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Original poster

A cheap family holiday?

38 replies

imaginaryfriend · 09/02/2007 10:17

My dd is 4.5 and has never been on holiday. Partly because we've never had any spare cash and partly because of other things coming up and preventing it happening.

This year I really want her to have a holiday ... Does anybody have any cheap but lovely suggestions? Because she's so young still I'd love it to be somewhere specially good for her.

OP posts:
Berrie · 09/02/2007 10:18

How cheap?

essbee · 09/02/2007 10:20

Message withdrawn

portonovo · 09/02/2007 10:26

What's your budget?

Cheapest is camping, as long as you have the stuff already or can borrow it.

Have a look in local newspapers - often people have caravans to rent at various seaside places.

Or just spend hours on the internet looking for bargains. That's what I always done - in recent years I've found self-catering cottages or flats for five of us costing anywhere between £250-500 for a week in August.

Or try Travelodges - not exotic, but they do masses of cheap deals, either £10 a night or £26. We had a week in Yorkshire last October and it cost £100 for 2 rooms for 5 nights. Have a look on their website.

Or if budget is really tight, how about making your first 'holiday' a long weekend to start with, and save for a longer one next year. You might be able to do a few long weekends at off-peak times relatively cheaply.

As for needing a 'specially good' holiday at age 4, I reckon kids of that age don't need much more than a change of scene, a few treats (ice cream, a day at a visitor attraction etc) and hopefully some sand and sea.

dmo · 09/02/2007 10:36

flamingo land is yorkshire is fab great for any age, its a caravan park we book a privat caravan (you can find these advertised on e-bay)
we went at easter last year and canavan was £150 for the week then £70 for the four of us for wristbands
they have rides, zoo, farm its great

cremolafoam · 09/02/2007 10:42

have you looked at centreparcs? You could get a 4 night break for the 3 of you for £279 in March.
here

Original poster
imaginaryfriend · 09/02/2007 12:11

Thanks everyone.

We don't have any camping stuff but I would definitely think about that if we could borrow some.

The other thing is that we don't have a car so wherever we go has to be fairly easily accessible by train as we'll have to lug all our stuff with us.

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Original poster
imaginaryfriend · 09/02/2007 12:11

Oh yes, budget not more than £300. But I'd love to have a week. We've worked so hard this year

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Original poster
imaginaryfriend · 09/02/2007 12:52

anyone else?

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charliecat · 09/02/2007 12:54

Come and sleep on my sofa in lovely kent You would have to share with a flea ridden cat and..oh did I mention we have rats??? But do come lol
I have camping stuff, HUGE tent, and sleeping bags and everything you could borrow.

abgirl · 09/02/2007 13:00

Camping without a car could be difficult as you would end up with loads of stuff to carry. However I expect you could definitely hire a static caravan somewhere for your budget.

Obviously would be cheaper away from school summer hols and the sooner you can book travel the better as you can get some really good long distance train deals if you book in advance.

Have you got any ideas what area of the country you want to go to?

Original poster
imaginaryfriend · 09/02/2007 13:40

cc

As for where in the country, I really don't mind. Dp loves Cornwall, but I'd love it to be somewhere with animals or something like that for dd.

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Original poster
imaginaryfriend · 09/02/2007 14:34

.

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marymay · 09/02/2007 14:52

i think the sun news paper are going to do another offer in march.the £9.50 holidays .if you do some research on the holiday and camp sites you can get some nice cheap breaks.

Original poster
imaginaryfriend · 09/02/2007 15:22

Sorry to sound daft, but this really is our first family holiday. Where do I start with looking for holiday sites / camps?

Has anybody had experience of anywhere particularly nice for a relatively low budget?

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Original poster
imaginaryfriend · 09/02/2007 15:48

help?

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Original poster
imaginaryfriend · 09/02/2007 16:30

.

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amynnixmum · 09/02/2007 16:33

Think about whereabouts you'd like to go and then google it. You'll get loads of site which offer diffferent types of accomadation. Or google the place plus caravan/hotel/b&b.

charliecat · 09/02/2007 16:43

somewhere with animals...hmm that would be my house then
this is somewhere to look for camping/caravan

amynnixmum · 09/02/2007 16:50

If you like Cornwall this place is nice. We've camped there a couple of times and it has all the usual amenities but isn't too busy or noisy. It has rent-a-tents, caravans, chalets and space for tourers and its also only about 10 mins drive from the nearest beach. We'll probably go again this year

Skribble · 09/02/2007 21:22

Give us idea of your budget and when you want to go.

Original poster
imaginaryfriend · 09/02/2007 23:43

Just to repeat: We can't drive so anything requiring a drive to the beach etc. we won't be able to manage, nor carrying camping stuff around. That's partly why I'm having such problems finding somewhere.

Well, budget-wise, I reckon we could push it to get £400 together. And honestly I don't have a massive preference for where so long as it's got some fresh air (we live in inner city London) and space and dd would just love to be near to some kind of animals / parks. She can't have pets because of severe asthma but she adores animals.

I've been googling like crazy all day but so far come up with nothing.

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Skribble · 09/02/2007 23:52

You would be able to rent a caravan for that sort of money, just need to find one that is on a bus route or walking distance to station.

If you sat what sort of areas you want to go to I am sure you will get suggestions from people that know the areas. I am in Scotland so perhaps a bit far.

pinkbubble · 10/02/2007 00:02

I know this is not a short term answer but heres a suggestion, we are going to Portugal during May half term courtesy of Tesco. We have saved all our club points for 2yrs and cashed them in and it has paid for a villa with a swimming pool. I know we have to pay for flights but compared to prices in the holiday brochure this is a lot cheaper

overthehill · 10/02/2007 01:08

IF, we went to West Cornwall last year by train. We stayed in a cheapish holiday cottage in a village called Pendeen - but caravans/chalets/flats would probably be even better value. I found the cottage on the internet & was attracted by the fact that the village had an excellent bus service, and we visited loads of beaches by going round on open top buses (run by First Bus for the summer season) - which the children also loved. Examples of places with great beaches served by the bus were St Ives, St Michael's Mount, Sennen Cove, Porthcurno and Hayle, and there are lots of animal parks around there too. I got on to the Cornwall Tourist board website, which was excellent, & they even sent public transport timetables in the post so we could plan things in advance. I think self-catering places tend to be cheaper through the tourist board than through agencies as they often charge a booking fee as well. Alternatively I think National Childbirth Trust has a house-swap register; may be worth looking on their website to see if that's still going. Our children are now 11 an nearly 8, and we've found you don't need to spend loads of money on theme parks etc as they'll just spend ages playing on the beach - which is free! Good luck!

overthehill · 10/02/2007 01:16

This was the cottage - but they only charged us £240 in August ??a mistake: \link{http://cornwall-online.co.uk/berrys-folly/Welcome.html.

Hope that works as I've never tried to do a link before.