Need help for holiday abroad with children

emma.cook3

I would like to take my 4 year old twins and 18 month old on holiday somewhere abroad sunny but not too hot in school summer holiday or October half term. Can't stand to drive far so need to fly. We need 2 rooms which rules out hotels. would prefer Europe in case children are ill and need to use health services there. Want somewhere quiet but prefer not to rent a car because of additional costs.
We have small budget but want to be safe and comfortable.
Any suggestions of places to go and how to book for maximum money saving appreciated.
Am taking husband too - forgot to mention

Caz3121

with a low budget you probably want to first look at what flights are available from your local airport and then look at the options and the best dates (you could well be looking at £250 each for flights to many places and needing 4 seats you are already at £1000)
Once you find where is affordable to get to you can start to think of accommodation

zagfles

Caz3121 wrote: »

with a low budget you probably want to first look at what flights are available from your local airport and then look at the options and the best dates (you could well be looking at £250 each for flights to many places and needing 4 seats you are already at £1000)
Once you find where is affordable to get to you can start to think of accommodation

Shouldn't be that much for flights in August, we've had some very cheap deals in August. The Oct half term will be more expensive since everyone goes and comes back at the same time.

con1888

Check what budget airlines fly out from the airports nearest you and then check the destinations.

For example, Ryanair fly from near me, they go to a few resorts in Spain and the canary islands. I have flown from as little as £10 (Malaga) to the most £170(Majorca).

Then what to do when you have an idea is look at hotels on a website such as Travel Republic where it will show you hotel/apt prices in the resorts.

Before booking any hotels I advise looking up the reviews on Trip Advisor, almost every hotel will have a few bad comments as you can't please everyone but it will give you a good idea.

carebear13

are you and your husband planning on sleeping apart for your whole holiday? no way would i leave 4yr olds n a baby in a room together esp when most places cant/wont guarantee interconnecting rooms.
also with regards to health services it wont matter if you have insurance anyway. please dont just rely on a ehic card.
heat wise most places will be very hot in august- and in my experience children, heat and just a different climate dont tend to mix well, you may be wise to stick to october half term and look at the canaries- they are well known for being a 'winter destination'.
for maximum choice/savings/getting what you want then really you need to be booking as early as possible.

zagfles

carebear13 wrote: »

are you and your husband planning on sleeping apart for your whole holiday? no way would i leave 4yr olds n a baby in a room together esp when most places cant/wont guarantee interconnecting rooms.
also with regards to health services it wont matter if you have insurance anyway. please dont just rely on a ehic card.
heat wise most places will be very hot in august- and in my experience children, heat and just a different climate dont tend to mix well, you may be wise to stick to october half term and look at the canaries- they are well known for being a 'winter destination'.
for maximum choice/savings/getting what you want then really you need to be booking as early as possible.

The OP did say "We need 2 rooms which rules out hotels", so presumably she's looking at apartments, static caravans etc with 2 rooms at least. We always tried to avoid hotels when the kids were young for this reason.

I'd be looking at somewhere like Brittany in August, with a crossing to Caen, St Malo or Roscoff which would minimise the driving.

Chateau des Ormes at Dol-de-Bretagne is a good (big) site with loads to do, and only about 20 miles from St Malo. So if the OP lives near the south coast this could be less driving than to a UK airport! And the advantage of having a car when there. The kids would probably enjoy the ferry, when ours were young they MUCH preferred ferry crossings to flights!

Of course Brittany has no guarantee of weather, but then if you want better guarantee of sunny weather in August it's likely to come at the price of being very hot...

Dunroamin

OP, don't forget to take out travel insurance to back up your EHIC.

carebear13

ah right- misunderstood- thought she meant 2 bedrooms, rather than 2 rooms as in apartment.oops sorry op.

melb

unless you or your husband work in a school I wouldn't bother going in school holidays for a 4 year old's schooling. September is a nice month to go abroad

emma.cook3

melb wrote: »

unless you or your husband work in a school I wouldn't bother going in school holidays for a 4 year old's schooling. September is a nice month to go abroad

We both work in schools which is why we can never afford to go on holiday! So expensive in school holidays.

Valli

you are giving an awful lot of personal info out - you might want to change your username.

Anyway IF either of you are teachers check out the union websites - I know NASUWT has offers.