And when the cost of your big break has to be multiplied by three, four, five or more — and the money has to be somehow squeezed from the pocket change that’s left after the music lessons, the new trainers, the mobile-phone tariffs and all the rest of modern childhood’s necessities have been paid for — then your choice of summer destination all comes down to price.
With that in mind, we’ve been doing our sums, working out exactly how much holiday you can get for a family of four within four strict price bands: £500, £1,000, £2,000 and £3,000.
We’ve used all the tricks of the trade, tracking down free child places, flight deals and hotel discounts, and using the internet to cut out greedy middle men.
Unless stated, all these prices — available as the Travel section went to press — are totals for a family of two adults and two children under 13 for a week during the school summer holidays.
So, whether you blew your budget when the boiler finally packed up, or are celebrating an unexpected windfall, your summer should be sorted right here.
YOU MIGHT think that for £500, you can’t get much more than a week’s camping in the back garden. You’d be wrong. Certainly, luxury is out of the question, but by shopping around — and, in some cases, by travelling during the final weeks of the school holidays — you can still find trips that will put smiles on the children’s faces. And not every option involves sleeping under canvas.
By booking direct with a France-based company, you can rent a spacious two-bedroom house in the Vendée, near the vast sandy beaches of St-Jean-de-Monts. Les Mas de Vertmarines is a holiday village completely geared towards families, with two heated pools and a children’s club on site, as well as bike rental, riding and sand-yachting. Arrive on August 26 and you’ll pay £290 for a week, with Wake Up in France (00 33 2 51 59 78 00, www.wakeupinfrance.co.uk ). P&O (0870 520 2020, www.poferries.com ) has Channel crossings from £120.
Another option is to head to the Alps, where you can swim in lakes and go mountain-biking, rafting, waterskiing and rock-climbing. In the village of Les Gets, a week’s self-catering in a two-bedroom apartment from July 21 costs £500, including ferry crossings,with Alp Active (0845 120 9872, www.alpactive.com ).
In Les Carroz d’Araches, a week in a one-bedroom apartment sleeping four costs £454, including ferry crossings and use of a heated indoor pool, with Peak Retreats (0870 770 0408, www.peakretreats.co.uk ).
If you are prepared to bed down under canvas, you can even do Disney on a tight budget. At Le Village Parisien, a bucolic riverside camp site seven miles from Disneyland Paris, a seven-night pitch from August 18, including ferry crossings and one-day park entry for four people, costs £474, with Sites Abroad (0870 901 9495, www.sitesabroad.co.uk ).
By renting in the UK, you’re inevitably gambling on the weather, but think of the savings on travel. Book a cottage in the Lake District with Lakelovers (015394 88855, www.lakelovers.co.uk ) and you get free membership of a local leisure club. For instance, book Ann’s Cottage, a 17th-century conversion in the hamlet of Chapel Stile, with superbviews of the hills, and you’ll get entry to the Langdale Country Club. The cottage sleeps four and costs £495 per week in high season.
In Scotland, Ecosse Unique (01835 822277, www.unique-cottages.co.uk) has a selection of cottages at less than £500, including Pend Garden Cottage (reference CF7), in the fishing village of St Monans, Fife. It sits on the waterfront, overlooking the Firth of Forth, sleeps four, has an enclosed south-facing garden andcosts £495 per week during July and August.
