The last thing you want to be is worried about money whilst on holiday so how can you have a great family holiday and keep to a budget ?
1, Travel
– take advantage of the offers. Holiday and travel companies often have early booking deals – Brittany ferries always increase their standard 20% discount to 25% during the month of October (we can give you a code when you either like our facebook
page or make a booking with us) Lots of companies start to advertise deals straight after Christmas, so sign up to follow their twitter and facebook accounts so you see the offers as soon as they appear. Check out your supermarket loyalty cards as points can sometimes be exchanged for tickets for the tunnel or ferry crossings. Check out the price comparison sites like http://www.skyscanner.net/
and Martins money tips
for deals on cheap car hire and flights.
2, Shopping
– on a self catering holiday it is one of my favourite parts wandering around the ‘foreign’ supermarkets and markets, but just as in the Uk there are cheap ones such as Lidl, Ed, Leader Price but they often do not have the same range or quality products that the larger hypermarkets do and although you may be happy to shop around and buy certain things from certain shops at home, who wants to spend time doing it on holiday ! In a study last summer of the larger hypermarkets in France E.leclerc was found to be 20% cheaper than the highest priced supermarket which is great news for us since our nearest supermarket happens to be E.Leclerc ! They now have a good range of ‘premier prix’ own brand products many of which are good value, but unlike UK supermarkets these are not placed at eye level but down on the bottom shelf, so rather than automatically picking up the obvious ‘BN’ brand kids biscuits at 0.94€, look down to the bottom shelf and pick up a packet of own brand for 0.46€.
Another thing about shopping is that some things are cheaper than the uk but others are a lot more expensive. For example a pack of 68 Pampers 4+ active fit in Tescos is £10 or 11.15€ – in E.leclerc it is 21.19€ !! A huge difference, so worth bringing all you need from the uk if you are driving (but a bit harder to do if flying !) However wine is another matter – as long as you are happy to drink French (and why wouldn’t you be when coming to France on holiday !) You’ll find incredible value not only in the local supermarkets but also in small local producers too.
3, Petrol/diesel
– is a huge expense both in the UK and in France but it is still cheaper here and if you are driving down this can be a considerable cost on your holiday. Today a litre of diesel in France is approx. 1.00€, in the UK 1.50€ ; for unleaded it is 1.30€ in France and 1.45€ in the UK. So don’t top up in the Uk, top up when you get to France. Another point about fuel is, just as in the UK it is more expensive on the motorways and at branded stations such as Esso, so if possible fill up in the supermarkets before your journey. Tolls are another consideration when travelling through France. This site http://www.autoroutes.fr
will plan your journey and give you an estimate on not only the tolls but the fuel cost too, giving you a good idea before you leave. For example, you may decide the tunnel is much cheaper than a ferry crossing but make sure you factor in 130€ of tolls (65€ each way) and a similar amount in fuel, plus it is a long drive to the west and south coasts so you may need to stop en route, especially if you have young children.
See our top ten list of free things to do
Content by Wendy Blakeman
