What do you do on a UK holiday?

[Hemsbyboc]

First time on a UK holiday in my life. Kids have never been out of the city they were born in unless in a plane.
They are bored to tears.
What do you do??
Don't want to say exact location but it is coastal wales and we have driven here.
Honestly don't blame the folk going abroad despite restrictions. We are climbing the walls.
Been to 4 villages, takes less than an hour to walk around each one. Shitty cafés, food like school dinners. Tide is in so looked at the sea. Everybody in full winter clobber. I am not investing in body boards cos I never want to come back. Wales match is not even showing anywhere. I am 90% leaning towards cutting my losses and going home tomorrow, I have decorating/gardening I could be doing.

Save us mnetters!

@JayAlfredPrufrock

Anglesey?!?

I’d give my fucking eye teeth to be in Anglesey at the moment.

Just go home and make more space for those who appreciate it.

THIS!!

Your DCs have never been out of the city they live in except on a plane!!

I don't live in the UK but find it very hard to believe there is absolutely nothing you can find to do on a holiday there. I feel sorry for people who can't entertain themselves.

When covid hit we had a trip planned to stay in a premier inn for 5 nights (can’t remember if it was the Maidenhead or Slough one) and do day trips to legoland, chessington, Harry Potter world and the london attractions. I think the hotel was about £300 and it would have been free entry to all the Merlin attractions

I'd pick five days on Anglesey over five days in Merlin theme parks at any time of year (in fact you couldn't pay me to do the latter), so I suppose it just shows that the old saying "One man's meat is another man's poison" is true.

Tbf Anglesey is where people go for being on the edge of something, not being in the middle of a hive of tourist activity, so I don't think this suits your family from the sound of it. Perhaps a city break might have been a better idea, or something a bit more structured like PGL or with activities like centre parcs?
We play board games a lot, cook together, eat together, walk the dog, canoe if we've taken the inflatable, go rock pooling, visit castles, do some geocaching...
But I can sympathise. We went to the Netherlands once, and there was nothing to do near this particular campsite. Nothing. And zero interesting countryside. Cycle paths, with nowhere to go 🤣. We did a lot of daytrips to cities to rescue the situation.

A staycation is when you stay at home but go on day trips. You mean a holiday in Britain. It's still a holiday.

shallIswim
OP said the DC are "early teens" so unlikely to be 16 and/or 18.

Are there are any Tattoo Palours?
And a bag of chips?

We generally find a town/village to visit, go for walks, stop for lunch, walk round points of interest, play card/board games, stop for coffee and cake. In short, a fair bit of walking, eating/drinking and playing games.

Op I just can't fathom why you would choose to book a holiday on a small very rural island in North Wales with teenagers!!! Unless you had some very specific hiking, kayaking, mountain biking to do it definitely wouldn't be my choice. Did you do no research on the island at all???
I personally love North Wales and never ever been bored there (go sightseeing, go to beach, walking in mountains, Snowdon, nice lunches, picnics, steam trains, biking, farm parks etc.).

But I think I would've chosen a bigger resort for teenagers..... Think you need to find something sporty to do, or head to Snowdon etc.

The activities linked on here look amazing. I just showed some of them to my young teen and he asked if we could go on holiday to Wales

I know lots of people who never travelled to London until they were adults. But I know precisely zero who never left their local area for a holiday somewhere else in the UK. That's pretty unique OP.

As for Denmark being better, I love Denmark but it's rained every time we've been. And it was just as difficult or easy to entertain a young teen there as it was anywhere in the UK.

It depends on how old your kids are. I’m sorry if I’ve missed that bit. The NT has a book 50 things to do before you’re 11 3/4 which is packed full of ideas.
We have 3 boys and whilst you might not want to buy surfing/kayaks/SUP boards you could see if you can hire or catch a free lesson
Beach bbq or late fires if permitted and look on line for games that can be played in the dark like flash light
Horse riding
Star gazing
Go ape type climbing

Find a good bottle of wine and treat yourselves- above all try not to give up xxx

We regularly holiday in the UK but it does require a mindset.
We used to always holiday abroad albeit on the cheap but one year we were extra skint and had the offer of a cottage in north Wales in the first week of June. We had two preschoolers at the time; it rained torrentially every day. .We have a series of photos of castles, little trains, beaches and skate mines in the rain. Eating out wasn't fantastic apart from fish and chips on the beach type meals. I'm not sure that I would have fancied the experience with older children unless I had money to throw at it. A couple of years later we had to cancel a holiday at the last minute as I had been seriously ill. The DC were about 6 and 7 and we went to Suffolk for a few days to see old friends and spend a few days at the beach, have a change of scene. We found it expensive.Again it rained every day and we were staying in pubs and B&bs so didn't have a base as such.Of course the DC were young enough to like being with us every day and enjoy crabbing, bike rides, swimming and sand castles despite the weather but as an adult I found it very different to a foreign holiday . When you are abroad , every experience is new eg foreign supermarkets, sandwiches on the beach, a bus ride, coffee or orangina in a cafe etc. In the uk, similar experiences are hum drum so to make it feel special one ends up spending money on treats and experiences which are often disappointing.
Having said all that for a variety of reasons we have ended up in tge last few years largely holidaying in Norfolk. I am not saying that I no longer like travel but travel for tge sake of a generic holiday no longer holds any appeal. Yes I would be tempted by a treat weekend away at a European city or a longer exploring trip elsewhere but I've come to love relaxing which is easiest in my home country.

I don't live in the UK but find it very hard to believe there is absolutely nothing you can find to do on a holiday there.

Exactly. Pre Covid, the U.K. was one of the top 10 tourist destinations in the world.

There are loads of things to do. Sunbathing by a pool isn't one though, unless you get lucky with the weather .

Wow you really have a duty to geographically educate you children.

It's like a form of neglect. To choose to withhold the exploration of the country they are growing up in, it's unfathomable to me and many others it seems.

Go home and do day trips from there.

Your kids must feel like the odd ones out at school when their friends talk about local attractions and they are always left out.

@KateTheEighth

Blimey

Your kids have never been out of the city they live in other than to get on a plane

And they are early teens

Fucking hell

I agree. I thought the same. There are some lovely places in the UK without having to get on a plane. Suggest looking online for activities OP or visiting a tourist information office if you're near to one, they're very helpful.

You sound fun.

We've had some of our most memorable breaks in wet and windy towns while staying in total shit holes.

It doesn't all have to be provided. Sometimes we have to make a choice to squeeze the juice out of life....

Board games, family challenges, long walks in the pissing rain followed by a bit of crap telly over a cobbled together dinner and a load of cheating over card games... better than the pool any day.

Out worst holidays have definitely ended up being the best. Building family connections and laughing until our faces ached. Sometimes as parents we needed to set the tone, but we always had fun. I miss those early teen days.

I do think on a British seaside holiday you have to make your peace with the fact you're very likely to be cold, at least some of the time. You can get lucky with the weather but the sea is usually pretty fresh even on a hot day!

I don't mind this at all. In fact I quite enjoy it. I love getting back to where I'm staying and getting warmed up and cosy after being outdoors. I am a red head who burns easily though, and I find hot sunny places quite stressful as I'm always slathered in sun block and dodging into shade at every opportunity.

If you hate the cold (and plenty of people do) then I can see how holidaying by the British seaside would be the pits for you xx

@Marcanana

When covid hit we had a trip planned to stay in a premier inn for 5 nights (can’t remember if it was the Maidenhead or Slough one) and do day trips to legoland, chessington, Harry Potter world and the london attractions. I think the hotel was about £300 and it would have been free entry to all the Merlin attractions

I'd pick five days on Anglesey over five days in Merlin theme parks at any time of year (in fact you couldn't pay me to do the latter), so I suppose it just shows that the old saying "One man's meat is another man's poison" is true.

That’s nice for you, but I don’t know many kids that would choose hours of walking around doing nothing but the same scenery everyday over theme parks. Fine, get them out and enjoy nature but they are kids and want to have fun too.

I absolutely love Wales, particularly the north. We've had many wonderful holidays there in the past 10-15 years.
Some things we've done:
Visited castles such as Conwy, Beaumaris, Criccieth, Harlech, Caernarfon, etc
Visited National Trust properties such as Chirk, Penrhyn, Plas Newydd, Powys etc
Climbed Snowdon
Been to lovely beaches like Abersoch, Rhosneigr, Nefyn.
Day out in Llandudno, climbed up the Great Orme and enjoyed the breathtaking views, they also have cable cars, trams etc
Portmeirion was a fascinating and beautiful place to spend a day
Betws Y Coed and nearby Swallow Falls are really pretty
There are also lots of outdoor type activities around, such as zipwire places, Bounce Below, watersports, etc
We've often said that we could holiday in Wales for a month and never get bored!!!

All I can say is what a sad upbringing if your kids have got to early teens and have only left the city they have been brought up in by plane. They need to get out and see their own beautiful country there’s so many great places to go in the UK but they’ve never been anywhere but their own city. How will they ever broaden their minds?

We usually do,

Beach
Swimming
Local attractions eg zoos, farms etc
Bowling
Pier/arcades etc
Local towns/harbours
Local sight seeing

Dayoutwiththekids.co.uk usually has good ideas too

Teens might be more tricky if they're not outdoorsy. My favourites were having a theme, pick something as a focus for exploring-castles and steam railways (North Wales, not sure about other parts).
Fresh air, exploring, history, creativity (basis for creative writing and story telling).

We had an amazing holiday in Wales. Visited loads of castles, gardens, beaches, amusement arcade, piers, towns, climbed mountains, went cycling, went zip wiring. We weren't bored for even 5 minutes. Holidays are what you make them.

My teens would be bored anywhere if they stayed in one place for a week (unless they have friends with them). The last few years we have taken their friends with us but this year we are doing a road trip with activities along the way. No more than one night in each place and we are also finding funny place names while on the road (Cock Alley, Bell End, Lickey End etc) - childish but keeps the DC and DH amused!

If you were outdoor people you would love Wales. That’s anywhere in wales! How can you not love wales. My kids are 14 and 15 and love walking but then again we are seasoned walkers/climbers. Horse riding. Climbing wall, leisure centres