Full Board Holidays

Not usually. Full board covers breakfast, lunch and dinner, but drinks beyond water and juice at breakfast are typically charged separately. Some hotels include soft drinks or house wine with meals as part of their full-board package, but this varies, so check the specific hotel details before you book. If you want drinks included throughout the day, all-inclusive is the way to go.

No. Full board covers your three meals a day but not drinks or snacks between meals. All inclusive covers meals, drinks (alcoholic and soft), snacks and often ice cream and entertainment too. Full board tends to be cheaper because you're paying for less, and it suits people who don't drink much during the day or prefer to buy their own drinks at local bars.

It depends on how you eat. If you're likely to be out exploring at lunchtime and happy to grab a sandwich or eat at a local restaurant, half board saves you money because you're only paying for breakfast and dinner. If you'd rather have lunch at the hotel (especially handy with kids who need feeding at regular intervals), full board removes the guesswork and usually works out cheaper than buying lunch separately every day.

Breakfast, lunch and dinner. All three meals are included in the price of your stay. Most full-board hotels serve buffet-style meals in the main restaurant, often with international and local dishes, show cooking, and themed evenings. The exact meal times vary by hotel but breakfast typically runs 7:30 to 10:00, lunch 12:30 to 14:30, and dinner 19:00 to 21:30.

Tenerife and Crete both have excellent full-board hotel scenes, with strong food quality and good value across a range of budgets. Turkey is arguably the best-value destination for full-board holidays, with hotels along the Antalya coast offering generous meal programmes at competitive prices. For mainland Spain, the Costa Brava has several well-known full-board chains popular with families from the UK and Ireland.