Where to go for cheap/easy holiday with older kids first time abroad?

KaratePigeon

Hi,
I'm a single mum to kids who by the summer will be aged 10, 13 and 15. They have never been abroad, partly because I could never afford it. The older ones are now saying they are the only kids in their school who have never been on a plane (I doubt that, but anyway...) so are pressuring me to take them. I've had a couple of bonuses lately so I could probably afford an inexpensive few days away. 

I have no idea where to start. Personally I've only been abroad a handful of times, and not since my eldest was born so I'm not very confident with travel agents/airports/transfers etc! 

Given the ages of my teens would they be classed as adults or are there still cheap deals around? I wouldn't take them out of school during term time so that's not an option but would consider summer holidays/easter/half term etc. What kind of cost am I looking at realistically?

I don't mind where we go, a basic resort somewhere (all inclusive sounds easy but depends if cost effective), I just need to build my confidence a bit with starting travelling and getting the kids some experience of it! They do have passports already. 

Any advice welcomed

daveyjp

Package holidays generally class a child as 17 or under.

Start with a search across all destinations on a few package sites, Jet2, TUI etc and see what comes up.

sheramber

You need to consider what your kids like to do to establish what kind of holiday they want.

Do they want activities?
 do they want to swim or lie on the beach?
Do they like sight seeing?

That will determine where would be suitable.

All inclusive can be good if you stay around the holiday hotel complex  as children always want extra drinks.

 But not if you spend most of your time away from the place.

twopenny

Tui do last minute deals. That's usually 6+ weeks. More like 10 weeks if you can book time off work in that time.
Half terms will probably have more offers.

Depending on your kids appetite I found half board fine with a tea and cake snack fine but growing boys check carefully about conditions for all inclusive. It's not always all in which can be tricky where children are concerned.

I found tui helpful if I found a deal online and went in shop to get their price. It's a bit more but not much and they did any tricky bits.
I've also gone into the shop and asked what's available in the way of bargains and a print out of 3 to think about and look at details at home. Look at reviews etc for yourself.

strawb_shortcake

A few days may work out as expensive as a week. I've been looking at May half term and that's coming up as expensive for 1 week as two weeks in the Summer holidays. 

If you are flexible with airports then that can usually save quite a bit of money, for example flying to Berlin from Gatwick as opposed to Bristol saved around £400. You will need to take into account travelling, car park etc.

Easyjet holidays are also quite well priced.

Some of the May holidays I've looked at are generally starting around £700-800 each and that's nothing fancy self catering apartments.


Turkey is often a cheaper destination, I think Tunisia too. I tend to look for Spain primarily for holidays abroad so not 100% sure.

For sun holidays I tend to book a package self catering, for weekend city breaks I've been quite happy to book separately which has been really quite easy.

If you can take advantage of an inset day to fly a little earlier that can also save some money too.

TUI I'd say has the best website for searching all destinations to get an idea of cheapest price. However some may come up that don't include luggage so double check what's on offer. This usually is for their longer city breaks

Eldi_Dos

@KaratePigeon
Costa Dorada would meet your needs, not to long a flight,reasonable prices in resorts and plenty of family groups of the same age
Get a apartment or hotel near the beach, plenty of things for kids to do on beach or promenade's which are free or cost very little.The promenades are very well kept and go for miles, bike hire very popular.
The thing I like the most is you can get local buses outside your accommodation that will take you all to the waterpark or theme parks and buy your tickets beforehand for the parks which can be quite a good saving.

Don't put it off, the oldest is getting near the age where they will be wanting to go on their own with friend's rather than the family.

KaratePigeon

Thanks for all the replies, I've had a little look on the sites suggested but they are bit more expensive than I thought! I will keep playing around with different dates/resorts/airports to see if I can get a good deal. Ugh, how do people afford this every year. It's a good point that they are getting older and might not want to come with me for much longer! 

NoodleDoodleMan

A close friend took his kids to Eurocamp some years ago - the youngsters said it was great.

There is a camp near Port Aventura I think.

Can you avoid schools holidays - the most expensive time all round ?