Going on Holiday in the UK - WHY?
Discussion
Not been on a main holiday (more than 2/3 days) in the UK for years. Off to Crete next week better weather and better and cheaper food.
Freshly cooked lunch, fruit and a litre of wine for 2 is €25.
A souvlaki and a beer €8.
€50 a night for a spacious apartment. Bus €4 for 30km.
Whilst I like the UK and will be doing more short breaks we will have 2 or 3 holidays abroad as IMO you can’t beat them.
Choice in Europe is Greece or Portugal
Freshly cooked lunch, fruit and a litre of wine for 2 is €25.
A souvlaki and a beer €8.
€50 a night for a spacious apartment. Bus €4 for 30km.
Whilst I like the UK and will be doing more short breaks we will have 2 or 3 holidays abroad as IMO you can’t beat them.
Choice in Europe is Greece or Portugal
Sticks. said:
If bathing in the sea is ow you define a good holiday that could explain the difference in opinions.
It’s just a part of what makes a holiday pleasant for me yes, but I don’t base holidays around it. We’re inland when in Provence next month. This assertion that the U.K. has things nowhere else has (beyond the obvious) is hilarious. We rented a house in Devon at the end of last month. It took over 7 hours each way to drive the 214 miles. Decent house to be fair, but expensive. It rained a lot.
Yesterday I flew into Pisa - 4pm flight, and was eating a delicious meal in Lucca at 8:30. The most expensive part of the trip is the Heathrow parking.
It's just simply not worth it.
Yesterday I flew into Pisa - 4pm flight, and was eating a delicious meal in Lucca at 8:30. The most expensive part of the trip is the Heathrow parking.
It's just simply not worth it.
ecsrobin said:
okgo said:
The water is freezing. And it’s barely 19c in Central London, it’s 17c in Bournemouth. Stop talking balls, Bill.
The one talking balls is you. Just checked the Bournemouth webcam and can confirm the see is not frozen. 
king freezing. Using the poster aboves 4 degrees difference rule I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt and say that the water is currently 16 degrees c. That’s fking unpleasant in anything other than a wetsuit.I’ll be in Turkey in circa 28 degrees water in 5 weeks time for not far off the cost of a UK holiday. I know what I’d rather be snorkelling in
okgo said:
Good for them, bathing in cold tap temp sewage not high on my half term wish list to be honest.
I think this perfectly sums up my thoughts on holidays in UK.We used to manage it when the kids were a lot younger and they could be entertained with a bucket and spade for a few hours, all the time keeping an eye out for what was buried underneath the sand they were digging. Dog crap, fag ends, broken glass to name but a few. Then get shafted for some crap bit of fish and chips before heading back to our overpriced accommodation to watch the rain settle in for the night, deciding what to do with them the following day that wouldn't cost the earth and mean sitting in traffic for hours on end.
I can't face it now.
Yes its a chore getting to the US, and its expensive, but I'd rather holiday there once a year than have 3 or 4 mini breaks anywhere here. Somewhere the sun always shines, there is always something to do, the food is nearly always beyond the standard found here, the roads aren't full of potholes and mobile speed units, etc etc. Yes it has its rather obvious drawbacks too, but on balance there's a reason we've been going for a few years now and haven't holidayed in the UK since.
Each to their own of course, it would be a very boring world (and particularly overcrowded in certain places) if we all thought the same.
okgo said:
his assertion that the U.K. has things nowhere else has (beyond the obvious) is hilarious.
Not sure that's being said. It's unique, like everywhere else. But that it has nothing to like about it/no reason to holiday here is clearly not the case either. Provence sounds good. Don't forget your sweater
Two holidays for us this year. 1 week in Cornwall in Easter, and we've got 2 weeks in Menorca in the summer holidays. They're different holidays with different purposes.
Cornwall we go in Winter/Spring, fully expecting crap weather, infact some days it's quite welcome! We stay in a nice cottage with a wood burning stove, hot tub etc, so it's quite nice to take the dogs for a beach walk in the morning in the cold/misty weather, then a dip in the hot tub, then spend the afternoon watching the rain over the ocean whilst messing around with the fire and reading a book. I enjoy cooking too, so not too fussed about hospitality, I'm quite happy to cook in the cottage.
Then Menorca is more for the kids, private villa with a pool so they can do plenty of swimming. That holiday is more swimming, sea kayaking, snorkelling etc, and you 100% need the decent weather for a break like that.
But in the UK we've visited Devon, Cornwall, Lake District & the Cotswolds, and not once has the weather ruined a break for us.
Cornwall we go in Winter/Spring, fully expecting crap weather, infact some days it's quite welcome! We stay in a nice cottage with a wood burning stove, hot tub etc, so it's quite nice to take the dogs for a beach walk in the morning in the cold/misty weather, then a dip in the hot tub, then spend the afternoon watching the rain over the ocean whilst messing around with the fire and reading a book. I enjoy cooking too, so not too fussed about hospitality, I'm quite happy to cook in the cottage.
Then Menorca is more for the kids, private villa with a pool so they can do plenty of swimming. That holiday is more swimming, sea kayaking, snorkelling etc, and you 100% need the decent weather for a break like that.
But in the UK we've visited Devon, Cornwall, Lake District & the Cotswolds, and not once has the weather ruined a break for us.
simons123 said:
ATG said:
okgo said:
simons123 said:
That's nonsense though isnt it....where can you get decent food in the UK for a reasonable price? Minimum for a pub meal now is around £17 and that's usually just reheated, frozen crap.....in Spain you could eat fresh fish or Paella for the nearly half the price you would in the UK......not to mention a beer here is around £5-6 a pint....in Spain you would pay half that.
Exactly right. My wife and I both had a dish at a place the other week in Southern Spain, beachside, turbot and prawns with potatoes etc it was £18 each.
You’d do amazingly to find turbot here for anywhere near that. And as you say, a beer was half that of the UK.
Antony Moxey said:
Probably just sit in the cottage staring at the walls because there's literally nothing to do if you can't sit on a beach all day.
Right, now chuck some Kids into the mix. Ones that want to go and build a sandcastle and swim in the sea, not dragged around a national trust place or Zoo like they do for the rest of the year.So options are;
1) Sit in cottage staring at walls
2) Sit in pub
3) Soft play centre.
Listen, we get that own multiple holiday homes but you can’t keep telling us that Black is White.
Edited by Leptons on Wednesday 29th May 15:07
Sticks. said:
blueg33 said:
Not enough of these are booking cottages at the moment.
Our bookings in AONB in North Devon are well down and my wife works for a large holiday cottage company and they see bookings are down across the board.
It's weird this year. Mine's been all but full since it finally got going in April. But of that, one short break rather than the usual 50% and not much booking ahead. (Sussex).Our bookings in AONB in North Devon are well down and my wife works for a large holiday cottage company and they see bookings are down across the board.
Re the OP, there are as many reasons to holiday in the UK as there are types of holiday - rural retreat, remote islands, city breaks, history tours, old towns, seaside, walking etc etc.
Food's pretty good local to me but I wouldn't say cheap.
The branded operators, mostly lodge and caravan are doing ok but across all, one thing is apparent, bookings are much later - people are running their booking closer to the dates they want. This is probably a case of booking when they can afford it.
As to holiday in the UK. It just takes a bit of imagination. If what you really want is a pool someone to cook your meals and make your bed, then it's no wonder Centerparcs is such a success. If you want to find a quirky cottage, explore somewhere you don't know, put your waterproof kit on, sod it if the kids get wet - it'll be the making of them, then it's a brilliant place.
You could start here. Take your kids to an old watermill or lighthouse, a cottage on Lundy, or you could go some boring 4 star hotel on the Costas.........with paella.
https://www.landmarktrust.org.uk/
simons123 said:
I have been away in the UK you know....devon, cornwall, wales....i know how much things cost here and i know you cannot get a decent meal in UK holiday spots like Padstow or Poole for anything less then £40 a head (thats not reheated, frozen crap).
What a load of b0ll0x 
simons123 said:
You dont have to just sit on the beach though if you go abroad so dont get your point.....take cornwall for example...it's very pretty but it's a nightmare to park, it's full of people everywhere, restaurants are a complete rip-off as is the price of beer.....what exactly is there to do in cornwall other then drive to different spots of cornwall stuck in traffic, trying to find somewhere to park (sounds like hell not a holiday), there is no swimming pools to relax around, the sea water is filthy.....in padstow for example there is a limited number of restaurants, all of which are a complete ripoff. Doesnt sound much of an holiday to me.
Padstow has loads of restaurants. Some are crap yes. Some are very good to decent and not a complete rip off.the seafood, no 6, rojanos, potl/f, greens, rs cafe, petrocs, even old custom house, not to mention those across the water, and then add in all the average to crap ones and there's probably 20+ restaurants.Padstow is a tourist hell hole most if the time now though full of northerners and chavs aimlessly wandering around. To an extent twas ever thus but far worse in last 15 yrs.
Some people have swimming pools in cornwall.
Our holiday lets in Pembrokeshire get booked year round, we've got incredible driving roads, scenery, wildlife, stunning beaches, gastro pubs and restaurants, micro breweries, lots of culture. Guess it all depends on what you want from a holiday.
One of our properties backs on to a millpond and has a direct view from the terrace of one of the most impressive castles in the uk - sleeping 6 it costs just £38 per head per night in peak summer holiday season and as little as £14.50 night outside of season....
bennno said:
Our holiday lets in Pembrokeshire get booked year round, we've got incredible driving roads, scenery, wildlife, stunning beaches, gastro pubs and restaurants, micro breweries, lots of culture. Guess it all depends on what you want from a holiday.
One of our properties backs on to a millpond and has a direct view from the terrace of one of the most impressive castles in the uk - sleeping 6 it costs just £38 per head per night in peak summer holiday season and as little as £14.50 night outside of season....
He wants a pool, and paella. One of our properties backs on to a millpond and has a direct view from the terrace of one of the most impressive castles in the uk - sleeping 6 it costs just £38 per head per night in peak summer holiday season and as little as £14.50 night outside of season....
That place sounds lovely. I thought Manorbier, as it's a stunning castle.
Killboy said:
7 hours each way to drive the 214 miles.
Holy moly no wonder why you don't want to go on holiday in the U.K. Usually takes me under 5 hours to do about 280miles so assume you had to make lots of stops or travelled at the most congested times or it is just a slow terrible route?
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