Cheap UK holiday - single mum+ 2 kids

[wobblymum1]

I’m on a tight budget but would love to take my 6+ 9 year old away for a holiday this summer. We are central Scotland based but have a car (though keen to not spend £££££ on petrol for huge drives).
weather just a bit too unpredictable here for me to jump into camping alone with them both as I’m not the best at pitching tents 😂
abroad seems way too much, no free child spaces it seems and I can’t afford 3 x fares sadly.
Details: we have a dog, my 9 year old has Austism and would find evening entertainment in say a caravan park massively overwhelming (I know we could just stay in the caravan at night but I think part of the cost is for that evening entertainment etc so would be a small waste)
Any good single parent tips or recommends?
Thank you!

Camping?

I'm a single parent of a 7 and 11 year old.

I don't know about in your area- I'm in South West England- but there are lots of caravan/lodge type places about that don't do evening entertainment but have other things on site such as swimming pools. We go to a place in Wales that has lodges in the forest with hot tubs - much cheaper out of season eg Feb half term.

We've had sun caravan holidays and not bothered with the evening entertainment- we go to the beach or play board games in the evening.

Camping is easier and more fun with a group of friends. The kids entertain themselves and there are other adults about to help with pitching/cooking etc.

Sometimes it's easier to impose yourself on friends and family as a smaller family unit. I have a friend who lives in Germany who has invited us to stay for a few nights this summer. If there was another adult in our family we might not have got the offer? I'm just paying for the easyjet flights.

If you come south of the border at the beginning of the Scottish summer holidays before the English summer holidays it should hopefully be a bit cheaper.

You could look at getting a Premier Inn in a seaside town midweek?

Suggest getting an AirBnb cottage or similar rather than a hotel. Will be better value and you'll have loads more space and a kitchen. Somewhere along Hadrian's Wall could be quite nice, or do Northumberland coast and castles and not too far from Scotland?

For tight budget and no camping or caravanning,my next go-to would be a stay in a family room in one of the chains like Travel Inn. Self catering may seem obvious but when I looked last year was definitely more expensive. The chains usually have good car parking and some have indoor and outdoor play spaces. They're really easy,effortless places to stay. For children that age I'd head for the beach. Ayr and nearby might be good. Not too long a car journey. Nice beaches and parks and not full of pester power things like expensive Amusement Parks . There are no must-sees that you'd need to fork out money for. If Northumberland's not too far,it's great for children and much better than Ayrshire for a holiday, but I'm not sure about chain hotels in the area. Picnic rather than eat out/in hotel. Take flasks,water bottles,straws and paper plates,cups;bin bags;board games,cards.

Have you looked into single parent groups? SPTC is a Facebook group, they do lots of different size/cost trips including camping so you'd be in a ready made gang. People help each other with setting up/keeping an eye on kids.

I've booked a couple of cheap holidays through this site op: www.ukcaravans4hire.com/
If you look under each region you'll see some which have the location as private land which are mostly on farms and are far cheaper than being on a site but there are Van's on sites too for you to do a comparison with. They have quite a few in Scotland but also the lake district and North Yorkshire/Northumberland so you might be able to find something through there.
I didnt like camping on my own with young kids but being on a farm in a van is very close to camping but much more comfy, easier and means you have electricity and tv in the evenings when they are in bed.

Seaside would work well with those ages, and I think that you could probably find a cheap Airbnb if you spend a bit of time searching.

My tip for keeping holiday costs reasonable is to have a couple of day out plans for bad weather/ if they get bored of the beach. like a local soft play or swimming pool - things that aren’t crazy expensive but are fun to do. Plus a couple of at-home plans - maybe if you got any craft sets for Christmas that sort of thing.

Going in the car means that you can take food with you for a couple of meals a day so that you aren’t spending loads on meals out. Try and go for quick things so you don’t spend ages cooking.

7 nights in a 2 bedroom dog-friendly apartment at Haven’s Craig Tara park in Ayr costs £588 right now ( week starting Fri 18 August 2023). Or pay more for a caravan. This works if your dog can be left in the apartment for a few hours while you are at the pool for example.

Price includes the indoor swimming pools with flumes, adventure playground, evening family entertainment and (I think) an hour’s daytime entertainment for the kids too (Might give you an hour off).

The apartment will have a full size fridge-freezer and a microwave so you can take along a week’s food for breakfast, lunch and even some ready-meal dinners. Microwave popcorn snacks until you can’t face any more!

It gets some shocking reviews BUT if you go with the right expectations you won’t go far wrong - kids will enjoy it if you set the example and love it, warts and all. I remember fondly camping in the rain in a muddy field, being permanently cold and wet, swimming in a weedy lake and eating badly cooked camp food. I’d rather go to Craig Tara though!

you can also get access to walk the dog along the beach, or drive to nearby beaches for some beautiful dog walking spots. Lots of research and planning, pre-book your free slots at the pool, and you are sorted!

Sorry got carried away there and just realised your OP mentioned your 9 yo has autism and couldn’t handle a caravan park! Oh well that’s a pity.

airbnb it is then! Or maybe a dog friendly farm stay? Depends if your kids would be bored by that kind of break (mine would hate it).

I’ve stayed on caravan parks since being a kid and never been to the evening entertainment! The caravan site at Whitley Bay is often quite reasonably priced compared to others. There’s also a small of static vans at Mortonhall site on the outskirts of Edinburgh if that’s not too close to home. Or somewhere round St Andrews / fife coast maybe?

Ha did you read the post ?

Oh you guys are the best, thank you! Just logged on to work and will look forward to researching these tips during my lunch hour, thank you so so much. sadly I don’t really have any friends I could go with or stay with (mix of horrid separation and my son’s behaviours that I know now were autism but led to me just becoming isolated and staying home a lot so not making friends). Thank you for understanding how hard it can be alone and for assuring me that you don’t “have” to do noisy evening entertainment! Lots of these ideas look so lovely and the cost Saving tips will help a lot. Thank you all for being so very kind.

Hello! I’m a single mum and my eldest is autistic. When mine were about that age we did 5 days camping at Loch Morlich and 5 days in Nairn. Putting up the tent wasn’t as awful as I thought 😂 - tbh it was the dog that was an arse.

Even little things like wanting to pop into Tesco or “let’s go into Inverness” and then I’d remember Mutley!

The boys absolutely loved it - but I would say, book whatever you’re going to do before the English schools break up and the prices rocket.

If I were to do it again, I’d head to Northumberland - is it Bamber castle (???) looks fantastic.

My autistic son actually did so a long weekend at Criag Tara with friends and he loved it. 🤷‍♀️ I was expecting to have to pick him up in the middle of the night.

Have fun whatever you do!

White Cross Bay in Cumbria is also a nice site, it goes right onto the banks of Lake Windermere. It's a Parkdean site and their rates are a lot cheaper if you go Fri-Fri or Mon-Mon rather than Sat-Sat. You can get 7 nights for under £700 in July.

how,cheap.is cheap?
honestly last year when looking at haven et c ,the prices were ridiculous ,before the pandemic,we would pay £800/900for a week ,they were wanting double lat year 😥
my son has severe autism and learning disabilities,we don't really do.the night time entertainment
if you receive on a holiday park type holiday ,I would !ook.a t maybe individual ones rather than chain places

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Hi @wobblymum1 I'm central Scotland too with a similar aged autistic child. I find the best places for him don't involve lots of entertainment at the likes of Haven type caravan parks. He does love a caravan mind you and we use one up near Inverness in a very secluded spot, no park facilities and entertainment and there's lots of do around there. We also go camping too, and I find he loves this, anywhere with forest walks, bikes and water. He's much calmer getting muddy and exploring whereas the entertainment really overwhelms him. Happy to chat and help.

That sounds lovely! Thank you 😊 yes my son’s literally idea of a nightmare is an lots of people, singing / dancing, loud volumes and flashing lights. He goes into complete meltdown. I’ve not been brave enough to take them away just myself yet as his meltdowns can be bad and last a few hours, but I’m trying to make this a better year and a wee holiday away in the summer if I can save up for it for him And his sister (who is as easy going as pie) would make me really happy if I can do it.

Lol at remembering mutley!
It looks a lovely park and he loves swimming so wondering if we just snuggle down from 7pm onwards and avoid the entertainment if he could do it

This park looks really lovely and peaceful. Reckon I could afford this and massively appreciate you finding the deal for me.