Long haul Vs more European holidays

[sparkle17]

I know this probably comes down to my own personal choice but I'm really struggling to choose between a special long haul trip with my family or doing more holidays in Europe.

I'm have an extra holiday budget due to inheritance from a grandparent so could afford a 16k trip. We are a family of 5.

Myself and probably my DH more so are a bit put off long haul due to longer travelling time and increased cost.

There are also so many places in Europe that we want to visit as well so doing a couple of holidays a year for the next couple of years is also an option.

My children are 8, 8 and 11 at the moment. Planning for 2027 or 2028 at the moment.

We have enjoyed beach/AI holiday but as the children get older are open to exploring a bit more. We do like theme parks but avoiding America due to trump.

I enjoy lots of European countries and visit every year. But personally I think nothing beats a proper long haul holiday experiencing a totally different landscape, culture, and food etc. My favourite family holidays as a child were long haul to interesting and totally different to our ordinary life places. Given you are potentially thinking of a 2028 holiday, your kids would be 10, 10 and 13 which I think is a great time to go.

Our DD is 8 and DH and I have a few places we plan to take her once she is old enough to enjoy, appreciate and remember them: Cambodia (one of our favourite pre-child holidays!) India, Zambia (for safari), South Korea, Costa Rica, Egypt and Japan. We hope to go every other year, starting next year. As she gets older, we will involve her in helping to choose and plan. But definitely for 2 weeks (possibly 3) for many of those destinations.

As a parents of now young adults if this was me I would stick that 16k in an isa, and take it out when they are 16/18 and do a huge long haul once they've finished GCSEs or A Levels. So much more fun to go away with at that age and less tiring, long haul.much easier, you enjoy it more and they are genuinely interested and help plan it as well.

And then for next summer I'd go to Europa park in Germany for a few days (as a pp has recommended) and plan a German holiday around that area (Black Forest, Munich, Neuschwanstein Castle).

All the best OP, lovely dilemma to be in. Am sure will be fabulous whatever you do.

Thailand, Singapore, Philippines, Japan - I’d look at places where you can explore and see another culture. With that budget you could easily do a few trips if you are careful and you plan and book them yourself rather than going with a travel agent. You can do Europe at any time, it’s close and some cities you can explore on long weekends. Take advantage of Asia or places like South Africa, Costa Rica. Personally I’d avoid all inclusive and look to explore more, your kids are a great age for that.

Great comments everyone!

I am probably leaning to a long haul trip. I have so many notes on my phone with different ideas.....I just need to get my DH on board. He is not as in to holiday planning as me!

We do have a holiday budget each year so this extra money is in addition to what I would be spending each year so it's not about having no holidays each year and suddenly one big one.

I'm thinking lake Garda for next summer and more time to plan a big long haul for 2028. As someone commented above the kids will also be a bit older. I'll need to think about putting the money in a fixed term savings account if I'm not going to use it this year.

Meant in the kindest way but not going to America due to Trump - what does that achieve? Feels slightly like cutting your nose to spite your face. America is actually a great place to visit with some brilliant people and a million different things to do.
I totally agree.

I also think that it's bogus to think that foreign travel gives anyone more than a tiny amount of understanding people's culture. Unless you are fluent in the language. My dh and I are travelling round Armenia, Georgia and Eastern Turkey and a big minus (although we are having a great time) is that we have no understanding of the places we visit, except at the most superficial level.

We sometimes find with europe AI can cost way more than long haul. We did 2 weeks Hong Kong and Vietnam with flights and accommodation costing £5400 then around £3000 spending money/activities with 2 adults and children aged 9 and 7.

But who's to say that long haul holidays are more 'worthy'? For everyone who says they're experiencing X Y or Z there's probably many more who do little more than staying in a nice hotel and going to the beach in Thailand, Mexico, Goa etc with the odd safari tour or temple visit.

Plus Europe also does have lots of different cultures, big landscapes, different wildlife, history etc etc. It doesn't automatically have to be a week next to a pool in an AI hotel.

We’ve just spent 2 weeks in Malaysia and Vietnam. Myself, DH and sons aged 13 & 18. We stayed in KL for 4 nights and fly to Vietnam and back home via KL. Stayed in beautiful hotels. We booked the flights direct with the airline and booking hotels direct. Used grab for taxis. We paid £4200 total for the holidays plus spent around £2k spending money. Vietnam is ridiculously cheap. My advise of don’t go through a travel company as it will be a lot more expensive

Agree we’ve had great adventures in Europe. It really does have everything, except possibly jungles

I agree with this. It’s an odd binary that some people are creating.

Personally if it was just a beach holiday I'd say just do lots of smaller ones. But I would discuss as a family if there are any unique holidays you'd all love to do that you can't do in Europe (if you think it's likely you could afford those smaller trips in the future anyway?). My recommendations for those age groups would be a safari holiday somewhere - I've only done one to Namibia and it was amazing and had so much to see beyond just the safari but there are so many countries which are amazing and you could select based on your budget - or Costa Rica - this is amazing and a really easy country to get around m with so much to see and do from the adventurous to sitting on a beach if you wish. But your kids might have other bucket list places - mine is extensive but we travel mainly for new experiences (beautiful landscapes, different cultures) and that's possible closer to home as well e.g. Turkey, Morocco, Jordan - next on my list are India and Japan...Sri Lanka also..too many to list in reality. Perhaps you could make a game out of it and each put two holidays into a hat that you've thought of and do whichever gets pulled out! Gets them researching and exploring places.

Was that £4200 for flights and accommodation?

Sounds lovely

Yes total cost. I booked it all independently

Where did you stay in Vietnam? The excessive heat has always put me off booking for the summer but we've found Thailand and Cambodia ok so we might manage Vietnam! Thanks.

A European holiday does not have to mean a week by the pool!!

I've taken the DC Interrailing a few times- they loved it, and a healthy budget means you can stay in nicer accommodation.

I'm not totally anti long haul, but I'm going to save it until I can take a long trip- several months in South America, for example.

Your DC will be able to visit Europe plenty when they’re older, but long haul might potentially be out of reach for them financially; so I would prioritise that as it means the money would be giving you options that you couldn’t normally afford.

I actually find travelling long haul easier with kids than short haul. We’ve done the Maldives and the Caribbean- definitely worth it! Beaches Turks + Caicos is next on my list.

We flew with Malaysian airlines and stayed in KL for 4 nights than fly KL to Da Nang. Stayed in Da Nang for 2 nights and Hoi An for 5 nights. It was hot but often a bit cloudy which made it great for sightseeing without full sun all day. Hoi An we absolutely loved, stayed 10 min walk outside ancient town in a lovely boutique hotel.

Would you mind sharing the names of the hotels you stayed at please? Sounds lovely

We stayed at the Verdant Hill in KL, the Cozy Savvy in Hoi An and the Caro Premium in Da nang

Long haul doesn't necessarily have to be more expensive than Europe depending on the kind of holidays you do. When my dc were your age we started doing long haul holidays with a few usa road trips and the dc loved them. We've gone long haul most summers since as we find its better value than europe and we have access to air miles. It is tricker and more expensive with 5 though so less comparible - with 2dc we could all sleep in one room with two queen beds which massively brings costs down when dc are little, hence long haul not being massive different costs wise for some holidays. We also mainly travel independently so build up a holiday based on our budget.

So update....

Going for a long haul trip to Singapore and Thailand next summer.

Really excited to plan a fantastic trip for the family!

I've spoken to a couple of travel agents but I think I will end up booking it myself as I enjoy looking at all the different options and comparing prices etc.