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

We usually have a holiday abroad and then one in the UK but we have ditched the abroad holiday this year and will be having three separate weeks in the UK - one in Cornwall, one in Devon and one in North Wales

We've gone for cottage accommodation on "complexes" that have something to do when if the whether is bad (indoor pool. indoor play area etc.) but we're taking all manner of clothing so that we can make it to the beach with the dc's - even if they're in raincoats and jumpers

As a child, I never left the UK and had some fantastic holidays. I think we'll miss the holiday abroad much more than the dc's will

i am a fussy holidayer, i can't justify thousands of pounds on a holiday even with both dh and i earning good wages, with teenagers and no free child places and a family of 5 meaning a suppliment for 6, it works out at thousands for a week. and higher unless i take them out of school.

i would rather pay it of the mortgage and quite frankly don't understand anyone who does it.

We have always holidayed abroad in france eurocamp type holidays. only with Venue or keycamp. i pay for the tent and the car - not the person. on average we pay 600 pounds for a family of five for a week ( i would say cheaper sometimes)

to get the same type of holiday in the uk - is more expensive....its bizarre!

i live by the sea, and this year we are going to take a week off and make a concerted effort to holiday at home.

well and im risking a flaming.........

we have found the joys of butlins half board! We always holiday in UK and for £500 a year we can get 4 nights half board at butlins in may for 2adults and 2 kids and 7 nights in a caravan in wales in July for 2 adults and 3 kids.

We have never considered a holiday abroad mainly because the cost of us all getting passports would be more than the cost of the above 2 holidays!!!!!! we concentrate on finding good holiday camps that have lots of activities and nightly shows, we are happy to be away and the kids love it!

we don't fly so if abroad it has to be either drivable or a nice train journey.

but cannot afford even camping in france due to euro this year. luckily fil lives in a very nice part of dorset and my parents are muttering about renting a cottage for us all too.

We haven't been overseas since the Dses were born. This is due in part to my fear of plane and water.
We ahve done holiday cottages in teh UK, Scotland, Yorkshire and Devon. Although the weather hasn't always been great, there has been a lot to do. The last 2 years we ahve holidayed in Devon in a cottage. The site had facilities such as a poll included. However, we do find that a lot of the tourist attractions are very expensive,and sometimes not worth the money. The only exception to this was Paignton Zoo.Some of them offer family tickets for 2 adults and 2 children, which is great for us, but must be very expensive for single parent families or those with more than 2.
I do think the UK has a lot to offer, there is so much heritage to be seen - but again when you add up teh cost of trips to this museum, and that house then it can cost quite a bit.
Still, we are holidaying in the UK this year again!

I should also add that we had a week in a cottage in the UK after Christmas this year and had a fantastic time. Very cold, but trips to castles, museums and lots of games at home - it was lovely

We usually holiday in the UK due to several factors......

the hassle and expense of taking the DCs abroad; we are a family of five and most of the cheap deals are for families if four.

keeping our journey time as short as possible to avoid the stress of bored and whingy children

the fact that there are so many bits of this country that we would love to visit

the fact that the UK is beautiful when the sun shines so who needs foreign climes

We have always had really enjoyable holidays and tend to the outdoorsy type stuff, but there is usually something on offer to suit all needs. Like everything, it's what you make of it, and the kids would be just as happy camping in an empty field for a week as they would be at Centerparcs. This year we are having a weekend at the aforementioned CP, and then two weeks in the Norfolk Broads in the summer as our main holiday. the state of the pound vs the euro didn't factor at all in our decision. We usually go away last week in July/first week in August and so far we have had the best of the weather the summer had to offer for the last few years.

until 2007 we generally had 2 foreign holidays - a week skiing and a couple of weeks abroad.

Now I have had another baby, and the thought of taking 5 children under 10 on a plane fills me with dread. Also, we find it very difficult to find accomodation to fit us all.

Last year dh took the older children skiing for a week on a last minute deal and we went to Cornwall for our family holiday. It was our first holiday in this country. It rained the whole time, but the children had a fantastic holiday.

This year our family finances (I have just gone back after maternity leave) and the Euro mean that we won't be skiing, and we have already booked to go back to Cornwall for the summer.

For us, Cornwall isn't really a cheaper option - we don't camp! But it is easier than all the palava of an airport, and the children love it. Having said that, if it rains constantly this summer I won't be happy and may be budgeting for a holiday abroad next year!

We holiday in the UK because I'm not a great fan of the sun, DH won't fly more than 4 hours due to some sort of issue with his ears and we can't really be bothered to go to the bother with young children. We'll probably go to Cornwall again, the Lakes and south Wales.

We usually do a fair bit of National Trusting, track down a decent restaurant or two and build lots of castles on the beach.

We probably will venture outside the UK next year when DS is 3 and yet-to-born no 2 arrives. We fancy exploring Austria and Switzerland and probably won't be put off unless we're out of jobs.

We always holiday in the U.K weve travelled all over Scotland,East Anglia,Cornwall,Wales and Brighton.

We like the Haven sites,not cheap by any means but we always thoroughly enjoy our hols!!.

Our favourite place which is even a hit with our 2 teenage sons is Great Yarmouth.

I think we all enjoy that week or 2 of 'family' without the pressures.

We only holiday in the UK.
We usually go to a little caravan site in Wales, run independently, cheap and cheerful and it offers us the peace and quiet we want while being a good base for looking around the North Wales coast.
We would not change it, PIL have a holiday home in Ireland but we don't even want to go that far!
Looking at the Lake District for our next holiday.

We're going to Haven. I know the dc's will love all the facility's and we are all looking forward to the evening entertainment. Couldn't face doing airports and translating "I can't eat anything with wheat or dairy in it" into french / spanish.
Even if the weather is rubbish you can always find something to do, our 2 are very easy to entertain, when away from our flat!

Always holidayed in the UK whilst children little but now restricted to school holidays have found it cheaper to go to Europe despite fall in the Euro.

If I have to pay in euros I buy them on my fairfx card at the time I book then I know exactly how much I am paying. We take the car as it is very cheap to go by ferry from Dover plus the car gets loaded with food so we don't have to buy too much on holiday.

I can't imagine how old my kids will have to be before I take them abroad, but I expect they'll be in secondary school.

As well as the money side of things, I am trying hard to avoid all flying. So until they can cope with long long car journeys we'll be staying in Britain.

Yes we'll be holidaying in the UK. We very often holiday in Ireland, but will probably stay in the UK this year as the exchange rate will be terrible. We stay in cottages usually. Will go to Scotland and try to spot a whale!

*usual

We always tend to holiday in the UK too (mostly camping). Overseas holidays really are a rare treat for us, although we are planning on camping in France this year as well as our usually UK breaks.

We tend to do a few short breaks in the UK - mainly to Scotland and/or the Lake District.

We do go abroad every year, that will not change for the simple reason it is not so much a holiday but the only opportunity for me to see my Dad and his side of the family (I'm half Spanish). We were planning to go for about 2-3 weeks driving instead of flying but have decided to do a longer holiday in Scotland and just have a short break in Spain in the autumn.
I dread what will happen when ds goes to school, I'm firmly against taking kids out of schools for holidays once they reach year 3 (don't see it as a problem for the first couple of years), but we can't not go to Spain as I want ds to grow up knowing his Abuelo and the rest of them. Especially as my dad won't visit here - the credit crunch (would like to remind everyone we are in a GLOBAL recession, so it is not just us!) is hitting harder in Spain, plus my dad owns a small building firm so he is very hard up at the moment, as he hasn't got a lot of work on.

We're off to Dorset in June, we went to Spain when dd1 was almost 2 and I was pg with dd2, she screamed the entire way on the flight and promptly fell asleep on landing (and of course buggy was miles away with suitcases) she wasnt overkeen on heat so spent half the day in the apartment with her and in the evening was grumpy.

We went to dorset before and loved it lots to do and when we went last time we had brilliant weather so spent 4 days at the beach which cost about £5 a day in ince creams We'll take some food with us and theres a huge Asda near the site we're staying at so will go and get bacon, milk etc down there. We'll have breakfast at the caraven, if we're going to beach I'll make a picnic and we'll probably eat out half the week and bbq the other nights. It cost £240 for tghe caravan and we'll spend about £300 when we'e there but we wouldnt be able to go abroad for that and tbh we wouldnt have had a holiday this yeat but dd1 starts school in spetember so took advantage of the fact we can go in June

We do the "sun" newspaper holidays every year. We go somewhere different every year and go in the October half term so its winter and cold.
It is expensive even when supposedly subsidised by teh newspaper offers because we always upgrade...we need heating when in a static with children in October.
Days out are expensive and eating out is expensive...hence the choice of a static, we go to the supermarket each day and get something for tea in rather than eat out.

Every 4 years we save like mad (for the whole 4 years) then go to Florida for our big holiday.
When we can rent a villa that sleeps 10 people for £300 per week in Florida, why would we pay £600-700 for 5 nights in August at bloody Butlins or the like?

BUT we love England and we want our children to see as much of it as possible. Thats why we make the effort.

(Also we go with freinds and eat and drink tons and laugh allot....so tis grand!)

sorry should be admission by age not height

Not sure what we're doing, but UK holidays are expensive accommodation, food, activities all way too much when you need to pay for a family.

Why can't cafe's chuck in a tiny bit of diluted orange juice to a £5 meal? (yes piza express I'm talking to you)

If you have 2 children you frequently need 2 hotel rooms, even though for us certainly even if we booked 2 we would all be sleeping in 1!

Activities can't stand paying for my 3 yr old to go somewhere, still sleeps in the pushchair if given the chance, why do we pay for childrens admission by height even if they are too short for most of the rides

oh and the UK is always too full

(thinking about Wales actually)

3 essentials for holidaying in the UK:

wetsuit
national trust family membership
waterproof clothing and stout boots.

Oh, and a GSOH.