Am skint! Cheap ideas for holiday with older teens please?

[moretolifethanthis]

Before you ask -yes, they want to go!!
We love Britain but it's too cold/rainy to do sports/sit out in the summer, so would really appreciate any ideas for holidays abroad please?

Borrow a tent (or a couple of small tents) and go camping in France (Tesco 2 man dome tent £20). You can make this as up scale or basic as you like.

www.campingfrance.com

Look around for crossings and head south.

This could be the adventure of a lifetime

Thanks for that GDP. Do you reckon that we'll have to head to southern France for the best weather then? Just thinking about petrol costs-could add up.

Hi MoreToLife

You dont have to head far south into France before the weather is going to be better than Britain. Something to keep in mind is that an extra £100 on fuel could make a hell of a difference in terms of enjoyment.

• If you are camping then I would probably not head up into the mountains.
• You dont have to go right down to the med to have a great holiday
• if you keep to smaller campsites with fewer facilities (what matters to you for a good holiday?) away from the coast then you can keep costs down.
• you could do a tour, a few nights in a few places and that way avoid motorway tolls
• that said, a toll motorway could get you through a boring bit quickly. You can check tolls on line www.autoroutes.fr/en/routes.htm

Regarding food, eat simply, a cooked chicken from a market, some bread and some tomatoes eaten outside and washed down with water flavoured with syrop (the equivalent of squash) or wine/beer/cider is a feast.

We found that on the road a baguette and some ham/cheese/pate bought en route really is plenty.

If everyone is prepared to take the rough with the smooth and enjoy themselves no matter what then you could have a holiday to become the stuff of family legends.

The sense of adventure and achievement is huge.

Try the Vendee, just as sunny as the south but not as far to drive, great beaches. Camp sites are really good.

It's supposed to be v cheap and welcoming in Greece this year as they are grateful for tourists to boost their economy.

I've just been talking to a friend from Greece this evening pippop and he reckons the only cheap things there are bottled water and olives - everything else is abominably expensive.

Involve your teens heavily in the planning. My DCs love castles - anything newer than 15th century is a bit modern for them. Talk to your DCs and find out what they would like to see. Here are a few thoughts:

• a medieval castle being built in the 21st century guedelon.fr/
• the Bayeux tapestry www.tapestry-bayeux.com/ and Mont-St-Michel
• inland Provence where the Romans spent their holidays www.beyond.fr/villages/orange.html, www.beyond.fr/villages/nimes-provence-france.html, www.beyond.fr/villages/arles-provence-france.html
• Carcassonne was allegedly the inspiration for the Disney castle www.languedoc-france.info/030101_carcassonne.htm
• ever wondered where bauxite comes from (probably not!) www.lesbauxdeprovence.com/

There are loads of places to go, the above are just to whet your appetite!

Top tip for wherever you go - check out when the market is. If you want to go to a market arrive early (proper early ie 9am) if you want to park (markets normally occupy the town centre parking square). If you dont want to visit the market then go on a different day!

Generally aim to visit any towns or cities early to get the best of the parking. Dont be afraid of paid parking it isnt normally expensive and the Fench wont use it! Arrive early not just for the parking but also because you will see the best of places.

Get loads of books out of the library and see where you fancy going then work out a route and see what campsites are possible.

Wow, dunno about the OP, but this is inspiring ME! It's jot a possibility right now, but maybe when things are calmer with my teen... I can dream... :)

Wow GDP you've gone all out to help me here-thanks!!
I will definitely cross-check with everyone with regards to what they want to see. I think we all would love to do some canoeing if possible (if not too dear) so need to check out a river-maybe the Dordogne? I think we'd have to stay at one place a little while if the kids wanted to gel with other teenagers also.
Can I pick your brains a bit more? This adventure of ours (getting excited now!) will take place at peak time at the end of August. Should we book our ferry crossings as soon as possible? Also, will we be fine just turning up at the campsites?
Thankyou

Consider WWOOF? I would suggest the BTCV (I used to go on their holidays as an older teenager, not with family I have to say) but they are certainly not cheap any more. National Trust working holidays (obviously in the UK) seem a bit cheaper still - e.g. this rather mouthwatering one in a yurt village event.

IMO it is worth getting the ferry crossings booked. Have a look at the different options for crossings and also consider crossing at less convenient times to get cheaper crossings.

Given when you are planning to holiday it might be worth booking campsites in advance. My experience has been that campers not needing electricity are the easiest to accomodate on sites but once full you will be turned away.

If you are interested in a campsite then it is worth looking it up on www.yahoo.fr even if www.campingfrance.com dont show a web link.

As another thought it might well be worth asking MNHQ if they will transfer this thread into the camping section as there you will be able to get lots of advice about which tent, campsites etc.

IMO it is worth getting the ferry crossings booked. Have a look at the different options for crossings and also consider crossing at less convenient times to get cheaper crossings.

Given when you are planning to holiday it might be worth booking campsites in advance. My experience has been that campers not needing electricity are the easiest to accomodate on sites but once full you will be turned away.

If you are interested in a campsite then it is worth looking it up on www.yahoo.fr even if www.campingfrance.com dont show a web link.

As another thought it might well be worth asking MNHQ if they will transfer this thread into the camping section as there you will be able to get lots of advice about which tent, campsites etc.

I camp with mine .. 4 of them aged 14-20 .. And they love it. We always take extras..last year 7 in total! Often we go with other families ( youngest is disabled so we are part of an Internet group and camp together) and its fun.. Honest! However we don't ' wild camp ' we have electrics, phones, hair straighteners ..... Sometimes he microwave...
We stay in the uk, as cheap but would love to try abroad if funds ever allow,

Medusa.., that sounds like fun! I just don't trust the UK weather!
We used to do this when the kids were little then got fed up of being soggy and got a caravan. Then we outgrew that. We have been used to having holidays in Majorca and mainland Spain going for days out but this is too costly this year.We even treated ourselves to a cruise around the Eastern Med. on the ill-fated Costa Concordia, visiting a variety of countries.
It sounds like a good idea having this thread transfered to camping section for more ideas-wonder if MNHQ will do this for me?
Would be great to have recommendations for teen friendly campsites in France (or just good campsites!).

There's this thread
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/general_advice_tips/1125524-France-with-teenagers-best-mobile-home-sites
might have some ideas .

moretolife in my experience all French campsites are teen friendly if what your teens want are:

• a pool
• lizards to hunt
• pizza

The above suit my lot!

I know it's not France but one of the best holidays I had as a teen was cycling in Holland. It's practically all flat so not too hard going and we found we'd maybe only go a few miles a day between campsites and then just chill out a bit and meet new people in the afternoons/evenings. I'm sure if you do a quick google you will be able to find some routes. Camping is very big in Holland so there will be plenty of campsites dotted around.

Thanks XLII-hadn't thought about Holland. Will google that as well as an alternative. Thanks everyone for your ideas.

Good point XLII, public transport in NL is excellent so it would be possible to take the ferry to Hook of Holland and use public transport/cycles from there. You could leave the car at home!