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

Thank you OP.
The Jet2 price you got was amazing!

We too were going to go away early this year, way before term ended in July . It was the first time ever we'd ever been able to take advantage of both Ds1 and ds2 sitting exams and finishing early.
Where would we go? Somewhere nice abroad?
Back in March, I was just about to book, thinking I'd get it really cheap. Then covid!

@DianaT1969

You'll probably get better value on accommodation in remote places in Ireland OP. Ferry drive there.

I find Ireland far more expensive for accommodation than Great Britain, often double the price. And then food and eating out is far more expensive too.

I live in N Ireland and holidayed in Ireland this year because our holiday to France and England was cancelled. A week in Ireland, cost us as much as a fortnight split between France and England, even though France and England obviously involved paying for ferries as well as accommodation.

Plus you’ll be required to self-isolate for a fortnight if you come to Ireland from the UK. Agree on the expense, too.

Chain hotels. Get an electric coolbox, a two-ring electric hob and bring a camp basin, washing up liquid, cooking equipment, etc. Get on the camping board and learn to create quick, easy and inexpensive breakfast and 1 main meal and then eat out the other meal. FAR cheaper than self-catering here.

You are suggesting that people cook full meals in a Travelodge or similar?! Surely that is a fire risk, not to mention food hygiene issues.

I think you’ll find you would be thrown out of the hotel if you tried doing that in a hotel DisobedientHamster

Yes, I would really like a holiday in the UK but each time we look into it, it turns out much cheaper to go abroad. I always wondered if we looked on the wrong websites

I've had ready porridge at hotels before, but cooking a full meal sounds a bit grim.
It reminds me of the thread once where OP was planning to bring her slow cooker to Disneyland Paris and leave meals cooking during the day.

From what people have said I still feel that the holiday I want (preferably a cottage/villa, but if not definitely separate bedrooms for parents and kids, near a beach, in school holiday time, in an interesting area, with lots to do in the vicinity, and not more than £1000) is impossible to get abroad due to the cost of getting there, but actually quite easy in the UK. I appreciate for some people that doesn't sound like the kind of holiday they would like and fair enough!

TinyMetalBirds last year we flew to Italy for 1 week, stayed in a small town near (walking distance) to a beach, in Tuscany, in a 3 bedroom lodge with veranda and restaurants within walking distance and a pool complex onsite for £860 including flights. An extra week would have been an extra £180 for the accommodation. We struggle to find a cottage/ caravan/ lodge in the UK for that, not including the petrol costs.

That’s amazing - Was that in the school holidays maxdash? Who did you fly with and what site did you use for booking the accommodation? I am not checking up on you! I just want to be able to do that too, my kids would love to go to Italy. My default for the UK is to go to cottages.com, so for example a quick search for next summer of cottages near a beach finds loads of cottages under £800 - I was going to count them but have got to 84 and got bored!

Yes, May half term. We don't like it really really hot so low to mid 20s was perfect for us.

We flew easyjet, though jet2 had similar flight prices (flights were £321 including luggage, total). Though childrens flights come with 2 child related items (e.g. carseat and pram) we took the carseats in the big boxes they came in and stuffed towels, swimwear, clothes etc in to "protect" the carseats (and save on luggage costs!).

Accommodation was through Eurocamp as it was a holiday park but was much more centre parcs than haven iyswim (nothing wrong with Haven but to give you a feel) we also hired a car included in that cost. There do seem to be optimal times for booking good deals, and I also find if you almost book on some sites but don't complete, 24 -48 hours later they send you a voucher code.

Property owner here, of holiday cottage shared with wider family (parents’ home we inherited).

We are fully booked up to the end of October and haven’t raised our prices. However we will make a significant loss this year, and most years only break even. Cleaning, linen, maintenance and utilities take the vast majority of the revenue, with the agent we use taking 25%.

Our prices will be going up next year to help cover our losses. And no, we have not been eligible for any Covid support (quite rightly in my opinion).

@earsup sorry for hijacking off the op's topic. But what dental services are good in Turkey?

Thanks Max, that's all really helpful!

There's quite a lot in somewhere like Shropshire, which is a hugely underrated county. I loved it when I went to visit....

https://www.sykescottages.co.uk/cottage/Cotswolds-North-Wales-Snowdonia-Ironbridge/Bridge-View-Cottage-996061.html?price=805&&display=1#duration=7&start=2020-08-07&changeover=5&utmdimension=property+share

We were so lucky
We had a holiday on Anglesey cancelled, due to covid, so I hunted for anything available, and you're right it's so expensive
I joined an Anglesey Facebook page, and asked for help
They were great. We managed to find a gorgeous chalet for £300 for 5 days

[quote NavyBerry]@earsup sorry for hijacking off the op's topic. But what dental services are good in Turkey? [/quote]
Hi
Everything !
friends have used Halile in Side...great quality work and prices...the practice and equipment modern and more up to date than uk, prices are:
metal on porcelain crown £80...uk cost £400
zirconium crown £160 uk cost £650 or more
white fillings are £35
deep clean is £35
free xrays and hotel pick up and drop back etc....also crown and veneer fitted in a few days...no waiting weeks like uk... I always have my teeth done abroad...have had work in poland, budapest, spain and colombia which so far has been the best and cheapest....!!

We regularly rent whole houses in Norfolk and can usually get a great one for no more than £1500 pw at peak time for 6-8 people. Not peak we've been to a great 6 people cottage for a little more than £500pw

We regularly rent whole houses in Norfolk

Can you rent half a house?

You could share or rent a flat!

Campsites average £20 a night for a family of five?

We were meant to be in Sitges this week, for two adults and one child it was £1,800 for a catered villa with pool and house keeper, and our car hire was covered in that total as was travel to the airport etc. So just spends on top.

Instead I’ve booked a holiday cottage for a week (not this week), the cottage is £1,200 with a pool. It doesn’t include catering or a house keeper. So our UK break will cost around the same amount as our planned trip to Spain.

Have you looked at ReadyCamps? Luxury it isn’t, but you get a comfortable bed, kids usually love it and most are £250-£350 per 4 nights (sleeping up to 6).