passport times. I read allow around 10 weeks which takes us right to the start of the school holidays, and I wouldn’t date book until we had passports in our hands!

Grand Palladium Palace Ibiza Resort & Spa
Via Jet2 had connecting rooms, lovely and luxurious. Should get all 5 for under 5k all inclusive in October.

Friends have raved about the Gran Oasis in Tenerife with access to Siam water park included. They went Jet2 as well.

Thank you! I will take a look in the morning. I've just found myself looking at places in Egypt, that I hadn't even considered as a potential destination. It looks amazing, and the prices pretty much in line with the budget for all inclusive including flights, luggage and transfers - so in theory there shouldn't be much extra!!

I had forgotten how exciting looking at holidays is.

I do love booking a trip!
Are you looking for somewhere hotter than the canaries etc?

I would personally be hesitant of a trip to Egypt at the moment. Many tourist hot spots are only a few hours by car from high conflict zones, Cairo are currently hosting peace talks/negotiations with the Israeli government over the Gaza conflict and the Red Sea military action/drone strikes too.

Yes sea resorts aren’t under UK government travel advice but definitely something to be mindful of. www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/egypt

Thank you - I hadn't even thought about things like that! It came up on an EasyJet website and I thought how amazing it looked. But you're right of course, it is very close to all the conflict.

With teens, I would suggest the combination of pool, sea and some moderate nightlife in the area would be a good compromise. Majorca could work well for this. Would you prefer a big hotel/ resort or would you prefer something smaller and quieter? Also would you be like to stay in one place for the whole week, or do you get restless and like to explore?

No don't go to Egypt for your big holiday - it's one of the places always on 'worst holiday ever' list.

I would check French campsites - tons of teenagers roaming around there, and they all seem to be happy to join all kinds of activities. Yelloh villages website is a good place to start. And you could always combine with a few days in some bigger city - the one you would be flying to, for example.

Japan!

Not on 5k for 5 adults. That’s not going to work.

OP, carefully with the weather. You’re going to need at least high 20s or heated pools.

If I had active teenagers I consider TUI magic life.

I always find booking flights and accommodation separately cheaper... even for AI which really surprised me. I create cost spreadsheets!

Whoever said somewhere near Barcelona I think that would be great for beaches and then popping in for interesting city sights.

Alternatively I think Croatia would be nice and interesting...we like to mix beach and sights as just flop and drop bores us all if everyday

yes if you want October/May, then short-haul destinations with guaranteed pool weather are limited.

In Feb/Easter I would recommend the Canaries. You can definitely get AI in a nice hotel for 7 nights for £5k. I recommend Jet2. Check Tripadvisor reviews before booking anywhere though.
Look for somewhere near a beach with a nice pool, lots of places have slides etc that teens will enjoy. Most of the main resorts will have things like water sports and boat trips etc.
You will need to make sure the pool is heated if you go in Feb but the weather will be pleasant for going to the beach and sunbathing.

Thank you for this comment. My husband told me Egypt was on his bucket list after I had mentioned it, and the kids seemed to like the idea too - but with the conflict and this comment I think it might be safer to skip it. The last thing I'd want is our only family holiday abroad to be a disaster!

I do love a spreadsheet!

My eldest went to Croatia last summer with his mates, so I'd like to take him somewhere different.

Thank you all. I have read all the comments, even if I haven't replied specifically! I have picked up some brochures to have a look through, including a Jet2 one (someone recommended them above).

It's so hard to choose - we just don't want to get it horribly wrong.

Turkey is good for cheap all inclusive.
Echo what PPs have said. Be careful if you go in Feb/oct as the weather in places like Greece or Spain won't be great. Canaries are a safer bet.

Turkey in October is glorious. The sea temp is 30 degrees, there's a huge choice of great hotels with excellent pools and you get a lot more for your money. We've never had a bad experience with Jet2 packages!

Like you we went on our first ever family holiday this year with a 14 and 12 year old so slightly younger kids. We went to Salou near Barcelona for a week 1st week of May and stayed in Cap de Salou so away from the busy Salou strip in a H10 hotel. We had a great time. Not too busy and not too hot. Able to go to Port Aventura for a day, Barcelona for a day, days by the pool and days at beach so everyone happy. Enjoy family time is so special

@Tillow4ever

I would recommend Tenerife -Siam water park is incredible and perfect for your kids ages. A previous poster said Gran Oasis includes access - it doesn't as standard, I've stayed there recently. The canaries have a bit of a breeze that can make high temperatures easier to cope with than in mainland Spain

Try late august/early September for good prices, most of Europe have finished hols and prices drop

Turkey and Egypt have hotels with incredible onsite water parks. Egypt especially is common for upset stomachs the first few days. I would take pro biotics for a week before you go

Jet2, easyjet holidays and Tui frequently have discount codes available.

Good luck sounds like your kids will love it