Feel a bit sick at how much our one week trip cost

[smacke]

We had a one week trip over Christmas to Barbados. Never been away before at that time of year but for various reasons, DP and I wanted a week just us two.

We just finished paying our holiday credit card off and realise that on one week of food and reasonable excursions like museum tickets, we spent £2,000. We knew Barbados would be expensive and we didn’t eat out every day, but even mid range meals for two were coming back at £200+.

Our 7 night trip cost over £2,000 per person. Not staying anything luxury and flying economy!

It’s particularly expensive at Christmas, and during other cold months.

October and November are usually good times to visit, price wise - outside school holidays, anyway. And the sea is lovely and warm!

We did once go in very early Feb, for a Big birthday of mine, but the sea was decidedly cooler - and rougher + than we’d ever experienced in the summer or autumn. And perhaps unsurprisingly, the air temp was cooler.

Thanks for the feedback, very useful and much appreciated.

I've booked a small inexpensive hotel, so it also gives us the ability to eat out a few times if we get bored.

No 5 star luxury for me as you'll usually find me with a backpack in a cheap elephant print dress on a Thai beach, lol, don't think that will fly in Barbados though. Can you tell I'm questioning my decision.

We spent just over 4.5k on a week for 2 adults and an 8 year old (who the Italians kept telling me was 6... cos then he was free to get into things 😂) in Sorrento.

I felt a bit sick when we totted it up, too, but we had the time of our lives, so...

We go to Barbados every year - next trip is in March. TBH £4,000 inc flights, accommodation, food and other excursions sounds reasonable to me over the Christmas period for two people. My trip will cost more than that but we do mix things up with some really nice restaurants, some food from beach bars and very local places such as food vans.
For pp who said they were looking to go there the best bet is to book well ahead (we book 11 months ahead as soon as flights come out). Book accommodation well ahead and you get better prices and more choice.

DH and I went to Barbados for a week in November 2004 and I think we spent just over 2k then. Add in 21 years plus Christmas and 4k is fairly reasonable.

Holidays are expensive, the Caribbean isn’t cheap

That sounds a good plan and honestly the elephant dress and backpack will be fab. One of the better aspects is that all beaches are public so jump on a reggae bus which is great fun with a cooler of rum punch, the hotel will sort it and enjoy the beautiful beaches.

That sounds amazing, thanks for the suggestion.

My partner have been to Barbados 3 times and it doesn't have to be a luxury resort holiday, it's a great island to explore, easy to get around on buses - reggae buses are an experience. Experience the localities, eat at the fish fry where tie locals eat. There's so much more to Barbados than I ever thought there would be, there is an amazing authentic west Indian vibe. We stay in Airbnbs and wander around with a back pack.

My one and only visit to Barbados was in 2004 (21 years ago) and it cost us £3700 for two of us for one week all inclusive. This was during the rainy hurricane season and not a premium week like Christmas. I’ve always wanted to take my family (pipe dream) but I priced it up several years ago and it was about £3.5k each all inclusive. Your trip during Christmas week sounds a bargain as there weren’t any trips in with my quotes.

I feel like if it was £3k flights and accommodation then £1k spending that sounds reasonable. Honestly a £4k holiday over Xmas doesn't seem too bad to me, if you can afford to do it, why not? It's just the proportional spending that's a bit alarming maybe. Hey ho, it's done now!

Sounds about right we paid 5k for all inclusive over Christmas in Barbados, 2 people

Barbados is lovely but so expensive. I went as a student and stayed with a local family. The only way to eat out cheaply was to go to a fast food place that’s sold amazing chicken sandwich’s. It was like macdonalds but everyone orders chicken not beef. This was 27 years ago and a main course in a restaurant was around £20 then so imagine a big meal would be £200 a couple. From memory the south coast was cheaper than the west. We bought food at the big supermarket and cooked at home. Yiu can get around cheaply if you use the buses or minibus taxis which are bonkers. It’s a beautiful place and I would go back tomorrow if I could afford it. I wonder if it’s better to go all inclusive if you don’t want to self cater.

You enjoyed it by the sounds of it, that’s the main thing! Why didn’t you go all inclusive or half board.

£4k all- in for a week in the Caribbean doesn’t sound expensive to me.

I've been to Barbados 3 times and my personal recommendation would be to look at Airbnb accomodation in or near the Oistins area, forget the luxury parts of the island where the celebs go, Airbnb will save you a fortune because you are renting from a local. The Oistins area has lovely beaches but it also has a lot of local places to eat and drink and it has Oistins fish fry where you can eat like a king on the fresh seafood of your choice where they barbecue it for you and get lots of nice sides with it. It's also a good place for beer and rum because it's where the locals drink. It can have a brilliant atmosphere and there is a bit of a party atmosphere on Fridays - they have a stage where you can have anything from a Bob Marley tribute to locals doing karaoke. Oistins is a good area to jump on buses as explore the island from too. It's far from usual for a meal to cost £100 each in Barbados. Bridgetown is the capital town of the island and worth jumping on a bus too, you have places to eat around the harbour. You'll find local places to great West Indian all over the island.

I think holidays are actually quite scary/stressful, as there are so many things you don't know until you get there, and once there, there's not much you can do about them. Throw in differences in languages and currencies and customs, and things can get quite hectic. I've reached a stage in life where I'd be quite happy never to get on another plane, ever ever ever.

I think the number as a whole sounds big but when you break it down per person per day it's very reasonable for flights, accommodation, food and drink plus anything else you might have bought.

When we calculate our holidays, we compare it against what we'd get here. A nice hotel in the UK could easily cost £285 per person per night over the festive period xx

It is a big number when you rationalize but if you were “not trying” to break the bank whilst there…I suspect that it is the regular price.

Don’t sweat it and start putting aside for the next one!

Bucket and spade list surely!

Brilliant info there! Thanks!

I used to live there and yes it can be very expensive to eat out. It holds a special place in my heart so disappointed to hear it wasn’t the holiday of a lifetime you expected. As PP have said as long as you enjoyed it then that’s all that matters.

YouTube is a goldobe of information, watch latest videos from travellers who are going where you want to go and you'll get to see what's there, what it costs and a lot of YouTubers tend to want the more local experience so it's not about luxury resorts and high priced restaurants.

I think £4k over Christmas seems pretty reasonable. We went to Lanzarote Christmas 2023 and I think we spent more than that, flying Ryanair, but stayed in a nice hotel and had very lovely meals out.

Thank you - very helpful and sounds like the sort of place we’d enjoy.

We've spent 5K on a snowboarding holiday in Feb for 3 of us and that's self catering so I don't think yours is too bad.