Budget holiday abroad

[Khaleesi90s]

I have a budget of £2.5k to take my children (10 and 17) on their first holiday abroad as a single parent. I’m a bit nervous of booking something because I want it to be something they will enjoy and remember which is difficult on a budget. I haven’t been abroad for 18 years either so I don’t want to go somewhere like Benidorm. I am looking at Spain or Corfu but I am a bit overwhelmed by the options.
In an ideal world I would like a beachfront location because I just want to sit on a balcony and look at the sea 😩 with a pool that is all lit up looking beautiful. I think all inclusive would be the best option as my eldest (ds) likes to eat and youngest prefers snacking than meals. The youngest (dd) is also autistic. They are pretty good at venturing out with me, I like to walk and explore, would also like to take them on some boat trips.
I would appreciate recommendations of locations and hotels.
This holiday is so important for us, it’s been a difficult few years and I just want to give them something special, difficult on a budget when I’m also a bit fussy. Thank you

edit to say £3k at a push

You could easily do go to a nice AI in Turkey in Sept/october for that budget

https://www.fuertehoteles.com/en/

I’ve stayed in the Conil hotel which is on a spectacular beach. One week end of Sept came up at about €2100 for all three of you half board - you could then get cheap flights - especially if you chose the days carefully - there is also an opportunity to get a promo code to reduce the hotel cost. It’s a really stunning beach front hotel, with pools and great food.

This also does AI https://www.fuertehoteles.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/en-fuerte-splendid-fcr-mayo-2026.pdf

I've never done AI. It has always seemed like a lot of money for sub par food and unnecessary drinks. As PP said, often in remote places.

I'd consider a small villa with a pool, or near a safe beach, self catering. Buy loads of soft drinks, snacks and treats for easy breakfasts and lunches. Buy paper plates and cups to avoid washing up, if you want. Go to tavernas or cafes or get take outs in the evening, with the occasional very easy dinner you cook yourself, like pasta with a local fresh ready made sauce, or grilled meats and salad.

Pick a place that is interesting to explore and alternate lazy days reading and playing games by the pool with excursions to explore local markets, sights etc.

Crete, Lanzarote, Croatia, parts of Spain and Portugal could all be affordable and warm just out of season.

I would recommend the San Giorgio hotel in Kefalonia. It is decent, if you can afford to upgrade to the swim-up rooms I would do so - they are modern and new.
The food at meal times is good quality, not as huge a selection as you'd get at a massive resort but plentiful and fresh. The snack bar is not great, and the drinks aren't amazing but it is all inclusive so kids would be fine with the soft drinks. The wine is OK, the beer is OK - the rest is awful. For the price though it is really good value and we didn't have any complaints.
There are always spaces to sit by the pool, and there is a free shuttle bus into Skala where you can wander, hire a boat, enjoy the beach. There is a small beautiful cove that's walking distance from the hotel where you can swim - it is amazingly clear and turquoise, really beautiful.
Kefalonia is such a gorgeous island, you couldn't be disappointed there.

I agree with this. A lot of the fun is finding different places to eat each evening …. rather than tripping up and down to a buffet. Many resorts have Lidl / Aldi on route from the airport where you can stock up on snacks, drinks and (DIY!!!) brunch stuff.

I think the utility of AI depends on how much of the responsibility for feeding is likely to fall on you and how you feel about it.

If you just want a nice all inclusive on the beach have a look at Turkey or Hurghada, some very good deals to be had and great for kids, lots of hotels have little waterparks

This is true. I’ve only done AI once and wasn’t a huge fan but it is less expensive and food is continuously available, including ice creams for the kids, so there is no pressure on you as the adult to provide food at any given time.
The food wasn’t great but we used it for breakfast and our evening meals and ate wherever we were sightseeing during the day. It makes for an ‘easy’ holiday.

We did a couple of days AI in Crete and it was fine. Food was nice enough, as was the beer. Other drinks not so much.

OP, if you’re going outside of the school holidays then there will be lots of options. It’s also a bit cooler, but warm by UK standards. We found Crete to be pretty reasonable price wise.

I suggest looking at Tui, loveholidays or thomas cook for deals. For that budget you can get a good place in sept/oct. I suggest Crete, Rhodes, we stayed at Mitsis hotels both times. Very good service and all inclusive. Madeira, Portugal was also nice, we stayed at Enotel Lido in Funchal also all inclusive. You could also look at the Canary islands but we always stayed in villas there so no hotel recommendations. Good luck!

Set up alerts for Ryanair, Wizz and EasyJet. They will release flights for next summer at different times and to get the cheapest flight price you need to book within minutes of the sale starting. Have all 3 apps on your phone and ready. Start looking at the flights you'd like to book and make a note of them. Have several options in case some book up quickly. I have managed to get flights for £150 to £200 each going to Italy, Spain, Greece all in peak summer months or May half term. That includes luggage. But you have to be quick! For accommodation you can contact the AI hotels directly and then compare prices or air BnB etc. There are many options. But check all this before the flights come out as sometimes it can be cheaper to book flights and hotel on one package deal.

Yes, this is it.

I think it also depends on what you'd be eating if you weren't AI. So for example I love proper tapas and would enjoy eating this in Spain, but my family comprises two who aren't arsed for it and, like OP, one ND. So what would actually happen is having to ensure we locate somewhere with a sufficient supply of beige shit because the ND one is not going to be trying new things when out of routine. We're not in lovely new family taverna every night territory. They do also eat Proper Food, but neither DH nor I are up for cooking it when it's hot and we could be enjoying the beach. It makes life much more pleasant for the ice creams, drinks and beige shit to be on site whenever they're wanted, and then we can do meals out to supplement as wished.

Similarly, while I know some people love a foreign supermarket browse, the prospect of scouring Lidl (and presumably having to hire a car or cart it about ourselves) doesn't really excite me. Equally for others it's the best part of the holiday!

Here are the links to the hotel in Crete- https://www.mitsis.com/en/hotels/laguna-resort?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22156841182&gbraid=0AAAAADApMjrYmhfBTFKlhOwq0clbE_q5g&gclid=CjwKCAjwuanRBhBSEiwAY5y6V3K3hIKF9FhHkU-3xcpVvGh07NfBacOrJQxrMu5fsCE91Z0cQpWY6RoCqMkQAvD_BwE

Kos - https://www.loveholidays.com/holidays/kos/kardamena/mitsis-selection-blue-domes.html?WT.mc_id=pgo-38299855082-kwd-18292557900&ch=hn&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=702263932&gbraid=0AAAAADy4andC2Lnh2NHHj1SWjOngSjv_Z&gclid=CjwKCAjwuanRBhBSEiwAY5y6V3ogc_tllTMBqqSV0AynU28EydGYioPqQ8K2_6Tz2d5O0H1D53EM8xoC90MQAvD_BwE

Rhodes -https://www.loveholidays.com/holidays/rhodes/kiotari/mitsis-rodos-maris.html?WT.mc_id=pgo-38299863482-kwd-1104268468&ch=hn&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=702263935&gbraid=0AAAAADy4ane38ea4y5csZivexMyobJm07&gclid=CjwKCAjwuanRBhBSEiwAY5y6V5C74FL8X5kwJGBibufv9c6u7jCaFQcSf8EqykXd85EL0GJfOe82sBoCLw8QAvD_BwE

Madeira - https://www.enotel.com/enotel-lido?sjrncid=GA_20353573173&sjrnaid=GA_665368149770&sjrnclid=GA_enotel%20lido&gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=20353573173&gbraid=0AAAAAp7zbUPbNC8OBLe5KRBqmlbnlRMk9&gclid=CjwKCAjwuanRBhBSEiwAY5y6Vxh37X_aa6JLQ8YjBvFSfwZaxohXhokL5z_feQKwqEevp6Ipej2yqhoCOPUQAvD_BwE

I’ve just returned from Zante - a lovely village called Alykes. The beach is perfect for children with lovely soft sand and a little pier for catching crabs. Went with Jet2 and found it quite reasonable but stayed in a hotel on a bed and breakfast basis - half board also available. The rooms have a small kitchen area and table for preparing own meals. It was a 15 minute walk to the beach though so not quite what you’re looking for maybe. To be honest the Greek Islands generally don’t have much all inclusive as there are so many great tavernas and beach bars. All offering wonderful fresh food but they’re beautiful. Also quite seasonable with places opening in May and closing October at the latest.

Seriously that is not a struggle budget if you go with eurocamp! Get the ferry to france, with your car, fill the car up, drive to a campsite (if you want lively go to La Vallee, if you want calm go to Le Chateaux Lex Aux). We’re going lasg week of august, £700 for the campsite for a week, £700 tor the ferry. Spending money about £400-£500. Campsites are good fun, swimming pools, slides, local supermarkets, play grounds, the chateaux has a farm, on-site restaurant and takeaway, bar, kids clubs and activities. France is beautiful, weather can be good (although similar to here as northern france), still very much a foreign holiday without the airport faff and expensive price tag.

FGS the woman wants a break!! OP look at the deals for Turkey for that time, All Inclusive you might get the Liberty Fabay or Signa for that price (I think they both have water parks and swim up rooms) Lone parent for many years so I get you just want to not worry about feeding people, you want snack bars where the kids can sort themselves out etc too.

I am all for s/c but for the first holiday in decades - I would go for making things easy and that would be a good AI hotel, especially if one child is a snacker and you don't want to go shopping.

If you are outside the school holidays it should be cheaper, southern Greece is still warm, Cyprus or Turkey. The only issue I have with Turkey is that I personally didn't like how I was approached when I was even with DH, not sure if I would wander around sightseeing as a single female. But organised tours will be better I would think.

Aguamarina in menorca
Beachfront AI loads of facilities and entertainment for kids
Bit butlins with sun and food bit basic but might tick your boxes and be within budget

Thank you all so much for your advice and recommendations. With your help I have narrowed it down to Mallorca or Menorca or Greece, possibly Rhodes. I will go AI as I do need a break from being responsible for feeding the children. Some great locations and hotels recommended, thank you.
i have saved for this holiday for a while, done some side jobs and have been selling on Vinted. My lovely ex (not) has gone and booked a holiday to Tunisia for his new family and MY son, what a kick in the teeth when I wanted him to experience his first time abroad with me.
honestly your comments have really helped me a lot as I was a bit overwhelmed with all the options, thank you.

On the subject of AI.
First it's not true that all AI hotels are isolated, many are in resorts.
If you book a package holiday at a hotel you can often choose to have B&B, HB or AI.
Half board includes breakfast and dinner but not lunch or drinks. Hotels will let you sign for drinks and pay the bill at the end.
You will be able to see what the extra for AI is and it's usually several hundred pounds more than HB because many people choose AI because it includes unlimited alcohol.
We always go HB and just add drinks to the bill and it's never anywhere near the cost of AI. Plus it's nice to go out for lunch or for a drink in the evening.

Would you consider a last minute deal? So choose the week and a couple of days before book? You can get some great deals that way.

Sounds like a plan OP!

I personally would go for a package at the moment, with things being a bit unstable. You don't want to end up in a situation like some people had during covid or the volcano, when they couldn't get refunds on accommodation cos of not being able to travel. Jet2, Tui and Easyjet all include transfers, but you could also consider ones that don't- if you pick somewhere near the airport it's possible a taxi will work out cheaper.

The pp was correct that loads of AI places are in towns/resort centres and there are plenty of examples of this in the islands you mention. I don't know Rhodes well, but Mallorca would be places like Alcudia, Cala d'Or and Santa Ponsa. Soller area probably out of budget.

Have a look at Jet2. They do some amazing free child offers. I've booked with them several times.

Don’t be put off, Corfu will still have good weather come October half term.

That’s interesting. I did AI just once. It included all meals, drinks, snacks, soft drinks, ice creams.
Tbh I didn’t enjoy the food but the kids loved being able to go up and down. I had wine every evening with dinner but I’m not really a drinker other than that. I think I had gin one night when they kids stayed up extra late for a kid’s disco and DH had a beer or soft drink most nights.

We rented a car and left the resort after breakfast every morning and returned to eat dinner most evenings. Lunch was available in the resort but we like sightseeing so we had lunch in local restaurants wherever we drove to that day. It was considerably cheaper to do that than eat lunch and dinner out every day. The bills for lunches added up quite quickly.

I think we must have had a great deal when AI was such good value for us but thinking back it was at the end of May so it was probably due to it being out of season.

We usually do s/c and it involves going to a supermarket nearly every day which is cost effective but I’d much rather have my meals supplied.
The half board option sounds ideal and if that is cheaper than AI, it’s something I will definitely look into for a future holiday.

I hope you thoroughly enjoy your holiday OP.