Help me book a holiday!

[Cupofteaandbiscuits]

Also posted in chat as I didn’t realise there was as a specific holiday board.
We have saved and saved and now can book our DCs first holiday abroad (10 and 8). We are going May half term and as it’s our first time taking children abroad we are hoping to do a package where flights and accommodation are included.
As I want it to be a good first experience for them I am overthinking it so I would love recommendations please for:
The best company to book with that ideally flies from Gatwick, Bournemouth or Southampton.
somewhere European that’s warm at May half term.
Somewhere where the rooms are clean and there is a pool outside.
we have saved £2500 so hope I’m not asking too much for that money? It’s taken so long to save!!

I'd consider Cyprus at that time of year. I've been at May half term and it's a nice temperature - warm enough to sit by a pool but not too warm if you want to walk around and do some sightseeing. Thomas Cook, Jet2, EasyJet holidays and Tui websites are probably your best starting points. You can do an open ended search by destinations and departure airports on most of them and see what it throws up. Then read the trip advisor reviews carefully for anything you shortlist!
Turkey tends to be more affordable if you're struggling with the budget.
Also check flight times and transfer times from the airport. Watch out for extras not being included e.g. seat reservations and hold luggage.

Will you have an additional budget for food, activities etc? Or is it £2.5k for everything?

I always find on the beach or live holidays to have the best prices. I’ve used them both several times without issue and our holiday this year is booked through them as it was so much cheaper than with others. It does mean your hand isn’t held in the same way as it would k be with the bigger travel agents though and it’s harder to sort things out of things go wrong.

would you be happy to take the kids out of school for a day or so either end? This can save a lot of money as Saturday to Saturday flights are often the most expensive (though were the cheapest for us randomly this year). We have spent £2.5k on all inclusive for the end of august/beginning of September but will take another £1k to spend of hiring a car for a couple of days, meals out and activities. We have to pay for two rooms though as dds are young adults.

we’ve done plenty of self catering or b&b holidays when the kids were younger with a total downs of about £2.5k including food and activities, maybe even less some years but prices have increased. Cheapest places seem to be Majorca or canaries as far as I can see.

Corfu is probably also worth a look at as flight are reasonable and there are some packages for good prices but the weather might be a bit unreliable in may. We usually go in august.