UK holiday wishlist during covid?

[ColouringPencils]

Just looking at holiday cottages and realise my requirements (and wishlist) are quite different to normal. What does your dream holiday during covid look like?

I am thinking:

• a garden is more important than ever (we don't have one)
• no need to be near lovely restaurants, galleries, theatres or other entertainment I can't access
• don't want to pay for amenities like swimming pool that I can't use (a private pool would be amazing, but way out of my budget)
• those cute higgeldy-piggeldy streets in many seaside towns are looking less attractive (no chance of social distancing)
• I don't like to drive all the time, but I will need shops etc in walking distance as I don't want to use public transport
• I would usually want to be walking distance to a pub, but now I don't care so much about the inside, just that it has a beer garden!

Forgot about the most important part - cancellation policy

I don't want to check in at 7pm. That's it. I don't want to have to lose a day and/or spend it stuck in traffic because we left in order to arrive at 7pm with hyped up kids who've slept all the way. I don't want to leave early as usual to spend the day on the beach or mooching around when there's no toilets open.

And I want to know exactly what's left in the kitchen to cook with.

My requirements are that I can somehow get there without a car, when we're still being told that public transport is for essential journeys only. Still no idea how they're expecting this to work for millions of us.

I don't think our requirements have changed much, we'd always look for one with a garden or other outdoor space, near a pub with a beer garden, parking as we drive. I don't mind a late check-in, DCs are teens now but even when they were younger they were pretty good at coping with a later bedtime on holiday. So long as the owner provides a detailed list of what is and isn't going to be provided we can sort the rest.

Yes the 7pm check-in seems to be a thing now. I think we may have to suck it up for this year if we want a holiday.

@tectonicplates I learned to drive fairly recently and totally sympathise. We have taken many holidays by public transport and I agree it is an issue. Even though I drive I don't feel comfortable going more than an hour's journey. I suppose without a car I would be tempted to go somewhere that is pretty near, but you also want to be far enough away that it is worth the cost of holiday accommodation, which isn't cheap in the UK!

@Expletivedelighted I think I would generally want those things too, but now they seem far more important. Whereas lots of the other things I would usually look for (bustling, characterful town; swimming pool) have changed completely.

None of the cottages I have found have mentioned whether the pub has a beer garden, but I expect this will be on listings in the future!

I'd probably still want a characterful town, might wander round in the evenings more instead of daytime but I would go into small shops, I'm sure they will all have put a lot of effort into social distancing measures, and the businesses desperately need the custom to survive.