Do you think people ‘look down’ on UK holidays?

[Helmlover]

Just a thought I was having today.

My partner and I have booked a UK cottage holiday in August for us and his kids which has not worked out much cheaper than a holiday abroad. However when his kids discussed it with their mum her reaction was ‘oh can’t they (my partner and I) afford to take you away anywhere nice this year?’.

To be honest, we could afford to go abroad if we wanted to but just fancied a UK holiday this year.

Do people really look down on UK holidays and assume that people who holiday in this country must be too poor to travel overseas? Sorry if this sounds silly but her reaction has made me feel slightly paranoid.

@CottonSock Soho farmhouse starts at £275, it's only seen as cool because of lots of clever marketing which has meant a long waiting list.
Far better places just a few miles down the road.

Entry prices for two NT places near me:

Wimpole Hall - family ticket, £47.50, you may have to pay for parking too
Ickworht House - family ticket, £40.

Hardly a bargain, and fairly expensive if your kids are going to start whinging halfway through...

Entry prices for two NT places near me:

Wimpole Hall - family ticket, £47.50, you may have to pay for parking too
IckworthHouse - family ticket, £40.

Hardly a bargain, and fairly expensive if your kids are going to start whinging halfway through...

I grew up travelling the world, I knew nothing about the UK though.

I travel the Uk with my children so they know the country they live in. They can travel the world as adults when they can truly enjoy it.

We have three holidays planned for this year so far, wales, Norfolk and Devon.

As a child I couldn’t of even told you those places existed.

moments of pure joy -
Swimming with (close to anyway) dolphins and basking shark family further off - off beach I have been to hundreds of times in Cornwall.
Lying on the ground in a moorland track in Cornwall I have tramped many times on often repeated stays in complete silence on my own watching and hearing the swifts and swallows and sand martins swoop along it amongst tall foxgloves and burning sun overhead.
In small market on one of the Andaman Islands buying dodgy cd of great local singer whose music had been blaring out of small tuk tuk we were in earlier when a king cobra crossed the dirt road in front of us from one side of the jungle to another.
I don’t care what anyone else thinks of what brings me joy or whether I ‘should’ travel here or there for it to ‘count’ Nor should anyone else !
There is so much pretentious snobby nonsense about this as if one person’s idea of what is wonderful is somehow more important than another’s. We all have our own ‘joy’ and should leave each other to enjoy it surely ?

I haven't read the whole thread but my experience is in some cases (especially on MN) is that a nice holiday cottage in the country or by the beach is considered 'better' than an all inclusive package holiday abroad.

I don't really care. There's pros and cons to all holidays, different people like different weather, different types of activities, different good, different cultures, or have different financial priorities. Go wherever you and your family like and don't worry what anyone else thinks.

The thing is that if you're going to be affected by someone's judgement you need to reevaluate your own priorities. There are judgements everywhere on MN; on this thread some are saying Spain is only a beach holiday or a villa one where you don't leave. I've travelled extensively in Spain but haven't done either. Some are saying you can't experience new things/cultures if you don't leave the UK. Does it really matter what others think about your holiday choice? Surely if you enjoy it that's the main thing?

I definitely get far more smuggery from the “cottage in Cornwall” brigade than the go abroad group in real life . Somehow Cornwall is seen as the “correct” option for a middle class summer holiday

MsT My SIL holidays exclusively in Cornwall and when hearing about our plans for a Med holiday by the sea looked at my daughter pitifully and said "God ours would be so unbelievably bored just jumping in a out of a pool all day, they need far more to entertain them"! Not exactly sure how a day by the beach is so much more educational but there you go!

Mine would be bored in and out of the pool after half an hour tbh so we do archery, rock climbing, canoeing, survival courses and such stuff.

People saying abroad = beach/pool, I don't believe people are that ignorant to believe that, just being facetious.

It genuinely overwhelms me to think of all the places I want to see before I die. YouTube won't cut it. No I don't care about my fuel consumption. And yes there's lots of places in the UK I want to see but I guess I'm less worried to see those as I'm still spritely enough to not find getting to the airport 2 hours early arduous so will prioritise abroad for now, plus flights are so cheap at the moment.

Chill and the great thing is all of those activities can be done here and abroad. I was giving an example of some people's assumption that the same kind of holiday here is in some way superior. And not all kids require an itinerary of activities to be happy on holiday. Sometimes DD will -

Snorkel in the sea and spot an octopus
Spend an hour lizard hunting
Play with new holiday friends
Read or colour under sun umbrella
Have a doze on sunbed (v v v rarely )
Just a variation on things she could do in this country. That's what's great about kids, they're pretty much happy anywhere as long as every day includes ice cream!

I’ve always found to do such activities aboard involved having to stay at certain hotels and effectively signing children into kids clubs. Where as here I can just book say archery at X place Y time I don’t need to be staying at a place that does it as an activity.

The most annoying trip I ever did aboard was scuba. Over an hour on a coach then ages on a boat to actually end up back in front of the bloody hotel I was staying in that took the piss. I’d recommend horse back riding in the Dominican though the river/villages/forestry bit.

We generally go away each term/half term, either in the U.K. and abroad. I love travelling and am fortunate enough to be in a position to do so. Our U.K. holidays usually cost more than our abroad holidays.
I couldn't think of anything worse than all inclusive or laying in the sun all day - what a bore!
I think whoever it was that looked down on you holidaying in the U.K. is very narrow minded. There are so many gorgeous places in the U.K. I particularly love the Lake District and Cornwall.
Enjoy your wonderful U.K. holiday.

We went canyoning in central Spain it was incredible diving through waterfalls into deep pools - arranged it ourselves with local company internet is a wonderful thing .

Amazing how many people judge whatever they choose not to do.

At the moment our holidays are very basic as we have small children and no money and that's fine. If your idea of fun is a cottage in Cornwall then that's fine. If your idea of fun is lying by a pool in the sun that is also fine.

Imagine how busy your holiday destination of choice would be if everyone liked the same thing!!

It depends how you describe the holiday: "We're spending a couple of weeks exploring Andalucia" sounds way posher than "a fortnight all inclusive in Torremelinos" though may be exactly the same holiday. Likewise "a relaxing week just letting the kids run wild on the North Norfolk coast" sounds more upmarket than "a Haven caravan site at Cromer"

Wow the very high life! Thats ever so fortunate, your jobs must have a lot of holiday days. I would so do the same if i could!

A lot of people certainly do....so much so I started to think there was a country called 'Justwales' I had heard it referred to as such so many times!

You can play it canny with bank hols eg at Easter we're taking 4 days off but it gives us 10 days in reality with bank hols and weekends. We go on hol most months but we take 1 x 2 week holiday, 3 x 1 week holiday rest is bank hols and weekends. We can buy e tra time off at work

Yes. I've not found it especially overt, but there's at the very least less interest in someone else's British holiday, especially compared to long-haul destinations.

But whatever. I'll keep on going to Blackpool and Llandudno.

Wales is a lovely place to explore and get lost in.

It depends on the group of people. Your typical middle class types happily holiday in Cornwall, Salcombe, north Norfolk coast and Scotland. You would never find them at a plastic fantastic AI in Cancun.