Going on Holiday in the UK - WHY?
Discussion
av185 said:
Leptons said:
What are your plans when it rains or there’s a perpetual sea mist for 4 days solid (like last time we went to Devon)?
Try Yorkshire.Devon fails to even make the top ten of sunniest UK places over the last 30 years. No wonder many on here invariably post the weather is crap.
In fact the East Riding of Yorkshire is on average sunnier than Devon and Bridlington is sunnier than Torquay.
As we all know Yorkshire also offers far better beer and pubs at reasonable prices better scenery friendly welcome and driving roads too.
andyA700 said:
The point made by Boxster is actually very valid, particularly when it comes to Greggs. There are many towns and villages in the UK which only have a Greggs style bakers shop, whereas in France, Germany, Belgium, Austria etc., you can generally find good patisserie everywhere. McDonalds are pretty much worldwide, so that is not a good example. If I want decent bread, then I have to bake it myself, in France I wouldn't have to do that.
I understand where he was coming from but most villages do not have a Greggs, they trade on volume and are focused around towns. Bakeries exist across the U.K. and in fairness most British supermarkets have a reasonable bakery offering if you can’t find one. We also don’t consume pastries etc as part of our regular diet particularly for breakfast so it’s not really a worthwhile comparison. I bet I can’t get a decent fry up in many French villages. I suspect his choice of Greggs was intentional so as to highlight the British love of crap fast food and imply that France was somehow much better on that front, McDonalds is the perfect example of how that’s simply not true.Castrol for a knave said:
Horses for course though, and it is not binary. It is possible to do both
I've done lots of walking, biking and climbing around the world, but I still think the Helvellyn horseshoe, up Striding, down along Swirral, onto Catstye Cam and back to Patterdale for beer and medals, in October (or a full winter day), is stunning. That's just a popular walk, there are loads where you wont see a soul, that's before you even look at Scotland.
Or Wales... Tryfan Bristley Ridge Glyders and Y Cribin also spectacular.I've done lots of walking, biking and climbing around the world, but I still think the Helvellyn horseshoe, up Striding, down along Swirral, onto Catstye Cam and back to Patterdale for beer and medals, in October (or a full winter day), is stunning. That's just a popular walk, there are loads where you wont see a soul, that's before you even look at Scotland.
Prefer walking in better weather these days and the Lakes is hard to beat. Spend perhaps 25% of our time in the Lakes or Snowdonia and you have as much chance of great weather in November or March rather v summer and of course it is much quieter then too.
Of the past 5 Decembers we have spent in Cumbria 3 have been great weather the vast majority of the time.
simons123 said:
I liked Whitby the first time I went but second time I went about 2 years ago it was absolutely packed full of chavs, the restaurant choices is extremely limited, hard to park and the accomodation choice are woeful. Couldn't spend more then 2 days there before getting bored......went to Robins Hood Bay for the day...well we thought it would be a day but it actually turned into 10 minutes as there is sod all there and the 2 pubs were too packed..... Scarborough is an absolute dump although I do love the park (japanese gardens there).
Try the beautiful Yorkshire Dales.av185 said:
Castrol for a knave said:
Horses for course though, and it is not binary. It is possible to do both
I've done lots of walking, biking and climbing around the world, but I still think the Helvellyn horseshoe, up Striding, down along Swirral, onto Catstye Cam and back to Patterdale for beer and medals, in October (or a full winter day), is stunning. That's just a popular walk, there are loads where you wont see a soul, that's before you even look at Scotland.
Or Wales... Tryfan Bristley Ridge Glyders and Y Cribin also spectacular.I've done lots of walking, biking and climbing around the world, but I still think the Helvellyn horseshoe, up Striding, down along Swirral, onto Catstye Cam and back to Patterdale for beer and medals, in October (or a full winter day), is stunning. That's just a popular walk, there are loads where you wont see a soul, that's before you even look at Scotland.
Prefer walking in better weather these days and the Lakes is hard to beat. Spend perhaps 25% of our time in the Lakes or Snowdonia and you have as much chance of great weather in November or March rather v summer and of course it is much quieter then too.
Of the past 5 Decembers we have spent in Cumbria 3 have been great weather the vast majority of the time.
blueg33 said:
popeyewhite said:
There's a difference between a walking holiday and sun holiday obvs. You simply can't do the latter in the UK. For walking, yes, the UK is pretty good. For the other it's a dead loss.
You can do a sun holiday in the UK. But its a gambleSurely you don't think the weather here is ever comparable to, say, Malta, do you?
"Gamble"
As a youth i lived in south Devon, and if there was no surf on the south coast id scoot up to North Devon and stay up there as long as there were waves. Rarely had any time left for foreign travel. Devon is gorgeous. Ive been to some fairytale parts of the world, but being part of the furniture in Devon takes some beating.
okgo said:
And you can do far superior walking holidays abroad.
Walking in the Alps was FAR better than the lakes.
It isn’t binary as you all say, but there’s very few things I’ve found the U.K. to be ‘the best’ for.
Subjective. Walking in the Alps was FAR better than the lakes.
It isn’t binary as you all say, but there’s very few things I’ve found the U.K. to be ‘the best’ for.
Depends what you want.
Done plenty of skiing across most of Europe and the Alps in particular clearly beats UK skiing no question.
UK walking/hiking /scrambling Scotland Cumbria and Wales up there with the best.
I can do short breaks. Just done 4 days at a Lodge not far from dundee. Dog was allowed, huge hot tub, pool table, own sauna etc. Weather was OK, good enough to hill walk with the dog, brought him to eat out at a few dog friendly places. Done the unlimited wings challenge at brewdog. Managed 40 and was still hungry but it had taken 2 hours by that point so left to get a nice milkshake and ice cream.
Anyway, my point is that it's very enjoyable. It's about mindset. Sure your never gonna sun bathe. However if you plan it can be good either way.
I'd prefer abroad but it cost me £200 as a late booking so worth it.
Anyway, my point is that it's very enjoyable. It's about mindset. Sure your never gonna sun bathe. However if you plan it can be good either way.
I'd prefer abroad but it cost me £200 as a late booking so worth it.
There's a lot of very mundane walking in the Alps.For the past 10 years or so I've organised a small UK group holiday with friends to offset our big foreign trips and well, by this point either people are enjoying it or I've given a bunch of people I know Stockholm Syndrome about hiring a big cottage in the middle of nowhere for a week.
I think you have to be content that it's not going to be Instagrammable and showoffable in the way the view from halfway down a deserted black run or a millpond-calm turquoise sea stretching into the distance is, indeed almost all of my photos from these trips are a bingo card drawn from:
- Bleak, windswept countryside from the middle of a hike
- Someone standing on a trig point
- Preserved steam railway, tramway or vintage bus route
- Someone having recently fallen off a mountain bike
- Some sort of local museum
- A disused engine block or piece of industrial machinery inexplicably located halfway up a remote hill miles from the nearest road
- Mid-session in An Incredibly Complicated Board Game
And that's it really, you have to be the kind of person who's happy pottering about while wearing a lot of waterproof clothing, and not really bothered about what society has deemed "boring" as long as you personally find it interesting. It's a tapestry of weird architectural follies, niche craft workshops, old castles, sailing ships, classic car shows, model railway exhibitions and a million other things you can happily lose yourself in for a day before finding, inevitably, a convivial pub.
It's definitely not for everybody, in much the same way as if I had to lie on a sunny beach for a day I'd go spare from lack of Doing Something.
I think you have to be content that it's not going to be Instagrammable and showoffable in the way the view from halfway down a deserted black run or a millpond-calm turquoise sea stretching into the distance is, indeed almost all of my photos from these trips are a bingo card drawn from:
- Bleak, windswept countryside from the middle of a hike
- Someone standing on a trig point
- Preserved steam railway, tramway or vintage bus route
- Someone having recently fallen off a mountain bike
- Some sort of local museum
- A disused engine block or piece of industrial machinery inexplicably located halfway up a remote hill miles from the nearest road
- Mid-session in An Incredibly Complicated Board Game
And that's it really, you have to be the kind of person who's happy pottering about while wearing a lot of waterproof clothing, and not really bothered about what society has deemed "boring" as long as you personally find it interesting. It's a tapestry of weird architectural follies, niche craft workshops, old castles, sailing ships, classic car shows, model railway exhibitions and a million other things you can happily lose yourself in for a day before finding, inevitably, a convivial pub.
It's definitely not for everybody, in much the same way as if I had to lie on a sunny beach for a day I'd go spare from lack of Doing Something.
popeyewhite said:
blueg33 said:
popeyewhite said:
There's a difference between a walking holiday and sun holiday obvs. You simply can't do the latter in the UK. For walking, yes, the UK is pretty good. For the other it's a dead loss.
You can do a sun holiday in the UK. But its a gambleSurely you don't think the weather here is ever comparable to, say, Malta, do you?
"Gamble"
But I have had cold rainy weather in Spain, Crete, South of France, Madeira, Australia New Zealand. I have had hot sunny days in many parts of the UK.
It's a gamble because UK weather is oceanic and is therefore more variable and less predictable and obviously average temperature is lower in the summer, some people prefer that.
blueg33 said:
Olivera said:
A week in a cottage or even caravan can easily be £1k+, more than your own villa with a pool in Cyprus.
Simply not true. Plus you have to factor in cost and time of getting there etc.Example - in September we are going to Corfu. 1 week in a 3 bed villa with a pool, plus a hire car. Total cost of holiday is just under £3k, travel time each way in total is about 8 hours
In September you can rent our 3 bed cottage by the sea in north Devon for £1100, admittedly no pool, and a different type of holiday, but nearly £2k cheaper than Corfu.
Olivera said:
blueg33 said:
Olivera said:
A week in a cottage or even caravan can easily be £1k+, more than your own villa with a pool in Cyprus.
Simply not true. Plus you have to factor in cost and time of getting there etc.Example - in September we are going to Corfu. 1 week in a 3 bed villa with a pool, plus a hire car. Total cost of holiday is just under £3k, travel time each way in total is about 8 hours
In September you can rent our 3 bed cottage by the sea in north Devon for £1100, admittedly no pool, and a different type of holiday, but nearly £2k cheaper than Corfu.
IMO its disingenuous to quote just accommodation costs. I can rent a place in Indonesia for £50 per week therefore I wouldn't go to Cyprus as the accommodation is much more expensive.
djc206 said:
andyA700 said:
The point made by Boxster is actually very valid, particularly when it comes to Greggs. There are many towns and villages in the UK which only have a Greggs style bakers shop, whereas in France, Germany, Belgium, Austria etc., you can generally find good patisserie everywhere. McDonalds are pretty much worldwide, so that is not a good example. If I want decent bread, then I have to bake it myself, in France I wouldn't have to do that.
I understand where he was coming from but most villages do not have a Greggs, they trade on volume and are focused around towns. Bakeries exist across the U.K. and in fairness most British supermarkets have a reasonable bakery offering if you can’t find one. We also don’t consume pastries etc as part of our regular diet particularly for breakfast so it’s not really a worthwhile comparison. I bet I can’t get a decent fry up in many French villages. I suspect his choice of Greggs was intentional so as to highlight the British love of crap fast food and imply that France was somehow much better on that front, McDonalds is the perfect example of how that’s simply not true.So the only decent bakery is within M&S (about 4 mile away). Sainsbury’s is on the same retail park but their bakery is awful - the patisserie offering is an embarrassment to the point you think why bother.
And yes you can’t knock a Greggs breakfast bacon roll especially at the price they are (I even have the Greggs App) - doesn’t mean I love them, as the choice is really limited and quality is debatable.
They’re a godsend in motorway services or Newcastle Airport where you’re not ripped off with crap food at premium prices.
Also if I’m out on site and I need lunch and don’t want to pay for parking then there’s little choice.
I wouldn’t even entertain McDonalds.
Boxster5 said:
djc206 said:
andyA700 said:
The point made by Boxster is actually very valid, particularly when it comes to Greggs. There are many towns and villages in the UK which only have a Greggs style bakers shop, whereas in France, Germany, Belgium, Austria etc., you can generally find good patisserie everywhere. McDonalds are pretty much worldwide, so that is not a good example. If I want decent bread, then I have to bake it myself, in France I wouldn't have to do that.
I understand where he was coming from but most villages do not have a Greggs, they trade on volume and are focused around towns. Bakeries exist across the U.K. and in fairness most British supermarkets have a reasonable bakery offering if you can’t find one. We also don’t consume pastries etc as part of our regular diet particularly for breakfast so it’s not really a worthwhile comparison. I bet I can’t get a decent fry up in many French villages. I suspect his choice of Greggs was intentional so as to highlight the British love of crap fast food and imply that France was somehow much better on that front, McDonalds is the perfect example of how that’s simply not true.So the only decent bakery is within M&S (about 4 mile away). Sainsbury’s is on the same retail park but their bakery is awful - the patisserie offering is an embarrassment to the point you think why bother.
And yes you can’t knock a Greggs breakfast bacon roll especially at the price they are (I even have the Greggs App) - doesn’t mean I love them, as the choice is really limited and quality is debatable.
They’re a godsend in motorway services or Newcastle Airport where you’re not ripped off with crap food at premium prices.
Also if I’m out on site and I need lunch and don’t want to pay for parking then there’s little choice.
I wouldn’t even entertain McDonalds.
I can point you to restaurants in Devon that would match or beat any decent French restaurant and cost you no more and in many cases less.
Oh, and the French are rubbish at fish and chips
okgo said:
blueg33 said:
You can do a sun holiday in the UK. But its a gamble
And you can do far superior walking holidays abroad. Walking in the Alps was FAR better than the lakes.
It isn’t binary as you all say, but there’s very few things I’ve found the U.K. to be ‘the best’ for.
Whereas, on top of the Ben or Bidean, on clear winter days, looking across to snow on the Cuillin or at a cloud inversion, with peaks jutting out, has been incredible
and if you have never traipsed around a British seaside resort, in a cagoule, with meat paste butties and a can of dandelion and burdock in your rucsac, you haven't lived.
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