Holidays for big families

[Niponeoff]

2 adults, 4 kids aged 1, 3, 5, 7.

Anyone got any cost savings tips? Yes I know it's my fault for having lots of kids, but...

You put the kids ages in yet they still charge per person, so a 1yo costs the same as me. It doesn't matter if it's a villa with no facilities or family hotel with kids activities, even then they had age limits last time so the youngest couldn't go anyway.

Baby sleeps with us and the rest will all get in one bed, even if we all had a bed each they usually all end up with mum and me on my own!

They don't drink, hardly eat and everything else you pay for i.e. beach towels, trips, etc.

Think I might just book for 5, get one room and just get a flight for the youngest. Anyone tried that?

Don't want a villa with an unattended pool, I'll have to camp next to it and never sleep. I had to jump in a pool last time, fully clothed.

Any tips?

[rich12]

I'm in almost the same situation as you (2+3).

AI hotel for the kids to be able to play with other kids and of course food and drinks there when you want it.
Villa would be great to remove any 'timetable' but then I'd be responsible for buying and cooking all of our meals/snacks.

Both options are expensive and sadly I haven't found anywhere that 'free child places' means for all 3 of them

[Hondashark]

Jet 2 currently offer 1 child free and children under 2 are completely free. So you would only pay for 2 adults and 2 kids.

We've just been away with them, 2 adults and 2 kids (2.5 and 7 months) and just paid for 2 adults.

[GreatGranny]

Holiday in the UK or Channel Islands at a push.

We have 3 kids and never went abroad until the youngest was approx. 12.
Too much hassle and, as you say, unless they eat as much as an adult and take up similar room it's not value for money

[mart 63]

We used to drive down to the south of France in a 7 seater, with 5 kids. Used to stay in caravans on Euro parks. Used to be a reasonable priced holiday. The kids are adults now, and tell us they were the best holidays they had.

[ChocolateFrog]

I'm 1 of 10, what would now be called a blended family so we were all under 15 at one point.

We had camping holidays in France when it was all of us. KeyCamp and EuroCamp were the two I remember.

We absolutely loved it. Thinking back I'm not sure 12 in a converted Transit was actually legal even then.

Very chav in hindsight and we must have got very lucky with the weather because in my memory it was always baking hot.

[Ice_blue_tvr]

If you call some resorts you can sometimes explain the ages of the children and ask for a fold out bed in one of the rooms to save an additional room/charge.

Although not always. We ended up having to pay for 2x rooms when booking a resort that was only bookable via TUI. The resort staff were surprised when we turned up saying a double room with fold out was sufficient but there was no way for us to book that combo on the website for 2 adults/2 kids even after phoning up.

Worth a try at least.

[Niponeoff]

Ice_blue_tvr said:

If you call some resorts you can sometimes explain the ages of the children and ask for a fold out bed in one of the rooms to save an additional room/charge.

Although not always. We ended up having to pay for 2x rooms when booking a resort that was only bookable via TUI. The resort staff were surprised when we turned up saying a double room with fold out was sufficient but there was no way for us to book that combo on the website for 2 adults/2 kids even after phoning up.

Worth a try at least.

Thanks. I think I might try this.

I've booked an apartment in Guernsey this year, next year I'll ring the hotels direct. It did cross my mind that they could accommodate. We would much rather be together even if we are crammed in! Much more fun!

It just means I have to do everything the long way if package deals can't accommodate. (Just think of the car parts )

[blue_haddock]

mart 63 said:

We used to drive down to the south of France in a 7 seater, with 5 kids. Used to stay in caravans on Euro parks. Used to be a reasonable priced holiday. The kids are adults now, and tell us they were the best holidays they had.

I would also recommend eurocamp style holidays.

We do two or three a year and our kids absolutley love them.

[bakerstreet]

Hondashark said:

Jet 2 currently offer 1 child free and children under 2 are completely free. So you would only pay for 2 adults and 2 kids.

We've just been away with them, 2 adults and 2 kids (2.5 and 7 months) and just paid for 2 adults.

I tend to ignore all those deals as they are misleading and just look at the total which is all you are left with really and there is no negotiation with people like Jet 2 or even TUI these days.

We only have two kids and even that is expensive. We are heading off to Lanzarote in three weeks and that was booked in November 2022 and I am already looking at options for 2024. I'm willing to up the day count to 10 as that means that is three less days that we have to entertain them when at home in the holidays.

The Pandemic also kicked out the idea of UK holidays as I am not paying £2k for a caravan in Yorkshire!

[Vasco]

Eurocamp or simply camp in the UK, so much to see. If cost of going abroad is the issue, the simplest answer is to enjoy the UK.

[Carl_Manchester]

Niponeoff said:

2 adults, 4 kids aged 1, 3, 5, 7.

Anyone got any cost savings tips?

Sadly, the biggest money saving tip is to take them out of school before or, after the school holiday's and pay the fine.

Others have covered the cheapest and most well known option: camping in France.

If you want an example of what a Spanish solution looks like with evening entertainment and kids club etc, a the Riu Buenavista, a two bedroom family room with living room will sort you out but don't go looking during term-time and you will need to call Riu to book one.

[OscarIndia]

You can get a chalet for 10 people in Les Gets, French alpes for £1000 a week.
Plenty for the kids to do as well as the adults.
PM me if interested

[Hondashark]

bakerstreet said:

I tend to ignore all those deals as they are misleading and just look at the total which is all you are left with really and there is no negotiation with people like Jet 2 or even TUI these days.

We only have two kids and even that is expensive. We are heading off to Lanzarote in three weeks and that was booked in November 2022 and I am already looking at options for 2024. I'm willing to up the day count to 10 as that means that is three less days that we have to entertain them when at home in the holidays.

The Pandemic also kicked out the idea of UK holidays as I am not paying £2k for a caravan in Yorkshire!

Well the total came to just over £1200 for a week AI in a 4 star in Gran Canaria. Seemed a better price than other providers.

[bakerstreet]

Hondashark said:

Well the total came to just over £1200 for a week AI in a 4 star in Gran Canaria. Seemed a better price than other providers.

So you paid £1200 for a week AI for a family of how many?

[brickwall]

As others have said, some kind of self-drive holiday in France is your best way forward.

Loads of quite high-end campsites (which are in practice closer to a Center Parcs style set-up) across Bordeaux, Loire, and south coast. Or head to the alps - absolutely loads for the kids to do and generally quite good value in the summer.

I reckon it costs £600-700 to take a car to mid-France and back. Accommodation can probably be had for probably £1k/week if you’re careful.

[Hondashark]

bakerstreet said:

Hondashark said:

Well the total came to just over £1200 for a week AI in a 4 star in Gran Canaria. Seemed a better price than other providers.

So you paid £1200 for a week AI for a family of how many?

See higher up

Hondashark said:

Jet 2 currently offer 1 child free and children under 2 are completely free. So you would only pay for 2 adults and 2 kids.

We've just been away with them, 2 adults and 2 kids (2.5 and 7 months) and just paid for 2 adults.

[blue_haddock]

brickwall said:

As others have said, some kind of self-drive holiday in France is your best way forward.

Loads of quite high-end campsites (which are in practice closer to a Center Parcs style set-up) across Bordeaux, Loire, and south coast. Or head to the alps - absolutely loads for the kids to do and generally quite good value in the summer.

I reckon it costs £600-700 to take a car to mid-France and back. Accommodation can probably be had for probably £1k/week if you’re careful.

We always pay between £150 and £200 for a dover - calais return crossing then about 4 tanks of diesel there and back.

We usually do the last week or ten days of uk school holidays and find the price is much lower than the start of the school holidays - we usually pay about £300 for a week with eurocamp.

[brickwall]

blue_haddock said:

We always pay between £150 and £200 for a dover - calais return crossing then about 4 tanks of diesel there and back.

We usually do the last week or ten days of uk school holidays and find the price is much lower than the start of the school holidays - we usually pay about £300 for a week with eurocamp.

Don’t forget the autoroute tolls!

I always take the Eurotunnel/LeShuttle which is typically £200-£250 for a crossing. (Which I think is daylight robbery, but I still pay it so I guess just capitalism at work)