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!

Canada as pp has mentioned

Singapore and Bali

Caribbean cruise

Race across the world was a Canada advert, I’d highly recommend watching it if you haven’t seen it. Vancouver, Banff and lake Louise looked so beautiful.

I'd second this. Flight times are short for long haul. Lot to see and do and teens will recognise things.

NYC for a few days to start off with. Bit of madness but iconic.

Then drive up to cape cod. Its about 6-7 hour drive to the central cape. Busier in summer but august the USA is back at school. Just time your travel wisely (don't drive in on a friday!) Some beautiful accomdation but you'll need to book ahead. Day trip to marthas vineyard and/or nantucket or stay there as budget allows. Car ferries to both book up ALONG time ahead though. But theyre very easy to get around without a car.

Fly out of Boston and spend a few days there. It's not far from the cape. Lots of history and things to see. Can even take a boat trip up to salem.

I've done a similar trip in two weeks. With juat under 1 week in cape cod for relaxing.

Alternively what about washington DC loads to see and then down to the Carolinas? Some stunning areas there to chill out. Its where dawsons creek was filmed. Its where a lot of americans holiday. So lots of accomdation choices.

That was meant to be a grin as I thought that comment was very funny....goodness knows why it changed to a biscuit. Haha

Iceland? It’s expensive so your money won’t go so far but it’s an incredible country to explore and so big and expansive that you could still have a relaxing holiday. Driving is dead easy once you’re out of Reykjavik and it definitely won’t be too hot!

Sorry haven't read the entire thread but I would 100% recommend either a safari (the kids will love the lions etc plus if you go to Tanzania you could spend a few days in Zanzibar). Or maybe Mexico or goa? Mexico rains quite a lot at that time of year but only maybe two hours a day. And it's WARM 😅

We did a Mekong River cruise as part of a holiday which might fit the bill.
Add a few days @ Saigon & Siem Reap & it would be 2 weeks,& probably be within budget.

We did a Canadian road trip and it was a great success
We flew to Calgary and picked up a hire car. We drove through the Rockies to Vancouver, including Vancouver Island.

We also did a coupe of US road trips.... both started in North Carolina to see family.
Trip 1 we drove along the Blue Ridge Mountains finishing in Washington DC. Trip 2 we flew on to San Fransisco for a few days then picked up a hire car and drove down the coast, finishing in LA.

Would recommend any.

Of course some people spend that much, as you well know. Why feign surprise just to make a snide comment?

I’d do Singapore and Bali, July is a good time for both. Singapore is basically always at risk of a shower but Bali is perfect weather and you can do whatever type of holiday you like - buckets of luxury resorts to flop and read at, or you can do mountains, temple, boat trips, Gilli islands, diving, snorkelling etc.

Hawaii? Maui is absolutely stunning. You can choose to relax, or sightsee as much as you like. A highlight for me was wading into the sea by our hotel and I having a huge sea turtle swimming along side me just chilling!

We loved the road trip we took from San Francisco to Las Vegas.

Another year we flew into Calgary and drove down to Montana via Glacier National Park, which was breathtaking.

I love European villa holidays but it’s just so so hot now and all the risk of wildfires….

If you're worried about the above, would reducing your contribution to it by a no fly holiday appeal? You could get to Scandinavia by train, and could stop off and see somewhere else on the way. Or maybe some sort of luxury train holiday might be within your budget?

We're doing Thailand...a mixture of some adventurous stuff and also some relaxing on the beach. Actual holiday is 16 for a family of 5 buy I'm.hoping we will come in around 20k all in. I'm aware of how very lucky we are to be able to consider such a special holiday...hope the kids enjoy it!!
If you just want to flop on a beach you could easily spend that kind of money on an ikos/sani break.

Thailand is very destination specific in terms of rain. We are staying south of Bangkok and east coast.

We’ve been to quite a few places listed here - but our dc’s favourite holiday was a cruise. Get a suite in the exclusive areas of the ship

I am sorry but I had no idea that people would spend that much on a 2 week holiday.

Are you Lannie from the deadwood?

Google is your friend here. Not difficult.

Definitely not!! Oh how the other half live 😂

I would say Tanzania/zanzibar but that’s high season so 18k won’t get you 2 weeks of luxury places for 4

You could do a couple of days in New York and then head north to Boston and do some fab stuff up round Cape Cod and go up into the White Mountains. You can loop up to Niagara but that’s a bit of a hike.

Or head south to Washington, but going further south from there you’re getting into hot and humid.

Or fly into Chicago and do Route 66 - you could go a bit off piste and do lots of national parks.

Another option could be South Africa and do the Garden Route and then head up to Jo’Burg for the Krueger and then Vic Falls.

Thanks for taking the time to type that out.

Brilliant suggestions here thank you! Getting excited about Thailand/cape cod/Boston/ with Canada also an interesting option.

Maldives is fine in August, maybe 30mins of rain once a week.