I'm curious, how much did your summer holiday cost this year?

[StoppedToTieHisShoe]

How much are people paying to go on holiday this year?

Our stats:
2 adults 2 children
1 week in July to Lanzarote
Basic 2 star self catering apts, small pool, all clean and pleasant. No luxury.
£1800
Spending money approx £1500

We eat out for lunch and dinner each day, visit a music bar/play pool after dinner and do a few local day trips but kids happy with pool/beach/playparks. They could run up and down a wall beside stairs for hours!

I pass by some of the bigger hotels with the entertainment and activities and wonder if we would like that. Would anyone share how much they are paying for these types of holidays?

Just wondering how much people are paying for different holidays and also, as an aside, when is the best time to book for best deals?

@Crikeyalmighty I didn’t know that, thanks for sharing.

Dusseldorf is Japan's capital on the Rhine 😀 It has a part of town called "Little Tokyo" with a very large Japanese community, a temple that you can visit and you can book a tea ceremony at the Japan house and there's a huge number of authentic Japanese restaurants.

@XelaM I definitely need to go check it out.

The £3k for ultra 5* AI Turkey seems cheap, could you share the name of hotel or was it a special deal?

Could be because it’s out of season, April isn’t very warm for Turkey and can rain.

Would you say 4* AI isn’t worth it, in comparison to 5 star? Asking because I tend to like 5 star but sometimes 4 star is appealing due to price but would rather not waste money/a holiday if there’s a significant drop. Thanks.

Weve stayed in one 4 in the canaries for a few nights. It was fine and did the job, but it was noticeably a lower standard than the 5s we’ve been to. I’m very happy in a premier inn so I’m not a total snob, but because an AI holiday is all centred on the hotel for me I would go less than 5 for a week (at this stage of my life, I was much less fussy when I was younger!)

Of course the star system isn’t entirely reliable, what I tend to do is ask on Facebook groups of hotels I like what similar hotels others like and that’s how we came across the 4*.

If agree it isn't reliable. I've been to 4 places that have been far superior to some 5 ones and 5 ones that have absolutely blown me away and other that have seriously disappointed. I definitely think it depends on what you value. One of the best I've been to was a 3 but the food was absolutely amazing, it was a la carte at dinner as well.

Would you say 4 AI isn’t worth it, in comparison to 5 star?*

I would yes. Only go AI if it is top of the range super fabulous. You don't want to spend your holiday fighting over sunbeds or standing in line for mediocre food.

I’ve been to quite a few really nice four star hotels with stunning views and then gone out to local restaurants every other evening and did our usual pattern of 2 to 3 excursions with lunch out each week.
Actually some of these trips were my favourite flop and drop holidays.

This summer we had a week up in the north of Scotland in free accomodation, so it was pretty much free.

Last summer we (me, DH and three teens) flew to Brussels and then did two weeks in The Netherlands - Disneyland Paris - France.

Flights: £450
Car hire:£450
DLP (hotel and tickets): £1200
Other accommodation: £1700
Spends: £2700 total (all petrol, food, activities)

Total: £6500 (if I've added up right)

the poster acknowledged there are families living in poverty.
no need to trot out the dumb blonde rubbish.

I totally agree with the sentiment that most of the ultra-high-net-worth individuals of this world live an obscene lifestyle and could do so much more to balance the scales of inequality instead of (as an example) spending millions on an artwork of a few bananas and then eating it. That's quite repulsive behaviour even when everyone is allowed to do what they want with their own money - the fact that they choose to spend it like that is disgusting.

However, let's get back to talking about lovely holidays 😍

What’s wrong with you?

Didn’t know that! Thanks for the info.

God so if we can afford a half decent holiday we are a disgrace and should actually give the money we spent on the holiday to the poor?!

You sound like the mum in Little Women and look how that turned out!

our Main holiday was in January this year. We had 3 nights in Bali then on a cruise to Indonesia, Malaysia and ended in Singapore where we stayed for 3 nights. The cruise package with flights, transfers and hotels and drinks on the cruise was £3500 each for me and dh.
in June we had a 4 night break in Budapest flights £80 each Airbnb was £750.
I have no idea on spending money although I did think Budapest was more expensive than I was expecting.
we spend a lot more on travel now we are older and it’s just the two of us. When our kids were small we didn’t have the money.

I’m a mine of useless information! It really is rather excellent, I had a proper Japanese served jasmine tea at a rather splendid cafe , some of those lovely stuffed triangle shaped samosa type things( forgot what they are called) and several fabulous good value meals - here’s a link about nice spots

https://www.mrduesseldorf.de/top-spots-auf-der-immermannstrasse/

You’re trolling us at this point.

I've been looking at trying to make a safari work for 2 adults and 2 kids. It's quite silly money but South Africa and Namibia are the cheapest as you can self drive. Looking more at Namibia as DH didn't feel happy going to SA (safety) Can do 2 weeks for under £8k 4 people August including flights. Still fairly eye watering though! Also was keen to do Disney but can't see how to do that without selling a kidney! We have done in the past for family of 4: UK 2 weeks £2.5k mid summer, Greece 1 week £1.5k 1 adult, 1 child early summer and Turkey family of 4 10 days £4.5k - mix of 4 and 5 star AI out of season. I completely rate independent travel in Asia for value for money (though not now due to USA/Iran War). We've done 5 weeks in Thailand for 4 for £5k before total.

Where are you going this year?

@twentyyearsagotoday The best Disney park in the world is generally agreed to be Tokyo DisneySea. It’s really quite spectacular and magical.

Due to the weak yen, Japan is much cheaper than Florida.

Trolling ok well you'd know about that yourself having a go because I can see the bigger picture and I don't walk around blinkered