Help please lovely MNetters - 5 live are interested to know your thoughts on family holidaying in the UK?

center parcs is ridiculous! One week in August is £1300 give otr take a few pennies. That's £200 more than the gorgeous place in France we took a fancy to.

I guess so - it's absolutely not the same price for us to have a UK holiday as it is to go abroad. Oh that it was!

We are off to Cornwall for 2 weeks this summer, to a fab 5* cottage by the sea, for the same as it would cost to do our usual camping in France and we're v relieved not to be going abroad tbh, for now at least, until it rains all summer

WE quite often get a cottage in St Ives, out of season, and take kids out of school for a week. That costs us about £400 (but it's a lovely cottage).

Last year we went to Center Parcs in NE France. Even with the cost of the ferry over it was about half the cost of the same week at center Parcs in the UK. Weather was (marginally) better too and the kids had the excitement of trying to speak French. It was the first time we'd taken the kids abroad.

This year we're completely broke and will be doing a Sun holiday weekend and hopefully borrowing a friend's caravan in Padstow for a week in the summer.

THere are lots of lovely places to see in the uk but it actually works out to be as much, if not more expensive than holidaying in the Med. Particularly if you have to take holidays within school breaks.
Then you have the whole "shall I take my children out of school for a week so we can have a cheap(er) holiday this year" dilemma.

TBH Paolosgirl, I think if you are lucky enough to have Non-English standard hols you're on a winner: private schools etc can get fab deals if they have slightly less than standard holiday dates but if you're stuck with the usual last 2 weeks in july / August you're going to feel the pain.

We get different half terms etc to other people in this part of Wales (well our slightly odd school does anyhow) but summer is set as usual.

Went to the Lake District for first week of October last year with parents and one year old dd after many years of holidaying abroad, had the worst time of my life! Bucketed down with rain most of the time, nothing to do indoors for small children, thought husband was going to slaughter parents... he went off walking by himself in the rain and caught the worst case of man-flu ever.

Despite all this parents have invited us to Wales this year, trying to figure out how to avoid a family fall-out!

Are all of you who are complaining about the price of UK holidays from the south of England?

We're going down to Devon this year, although most of our holidays are in the UK. 2 weeks in a caravan in a lovely little holiday park in a rural location - £500 for 2 weeks at the end of June/beg. of July, after the Scottish schools break.

2 weeks abroad in a decent location flying from Scottish airports would be easily 4 times that amount for the 5 of us, and quite frankly, the thought of airports/transfers etc with 2 kids and a toddler makes me shudder.

Plus - I can be smug about not banking air miles AND supporting UK industry.

We always have a week in the UK because we think it is important for our children to learn a bit about where they live.

But we are in a position to be able to afford it. The cost of staying in this country and going to places of interest etc is criminal and it's not surprising that many people do go abroad on cheap deals.

A week in Wales last August in a self catering cottage cost £1000. Add to that day trips which leave you with little change from £50 for a family of 4 to get in to somewhere (even if you do take a picnic to avoid expensive cafes etc). We probably spent an additional £500.

I would like to bet you could get a week in Spain for that, and when the weather is good you do not need to spend money going to attractions - the beach / pool is enough!

We bought a Biiiig tent last year, and plan on using it repeatedly until the children are much older (will have 3 under 4 by July).

Went to Scotland last year with the (very) extended family which was great with minimal xtra cost -tent pitch and petrol. Food was pretty much the usual, and camping gear begged, borrwed etc.

May venture in the car to south of France (with airmiles) in the tent when children older as I do miss the foreign-ness of it all!

There is so much more to factor in than just cost when traveling with children,

Great - I am so glad you aren't going to be doing just a credit-crunch-topical angle on this, as there are such bigger, pervasive, not-just-this-year issues around choosing-Britain vs. choosing-elsewhere for holidays.

One thing I'd absolutely want to feed into VisitBritain is about tourist information: because of the weather thing, when we're doing a UK holiday I like to have tons of info (activities, sights, events) on hand so that, whatever the weather does, we've got an option that suits.

We go to Cornwall most years, and despite long practice in the collection and sifting of websites and handouts and pamphlets (for a county which is meant to lead the tourist trade, too), I still find there isn't one efficiently-navigable comprehensive source.

And I deeply lament the no-longer-published 1000 Days Out book, which used to live in our car. Bring It Back!

We often holiday in the UK anyway as I can't bear the thought of flying with the DDs and we're not really sun-worshippers anyway.

There's loads to do around the UK, self-catering cottages are pretty good value and a practical option for young families, and something like a National Trust membership can be really good value.

Always best not to count on the weather in any case - one of my most miserable holidays ever was to Turkey in May when it was freeeezing and of course we hadn't packed any warm clothes! At least in the UK you are prepared for rain and have all the right gear, and if it's really awful you can pack up and come home easily. I can't imagine cramming everything the 4 of use need for a fortnight into an airline baggage allowance!

We've holidayed in the UK for several years as we can take the dog with us. Since neither of us like beach holidays or lazing by the pool the weather doesn't bother us - you can always find some to go and something to do.
We usually go in Sept/Oct and our hols cost us about £300 maximum, plus spends as we go to the smaller holiday parks and try to bok direct or early when there are good deals

Hi Jane, sadly I think the one thing that would make me stay in the UK more would be better and more reliable weather. I don't think anyone's going to be able to fix that though!

I agree ruby, so I'm disappointed we probably can't afford to go abroad this year. At least, we could go to somewhere like the north part of France (if we drove, used channel tunnel etc), but last two times we have been there the weather hasn't been good either.

Ds (aged 8) will probably enjoy a UK holiday, but will be disappointed if the weather is bad, as he would like to spend a lot of time on the beach.

for me half of the allure is getting away from the Newspaper, the same old supermarkets, the tv.

SO NO NO NO to UK

We will probably go to the UK this year. We have gone abroad the last few years (didn't do it when ds very young, as too much hassle, but ok once he was 3), but this year think that the weak pound, plus the fact that dh is not so certain of getting a bonus at work, mean it would be a bit of a luxury.

I like going to the UK in terms of places to visit, but agree with others that eating out can be expensive, and also not always very good quality, and the weather may be absolute rubbish (you never know, that'ds the problem).

I will miss not going anywhere warm, although dh doesn't mind, as he's Scottish and thinks anything above about 22 degrees is too hot!

We have given up flying, and I dislike hot weather. UK is very expensive at the moment - for the last few years we have not really holidayed at all except when kind grandparents have paid for the accommodation.

We do find that the less we travel, the more hyperventilatingly exciting we find it - we are off for an overnight trip to London in February, staying in a Travelodge, going to do free museums and exciting stuff, and we are all on tenterhooks waiting for it!

When i was younger and equally broke, I went on British Trust for Conservation Volunteers working holidays. I would much rather learn or do something on holiday, preferably in the fresh air, rather than boil alive on some beach. Which makes the UK pretty good for me. I do worry I am limiting ds's experiences though - with any luck he will make his own way when he is older and will always find it exciting.

I had booked to go abroad this year (two weeks school summer hols to majorca), but children have moaned so much that they want to go back to Cornwall that i have cancelled it!

We rent a cottage, and they just love to surf, rock climb, skim board and go rock climbing. The weather is never ever a problem. If it's dull we just walk along the coast etc! It's so beautiful too. I couldn't ever get sick of it!

We are still on the beach if its cool - wet suits keep the chill out as they play, parents wear fleeces!

We also love to go camping - with another family, and the fun we/they have is unbeatable!

We always take a ski holiday (and obviouslyy Scotland just does not hit the mark ... sorry ) this year to save costs and avoid airport hassles with 3 kids we are driving. A long way its true, but with a DVD or two and a stop every few hours its more than manageable. This year with the pound being so bad I am planning on taking as much food as possible in the roof box to avoid too much expense in the chalet.

The rest of the year, I know we are very fortunate as we have a second home we use for most of the school holidays.

Yes, it might rain, but we have books, scrabble and NO TV ! Its perfect !

We always stay in the UK, plane travel is a no-no anyhow (with 2 autistic kids? You'd have to be very, insane brave!) but we like it anyway.

This year we had hioped to go to France; that has been written off- partly because there's no such thing as a safe job now, and we don't want to miss out on a holiday becuase we left it too late; the site we have chosen for our trip in the UK is a popular one and already almost full.

So glad we took the decision- sun wuld have been nice I guess but we can do without I suppose. Better guranteed holiday for £600 than no holiday for £1200 which were the costings we had (based on 6 people 'posh' camping for a fortnight in the school hols).

We usually holiday in the UK for our second holiday. This is usually a camping holiday(although we havent for the past couple of yrs due to the weather getting worse and worse).
Our main holiday is always abroad. We tend o have either a fortnight abroad in Aug or a wk May ish and a wk Aug.There is no competition as far as im concerned, The Uk is lovely and i love visiting new places, but the weather nearly always lets you down. You then have to spend a fortune finding activities to do. Abroad is so much cheaper. You dont need to spend anything in the day when you have lovely weather and a beach/pool.

Eating out is amillion times better too, cheaper and more child friendly. And what is better than being able to sit outside and have a drink late at night and still be in your summer clothes?Never happens here.

I love experiencing new cultures too and its a totally different experience.

We do have some fab times in Britain though too and caravans are so cosy. No way would i pay a grand for a caravan though!

This yr we are doing a Sun hol. Nothing booked abroad yet as im trying for a baby but if no joy by the summer then i will be booking up!!

I've been saving up for two years to take my dts on holiday. After last summer there is no way I would risk a holiday in the UK. I would bet that it will still be cheaper to go abroad for a holiday than go anywhere in the UK.

Plus during the summer holidays we go on lots of days out around Scotland so they get to see their own country.