Is it possible to have a cheap holiday???

nettles77

I'm in Northern Ireland. Have no tesco tokens so can it be done? Thank you.

[Deleted User]

I suppose that would have to depend on what you mean by cheap. My last cycle tour was £631.34 for four weeks.

susancs

It depends on where you want to go, what you want to do and the time of year. You will usually pay more in the school holidays for most Uk based holidays. If you keep an eye out for sales and offers, you can reduce the cost of holidays. For example currently Daily Mail holidays for various Uk holiday parks cost from £15 pp per break (you have to pay for 4 so £60 for a Monday to Friday holiday and as it is self catering you can cook your own food so costs no more for eating than you would) spend at home. Travelodge have sales where you can get rooms from £12 per night, Premier Inn from £29 per night which if you can link in with cheap travel gives a cheap holiday. In your case you could look for cheap flights, bus or ferry options and accomodation. The further you book in advance the better usually but for e.g. Galway Travelodge has 38 euro rooms for dates 2nd june and if you link up with cheap bus or train travel, you could have a fairly cheap city break.

WestonDave

Does rather depend on your definition of cheap - we've just done 4 days (5 nights) full board with 14 different outdoor activities (so with instructors etc) for £800 for family of 4 which I regard as a bargain but I appreciate that might be out of range.


If you go for the cheapest option - e.g. camping then you can get a pitch on a site for relatively cheap but then you'll need to pay out for equipment. A cottage etc self catering may work out cheaper as a one off as you don't have the outlay, and you can buy cheap food - however with both you may end up paying entry fees on days out.


Timing obviously impacts - school holidays will be expensive due to demand, the further out of season the cheaper but then you take chances on the weather.


To be fair if someone (be it private owner or company) owns a holiday venue they are going to want some profit on it so you'd expect to pay more for a week in a holiday house than you'd pay to rent your own home for a week - less for a camping pitch (but there is still the site facilities to pay for), more if you want staff doing anything like cooking breakfast etc.

artichoke

We do about 4 or 5 short holidays a year - always in school holidays as can't take them out of school never costing more than £150 each -and usually more around £100

I think there are 2 ways to get cheap uk family holidays either book very far in advance using the newspaper promotions or the holiday companies own special offers or to book very last minute by checking for last minute special offers on the Haven / Butlins / Park Resorts etc site. They have last minute bargains throughout the summer holidays if you check the website weekly. Last week Butlins Skegness was available for £150 for the weekend - not school holidays up North but a great deal for someone further afield prepared to travel.

This year our 5 holidays are all booked using either the Sun holidays or the Daily Mail / Break Free deals or booked direct with Butlins when they have their 50% off deal in December i.e. payed £66 for a weekend in Feb half term. or when they have last minute availability.
It is possible to get school holiday dates cheaply on these deals but that might involve starting the holiday on the last day of term or ending the holiday the day before they go back? i.e. picking the kids up at half 3 and driving straight to the holiday park - we live bang in the middle of the country and so each coast is 2 and a half hours away at the nearest - so get to the park for the evening, or leaving on the Sunday night or early monday morning to get them back to school on the monday for the first day of term. I always find out the INSET days a year in advance so i can book for the weekends when they have the friday or the monday off school. To get these deals you have to be organised and end up booking your holidays 6 or 9 months in advance but schools have their holidays dotes published for the next year so it's easy to check school dates and book up as soon as the special offers come out.

We have usually been able to get dates for oct half term weekends, Easter holidays, (off the Butlins Bognor Regis on Monday - Friday for £100) and the end of August always seems to be available too.... I always check Butlins website every week too to check for my proffered dates to see what special offers they have and make a note (i.e. i know what the lowest price was last year for my preferred dates and so once the price comes to that level again i will book it direct with Butlins)


What is your budget, for how many people and what sort of holiday do you expect? Let us know and lets see what we can find...
art

hcb42

Camp. Very cheap.

Chezzy88

Artichoke, how did you manage to get butlins mon-friday for £100? Thats really good

greenface

Have to type a few words before i say YES .
Not enough info to say much else . You say where your from thats all. When. where. how many. how long. What do you like to do . I can get you a tent and camp in the local park. I have a week in "OUR" kids holidays in Wales for less than £500 is that cheap or expensive . Its just a number until you know what it is

YORKSHIRELASS

Yes, but then I suppose it depends on your definition of cheap!

Travelodge and Premier Inn can be cheap for accommodation but the problem is that you have to eat out so that massively increases the cost.

We have always done camping or youth hostelling for cheap family holidays. Youth hostels are more comfortable than you would expect and you can still pick up a room to sleep four people in some youth hostels for £50 a night. The bonus here is that you can use their kitchens to make your own meals. The YHA is going more upmarket though and prices are rising. They get booked up in advance in popular locations too. Worth a look at their website.

And yes camping. There is an initial outlay but you dont have to spend a fortune - and dont believe what you will read on some internet forums - you dont need a £500 tent the size of an aircraft hangar. Buy the basics to begin with and add on. Have a look on ebay or price up one of those tent packages where you get all the basics you need.

I agree last minute bargains can be had at the likes of Haven. It depends of course where and when you want to go and how many of you there are.

Whatever you do set a budget and keep to it. Allow a set amount per day for spending money and think about staying reasonably close to home so you keep petrol costs down.