What do people DO on UK holidays?

[JudgeRindersMinder]

We’re sun worshipers, and go abroad for the sun 2-3 times a year. Except this year!
We have a few days off in September, Thurs-Sun, and wouldn’t mind getting away for at least a couple of nights.

I’ve been looking at nice hotels in various UK locations (ie NOT Premier Inn type places) We aren’t super active people who are into bracing walks in the countryside (both have issues with arthritis 🙄), and if we stay in Scotland, any spas, pools etc are no go.

If you were us, where would you go and would you do?
Budget is fairly healthy, and travel by plane or car isn’t an issue

My favourites are : the Lizard peninsular in Cornwall (great beaches, good hotels right on the coast and wonderful cliff-top walks); Isles of Scilly, Western Isles in Scotland and Shetland., (you can island-hop, watch sea-birds and explore the history and archaeology) ; Northumberland (great beaches, historic houses and castles). We holiday in Britain every year. It's worth joining the National Trust if not members already. As well as loads of historic places to visit, the NT also owns large stretches of the more beautiful bits of coastline and members get free parking on their car parks.

Speaking only for me: doing all they can to have fun whilst secretly and not so secretly wishing they were abroad.

I hate UK holidays.

You sound like me OP. We have small children now but prior to that we used to enjoy sun holidays. Lounge in the sun lost in a book all day, out for a nice meal in the evening. Decent gym session or run. Scuba diving if possible. Work is so hectic holidays we’re literally the only time I got to read and I’d go through a book a day on holiday.

For none sun holidays/breaks we’d enjoy luxury country boutique hotels (with good restaurants) or self catering cottages (always somewhere within walking distance of a pub).

Hotels we would usually do Cotswolds or New Forest but I would also love to visit the Lake District and Cornwall. Self catering we’ve enjoyed the peak district, Somerset and Yorkshire.

Days still revolve around nice food and relaxing, with a gentle stroll thrown in for good measure. If it rained I’d often spend a couple of hours in the afternoon in the bar or lounge with a book and wine whilst OH had a nap. The key is to stay in a decent hotel in a decent room that you wouldn’t mind spending time in. Spend the extra for a bit more space and a view. Afternoon tea is a lovely way to spend an afternoon too.

In summer we would get a hotel with an outdoor pool in case the weather happened to be decent.

Favourites have been Cowley Manor and Calcot. I’d like to try some of the Pig places and would love to go to Chewton Glen although I think that’s £££££a

We have tried UK city breaks previously but just ended up doing more of the same. Days revolved around food and wandering around. We’re not really museum or gallery people on breaks (although we do plenty of that at home).

We visit places! Love going to visitor attractions and national trust places in different parts of the country. Country parks and river walks, nice restaurants. New villages and towns to look round and explore. Lunches in cute cafes. It difficult this year as lots of indoor places closed ie national trust houses but I would just google things to do in your chosen location!

I've got smallish kids, but I always try and find an evening attraction on holiday to break up the routine. Being with kids, we've seen the Wizard of Oz and circuses, as an adult doing city breaks in Europe we went to the football, opera, etc. (Football was different in Vienna - flares, and beer sold at your seat). In the UK and Ireland, gigs or pubs with musicians.
I always swim, and book a massage somewhere. Bournemouth has a nice swimming pool with a sea view at one of the hotels!
But, in everyday life, I enjoy swimming and going to gigs. And reading!
We struggle in the heat. Once went to see a crap film in Paris in an unexpected heat wave, mainly for the air con.

^We have just had the hottest summer in record
So can't you just sit and read books^

Have you seen the forecast? Not everywhere is hot and sunny right now. Doesn't matter is every previous day has been either, if it isn't the week you are away.

And not everywhere in the uk has been hit and sunny all summer. This past summer holiday weeks we've got a lot of rain and grey drizzle.

We managed a fortnight abroad and fell lucky without quarantine. But my headteacher decided to have the same week in the UK. She had cool rain almost every day.

Dd should have been in France this week. They are now spending a few days in England away, city based. Instead of shorts and t shirts she is now packing jeans and hoodies and a rain coat.

Whilst I enjoy the odd weeks break away in England we don't pretend it is as reliable, weather wise, as a week in the sun somewhere abroad. Chances are it will be many degrees colder and a higher chance of rain and drizzle, so sitting by a pool with a book is much less likely.

We've always had at least one holiday a year in the UK, usually in July/August and have had mixed but never really bad weather, I find it hard to believe that there are people who have never done or even considered this. A lot of other countries are too hot (for me) in the summer and it's better to go in Spring/Autumn anyway.

DH and I had an amazing 3 day break in July in Cornwall, staying in a restaurant with rooms upstairs (the Gurnard's Head in Zennor). Spent the mornings walking the South West coastal path, the afternoons reading in very comfy armchairs or wallowing in the bath with tea and snacks on tap, cocktail at 6pm in the bar, dinner every night in the excellent restaurant (the menu changed daily and had an amazing wine list). I read a book a day and felt completely blissed out by the end.

I actually think that if all you want to do is read books and relax, UK holidays are perfect because if it's sunny, you can go out walking or to the beach, but if it's raining you can just nest inside (preferably by a crackling fire) and read. Main thing is to find somewhere that is NOT self-catering because then you just bring all the household tasks along with you. Country house hotel with a library and excellent restaurant is ideal - spa treatments an extra bonus.

I would recommend Chewton Glen.

Outdoor and indoor pools for relaxing and sunbathing, great dining options. Cycling and short walks. Tennis courts are great indoor and outdoor available and it is close to some very good beaches. One you can walk to easily (even with arthritis) and is set in the new forest with ponies, you can ride and there are lots of places to eat out/visit. Art galleries, gardens etc. You won't find cheap cocktail happy hour type nights here, but you will find a wonderful selection of pre dinner drinks and fabulous wines and solid service.

The spa is gorgeous and you might find that once you are there you won't want to come home! Particularly pretty in the autumn when the forest becomes a golden mass of confetti leaves.

Weather often gets better once schools resume. I'd suggest the Lake District.

I don't actually like holidays just sat by a pool sunbathing, though I know lots do.

I love being away where it is dry and warm though. Cold damp and rain makes my joints really painful - had a massive flare up in the last fortnight here which I'm sure is partially due to the weather.

We love wandering around cities and pretty towns and villages, seeing new sights. But we like it to be in shorts and t shirts, not with a raincoat and jumper!

Boat on the Norfolk Broads? You just potter from pub to pub according to my parents - it’s all flat for a gentle stroll if you feel like it, or sit on the boat and read the papers.

Tbh we tend more towards the active sort of U.K. holiday, but there are lots of nice places to potter around if that’s what you like. Look for a place with a hot tub, then you can sit and read in that, with a nice view.

Several people have suggested south Devon and I would second that. Fly to Exeter and hire a car.

Lots of beautiful little coastal towns to explore, lovely restaurants and great food, lots of places to visit both National Trust and things like vineyards and there's a gin distillery at Budleigh Salterton.

If you luck out with the weather it's every bit as good as the Med!

@Graciebobcat

We lie about in the sun reading all day, so it’s not really an option here!

Really? It has been almost always warm enough to sit out in the sunshine (or indeed the shade) since about May in the south east of England. It has been a fantastic summer, in fact last week was far too hot for me. In the UK you can do everything you can do overseas but with a decent cup of tea.

Yes really. As I’ve said previously I live on the east coast of Scotland. When you have pavement Melton temperatures in the SE, we’re lucky to hit 20C. That’s one of the many reasons we go abroad

Nice hotel with pool? Nice gardens? So you can lie about and read in them.

If it's literally heat alone that you like then you may be a bit stuffed.

Maybe it's time to branch out and try something different?

Yester - that's fine and I do that myself. But I can't do lots of waking during a flare up, and sadly I really do find a big correlation with my pain levels in cold and damp, even if I still go out and about in it. I'm hoping the steroid jab I've just had will mean I can get out walking again this week.

get as far south as you can for the maximum sun. Also Cornwall is a beaut

That’s one of the many reasons we go abroad

But my point is come down south and you don't need to!

Well we have children with us but the usual things to do are:
Buy lots of lovely food
Eat read drink wine
Visit coastal towns and potter bit of shopping
Boat trip or kayak excursion (guided half day)
If money is not tight you could just hop between a couple of gorgeous hotels spa treatments.
Swim in sea
Have a lovely time

It has been roasting in the south of England all summer. Last week it was hotter than Rome, Athens etc. So you absolutely do not need to go 'abroad' to get good weather, we have been praying for rain!

Jump on the train and come down!

You are allowed to take books on holiday in the UK too. In fact you can buy more if you run out more cheaply and if you are not flying you can take more with you. If you have finished a book and don't want to read it again you can abandon it in a charity shop or swop shelf more confident that it will usefully find a new home. If you really, really like books you will probably reall,y really like Hay on Wye. I would suggest Vale of York/ Yorkshire dales, n.Yorks moors area if you want not-Scotland but not to far. Tea shops, potter about looking at castles, heritage railways. (N York moor is very impressive, maybe staying Pickering? Whitby is great - walk up to the youth hostel for tea/ coffee and spectacular views, also nice place to sit and read in the sun, if it's sunny.)
Maybe the new forest if you don't mind further? less to see, except endearing animals but plenty of places you could just sit and read. Tends to be a bit stifling in summer for me, so might suit you. You might have to encounter "inferior" people like me in some of these places though, who don't look down their noses at people who holiday in the UK.

If you want to stay in Scotland, this was my list for the holiday we had planned for June this year, staying near Stirling:
Stirling Castle
Blair Atholl
Kelpies
Falkirk Wheel
Dollar Glen
Loch Leven
Kinross
Bannockburn
Wallace Monument
Whisky Experience, Edinburgh
The Pineapple
Culross
Alloa Tower
Rumbling Gorge

I'm hoping we can do it all next year...

We are a similar age to you. We have a leisurely breakfast and go out to visit local villages/towns. Mooch around really, little museums, walk along a cliff top.

Mainly though we walk from tea shop to tea shop! Back to our accommodation for 3pm to read and nap.

Fly to Bristol, pick up a hire car and drive to the Gower. We've just had a fab holiday there - swimming, bbqs on beach, paddle boarding and surfing lessons. Plus eating lovely seafood. We stayed in a very nice chalet at Caswell Bay but there are loads of lovely bays and beaches. Also, it is far more accessible than Cornwall!

I couldn't remember the self catering place we stayed in in Cornwall but looked it up - it's Whalesborough Holiday Cottages. The reason I mention it is because they have a spa and two swimming pools - all of which are now open for business. They allow dogs too (for those on here that have pets) www.whalesborough.co.uk/ - expensive but the accommodation is lovely.

I often try to get a self catering place on a site that has a spa on site or close by - DH takes DS off for the day and I have a massage!

I find that a really nice self catering is the best of both worlds - we buy whatever we need for breakfast then eat where we want for the rest of the day.

We've stayed in a few supposedly four star hotels before DS came along, where the evening fare has been a bit limited to be honest and we like to spread out a bit rather than being confined to one room.

Nothing like being able to dash back if the weather turns very bad, make a proper cuppa, grab a snack immediately without having to wait for room service, then curl up with a good book or film (take your own if you want as self catering often includes a DVD) for the afternoon in a real squishy armchair and order in a curry later without having to avoid damp clothes hanging in the same room!