Going Abroad As A Family Doesn’t Have To Be Expensive – How Our Family Of 5 Spent 10 Nights In Spain For Less Than A Grand

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View from an aeroplane window showing the wing with “easyJet” branding, flying over a deep blue sea with a coastal city and mountains in the distance—perfect for anyone going abroad under a clear sky.

I always see the quote ‘you get what you pay for’ banded around when it comes to booking holidays, and this is so true. Now, if you’re wanting a 5* all inclusive, luxury holiday, then this post isn’t for you. Of course, we have all dreamed of chartering a private jet from a company like Jettly and jetting off to a luxurious destination at some point. But if you’re wanting to know how you can get abroad on only a shoestring budget, then keep reading…

Now, I’m starting this post on the assumption that Passports are already bought and paid for, as no one should be booking holidays without them. But other than that, the flights, transfers and the apartments we stayed in, cost us no more than a grand for 10 nights in April/May.

I’m such a laid back person when it comes to holidaying. I’m not bothered by looks of a building, or age of the decor – if it has a comfy bed, a hot bath and is clean, then it’s all good with me. I don’t look for an apartment like I’m house hunting. It’s not my home, I wont be spending much time there and I don’t need it to have all the luxuries I get at home to get by. It’s our base. A place to sleep, and wash, and leave our cases – that’s it.
A view through a window at an airport shows several easyJet aeroplanes parked at gates, with ground vehicles and staff working around them under a cloudy sky—capturing the excitement of going abroad.
You know what else I want from an apartment? A good pool and a good location. It doesn’t need to be flashy with bells and whistles, I’m happy with a place for the kids to play and a location which means we are surrounded by places to visit.So, here is the low down on how we booked. September 2017, I checked on On The Beach and saw that the holidays were at a great price at that moment in time (as they are for next year too if flying with EasyJet). I knew just how much holidays can change almost over night, so my husband and I took that opportunity to book for April 2018.

We initially wanted a week in the sun. I wasn’t too bothered where, as long as it had some places that even the fussy T would eat at, a nice beach and a good location to have places to visit. We went for Benidorm. The town centre there has numerous shops, bars and restaurants and Levante beach which stretches from one end of the resort to the other with plenty of water sport activities. And if you book the Rincón de Loix end, you’re away from the noise and the clubs, and are in the apartment and more family-friendly area.

A person sits alone at the edge of an outdoor swimming pool, dipping their feet in the water, lost in thought, perhaps dreaming of going abroad. Empty sun loungers surround the pool, with tall hedges and blocks of flats in the background.
The Europa Center Apartments are in the centre of this area of Benidorm. All apartments are basic but spacious, providing good value for money and equipped for up to six guests in the 2 bedroomed apartments, which we stayed in. Our apartment had a furnished balcony (which had the option of pulling the windows fully along and closing the whole thing in), a full bathroom and kitchen. And even though it’s in the quieter end of Benidorm, it’s within easy walking distance of the nearby restaurants and bars and down the street from the beach.Benidorm is known for 2 things – elderly holidays and clubbers – and I think that is what puts off a lot of people from booking. But it’s not at all. There is one strip in Benidorm, right away from these apartments – about a 10/15 minutes walk away and this area can be loud and have adult only hotels.

But the area we stayed in is such a family-friendly side, and so quiet too as these apartments don’t allow large groups or stag/hen parties. Most don’t at this side of Benidorm which means that kids, and us parents, get a good nights sleep.

Literally a 3 minutes walk from the beach, I know as we timed this, was our apartment. There are a handful of British bars and restaurants around as well as all the major fast food places too (FYI, Spanish McDonald’s is nothing to write home about!). There are Chinese buffets, and Indian Restaurants. In fact, the only thing there isn’t much of, is Spanish restaurants.

So, anyway, we flew on the 23rd April, flying with EasyJet from Manchester. We live closest to Leeds and Bradford Airport but it’s cheaper for us to travel to and fly from MAN. A very early morning flight and let me tell you, Manchester Airport, Terminal 1, is rubbish for breakfast. There is a restaurant upstairs, but as you can imagine with the amount of flights going through, this place was packed. There was no space for us to sit there, so we had to go downstairs to find something. The only place was Burger King, who were serving chips and burgers at 5.30am.

Two young boys play in the sand near the shoreline, building a sandcastle together on a sunny beach, dreaming of going abroad whilst waves lap and a small island appears in the background.

We boarded the flight and it took off with no delays and were up in the air in no time. And now is probably the right time to mention that I am petrified of taking off, so as you can imagine, having C with his anxiety disorder, J who was crying (as the security in the airport wanted to scan his blanket, and he doesn’t like anyone touching his blanket) and me all in one row was pleasant. Eventually everyone settled, and actually I was really surprised how well C did. The noise, the new place and the plane didn’t seem to faze him at all.

The flight was smooth and the kids were perfect throughout, even when landing, although this was when T suffered with his ears popping. We came in to land and the heat hit us instantly – bliss!

Security in Spain is fine and we had our cases and were onto the transfers in no time. Our transfers were with Jumbo Transfers and took around an hour to get there – might have been less but I was too busy staring out the window to care about time!

And then we were there! The thing about booking the Europa Center Apartments is that they don’t have a manned reception, so you need to pick your keys up elsewhere. At night this is at another hotel, but during the day it’s at a rental place next to the beach – maybe a 5 minute walk away. I went to pick the keys up whilst the husband and kids stayed at the bar and had a drink.

Three children sit on an inflatable raft in a pool, whilst another child relaxes on a mermaid tail float nearby. The scene feels like going abroad, with clear blue water and sunlight sparkling on the surface.

Can I just say right now, that I rate Europa Center and their customer service so much – they were amazing throughout our holiday. The day after we arrived, my parents flew out – they were also staying at the same place. They had a problem with their boiler, it kept cutting out. Within the first day, a new boiler was brought out and replaced – it’s not often to see speedy work like that!

Back onto our holiday. The Europa Center is a quiet apartment block. A lot of the apartments are owned by Spanish residents so it’s peaceful. This also means that the pool is quiet. So quiet. Most of the time, it was just us and another group of holiday makers around the pool. And it was vast. It had showers at the side of it and toilets too, and the whole area was gated so only people from the apartments could get in, and no sneaky children could get out.

A large outdoor water park with winding water slides, a blue and white lighthouse, splash pools, palm trees, and a colourful picket fence feels like going abroad under clear blue skies with scattered clouds above.

The restaurant downstairs is fab, such a friendly bunch – and if you ask for their WiFi password, it will keep connected whilst you’re in the apartments (we were on the first floor and could connect but my parents were on the third and could connect on the balcony).

There are even a plethora of water parks around Benidorm. We visited Aqua Natura which was amazing. Plenty of slides and pools for the kids, and food that weren’t too expensive as is usually the case at most theme parks. The biggest slide there, La Cresta, didn’t open till the afternoon and looked very scar indeed. In fact, they had to have a defibrillator at the end of the ride which as terrifying!

Two people on a yellow inflatable tube splash into a pool at the end of a large white water slide at Aqua Natura, enjoying a holiday adventure that feels like going abroad, with blue sky and greenery in the background.

My brother was adamant that he was going on it, but as it was a double seater ride, himself and my husband were too heavy to go together. This left me to go with him – and let’s just say that I am scared of even kids rides! But I did it. I thought I was going to die throughout, and was so scared that I literally couldn’t walk to get out of the pool afterwards, but I did it. And, I would never, ever do it again!

I wrote this post as a way to say that you don’t always need to spend a fortune on a holiday for it to be perfect for you. And that is exactly how it has ended too. To be fully truthful, we loved our holiday so much that we are going again, next year in June – flying, transfers and apartment all the same.

Here is a little breakdown of how much our holiday cost:

23rd April 2018 – 3rd May 2018
Flights – £303
Seats – £55
Case – £50
Transfers – £75
Apartments – £346
Transaction Fee (On The Beach) – £19.80
Total –  £848.80

So as you can see, it came in well under a grand – although once we’d added travel to MAN from Leeds and food at the airport and on the plane, it was probably close to £1K.

My tip for getting the best flight deal… Don’t go for a week. Flight companies know that this is the average amount of time people go for so will sting you on the price for the return flight. Book a day more, or which ever is cheapest, and no doubt you’ll get a deal.It was actually cheaper for us to fly and stay for 10 days than for 7. And next year we’ll be going for 8 days…


My overall tip… Do a DIY holiday. We found that it would be a lot cheaper, booking the flights direct with EasyJet, apartment through the likes of On The Beach and then transfers direct with Jumbo Transfers.

What would your travel tips be?

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152 thoughts on “Going Abroad As A Family Doesn’t Have To Be Expensive – How Our Family Of 5 Spent 10 Nights In Spain For Less Than A Grand”

  14. A S,Edinburgh

    I would say make sure all your passports and insurance etc. already cover the whole period when you might want to go, and then play around with timing to get the best deal.

    I didn't realise that deviating from the standard 7 days could save so much that a longer holiday could work out better value. What a great thing to know, thank you!

    Reply
  17. KT

    shop around for deals, get cash back when you book using Top Cashback, and… learn a few basic words of their language! Regret not doing that in Budapest

    Reply
  20. William G

    We go on a lot of city breaks, and my advice would be to stay away from the tourist areas! Amsterdam is a prime example. We use an AirBnB apartment 30 minutes walk from the centre which has plenty to do and great eating places.
    Ask the apartment owner about transfers. Ours told us about gogido, a taxi site that will rank all the taxi companies by price!

    Reply
  22. Kelly Wheelhouse

    Honestly, I've never been on a holiday abroad! If I could give a tip anyway it would probably be to make sure you have more than enough money to enjoy your holiday without worry

    Reply
  23. Anonymous

    Prepare by seeking out information from trustworthy sources. Knowing what to expect can help. Check out maps of the area. Ensure sufficient currency, etc.

    Rachel Craig

    Reply
  24. Joshua Gough

    If a restaurant is in a tourist area avoid. Ice cream parlours are really bad, one guy tried to charge me 9 euros for an ice cream in Rome !

    Reply
  30. Laura Turner

    Get your money sorted beforehand instead of paying masses at the airport and get a good credit card to take out.

    Reply
  32. Aimee Charbonnier

    Happy Birthday for next week 🙂 It was my birthday 2 days ago so if I were lucky enough to win, I would definitely spend it on myself for a change!

    Reply
  35. Isis1981uk

    Club together with family to rent a lovely, big villa – you don't need to spend all holiday together but it means you can all afford a great place to stay.

    Reply
  36. Hannah Smalley

    I'm not one for asking for friends recommendations on fb generally but asking for advice once you've shortlisted some destinations can be eye opening/thought provoking!

    Reply
  40. Catherine Spencer

    Take boiled sweets for the taking off and landing parts of the plane journey to help stop your ears from popping.

    Reply
  55. Theresa

    I never carry cash on me. I feel they when you are on hoiday, when cash is there, you’ll find ways to spend on unescessary things. I take a card with no fees charged abroad and use it for all essentials and activities

    Reply
  58. Anonymous

    Do a lot of research before you go – and talk to people who have already been there if you know anyone. This can save you a lot of time and alert you to interesting places you mightn't be aware of.

    Hazel Rea @beachrambler

    Reply
  62. Parisiansummer

    Make sure you have all immunisations up to date, if travelling somewhere more exotic. Even for Europe, bring children's anti-mosquito spray with you as it can be difficult/expensive to track down, ditto toddler's swim hats!. For toddlers, wetsuit style swimwear saves a lot of stress, as you don't have to chase around re-applying as much sunblock all the time, just feet/hands/face!

    Reply
  69. Hayley Colburn

    when you find the hotel you love the look of google it, see if other tour operators offer it cheaper, or better yet, check out the cost direct, we have funnily enough booked Magic Natura (staying in the resort) for next year, it was over £1000 cheaper than the lowest price Tour Operator's cost and we have a better room type than what they were offering too.

    Reply
  78. sarag

    If you know you want to do something when you're there, book tickets before you go, that way you know you'll get in and it's usually cheaper.

    Reply
  79. Anonymous

    I like to share between case rather than a case each so if a case goes missing everyone will have something to wear

    Reply
  80. Anonymous

    Don't simply do the 'touristy' things – mix with the locals and experience the authentic lifestyle of of that country.

    – Anthony G.

    Reply
  85. Unknown

    Always research hotels and activities based on reviews. Vendors tend to paint a rosy picture of everything. Some review sites can also tell you lots of insider info like best seating, room, time of day, transport options, food recommendations or discounts!

    Reply
  88. Karen Usher

    Research the place you are going so you have a heads up on what to do there also arrange transport from the airport to the hotel so that you aren't going to be in a big stress of how to get to the hotel once you are at the airport…this can cause arguments and I know this….lol

    Reply
  90. Charlotte G

    Try to book a hotel not too far away from the airport so the transfer isn't so long. Nothing worse than a long flight then hours on a coach!!

    Reply
  91. Rebecca W

    Check trip advisor before you book for reviews or any tips of what to pack. Make sure you know the exchange rate. Always take extra emergency money and make sure you are insured. Weigh your suitcase before going to the airport to make sure it isn't overweight!

    Reply
  114. jackier333

    Always make sure you factor in some time to recover and sleep after travelling. It will allow you to feel refreshed and you get more done in the long run! (Commenting as Jacqui Rushton)

    Reply
  115. Cake (Sheila R)

    Start researching places you would like to go to well in advance (if you can), narrow it done and just concentrate on a couple of areas, and register for fligth e,aisl so you can see as soon as the early booking fligth offers come on

    Reply
  125. sam

    Take a good first aid/medicine kit with you, it's much better to be prepared then spend a good chunk of your holiday looking for calpol/antihistamines/imodium or whatever else you might need.

    Reply
  130. Emma

    Taking hold luggage is so expensive that my tip is to watch YouTube videos so that you can see the best way to pack and increase the space in your case.

    Reply

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