UK breaks are so expensive!

[Bridecilla]

So we've sacked off the 2 weeks in Turkey and I've been looking for something here but the prices for self catering are ££££

Even camping is £££. Thought a cottage or lodge with a hot tub would be an idea but most are sold out or £1500 + for a week

Am I missing any gems to search? Ideally Yorkshire or just below - travelling from Newcastle for a week between now and mid August

I've trawled Hoseasons, Airbnb

Haven is reasonable at the best of times I usually pay less than £800 for a week ,we have just cancelled a week in Scotland due to restrictions but they were offering a 10%discount

ivfdreaming we gave up yesterday and booked Scotland. We have used coastal retreats and grace darling holidays before.

We're currently in a really nice cottage in North Norfolk for the week. HomeAway was the site and it has cost us £660 for 7 days. I don't know if we just did it at the right time - a fortnight ago - as it is now fully booked for the entire summer, but there certainly are a few left for around 800. Its 2 bed and can sleep 5.

We complain about wages here and often there is justification but ask yourself how much the staff get paid on our cheap holidays abroad. Maybe more than working in a local sweatshop but there are reasons those holidays are cheap juts like the hotels themselves, cheap labour to build and less health and safety means less costs.

You've left it very late to book OP - I think that's the problem. Most people snapped up UK SC accommodation weeks ago when Boris announced that those kind of holidays would be able to go ahead. I would check HomeAway, Booking.com, you say you've already checked Airbnb.

As to how anyone made any money off your £2500 for three people AI for two weeks last summer I'll never know! That's a ludicrously cheap deal when you consider that Turkey is what - a 4-5 hour flight away? And three people eating and drinking three meals a day for 14 days?

If you want a hot tub and a veranda, that will double the price of a luxury caravan but if you could do without, there's still some great deals between 400-800 a week at various holiday parks, the ones not by the coast are often cheaper and you can drive to the coast on one of the days. If you want top of the range in mid-August, then over £1000 seems about right to me.

Air B and B has been closed for months, and most places have not dramatically increased their prices, just put them up a bit. Not everywhere is booked either. Keep searching, I'd be amazed if you can't find something on Air B and B. Also, you can go for fewer days on Air B and B, so try 4/5 days if a whole week is too expensive.

@Oblomov20

I'm more interested in how you got your 5* AI Turkey for that price?

Via Jet2 4 days before schools broke up. Side Star Elegance. Much more expensive now I bet but daren't look in case I'm tempted to book!

@mnahmnah
If you’re near bowness/ windermere I think I know the place you mean
We stayed at the Beatrix potter hotel in Feb for 3 nights
£80 a night including fab breakfasts
Bargain
All before this Covid carry on

My favourite place in Yorkshire is the Forest holidays site in Cropton / Keldy. That said, I was looking at a long weekend and there was nothing for less than £1500, which is way more than normal so decided to stay home and spend some money in my local economy.

If you do find something there in your price range you won't go wrong in my opinion. Middle of nowhere, with ranger led activities for the kids, just wonderful peace and quiet with lots of lovely walks for all levels of fitness and ability.

Someone up thread mentioned Cottages.com. I don't recommend using them - they are impossible to communicate with. Have a look on Trustpilot at the most recent reviews - they're truly awful. Actually with any cottage company I would advise checking current online reviews, as the current situation seems to have caused a lot of poor customer service.

School summer holidays.

A lot of people have forgotten if their kids have been off since March, but the school holiday season automatically doubles the price anywhere.

Can't expect to get anything cheap given the current situation.

Breaks in the U.K. during school holidays are often more expensive than going abroad! My week in UK self catering in February half term was slightly more than one self catering in August with huge gite and private pool in France! Even adding on the cost of the Chunnel & fuel, a break in France is better vale than one in U.K.

We can't afford to holiday in the UK. A friend of mine who holidays in Cornwall was complaining about me being able to travel abroad several times a year. I paid £40 pp for flights to Marrakech and then £40 per night in a riad for our last holiday, whereas she pays £2000 per week for her place! I can do two holidays abroad for that, we always go a few days before the school term ends which makes a big difference.

Try less touristy counties

Warwickshire has a lot to offer, Kenilworth and Warwick Castle, several NT houses for picnics etc. Birmingham a train ride away - travel from Warwick, Leamington or Dorridge and there is plenty to do in Birmingham

www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/16811432?location=Warwickshire%2C%20England&check_in=2020-08-06&check_out=2020-08-13&source_impression_id=p3_1595324144_A3zsUjp%2FZrdB6xdK&guests=1&adults=2&children=1

South Yorkshire Derbyshire boarder
www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/14876591?location=staffordshire&check_in=2020-08-06&check_out=2020-08-13&source_impression_id=p3_1595324399_un6b1hJxq3%2BCUoHN&guests=1&adults=2&children=1

Both counties have a lot to offer in the way of attractions

@TheOrigBrave

I didn't know that PGL did adult + child activity breaks. Have you been on one before? What's the accommodation like?

www.yha.org.uk/hostel/yha-national-forest?startDate=06/08/2020&endDate=13/08/2020&males=1&females=1&femalesChild=1&under26=1&femalesChildAges=8

YHA private suite at Conkers are under £300 for 3 or 4 people in August for a week, you obviously share the kitchen but thats sociable, means its between bed and breakfast and self catering

@MaybeDoctor

I didn't know PGL did family breaks either, until a friend mentioned it.
I've never been before. It sounds like the accommodation is something between YHA and Premier Inn: clean, basic, en suite.

They are obviously struggling with the cancellation of many of the children's holiday schemes so have reduced the family prices dramatically.

I am a single parent and this is the first time I'm going away with just my 11yo (previously my older (now adult) son has joined us), so I wanted something that I know he'll enjoy, will hopefully meet other children and where everything is laid on.

I was thinking of a motor home holiday, but those are just too ££££££££

I’m in a cottage on a Scottish island and it costs between £500-£700 for a week.

I’ve had this beach to myself every day.

I’ve got a pub, hotel and shop within 250 metres, all open.

A lot of static caravan Owners aren’t allowed to let Now so that will have taken thousands of holiday homes out of the market
Expect a flood of statics coming up for sale at the end of the year as many with £6-8k ground rent costs wont be aBlue to afford to keep them.

yep, supply and demand plus minimum wage, hefty taxation for holiday lets and so on.

this is what combatting climate change by not flying means. Bit more than playing truant and waving banners.

BTW train fares have tripled too, presumably because of reduced capacity. Although there are still cheap flights. Something not right.

Cottages in the school holidays are very expensive and even youth hostels and camping aren't that cheap (we also usually end up going to the pub for dinner when camping, whereas in a cottage we'd cook our own food). It's cheaper in less popular holiday areas - we stayed in a lovely well-equipped cottage near Kircudbright in Scotland for under £500 (that was during a May half-term, but it wouldn't have been much more in the summer). Northumberland was also cheaper than Devon and Cornwall. Obviously if you can avoid school holidays then that cuts the price.

Have heard that many people who take to an area actually book the cottage for the following year when they finish their stay.

My husband's family have been going to the same cottage in Devon for about the past 15 years. They have been known to book the following year's holiday before they have been on the current year's one!

I have recently booked Turkey for October half term, we are regular travellers to Turkey. Uou would find a 5* AI for about £2.5k in August this year as it’s substantially cheaper than usual - via Jet2

@CormoranStrike that looks absolutely fabulous please private message me further details about cottage how to book, is it per friendly what is there to do in the surrounding area. Thanks