Advice on very first holiday abroad

AK123

Hi,
Having never been on holiday before, I was wondering if someone could give me some advice on the matter.
We're a family of 5 (2 adults 3 children, 1 child is 18 years old) and wanting to go on our first holiday. It needn't be anything fancy but at the same time I want the kids to have a good time, so I'm thinking a beach holiday in Spain.
I just wanted to know what's the best (cheapest) way to do this, should I go for a packaged holiday, will I save much by booking everything separately and what other things do I need to take into consideration?
Ideally, I didn't want to spend more than about £2K, but I realise it might be a bit more than that.
Many thanks.

PeacefulWaters

Packaged is simpler but you can usually save by doing it yourself.

Skyscanner will help you identify cheapest plane fares. Book direct with the airline. Remember to pay for hold luggage before flight day. Can you do two suitcases between five of you to keep the cost down?

Booking flights early usually keeps the cost down.

Accommodation from a firm like Alpharooms who would also arrange transfers from the airport (or you could hire a car).

Job done.

Price up similar trips and compare DIY costs to the tour companies for what you're interested in.

Just occasionally, I find British Airways Holidays have an absolute bargain when you combine flights and car hire and that would include luggage for each member of the party. Usually they don't!

EDIT:
Trip Advisor, as stated in the post below, is an excellent way of getting a feel for what your accommodation does and doesn't do. If there's a negative review, read the detail. It might not be something that bothers you!

Cheapest flights booked independently are usually non-refundable. When booking accommodation you will often have the choice of paying slightly more for cancellable accommodation.

Remember to take out travel insurance at the time of booking if it's not already part of your bank account.

bigadaj

Good info from pw, only thing I'd add or amend is Accommodation.

Tripadvisor is a good place to start when you now where you want to fly to, has reviews and rankings and also links directly to a range of agents to give prices. Make sure you also check direct with the hotel as that may be cheaper, but not always.

NiftyDigits

With the glut of property in southern Spain, you can get some super bargains. We would rent a two bedroom apartment a ten minute walk to the beach for as little as 500€ per month.. Car perhaps £20 per day all in. Often would have the pool to ourselves. Having a full fridge most useful when having a full compliment of children. Having a car makes it easier to go on excursions with the family, including simply shopping.
So i would suggest that DIY and self catering can offer you a far richer experience, but as it's your first trip, it could be a bit nervy, especially the thought of having to drive on the wrong side of the road. But a variation on the theme might work.

richardw

NiftyDigits wrote: »

....having to drive on the wrong side of the road....

It's not really the wrong side of the road when driving on the right hand side with a likely left hand drive hire car and if you're right handed, operating the gear lever with your right hand. The right hand side of the road feels 'wrong' with a right hand drive car.

NiftyDigits

richardw wrote: »

It's not really the wrong side of the road when driving on the right hand side with a likely left hand drive hire car and if you're right handed, operating the gear lever with your right hand. The right hand side of the road feels 'wrong' with a right hand drive car.

My girlfriend is one of those foreign types. She does the driving.

lea2012

I'd suggest getting down to the travel agent first and trying to narrow it down to where you want to go.

If you have a specific airport that you want to go from then take a look on their website and see where you can fly too.

If you want Spain then the usuals are:

Costa Brava - fly into Girona or possibly Barcelona. Short flight, weather good June-Sept. Nice beaches, quite british in places, easy to visit Barcelona for the day via train from most resorts.

Costa Dorado - Fly into Reus or Barcelona, as above really but with the added bonus of PortAventura theme park being on your doorstep (in Salou), it has a huge waterpark and this year Ferarri World opens too I believe.

Costa Blanca - Benidorm and surrounding area. Fly into Alicante. Nice beaches, lots and lots of bars and restaurants as well as a theme park, waterpark, dolphin park & zoo etc too. Again very british in places but this could be a good thing?

Costa del Sol - Fly into Malaga, weather good May- Oct and mild in winter. Easy to get from airport to most resorts by train. Public transport really good in the local area too, nice beaches and enough to keep a family busy.

You've also got Majorca and Ibiza too. Ibiza is pretty costly for accomm so I would rule that out for now. Majorca has plenty of flights and a huge choice of accomm, plus it's pretty cheap when you get there. For families look at Santa Ponsa, Alcudia, Puerto Pollensa or Palma Nova. Some of the east coast resorts will suit too.

Bear in mind that in some hotels children can be classed as adults from the age of 12 so always worth checking. Also think about space when booking a room, a one bed apart might be cheaper but do you all want to be squished in together? Two rooms might be better or a two bed apart.

Lastly, maybe look at sites such as Travel Republic or On the Beach to get an idea of flights and prices, then book the flights direct with the airline (these websites will usually display the airline logo so know who to book with) and then use the website to book the accomm separately.

Hope that helps.

AK123

Thank you all for the great advice!
We want to go in August this year so I think I'd better start looking to book this very soon.