Please give me your UK break ideas

[antisupermum]

Hi all,

Well, our trip to Italy for next week has been cancelled. We are getting a full refund and are going to book 2 or 3 nights away somewhere in the UK. I have been searching online and am quite overwhelmed with the choice available to us. We are located in the West of Scotland so have considered going to Skye or the Highlands. Other places in contention are Lake District and Dublin or Belfast.

I'm wondering if anyone knows of any hidden gem locations. Nice place to visit with decent bars/restaurants. Doesnt have to be a vibrant city, we are equally content with small villages or obscure areas as long as we can get some tasty grub and a pint. Open to hotels and also self catering pods/cabins etc.
Budget for the 2 or 3 nights accommodation is around £400-£500 total.

We would prefer somewhere that might have some sights to see, places of interest. We have all this spending money saved up for Italy and nowhere to spend it at the moment

The cotswolds is very nice. Lots of good pubs and things to do

@DarlingCoffee Cotswolds is indeed lovely, I've been there before. Certainly one to keep in mind. Plenty places of interest to visit around there too if I remember correctly.

I wouldn't say the lake district or cotswolds are particularly "hidden". I personally thought the cotswolds was quite dull. Nice villages but not very interesting scenery.

North York Moors are lovely - nice scenery, beaches, villages, walks, Dalby Forest. steam trains etc

Forest of Dean is beautiful. Lots of gorgeous scenery and walks, plenty of pubs along the way!! Supposed to be nice weather aswell next week 😁

For 2-3 nights I wouldn't trek all the way from the West of Scotland to visit the Cotswolds or Forest of Dean - they're nice, I know them quite well, but there's lots of much better places closer to you. I think your initial ideas are better, OP - maybe also consider the western isles, in particular North Uist and Harris. Fabulous scenery, wildlife and seafood, although maybe it's a bit early in the year (we went last year at the end of April/start of May)

If you want to go as far as England then Northumbria has lots of good stuff - castles etc.

Saltburn by the sea? Not entirely sure about bars etc but a lovely location.

I fancy all the Titanic stuff in Belfast. Looks very interesting.

Saltburn is lovely and there are several pubs/cafe near the sea front. Rushpool Hall is a lovely hotel.
Northumberland is stunning and lots of choice of things to do.

Mull for the wildlife?
Or, just to get away from it all in beautiful surroundings, the Glenuig Inn glenuig.com/

@ErrolTheDragon I understand your point about the distance; its a very realistic thing for me to consider.
Certainly Dublin or Belfast would likely be flights. I reckon driving to Yorkshire area would be achievable without much drama, particularly as we tend to just take it cool and stop of as and when we please. However, the Cotswolds may indeed be a bit of a trek and eat into a lot of our child-free alone time!

Its nice to see everyone's suggestions. We travel around the UK fairly often so its good to get recommendations; even if we don't make it there this time I am always happy to start a "Want to Visit" list!

What about York?

joiners-arms.com/

Northumberland! Alnwick Castle and Gardens. Bamburgh castle and beach. Lovely walks and pubs.

@BlueChampagne Thank you! I looked up the Glenuig Inn and it really does look right up our street. I've sent them an enquiry about availability. Fingers crossed!

I have very little luck when it comes to holidays. I booked our trip to Turkey last year and Thomas Cook went bust so that went wrong. I booked Rome and we all know whats happening there! I booked a replacement trip to Inverness and the hotel contacted me yesterday to say that the hotel refurbishments are behind schedule and they had to cancel us. Argh!

Doesn't help that when I ask my boyfriend what he wants to do he just answers "I don't mind where we go, we always have a great time" - Sweet, aye, but very unhelpful

@l8toys I've always really fancied York, would love to explore the Shambles etc. However, my boyfriend just finished 3 weeks of working there and when I suggested it I reckon he was thinking "I'm just back from the place" Its on my new "Want to Visit" list haha.

I love the Lake District. Particularly as a couple as there are tons of gorgeous spas. Great food. Small walks around lakes, scenic drives.

Mull for the wildlife?

Fantastic - again possibly better a little later and worth more than 2-3 days? ('Wildlife safari' type of thing to find the right place for eagles, otters etc etc) , Whale watching with Sealife Surveys, boat to lungha for the puffins ....)

We stayed here two years running (teenage DD wanted a return trip!) www.thebellachroy.co.uk

I love the lakes and go several times a year. Dublin is a fantastic place if you’ve never been, lots of fun. Complete opposites though, Dublin is lively and the lakes are quiet, scenic, relaxing.

The Quiet Site in the lake district is really lovely, very close to Ullswater.

For a short break I would suggest the Hebrides if you haven't already been? Barra is beautiful.

www.northstarclub.co.uk

This place is fab in Yorkshire, look at the local restaurants/pubs! Lots of info on their website.