After some rather rubbish family health news this week (my Dad is terminally ill, 2.5 months ish left), it looks like the big family holiday we had planned for the Easter school holidays isn’t going to happen. Everyone’s gutted about my dad. Missing the holiday is just a kick in the teeth.

I’m really keen to try to make up for this and give us something to look forward to – so want to plan a holiday in the summer instead after this is (probably) all over.
My wife works in school term time so yanking the kids out of school won’t work unfortunately (I would otherwise have had no qualms about doing that in this situation!)

Problem is it’s all so flipping expensive!

Anyone got any recommendations for good holiday destinations in the summer that don’t break the bank (completely)? We were really looking forward to an all inclusive 4* hotel in April (we never do this! usually self cater).
We usually like going to locations where there is a good amount of outdoorsy stuff to do, but also a few days on the beach or by the pool too.

Nothern Spain?
Portugal?
Thought about touring Europe in a camper van too, but Missus not too keen (yet, I might be able to pursuede) due to amount of work involved.

How much heat do you want? The province of Castellon(not the city, the city is a dump), Spain, has montains for days whilst also being next to the sea. It’s also cheaper than your typical tourist places and food is great. I grew up in that area so maybe I am biased, but its similar to Alicante, but with less heat and less tourists.

Head east young man. Romania to the mountains (but no beach) Croatia for the beach.

Are you going in the summer or April? Sorry to be dim and sorry about your dad.

I did a bit of a tour of Northern Spain a few years back, ferry in to Santander and back out of Bilbao, toured the coast but also went inland to the hills and mountains. Beautiful part of the world, not expensive and not overly touristy either.

Potes in the Picos de Europa, Northern Spain is a nice little town. Not too pricey and lots to do. Less than an hour drive up to the Costa Verde too.

Eurocamp in Brittany? Costs about £1300 for a week in a pretty commodious cabin and there’s loads for the kids to do. Close to home and local towns offer a nice bit of culture and good restaurants for mum and dad.
Sorry to hear about your dad, mine passed last year and it sucks.

For the past few years we’ve been going to the Loire in France our camper van. OK not a 4* all inclusive hotel (not our idea of an idyllic holiday as well as being horrendously expensive), but the campsite is pretty awesome and they do pretty decent static caravan/cabin accommodation that will work out much cheaper than a normal package holiday. If you book direct rather than through Eurocamp its even cheaper. Our holidays are coming in a little over a grand for two weeks (would obviously be a bit more if you were booking a cabin), and the kids love it, they go mad over the two weeks, the weather has been stonking…high 30’s touching early 40’s some days for the last three years with only a few rainy/cloudy days over the three years we’ve been going. We really enjoy it there..probably one of the best campsites in France (not exaggerating). We go the last two weeks of the season/school holidays. This means the second week is even cheaper as its not the French school holidays then and the site is starting to close down as its their last week of the season, which is great as it start to get less busy. I realise it’s not for everyone, but we love it. Also during that last two weeks it picks up on a UK bank holiday, so that is one less day’s leave I need to take from work.

In October 2017 we did a week in Tenerife in October at an all inclusive hotel…though we went half board, and it cost us a little over £3,500 for a week!! we had a great time, but I really couldn’t have done a second week, each to their own, but no comparison for us.

Given your other thread, I’d be wary of booking anything concrete for summer, but come up with a couple of plans and be prepared to be a bit flexible.

There are plenty of places with good hotels on the coast, plus some mountains inland eg in Spain, Croatia. If you shortlist a dozen or so resorts, you may well find that this year, for obvious reasons, you may be able to pick up a decent package deal at short notice.

I forgot to mention that the £1300 for the week Eurocamp does include the ferry so it’s pretty good value.

We had a splendid week in Poland last year, climbing lovely mountains. Not cheap, but cheaper compared to France the previous few years.

I would suggest looking east such as Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Greece, Bulgaria, etc