The average vacation for a family of four abroad can cost into the thousands, especially if you are looking for a vacation that is all inclusive. There are many places you can take a vacation and go camping instead of staying in a hotel, but if camping isn’t your thing, what do you do instead? You don’t have to penny pinch to enjoy a vacation. The trick is to know exactly what your family wants.
There are so many types of vacations out there from beach vacations abroad to road trips along the coast so the first step is choosing which break is the best one for your family. Negotiation is the spice of life for tour operators and putting your travel agent through their paces to bring down the cost can be rewarding for you. Check out online vouchers and discounts and websites online like DontPayFull.com and find as many deals as you can for your vacation. Family vacations are rising in popularity and with resorts and travel agencies doing what they can to outdo each other, you should take the time to get the best deals you can for the type of vacation you want.
If you aren’t going abroad, then you may be in luck. Booking a vacation outside of the summer break can save you a lot of money and a lot of aggravation. If you look at the cost of a break in the school year weeks versus school breaks, you’ll see there is a dramatic price difference and you can make a really good saving just by changing your vacation dates. Similarly, an Easter break will be substantially cheaper than a week away in August so you can bet that you would be better off booking earlier in the year. There are lots of ways to cut costs on vacations. One way is to rent an apartment or condo where you have a full kitchen, that way you can order groceries online to be delivered to your rental for the week, and only budget for one or two special meals out. Some people to bring their slow cooker with them so they can keep food costs low to allow for spending money elsewhere on their vacation. Days out sightseeing can be accompanied by a packed lunch or a picnic and that can also keep the outside costs down, as cafes and restaurants inflate their prices during peak seasons.
Inclusive resorts also have the benefit of included entertainment. Swimming, evening shows and the on-site soft plays are always free, which is fantastic for families. As most resorts are on the coast, you also have the benefit of a free beach to visit and any off-site activities like sea life centres, theme parks and museums can be budgeted as one or two days off site. Train ticket companies also offer heavy discounts with railcards and reductions throughout the year, so by keeping an eye on these and setting up email announcements for those sales, you can save a bundle of money on your travel.
June to August is the height of the vacation season when people want sun, sea and sand and so going abroad is generally very expensive. It’s not just the vacation season in your home country, but the resorts abroad capitalise on their offerings knowing that people will flock to warmer climates when they have time off work. Booking a family trip can be quite the headache in the summer months and while vacations are a privilege and not a right, they do encourage and maximise family bonding times.
Travelling abroad is far pricier than travelling to a coastal resort, but this is very dependent on where you are going away on vacation to, and whether you drive. Sometimes, a road trip to drive to your destination can be cheaper than a flight. Airlines throw on huge taxes to the point that the seat you pay for is significantly cheaper than the taxes themselves, so if you plan to avoid them and don’t want to stay at home, look into a road trip instead. Searching the comparison sites for the best airline ticket prices is usually the start of your vacation planning. The next bit? Finding the best deals for resorts. It’s important to remember that travel agencies offer sales and discounts through the year and this will bring the cost of your overall vacation down. Playing one agency off on another can also help to barter down the cost, as most travel agents don’t like to be beaten on price! Ask them what they can offer you, how they can sweeten the deal for you to book there and then and get yourselves the best offer you can.
When it comes down to it, your family’s preferences may be that you want to pitch up a tent and camp in the back garden rather than go through the stress of booking and saving for a huge vacation. Staying put and having a coastal vacation will evidently be cheaper so if you don’t want to spend time trawling the internet for fantastic deals, why not plan a few nice days out at home?
Erect a tent in the back garden and get a small fire burning for scary stories and s’mores and toasting marshmallows. Don’t let your vacation blues kick in, when you can have a staycation at home. camping in the garden, movies under the stars or sprinklers for water fun. Put up the lounge chairs and get whatever sun you can and soak up the culture in your local museums and galleries. A vacation doesn’t mean you have to go abroad or too far from home, it just means you have to make your own fun as a family together. That’s still a vacation from work and school and ‘real life’ and that right there is exactly what a holiday is all about.
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