The weather's cold, the economic news is grim ... you need a holiday to look forward to this summer. But if you've got kids in tow, finding something affordable isn't easy. So we've done the searching for you, and come up with 10 great ideas.
1. A campsite where you'll want to get wet
Pitch a family tent at Stowford Manor Farm in Wiltshire, where your kids can help out with the animals while you enjoy a cream tea. But the real wow factor is that the country's only river swimming club - Farleigh and District Swimming Club - is half a mile up the road, complete with changing rooms, loos, deep river swimming and plenty of space for children to paddle, splash, and swing across the river on a rope swing. When you want to dry off, head for Bath (15 minutes away) and enjoy the (free) adventure playground in Victoria Park, or take a boat trip along the river.
• stowfordmanorfarm.co.uk; £13 a night during high summer
2. Fly a kite across the harbour
Book in for seven nights in a lovely harbourside cottage in Poole in Dorset (£585 high season), and then go kite flying and kite-boarding on Baiter Park, one of the country's leading kiting spots. Kevin Baker, owner of Southern Breeze, will infect you with his love of kites and help you to progress from flying simple hand-held kites to kite boarding and buggying. My 10-year-old voted this the most fun she'd ever had when we tried it out last year - and the area is teeming with other things for families to do. Head to nearby Sandbanks beach, explore Brownsea Island (where the first scout camps were held) in true Famous Five fashion or visit Monkey World.
• poolebreaks.co.uk; sbkites.com, £45 per family for a half-day's tuition
3. Best bet for the beach
Flights to many European destinations are sky-high this summer, and that's before you have to contend with the poor Euro exchange rate. But if it's real sun you're after, head to Croatia (outside the Eurozone) and go in the May half-term, when villa prices and flights are cheaper than in mid-summer. A two-bedroom apartment by the sea in Vela Luka, Korcula Island, Croatia for May half term costs £300. Flights to Split are currently around £550 for four (easyjet.com) and a week's car hire is £153. The family must-see in Korcula is the Moreska sword dance in the old walled city. This deal also nets you a meal at a restaurant on a beach thrown in.
• Find more offers at croatianvillas.com
4. Mess around on a boat
If your children are seven and up, a canal boat holiday is one of the best ways to enjoy the UK together. Onboard, everyone gets a chance to muck in together and the slowed-down pace provides the perfect chance to sit and chat (something we often don't get to do enough with our kids) while the countryside goes by. Boating through the scenic Yorkshire Dales you'll pass plenty of attractions for kids: Skipton has a castle that could have been designed for hide and seek, or visit the animals and playground at Hesketh Farm Park.
• Boats sleeping five from around £650 for five nights during May half term. silsdenboats.co.uk
5. Get them to a nunnery
Cities are eye-wateringly expensive for families, and Italian cities are even more so than most. The smart answer is to check into a convent or monastery where family rooms are as little as €80 per night. Monks and nuns across Italy welcome families and you don't have to have any interest in the religious side of things. Another plus is that they tend to be located in some of the most beautiful sites in town. The 10.30pm or 11pm curfews may put off other travellers but can be a blessing if you're with a couple with kids.
• monasterystays.com has loads of ideas.
6. Slow down in Slovenia
Vaneca Cottage is a traditional flower-clad alpine cottage on the edge of a forest in the Goricko Nature Park in Slovenia's Prekmurje region. It's one of three owned by a family who've moved here from the UK. They have young kids themselves and they cater with families in mind. So the gardens are filled with swings, sandpits and playhouses, and they're full of ideas on where to go and what to do. Top trip is to Terme 3000, a huge leisure complex just five kilometres away with 22 indoor and outdoor pools, all different sizes and temperatures, some with slides and flumes. Austria, Hungry and Croatia are all close enough for day trips.
• Vaneca, which sleeps six, costs €560 per week in midsummer, flights from the UK to Grazare around £375 for four, and car hire for the week is about £175. sloveniaforfamilies.com; ryanair.com
7. Try out the Polish Lake district
Horse-drawn carriage rides around the traditional village of Drweck, 200km north of Warsaw, will be the number one hit with kids staying at this huge cottage near the Polish lakes. Other activities are sailing and swimming in the lake and there are bikes at the house. The property sleeps 12 (including an exciting attic bedroom for kids) making it ideal for two families to share.
• Price is £700 for a week in high season. Flights are around £360 from the UK for a family of four (easyjet.com), and you'll spend another £180 or so on a week's car hire. rajmazurski.com
8. Stay on track in Cambridgeshire
Staying somewhere a bit different always gets the thumbs-up from my children - and so, too, for some reason, does the novelty of sharing a smaller-than-usual space with their family (I guess it's a bit like sleeping in a playhouse). So they jumped at the chance of a week in a converted railway carriage in the Fens - and at just £300 a week high season, sleeping four in two bedrooms, it's a bargain. There's lots for families to do in the area; the Imperial War Museum at Duxford is a hit, and in Cambridge check out the botanic gardens.
• fenlandselfcateringholidays.co.uk
9. Camping without the canvas
Camping has to be the way to go for the lowest prices in family holidays, but if you don't fancy putting up a tent or sleeping under canvas on a rainy night, then a camping barn is the next-best bargain. The barn at Low Bridge End Farm in Cumbria is one of Britain's best - the views are breathtaking, it's a lovely farm with animals for the kids to enjoy, and rock climbing, orienteering and mountain biking are just some of the activities in the area. Take your own sleeping bags and stove as a camping barn is basically a stone tent.
• Sleeps eight, at around £56 a night. campingbarn.com
10. A Euro-free blast of summer sun
All-in resort: If you want to have your meals made for you while you chill on a sun lounger, a week at the three-star Pink Palace Hotel in Ovacik in Turkey is down to £459 adults (from £500), £429 children (from £459) throughout the summer school holidays. The price includes the flight and full board with all drinks, and the hotel has its own pool, sauna and exercise classes. It's also outside the Eurozone.
