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!

We’ve just spent £8.5k for a week in Corfu. So £18k for 2 weeks sounds about right. Yes it’s a lot but we can assume it’s in proportion with their income.

Please take your rant somewhere else. Some people can spend this on holidays and chose too and this isn’t a discussion about that.

Sri Lanka:

leopard safari in wilpattu national park

then onto cultural triangle to do sigiriya, polonnaruwa, dambulla

then onto trincomalee/pasikudah for some beach time

kandy on the way back to break up the journey, see temple of the tooth and royal botanical gardens

spend one night in Colombo and do a food tour, it is a fabulous city and well worth spending a night there

this route is perfect in summer! If you were to go south to yala/galle/hikkaduwa it would be too wet. But the route above is fabulous for summer, as Sri Lanka has 2 wet seasons. We did the latter route in November 2021.

you could also omit the beach part and go to the Maldives for the beach as it’s only a 50 minute flight. It’s ’technically’ wet season in the Maldives, but you will get great weather, I went in august last year (Constance moofushi) for 10 days and we had rain once.

we went to Mauritius in July in 2022 and it was only about 20 degrees and quite windy, I wouldn’t do that! Ditto Seychelles, wrong time of year really. Found the Seychelles very expensive for the quality, it was like the Caribbean, you pay five star prices to receive 3-4 star service. Hotels lacked a bit of atmosphere too.

Borneo is incredible in summer too, if you want some adventure and to see some amazing wildlife! Perfect weather. We went in 2019 and it was awesome. Budget will go further there too and you will get an epic trip. Indonesia is great in summer as well.

use a proper operator who will get you the best guides and vehicles as some of these locations can be tricky to get around! We’ve used Turquoise Holidays for Maldives, Mauritius, Sri Lanka, Borneo, the Caribbean, and more recently Greece! We went to Indonesia with Audley Travel.

Borneo
Indonesia
West coast Canada / Vancouver island
Oregon
Yellowstone/ Montana
Peru
Safari - Tanzania

If you book early, you can get good deals on your holiday. It's really good that you are trying to sort out 2026 summer!

Newsflash: some people acdually have 18k free to spend on holidays.

Crikey! My husband books us an end of season caravan holiday every year for £120 and he thinks he's king of the world!! 😅
But really, if it was me with that budget, I'd go on one I'd those Hurtigruten Alaska or Antarctica voyage things.

Are you serious, that's my annual wage.

@SabreIsMyFave we went to Disney Florida last year and spent best part of 20k.
So yes, plenty of people spend 18k on holidays, because there are people who have and are willing to spend that much.

@FaradayCage With kids though?
Anyway definitely no cruises or yachts! Not for me! I almost died getting on a boat once and I’ve a drowning fear with my eldest (he is allowed to go swimming)
@ThisIcyHare Borneo sounds really interesting as well. That’s definitely something to look into

You could stay for 2 years at the campsite we stay at! Assuming this is some kind of big bucket list type holiday with that budget. I'd love to go to South America or Asia, maybe Japan or Thailand if I could. I guess you need to try and balance the interests of everyone who will be going.

Oh get a grip. How do you think companies like Audley Travel, Scott Dunn, Abercrombie and Kent stay alive? The average cost for family holidays for 2 adults and 2 kids on their websites start at £18k. They aren’t turning over £100+ million a year from nowhere. Some people have modest day to day lifestyles so they can spend big on experiences. Some people have absolutely nothing, others have something, and there are also some that have fucking loads. An £18k budget for a holiday isn’t that offensive, and it certainly wouldn’t be royalty or celebrities. They spend that budget on one night at the Savoy. Her budget is her budget and it is perfectly reasonable, and doesn’t deserve to be castigated by your jealous self.

I was also surprised by 18k! We normally manage 4 weeks in Europe for less than 5k, which I consider pretty extravagant anyway. But the difference will be that we are doing 100 euro a night hotels and 15 euro dinners (at the more expensive end - a lot of the time it'll be supermarket dinners). I can see how nicer hotels and restaurants would quickly add up.

Sorry but 18k on one holiday? I would not say we are poor by any means but that seems like a ridiculous sum of money for two weeks somewhere for 4 people and I don’t actually care if I sound judgy because I AM judging!!!
Yes some people are millionaires or actually more likely billionaires but in those cases how would you not just be able to work this out without coming on a forum and asking for ideas?

Go on a cruise, you will not regret it. You can afford a suite with your budget so you'll get a little privacy from the kids or choose interconnecting cabins. Honestly the kids will be catered for - food and drink basically whenever you want - and adult and family programme of entertainment in addition to stopping at interesting locations. Choose the right sized ship for your needs and then look at itinerary.id recommend returning to the same port and doing a no fly cruise, its just less stressful.

I'm thinking about Boston/cape cod. Will be doing it cheaper than you but we have miles/companion vouchers so will fly first class for not much money. Then Airbnb type villa at cape cod. We have been to Boston before and loved it.

Canada, well everyone is different but I thought it was one of the most boring places on earth! Very nice people. If you do go, the best bit for us was Niagara on the Lake, which is a very pretty upscale town.

My brother does big holidays with his young teens and swears by Trailfinders. They are just back from India and it looks to have been incredible. He said Trailfinders did all the organising and were really flexible and responsive, he raved about them.

I don’t understand the constant hammering home of the cost of living. Some people have been affected, and others haven’t as much or at all, why do those less affected have to read the room?! She’s asked a perfectly fine question, move along if this thread isn’t for you!

Not the only one!

ALL OF THIS!!!!!!!!

AS IF a villa holiday in Spain for 2 weeks for 2 adults and 2 children needs to cost 17k🤣🤣

Of course it doesn’t NEED to but it CAN do because the OP has free will and can spend her money how she fucking likes

Costa Rica is superb, a great mix of sightseeing with lovely beaches and accommodation for relaxation too. Summer time is rainy season, but it mainly rains in the evening, so you have all day in the sun. It's probably the most expensive of the Central American countries and I went there as a solo traveller a good few years ago, so not sure if it would fit a budget for a family, but it's well worth checking out.

California drive holiday? Had a fantastic road trip last year

Hawaii? We're going back in 2027 for nearly 4 weeks, island hopping

OP have you been to Disney before? We went in October 2023 and loved it so much we went back in October 2024. Maybe see how much you love it in October. You might want to spend the £18k going back 😅
For the folks saying no one spends that much on a holiday, we went with two other families and we all spent around the OP’s budget. None of us are millionaires.

@Linens

SabreIsMyFave.. this is bonkers. I have just explained my nice but not massively luxury 2 weeks in the Balearics in school
hols cost about 17k.

SEVENTEEN THOUSAND POUNDS on a 2 week holiday in the Balearics?!

And you say MY post was bonkers. 🙄 School hols or not, no way would a 2 week family holiday in the Balearics cost 17 grand! Come ON! 😂

I'll leave you (and your supporters) to your parallel world! This thread is batshit!

I'm out!

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Actually I don’t know how much this would be but I’d really love to do island hopping around the Azores