Going on a family holiday is something that we think is very important but some families find it difficult to afford. I know that a lot of families believe that a holiday abroad should be for two weeks in an all-inclusive resort but we find that the food is lacking, the accommodation is usually small and two weeks is just a bit too long plus it is far too expensive.
I wanted to share how you can have a fantastic family holiday abroad whilst keeping costs down. We prefer a one week break in a self-catering villa to help save money, eat well and have fun together.
STEP ONE – Choose your timings wisely
Going on holiday during the six weeks summer holiday may seem like the only option but you can get some fantastic winter sun by going on holiday during the October half term or even get some early sun by going during the May half term.
STEP TWO – Accommodation choices
To help reduce the cost of your holiday take a look at some self-catering villas. The Villas 4 you one we stayed in whilst in Mallorca sleeps six and would cost £701 for the villa for the May half-term. The facilities were perfect for self-catering with a large kitchen and an outdoor cooking area too. Being self catering can really save you money as you can cook meals you know your kids will eat and just buy the ingredients from a local supermarket. We find that eating in the villa is really cheap and meals such as pasta bolognese are perfect for family dinners abroad.
STEP THREE – Cheap flights
Do your research and be flexible about where you fly from. We have found that flying from a different airport can save us a fortune even if it means we have to drive for a few hours and book a hotel overnight. Flights from Manchester were around £300 each yet from Luton was only £70 each and our hotel room was only £40 for the four of us saving us hundreds.
I have foreign currency cards that I transfer money to throughout the year. I cant use them in the UK so it is a great place to save money so it doesn’t get spent. This means we can save money easier and transfer it when the exchange rate is at its highest which makes a big difference. I did this for our trip to Mallorca and for our trip to America. The exchange rate fluctuates a lot during the year so I put an email alert on from my card provider so I get emails when the best rates are available.
STEP FIVE – Prebook your excursions
If you know you want to visit certain tourist attractions when you are on holiday it is worth researching vouchers and websites that you can use to book them. We saved a lot of money by prebooking our trip to the caves, our boat trip and our trip to Kathmandu plus it meant we could spread the cost and not have to pay it out of our holiday money when we were there. We also found a great voucher for Kathmandu which made it a lot cheaper than the standard admission.
