Family holiday away - I'm lost and need help!

pendulum666

Hi all. I want to go away in June or May this year with my family. There will be me and my partner plus our 4 children aged 1,4,9,11. I have no idea with this kind of thing and I have loads of questions. I have checked with our school and we will not be fined if we take them out for only one week. I plan to go during this time so it is cheaper than in peak holiday season times of school holidays.

We want to go to Majorca/Menorca Spanish island or maybe the Canary Isles. Basically hot/sunny a must, but not too far for the kids to fly. Has to be 7 days. We really wanted a villa rather than a hotel, but my partner reckons we have left it too late to get anywhere and will be expensive booking this "close" to June. Budget = as cheap as possible. I had £1000 in mind but generally got no idea. Any advice?

Main worry is the numbers...what is the best way to book for 2 adults, 4 kids?


1: Should I book asap because the prices will only go up the nearer we get to June?

2: Should I try to get something last minute? How last minute?

3: Should I be looking at package holidays or book accommodation and flights separate?

4: Hotel vs Appartment vs Villa?

5: Should we rent a car? Is it a nightmare with getting kid seats?

6: Kids are quite fussy eaters and dont eat a lot...self catering better? I don't think we would get our moneys worth with an inclusive deal.

7: Are most holidays bundled with travel insurance? What is that other thing you get to insure the firm don't go bust, is it ATOL?


I'm completely out of my depth as never really done this before. Last time we went away, we just went into a Travel agent and they did it all for us, but don't feel we really got an amazing deal. Is it all about the online now?

agrinnall

What type of school are the children in? Everything that I have seen recently suggests that schools now have zero flexibility to grant time off for holidays during term time and you will get fined if you take them out of school.

jackieblack

agrinnall wrote: »

Everything that I have seen recently suggests that schools now have zero flexibility to grant time off for holidays during term time

This is true

agrinnall wrote: »

you will get fined if you take them out of school.

This is not necessarily true. It seems to vary between different LAs

richardw

Consider flying Ryanair to Reus and staying at La Pineda or Salou.

silvercar

How warm do you want your holiday to be? Canary Isles will be warmer than Majorca/ Menorca.

I suggest getting some brochures from the travel agent to see what you like. An apartment may work out cheaper than a villa or hotel, it would also give you some hotel-like facilities. Once you know what you want you can compare prices between a travel agent or building the holiday yourself. Don't forget to allow for transfers between the airport and the accommodation and luggage costs.

melb

if you go on Hotukdeals website there have been some amazing deals for holidays in may and June in term time. Good luck!

ldeadman1980

Check out some flights with Monarch, Easyjet & Ryanair have a jiggle around with dates i just did a quick search on monarch for the 6 of you to Palma in both may & june you can get flights for just under £500 without baggage
Then have a look on Travel Republic for Apartments & Transfers
Happy searching

stephb34

The few weeks in between the 2 bank holidays are normally very cheap for late deals. The Balearics will be cheaper than the canaries as it won't be as warm. What about mainland spain that will be warmer than the Balearics. Why don't you pop into a high street travel agent you might be surprised at their prices if its a while since you've been in one. Thomas cooks online prices are the same as in the TC shops and over the phone.
Our local council isn't fining parents yet so they all aren't.