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!

You can definitely do Thailand (or anywhere) cheaper. I went to Thailand admittedly a few years ago and landed in Koh Samui with no accommodation booked and just found a bungalow complex where I had a seaside wooden hut with electricity for something like £5 a night.

I declined to pay something like £12 a night for a brick structure with air con. I had a giant cockroach on my back one night which woke me up and there were geckos on the walls inside and ants in everything but was all great fun.

Those suggestion Costa Rica - would that be any good at Easter and would 2 weeks be enough? On my list of future holidays, just deciding when to go.
Sorry to hijack OP.
OP i've also done a Canada road trip and it was stunning, flew into Vancouver and drove across via Jasper and Banff then out of Calgary (which we were less fussed by)

Sorry another one, those suggesting Thailand, again good for Easter?

Just find an island and buy it.

Maybe. Though I did look at Trailfinders etc and for my dates, they were coming out very expensive. I DIY it all and it came out a lot cheaper. Used an agent to book one internal trip - that was all.

I think that everyone spends according to their pocket. That isn't out of the ordinary for a decent villa in Spain. You can, of course, do it much cheaper but horses for courses and all that.
This is a holiday thread; if it seems over budget for your circumstances, you are not obliged to read it.

Or maybe those who have seen people amass a lot of money and die young? Life is about choices, you make yours, and they make theirs.

@AlohaRose

Scott Dunn isn’t really interested in the £2,250 per person per week category, so options for the OP with a “high end” travel consultant are limited, I’d think they’re going to get much better advice here.

Im also appreciating the suggestions - interesting options for future consideration.

March is good. Rainy season is generally May to Oct.

For anyone thinking of SE Asia then Laos could be good. Not as touristy or busy as Thailand or even Vietnam? My Dd is going there later this year for that reason.

@Narwalpjtop Trailfinders are currently showing prices from £3.6k pp for Vietnam and Cambodia for 11 nights.

Umm personally would prefer somewhere without cockroaches….😬

They don’t bite 😁👍. But yeah I’d probably pay the slightly extra for a brick building and maybe less wildlife. Saying that I had a brick villa in Tenerife once and that had cockroaches!

It’s perfectly possible the price has gone up from the price in the brochure I shared a photo of however, it’s also not the same holiday as the number of nights is different. This is 11 where as the holiday I shared is 16.

That’s really interesting! I’d love to go to Japan and had always associated it with being expensive. I had noted in the Trailfinders brochures that China seemed similarly expensive but assumed that I’m just out of date on that one. Good to see examples of doing trips cheaper.

Aside from flights, Japan is an inexpensive destination and easy to organise DIY.

There’s quite a long-running Japan planning thread where people discuss their trips and plans, people on there travelling off peak have managed to do 2 weeks even cheaper than that. If you self-organise Japan is very affordable now. Flights can be expensive but accommodation is very reasonable and attractions, food and day to day travel costs are really cheap. The Shinkansen are a bit of a splurge but if you plan your travel well and use regional passes where appropriate, still affordable.

@Narwalpjtop sorry, I did look back but could I ask which travel company you used that is much cheaper than Trailfinders? Thank you!

But there are other travel consultants available - we were put in touch with one local to us by friends that got chatting to her, and she is part of this network:

https://www.notjusttravel.com

We didn’t go with her in the end but she was incredibly helpful.

Thank you @FeegleFrenzy

Obviously not me, as I don't spend over £2000 on my abroad hols 😂 although if I was tied to the school holidays, I'd guess I'd have to so would probably have a lovely UK holiday instead.

I used freedom destinations for. Long haul trip recently - quote was much cheaper than trailfinders.

I’ve used Freedom Destinations before as well - found them very competitive (but this was for Australia, I don’t know what they’re like for anywhere else)

Feel free to reach out to your local self employed, personal travel consultant acting as agent on behalf of Hays Travel. I am sure they would love to support.
Find your local PTC here
www.haystravel.co.uk/personal-travel-consultants/

Travel agents are a waste of time - even the so called high end ones. I would only ever use a Safari specialist.