Is there anywhere in Europe that is reasonably priced for an August holiday for a family

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of five, am I right in thinking its best to avoid the Euro?

What about Eastern Europe as tend to be cheaper anyway?

[[www.portofelice.it here] is fab!!! Check prices with different operators and dirext. Fly into Venice marco Polo and get he bus/coach with www.atvo.it fromt he airport direct to site. can't recommend it enough!

Apparently Hungary is the cheapest place to go on holiday in Europe at the moment...

depends where you choose to go, Austria is much cheaper than many people think.

If you accept a mobil home holiday in France, we have used Matthews for very cheap breaks. These are some of their current offers:-

7 NIGHTS PER FAMILY

£649 Accommodation Only

£699 inc. Dover/Calais midweek return

£799 inc. Portsmouth/Cherbourg midweek return by fastcraft

Date: Arrivals on site between the 21st July and the 19th August 2009

Campsites to choose from:
Domaine de Bel Air, Landudec, Brittany

Contacting hotels you like the look of directly rather than via an agent is often a good way of getting cheaper accommodation. For example, we could have booked our holiday with Thomas Cook which would have cost us £2.5K (charter flights and room only accom for 4 of us). After a few searches, we got the accommodation (plus breakfast) with the same hotel for by contacting the hotel owner and BA flights for half that amount. Not only have we saved ourselves a massive amount of money (which we could not have afforded to pay btw.....was just having fantasy moment when first started searching for holiday ) but we also have the pleasure of flying with BA rather than charter - meaning more reasonable flight times and checking in on-line the day before travel

Websites I have found to be pretty good at finding cheap holidays are hotels.com and otbeach.com

we booked a week in Spain in Aug for just under £300 each incl flights & transfers, ryan air's various charges & half board 3* hotel with pool, beach location etc. Used icelolly.com

Given the £/euro situation, and being in a position of only offering France, this year I made a point of seeking out good value properties and resorts, which include swimming pools, play areas, are close to beaches or other 'free' activities - it can be a nightmare paying for the holiday, and then finding that EVERYTHING costs when you get there. When you multiply that by two or three children....

We offer small complexes in Brittany and the French Alps (if you've never been to the mountains in summer, it's fab! We've skied for over 20 years but only went in the summer a couple of years ago - what a revelation! Best holiday since we've had children, and the reason I now offer summer alpine holidays and not just ski!)

The complexes all have at least one swimming pool, are close to lovely walks and picnic areas, have playgrounds on site or nearby and are within an easy walk of a beach or village - free or cheap activities.

Details - if you are still looking - are on my profile

Try watching for a flight sale (subscribe to emails from cheap-o ailrines, they are always sending you offers of deals). Grab a cheap flight (not easy in Aug tho), and then try owners direct or similar to book your own cottage. I have found I am happier with the results and the whole holiday works out cheaper that way.

If you can stand the suspense, you can try waiting till the last minute to book, to see if you can get a further discount.

My favorites for cheap holidays are:
Hungary. Budapest is nice, but lake Ballaton is great fro kids.
Slovenia: Child friendly and great scenery
Croatia: A bit more expensive but there are cheap deals to be had if you rent an apartment for more than 3 days at a time