Is Now A Good Time To Book A European Family Holiday?

This is a collaborative post

Thinking of booking a family holiday in Europe? Now could be the perfect time to start planning your trip. Countries are opening back up again and there are still lots of deals to be grabbed. Prices are expected to shoot up again by Summer 2022 – so it might be a good idea to book a getaway sooner rather than later.

What about Covid-19?

Until recently, many countries were not available to travel to unless you were willing to quarantine afterwards. Since November 1st, all of these countries have now been put on the green list – so you don’t have to worry about quarantine.

This doesn’t necessarily mean that all countries in Europe are completely safe to travel to. Until a couple days ago, many Balkan countries (such as Romania, Latvia and Estonia) were seeing a huge surge in Covid cases and they are still recovering. It’s worth sticking to countries that have a high vaccination rate and a relatively low number of Covid cases.

It’s worth double-checking which attractions are open and whether masks are still necessary – many countries have opened up most attractions and have largely relaxed rules when it comes to masks. 

What about Brexit?

UK residents will be expected to pay an ETIAS visa waiver as a result of Brexit – however this is not expected to become mandatory until 2023. For now, a visa is not necessary, however it could be if you plan to travel at a later date. You can find out more information about ETIAS visas here at https://europe-visa.com/.

Brexit has not disrupted travel by ferry to mainland Europe. However, ferries from the UK to Ireland have been disrupted – it may be safer to travel by air.  

Where to go for a winter holiday

Travel prices are expected to go up in summer 2022. They have already been steadily rising since last summer. Consequently, a winter holiday could be worth considering, allowing you to get a good deal before prices shoot up.

But just where should you travel for a winter holiday? The ski resorts are an obvious option for those that want to try skiing or snowboarding. You can find deals in all the Alpine countries. You could also find low prices by considering alternative ski destinations like Bulgaria, Andorra and Spain. 

Don’t fancy going skiing? Now could be a great time to book a city break. Travelling to cities can be a little more expensive in December, but you’ll get to enjoy all the festive events and decorations – Prague, Budapest, Vienna, Cologne and Bruges are few fantastic cities to visit in the leadup to Christmas. For cheaper prices, try January or February. 

What about a holiday in the sun? Believe it or not, there are a few places in Europe where you can still enjoy warm weather in winter. The temperature tends to hover between 15 and 20 degrees in the Canary Islands from January to March. The temperature in Cyprus meanwhile is still at an average of 17 degrees in January. 

7 Tips for finding the best deals

When it comes to booking a budget family holiday in Europe, there are a few tricks that are worth considering to help you get the best deals. Below are 7 tips to consider:

Use comparison sites

Comparison sites are fantastic for narrowing down the best deals. There are so many of these sites around (if you need a comparison site for comparison sites, check out this guide at https://www.which.co.uk) 

Trivago tends to be the best site for grabbing cheap hotel deals. Skyscanner is meanwhile the best site for finding cheap flights. When it comes to package deals, the likes of TravelSupermarket tends to be better suited. 

Go all-inclusive

If you’re happy to spend most of your time at your hotel or resort, an all-inclusive holiday can typically work out as the cheapest option. All your food is paid for and many of the drinks at the bar should be free too. Even if you decide to eat out once or twice, you’ll still save money overall compared to staying at a hotel where you have to buy all your meals and drinks.

Clear your cookies

Many travel sites will store cookies on your browser when you visit them – if you return to these sites, you could find that the prices of deals you were looking at have gone up. The fact that you’ve returned to the site shows that you are still interested and sites take advantage of this by pushing the price up a little.

Clearing your cookies or searching for deals in Incognito Mode can prevent this from happening. Some people even claim to find cheaper deals by clearing cookies.

Negotiate over the phone

If you find a great holiday price online, consider ringing up the agent to see if you can haggle down the price. In some cases, you’ll have to go through an agent anyway – almost all agents will allow room to lower the price. 

You can also try ringing other agents to see if they can beat the price. Some of them may be able to knock off a few quid. With family holidays, it’s possible to negotiate the price down by as much as £200 in some cases just by haggling. 

Fly on a weekday

Flight prices are much more expensive at the weekend. If you want to save money, aim to fly out on and fly back on a weekday. Tuesday tends to be the cheapest day.

Consider booking last minute

You can often get huge discounts by booking two to four weeks before you plan to travel. Booking last minute is risky because certain hotels and flights may already be fully booked. However, if you’re travelling in January or February, this generally won’t be the case and you’ll still have a lot of options. You may have to give more warning than two weeks when booking time off work – you can always book time off in advance and book the holiday last minute.

Take the car

You may be able to save money by taking your car on a ferry rather than flying out somewhere and hiring a car. Driving is a great option when travelling to France, Belgium or The Netherlands.