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Larger families

Find out all about large family cars, holidays and more right here.

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Original poster

No Money and want to take our new big family on holiday. Help need!

19 replies

mumski · 17/07/2009 18:00

My DP and I have just started living together.
Between us we have a 15 year old boy, 2 x14 year old girls, a 13 year old girl and a 9 year old girl.
We would love to take them on holiday together, preferably abroad, but every where I've tried we are just too large for a lot of the accommodation and we would end up being charged for 3 rooms.
Cost is the big factor but ideally it would be great to have somewhere with a lot going on such as pools/water chutes to keep them all amused. Self catering is fine.
Has any been any where they could recommend or any suggestions where to look?
many thanks for any help

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

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traceybath · 17/07/2009 18:03

Whats your budget?

pinkteddy · 17/07/2009 18:10

You could try a caravan park in france or spain. Siblu have caravans in some of their parks that can sleep up to 8 people. I think someone may have to sleep in the lounge area though but worth a look. Some of their parks have water slides eg: La Carabasse. See www.siblu.com/ for more info. HTH

Original poster

mumski · 18/07/2009 12:16

It's all going on the credit card but I think we need to look at around £2,000. Not sure if this is realistic, but prepared to try any where cheap.
Will have a look at Siblu. Thanks for that pinkteddy - have you tried them?

OP posts:

pinkteddy · 18/07/2009 16:09

Yes we went last year on the recommendation of another mumsnetter! We loved it so much we are going again this year but we are a smaller family than yours so we each get our own room. There was a discount code on mumsnet for a while, not sure if its still around, worth a look if you are going to book.

hercules1 · 18/07/2009 16:12

What about camping? It would be a fraction of teh cost and may mean no credit card. Really wouldnt recommend credit card for paying for a holiday.

crokky · 18/07/2009 16:20

It would frighten me to death putting a holiday on a credit card - would you consider a couple of nice day trips out in the UK instead? That's what we're doing this year.

thirtysomething · 18/07/2009 16:25

cheapest would be driving to France/Spain?italy if you have a car and need sun - you can get some very cheap ferry crossings. How about Northern Spain near Girona? Lots of huge campsites around there and usually very warm and sunny plus eating out etc cheaper than France. Would need to budget for ferry/breakdown/insurance cover for Europe/petrol/motorway tolls and hotels along the way - some very cheap budget hotel chains in France where you could get two family rooms sleeping 4 each.

HarrySaundersSphincter · 18/07/2009 16:34

If you buy a couple of tents - tremendous fun to be had. Esp if you go to a campsite where there are children of a similar age about.

tummytickler · 18/07/2009 20:17

Slightly off topic!
A few of you have said you wouldnt dare put a holiday on a credit card! So how do you pay for them - do you really save thousands of pounds for a holiday, not go on holiday or stay local?

I only ask because dh and i were talking about this this morning (me - 'how do people afford to go on holiday abroad with kids?' dh - 'surely they must put it on a card').

We havent bee abroad for a very long time, and never with the kids (eldest 8) and really want to go to Canada next year to see friends, but no idea how to pay for it!.

This year we are broke as we have just moved house, so we are camping at a campsite about an hour away, but my kids will fall for it, as they will think we are really far from home!

hercules1 · 18/07/2009 20:19

We go camping!

juuule · 18/07/2009 20:37

We don't go abroad. Holiday in a caravan (this year in term-time).

MrsBonJovi · 18/07/2009 20:42

Would doing the sun newspaper holidays abroad be viable....?

crokky · 18/07/2009 20:49

tummytickler - I think generally people would save the money up (?). It's a lot to stick on a credit card which does at some point have to be paid back.

We haven't been on holiday since we had DCs and we aren't going this year. They are still little (3 and 1) so I don't think they're missing much. I don't actually know how much a family holiday costs as have only ever been DH - just the 2 of us, but I gather from MN that the cost is a shocker compared to the holidays that me and DH used to go on. If/when we do go, it won't be on a credit card - if we don't have enough money, we won't go because DH worries (so do I) about debt a lot.

pinkteddy · 19/07/2009 23:30

Tesco vouchers can be saved and put towards holidays - friends of ours going to Park resorts for a week in August and only had to pay £5 - rest in tesco vouchers! Tesco vouchers can be used towards siblu holidays too.

curiositykilled · 28/07/2009 11:59

We generally go on holiday anywhere we can afford. Sometimes we save, sometimes we book a long time in advance and pay in dribs and drabs or at the last minute to try and get a good deal. Mostly I just spend hours trawling the internet trying to get a good deal.

We would never put a holiday on a credit card unless we had the cash to pay it off straight away and were just using it for the security of being able to get the money back if the holiday place went bust. People have lost their houses from credit card debt before and the interest on interest thing can get scarily out of control.

Our holidays are mostly in the UK as our children are very young and I don't fancy the flights. We're going self catering to a proper medieval castle in Northumberland this year (end of august beginning of september) and it has cost £527 for 6 nights self catering for 4 of us but the apartment will still be able to accommodate us when the twins are born as it is big enough for 6 and the charge is for the apartment rather than the number of ppl.

There are many bargains to be had. I suspect they are easier to find in the UK. My friends just went on the ferry to France and the ferry trip cost them £35 for 6 and their car. She said the trick is to book abroad on a late deal at the last minute. They booked their accommodation in advance then book the transport at the last minute. She also says to look around for the best deal once you've decided where to go cos you cn often get the price right down.

expatinscotland · 28/07/2009 12:02

i can't imagine whacking £2000 on a credit card for a holiday. i really can't!

we're going to do our best to try to save up for a week's caravan stay somewhere in the UK next year, especially as the ILs gave DH a nice wee trailer for the car, but honestly, it's never wise to go into debt of something frivolous like a holiday.

Silver1 · 31/07/2009 14:39

£2000 on a holiday when you don't know how everyone will get on?
£2000 on a credit card-how long will it take you to pay it off?
If you really want to do it try last minute, perhaps a ski resort lots of them are opening up as Alpine resorts in the summer. Lots of walking very healthy and relaxing.

Not wanting to sound smug but I have been on the overspend on cards route, it is stressful, and you don't realise how much until you start clearing your card each month. We do put holidays on cards, but we clear it at the end of the month.

raggitty555 · 31/07/2009 14:58

How about registering with a house swapping agency - were planning on doing this in uk but i know you can do same abroad.....

hayes · 14/08/2009 01:11

Just saw your post....not sure if its too late or not

we have 16, 14,13, 11 and 7 yr old kids between us. We rent an apartment from www.holidaylettings.co.uk and get flights with Easyjet. Our summer hols this year with 3 of them (other 2 with their mum on hols) was just under £1000. We're taking 3 in OCtober (other 2 with their dad) and its costing roughly £800. Because the apartment we booked was so big we weren't falling over the top of each other, 2 pools and just plenty of chill time...we loved it

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