First beach holiday abroad with kids- money saving tips?

Motherofcelticdragons

We are due to go to Spain in two weeks with our 5 and 7yos for the first time. We're staying in an apartment near the beach and I have (maybe idealistic!) visions of early mornings at the beach, lunches and shade, then back to the beach- on repeat for 6 days.

We have self catering available, and I plan to take tupperware, ice packs, and a foldaway cool bag for snacks but wondered if I was missing any other tricks to manage the budget better/ manage the kids abroad. 

We are borrowing a full face snorkel mask (kids will not be in the water without us, 1on1 at all times), and probably their nerf rocket to play catch with. We'll take colouring books and games like Dobble but I'd REAAAALLLLY like to avoid taking the ipad/ switch. They may not appreciate it, but I'd prefer a relatively digital free break.

Is it better to buy a parasol there? And bucket and spades etc? 

Any other tips to make the trip as fun (on a budget!) as possible? It'll be very different to the last time we went abroad, pre kids!!

comeandgo

Not a money saving tip but when I’m in self catering and plan to be making sandwiches or cooking simple meals I take my sharp knife with me, in the hold luggage off course.  I find those in self catering are never sharp enough.

Vegastare

Have to admit have only done self catering twice otherwise in hotels....plus this was when in EU so not sure of restrictions on food, one place had said was arrival pack etc so able to have a bite to eat at night and breakfast, the other time I took vacum packed bread rolls - type you pop in oven for ten mins and primula cheese and pack bacon.  We also stopped at petrol station and got some bottles of water.
Never ever go away without tea bags and take some powder milk just to start me off.

Sorry no kiddies - but Iceland have offer on Batchelors Pasta n sauce 5 for £3 and it includes Mac and cheese and all others flavours - so maybe a couple meal ideas to take with you may cut down costs.  My friends moved to Spain in April and were home 2 weeks ago and she mentioned that some food stuffs were really expensive, but think she meant meat, chickens etc.  Also mentioned Lidl were very good to shop in.

Am sure you will have some better ideas coming along soon and folk who go often...enjoy

J_B

When we used to take the kids away during the 'hot summer' we used to go back to the apartment for lunch and then have a Spanish style siesta and reconvene for "4 o'clock club"

That way they were a) out of the strong sun at its peak and b) not falling asleep by 8pm giving us time to enjoy our evenings out

zagfles

Take lots of high factor water resistant sun cream, in the hold luggage. It's quite expensive to buy in Spain IIRC.

Stuff like buckets and spade should be reasonably cheap to buy there, you might not even need to, most hotels have a "help yourself" area where you can reuse stuff other guests have left behind, stuff like buckets and spades, books etc.

If snorkelling, take swim shoes. Snorkelling is most interesting near rocks etc where there's the possibility of sea urchins, you don't want to be pulling the spikes out of your kids' feet! Or your own.

Get something to suck on eg lollypops for the plane in case the pressure change causes earache. This can be bad in kids, swallowing helps a lot.

Eating out with kids is great in Spain, and really anywhere in southern Europe. Kids are welcomed in restaurants rather than tolerated like here. They'll usually do small portions of anything on the menu, or let the kids share a full size portion or some of yours. Waiters interact with the kids and have a laugh and giggle. We'd usually do our own breakfast (cereal etc), sandwiches etc for lunch then eat out in the evening. But sometimes the other way round, have a big lunch and a snack in the evening. Eating out is generally cheap in Spain especially if you go for set menus. Instead of getting puddings in restaurants we usually got the kids an ice cream on the way home, gives them something to look forwards to and do on the massive (to them) walk back to the hotel even it's only half a mile!

jimbo6977

Rather than a parasol I would go for a beach tent, which you can buy in the UK or in resort, difficult to say which would be cheaper as it depends what's available in resort and you won't know that until you get there. Beach tents are better than parasols because they offer more shade, and more consistent shade, are much easier to stop from blowing away on a breezy day, and you can pack them in a suitcase, which you can't with a parasol. You might find on arrival that the guests leaving resort are offering week-old parasols for free to anyone who wants them, as they have no means of taking them home. Ridiculous but there you go. 

Also I would suggest some swimming shoes from the likes of Sports Direct. They are only a couple of ££ and should prevent the children being put off by hot sand / bumpy pebbles / scratchy rocks / whatever else might annoy them at the foot level on a beach

If you want to try local cuisine, many establishments that cater more to locals will offer a lunchtime "menu del dia", which is a set menu at a low price - you can get some great value meals if you and/or the children are not fussy eaters. 

Buy local foods and drinks rather than UK / International brands (or shop at Aldi/Lidl if there is one handy).



Not money related - pray to the god of your choice that your children fall asleep at siesta time, so that you can enjoy the evenings as a family. 

thegreenone

Does the apartment definitely have a freezer? Worth checking. If so, freeze bottles of water instead of taking icepacks. Dual purpose.

anonmoose

Some great tips there.  Also some tourist places charge a fortune for ice creams so if you are near a supermarket pop in and get a box of ice creams for the price of one!

The supermarkets are pretty good in spain so you can stock up on snacks and nice breakfast items when you get there.  Take reusable carrier bags with you so you don't get charged for bags.  We were in Mallorca recently and was impressed that their Aldi had a much nicer range of bakery and snacks than we have over here.  Taking little food clips with you is always a good idea to close family packs of crisps or snacks etc.

ellenvan

Buy something like Boots meal deal in airport - take small snacks for plane with you. Really expensive on likes of Easyjet to buy x4 drinks and food.
Agree with other poster eating out is cheap in Spain if you go somewhere the locals go.
Tapa ideal for kids also Menu Del Dia ( menu of the day)