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’m impressed they can do a two week trip in Thailand etc for a family of 4 for £6k, as I think getting the flights for much less than that would be difficult at the moment.

Of course people compare themselves to adverts - that’s the whole point of fucking adverts!!

I agree the flights are the killer at the moment

@Twitwootoo I used to do a lot of long haul, on the basis it was very cheap when I got there. Probably looking at £5-700 return.

Now… you would pay twice that. More.

Adds up very quickly with children - albeit, the European prices aren’t much better. I paid the best part of £2k on flights to Mallorca last year for three people. In 2019 I could have flown us to Thailand for that.

If you've got this much money to spend on holiday, why don't you just approach one of the high-end travel companies like Scott Dunn, give them your requirements and get them to work it out for you? They will do as much or as little organising as you wish and will come up with all kinds of suggestions that you won't even think of yourself.

Come on, love. Models posing in an advert are a little different to an actual human being bragging about having nearly 20k disposable income to spend on a 2 week holiday.

In August you can do some flights to Bangkok for about £800 but they’re in direct and mainly via Saudi / Qatar or Air India and at least one leg has a big old stopover otherwise you’re looking at £1000 a flight with Eva air or Thai air and going up from there.

Do did I. I used to do 5 flights to Mallorca less than £1k and this year was nearly double that And was Wizz air. Easyjet was even more

I think it’s possible that @Narwalpjtop may be looking at family tours like this one. https://www.trailfinders.com/tours/south-east-asia/thailand/bangkok-and-surrounds/tour-tropical-islands-temples-and-tuk-tuks
It doesn’t include flights so they would need to budget for their internal and international flights on top if this is what they were considering.

This sounds amazing

Do you mind telling if you planned this yourself or did you use a travel agent?

Whilst I was on the website BA offered me 2 weeks AI at an Ikos - 32k

@Linens if it was the one in Estepona I’d seriously consider booking directly and organising your own flights (the hotel provides complimentary transfers) and going for 7-10 days depending on what budget allows. It’s fab.

People compare themselves to others like them, on forums, who have 18k to spend on a bloody holiday, while they couldn't afford presents for the kids at Christmas.

Well if they're fully grown adults they should know better than to do that. Even when dd was in primary school and asking why we didn't live in a massive house like her best friend she was clever enough to understand when I explained to her that some people had more money than others and that's the way it is!

I'm not rich (my last holiday abroad was in a youth hostel) but I have no issue with people specifying a budget. And it makes far more sense to put it in the title so people who can offer advice will see it and click on it and the people who will be triggered by such a thread can ignore it........oh wait.

Some of us hang out on the Holidays board because we like planning and discussing holidays. That process is part of the fun of the holiday and lots of people don’t want to get an agent to do all of that. £4.5k per person wouldn’t stretch to two weeks long haul with someone like Scott Dunn or Audley anyway.

I don’t generally spend as much as the OP on holidays but love a bit of fantasy planning with someone else’s high-end budget.

But this isn't a thread about choosing between eating and heating.

Some people have more disposable income than others. Are we not allowed to post about anything? It's the holidays board. For people who go on/have been on holidays.

Presumably those having to choose between eating and heating don't go on many holidays.

2 of our holidays this year are costing around £25k for 2 adults and 2 children, both all inclusive and technically out of school holiday time (although not for our kids)
1 week at Ikos Dassia in July, 1 week at Maxx Royal in turkey in October.

Plus 2 long weekends at Center Parcs on top of that, and any over night trips or weekend we can add in.

I can't take all the faux shock that people might spend a lot of money on holiday!

@WindDothBlow if the OP hadn't mentioned the budget in the title, people would still complain that they opened the thread to "offer advice but not with such a ridiculous budget when people can't afford to eat"

Putting the budget in the title means people have read the title and still opened the thread to complain and bitch about someone else's holiday budget... they've deliberately chosen to be offended and comment. What is the point of that?!

I was referring to my own family and ‘big’ (hollow laugh) 6k budget not the OP’s. For me, it would be for 3 not 4. These are obviously ‘headline’ prices so cheapest week, plus all the usual additional costs of holidays; parking, pet sitters, possibly connecting flight or extra night in a hotel, though the OP is probably looking at these costs on top of the 18k. Also, trailfinders update their prices quarterly and I got this brochure in late November.

Wow, that's great value!

https://www.stubbornmuletravel.com A friend just holidayed with this company and had a great time. Might give some inspiration

That is great value but I bet the starting prices are in rainy season and outside of school holidays. We are going to Vietnam in Easter and flights were so much more expensive over that period.

I'm reeling at the amount of money too.

Yes; quite likely! Though the bigger agents may be able to negotiate flight prices perhaps?

Why?

That is not a bad price, but I think you’ll likely find that the price goes up significantly from that £2k pp if you’re tied to school holidays.

I wouldn’t let that demoralise you though. Especially if you self-organise, £6k could get you a really great holiday in Southeast Asia. If you’re on a tight budget then I’d say self-organising is the way forward. Hotels in Vietnam and Cambodia are really affordable. You can get family rooms for three in really nice hotels in those cities for £40-50 per night on booking.com with breakfast. That means you could get 14 nights of hotel for £700 for all three of you. Flights would be a significant expense (probably as much as £1k per person) but that would still leave £2,300 to spend on tours, activities and local transport. That will go a long way in Vietnam and Cambodia.

If that tour ends up being out of your budget use the itinerary as a starting point and price it up yourself and you might be pleasantly surprised.

They probably do get a bit of a deal on the flights but you will be paying a premium to go through someone like trailfinders. They are not a budget option.

We had a look at their Japan tours are the prices were absolutely eye watering compared to what we paid. Their “Essential Japan” tour guide price is over £3k for two people for 9 nights in mostly multi-share hostel accommodation without flights or meals. For comparison our accommodation has only cost £1500 for 13 nights in proper hotels (some mid range and some pretty nice) during the Easter break. Our rail fares and transport will be about £450 for the two of us.

https://www.trailfinders.com/tours/china-hong-kong-and-japan/japan/tour-essential-japan