Family summer holiday with a budget of around 18k

[Linens]

Thinking ahead to 2026 summer.
DH and I, DS who will be 14.5 and DS who will be 10
I would like 2 weeks away somewhere. Looked at Mauritius/Maldives/Sri Lanka/Seychelles but seems it’s the wet season and maybe not ideal time to go?
I love European villa holidays but it’s just so so hot now and all the risk of wildfires….
Was thinking safari but I have been before and it’s not hugely relaxing, which we desperately need on our holidays.
We are doing Disney this year in October so probably won’t want to go again so soon. Going away in Easter is probably out as well as we will not be long back from Dis and October 2026 youngest will be sitting 11+ so it will be summer to go away.
I love going away in the UK and we will have a week away in UK at some point but the weather is unreliable for main summer holiday.
I did see a suggestion on another thread for Parnu in Estonia which I really fancied?
Anyone any bright ideas? I LOVE
holidays and booking them and planning and I’ve always got the next destination in mind but nothing is massively exciting me. I know 2026 is a long way off but I like to start thinking about things!

I agree with the suggestion of Western Canada. I would add a week long Alaskan cruise into the trip as well as time in Vancouver and the mountains.

(Love Caribbean and Indian ocean but, for me, they are best kept to our winter months).

We're looking at Lapland and it's £9k for 3 nights so I think £18k for two full weeks somewhere seems pretty good

There are plenty of people who spend that amount of money on holidays. We have been to Sani in Greece a few times for example but only in the shoulder season so May or October half term. 2 weeks in August school holidays could easily be £20,000. But it’s fully booked every year. Some people are extremely high earners. Others spend a high amount of their net earnings on holidays as it is their “thing”.

I was clearly missing something in Canada! Didn't really enjoy it at all.

Mumsnet is so weird. I think the OP would have got a very different response if the budget wasn’t in the title of the post.

I’ve been told on here that a holiday that cost £3.5k per person was bargain basement and that I must have been staying in hostels (I wasn’t) because it was so unrealistically cheap and here the OP is being told she’s living a billionaire lifestyle for having a budget of £4.5kpp. Clearly different people have very different budgets and that’s ok. It’s the holiday board.

OP- what about Scandinavia? There’s some gorgeous scenic train rides in that part of the world that look lovely in summer. It’s on my “one day” list and looks really relaxing.

https://www.visitnorway.com/plan-your-trip/getting-around/by-train/beautiful-journeys/

Woah. Thats mad. Last year we went to Orlando, Greece and NYC... five of us and all three holidays were 20k!

This year Turkey and Caribbean, both AI, comes in at £12k combined.

I'm now pretty interested to know how one holiday can cost £18k.

You can easily spend 18k for five on a Disney holiday alone, surely you saw the park and Hotel prices when you were there?

Ikos in school holidays is 10k per week for a family of four and is constantly recommended here.

dh and I are going to South America next year for three weeks - 16.5k- so not hard to believe that a family holiday can cost £18k in school holidays.

Two weeks in October, AI at the Rixos hotel in Dubai - standard room and economy flights - is £25,000 for 4 people. It’s not hard to spend £18k on a holiday for 4 people.

There can't be people that dense who think 18k on a holiday is unimaginable or for billionaires. Billionaires are not spending 18k on a two week holiday - trust me! In fact that probably wouldn't cover a hotel room for one night.

Is it a cheap holiday? No of course not - but plenty of the middle classes will spend that and a lot more.

We went to Disney in October and hotel and park tickets were 12k and flights 8k. The flights were only that cheap because of a companion voucher.

We are not billionaires, we are not close to being billionaires, and we will never be billionaires.

Two weeks in Spain or Green in the summer holidays could be 18k at an Ikos resort for a family of four.

Do you really not know how a holiday can cost 18k? Do you really need things explaining or are you just being provocative?

im sorry but there is no way on God’s earth that you all went in school holiday time for that total. I mean, lucky you if you can travel outside of school holiday time. I can look forward to that when I retire . Till then I have to 🙄every time I get my credit card out to book a school holiday time holiday because often it’s half the price a couple of weeks earlier.

Tanzania safari? It can vary £3-5k per person based on my research. Depending what package you go with.. definitely not a typical holiday easily forgotten!

How long were those trips and are you counting all of your costs in that? When I say a holiday cost £x then for me that’s everything including all of my meals and spending money. Orlando and NYC are both expensive places for attractions and eating out.
If you did something like two weeks in Greece, two weeks in Orlando and say 5 nights in New York for £4k pp including meals, attraction/park tickets and spends then I think you did very well there.

I know someone who spent 80k on a 2 week holiday for two people and she regularly (few times a year) has holiday of that price.

Of course some people can afford it, my friend is a multi millionaire and says she couldn’t spend all her money if she tried. Good for her. I spent 3k on a luxury holiday for 2 once and felt a bit sick but i don’t begrudge people who can afford more.

This thread is like the ones where people can’t believe a flat can cost £800k and start posting all the 10 bedroom castles in their area for less than that.

@carly2803 If anyone is not reading the room it is you.

Different people can afford different things whether that be house, car, education, holidays, healthcare, hobbies etc.
As PP have said, this is the "Holiday" board and not a "Budget Holiday" board. If the OP had requested holiday destination ideas but not put a cost in the title then (just perhaps) you may have been (slightly) surprised when they gave their budget but to open the (clearly titled) thread and THEN feel the need to call them out.........😖

Anyway, who are you to talk?
I am sure plenty of people would give their eye teeth for holiday at Butlins or a ferry to France, there is a COL crisis after all.😉😘

£18k won't get you much in any of the destinations you're thinking of. Fair enough if luxury isn't important to you, but if it is I'd up your budget.

I wish people would stop going on about the OPs budget and come up with some suggestions or why bother posting? I like hearing people’s travel ideas!

That’s not true

If you decide on Safari ( understand that you want relaxing holiday ), you could combine it with some beach time at the end of the holiday. Tanzania and Zanzibar works well. Would be a very memorable holiday. Some of the tents are really good to stay, you could really chill in the evenings after Safari.

Worth considering the dollar against the pound is horrible at present. The SA rand is as good as I’ve known it - and is a pretty amazing country.

If you could or would never spend that much on a holiday, maybe skip the thread?
Just take IKOS, all hotels often fully booked months and months in advance and that's at least 10K per week, surely it's not that difficult to grasp that there are plenty of people willing to pay those prices?

Personally I'd go for safari or SE Asia, as suggested.

You were asking about Pärnu in Estonia. It's a very cute seaside summer town - however, it's tiny, you would get bored if you go for 2 weeks. If you fancy an European holiday where it's not too hot, you could fit in several countries. Fly to Copenhagen, take train across Sweden to Stockholm, then ferry over to Tallinn, drive to Pärnu (or take a bus) and from there to Riga and Jurmala (the latter has a very similar vibe to Pärnu). I would recommend July in this case, August can get quite chilly already.

Some friends of ours have just done South Africa for a week on safari and then a week on the beach in Mauritius and said it was idyllic.