Family Flights May Half-Term 2026: Real Costs & Best Routes

Majorca from around £89-£140pp return on Jet2 from Manchester is still one of the more manageable half-term options if you book before April. From Leeds Bradford, Jet2 can come in slightly cheaper at £79-£120pp return, and the airport is a doddle compared to Manchester with kids in tow. Palma is a genuinely easy destination with young children: short transfer, warm sea, loads of family-friendly resorts around Alcudia and Cala d'Or.

Lanzarote from £105-£160pp return on TUI from Gatwick is pricier but the consistent 24-degree heat in May is the sell. Worth knowing: TUI includes 15kg hold luggage on most packages, which for a family of four travelling with a buggy and a fortnight of sun cream makes the headline price more honest than it looks. From Bristol, easyJet fly Lanzarote from around £95-£145pp return, though you'll pay £15-£30 per bag on top.

Corfu from £98-£155pp return on Jet2 from Birmingham is worth serious consideration for May half-term. The sea is already warm enough to swim, the resort strip around Kavos is best avoided with kids, but Sidari and Kassiopi are proper family-friendly spots. Jet2 also fly Corfu from Manchester from around £110pp return, and from Edinburgh from roughly £125pp if you're based in Scotland.

The honest reality on all three: these prices are for flights alone. A family of four in peak half-term week will pay £360-£640 just to get there and back before a single hotel room is booked. Searching the week before half-term, typically the 18th-22nd May, rather than the core 23rd-31st window, can shave 20-30% off the fare.

Rome from £52 one-way on Ryanair from Stansted sounds brilliant until you remember the Colosseum queue in 28-degree heat with a six-year-old. Pre-book the fast-track tickets, stay near Trastevere rather than the tourist centre, and the city genuinely works for families. Returns from Stansted can be found from £104pp in May if you're flexible on days, though half-term week pushes that to £130-£160pp.

Paris from £39-£75 one-way on easyJet from Gatwick or Luton is the one most UK families can actually reach without a 4am start. Disneyland Paris is the obvious draw for younger kids, but the science museum at La Villette and the Musée d'Orsay are genuinely great for older ones. The Eurostar is worth comparing though: London St Pancras to Paris from around £75pp return if you book far enough ahead, no airport stress included.

Lisbon from £49-£89 one-way on TAP Air Portugal from Heathrow, or on Ryanair from Stansted from around £38-£72 one-way, is the one most families overlook. May temperatures sit around 22 degrees, the trams and cable cars are an instant hit with kids, and the beaches at Cascais are 40 minutes by train from the centre. It's also meaningfully cheaper on the ground than Rome or Paris, which matters when you're buying four of everything.

City breaks in half-term do require more planning than beach trips. Rome and Paris in late May get genuinely busy, and hotel prices in central locations spike hard. Booking accommodation on Booking.com or directly with apartments rather than through a flight package nearly always saves money, sometimes £80-£150 total for a three-night stay.

Marrakech from £68-£110 one-way on easyJet from Gatwick or Manchester is the one adventurous pick that works brilliantly for families who've done the standard Med circuit. The souks are chaotic but kids genuinely love it, and the food is easy. May temperatures are around 28-32 degrees which is warm but manageable, and a decent riad in the medina costs £80-£130 per night, often including breakfast for the whole family.

Amman, Jordan, from around £210-£290pp return on Royal Jordanian or Turkish Airlines via Istanbul from Heathrow is a longer trip but worth it if your kids are older. Petra is one of the few places that genuinely renders a teenager speechless. The Dead Sea is an hour from Amman and the experience of floating in it is something a ten-year-old will talk about for years.

The Azores from £95-£140 one-way on Ryanair from Stansted to Ponta Delgada is the pick for families who want something genuinely different without a long-haul flight. Whale watching, volcanic lakes, hot springs you can actually swim in: it's the kind of trip that doesn't feel like sitting on a sun lounger, which is the point. May is green season so expect some rain, but the island empties out and prices on the ground drop sharply compared to summer.

Jet2 is the one most UK families end up preferring once they've tried all three, and it's not really about price. You get 22kg hold luggage included as standard, reserved seats are included, and the staff on board are noticeably better with kids. From northern airports especially, Manchester, Leeds Bradford and Newcastle, Jet2's network is hard to beat for family beach destinations.

TUI is the full package option: flight, hotel, transfers, bags, all bundled together. For first-time family travellers or anyone who doesn't want to think about logistics, that simplicity has a real value. The trade-off is that you give up flexibility, the hotels tend to be big resort properties rather than anything with character, and the all-in price is often £150-£300 more expensive than piecing it together yourself. easyJet sits in the middle: competitive base fares from Gatwick, Bristol and Luton, but bag fees of £15-£33 per hold bag each way add up fast for a family of four.

On cutting costs: flying on a Tuesday or Wednesday rather than Saturday in half-term week genuinely works and can save £20-£40pp on the fare. The single biggest saving most families miss is checking whether a different UK airport gets them the same destination cheaper. Corfu on Jet2 from Leeds Bradford at £98pp return versus £130pp return from Gatwick on easyJet is a real comparison, and the difference pays for a night's hotel.

Book flights and accommodation separately unless TUI is genuinely cheaper all-in, which does occasionally happen. Searching Booking.com apartments for four people versus two hotel rooms usually finds a meaningful saving, often £60-£100 per night. One carry-on bag each and a single shared hold bag for the whole family, if the kids are old enough, is the other move that cuts easyJet and Ryanair fares by £40-£80 each way.