To refuse to go on days out in the UK anymore ?

[Heswall]

I have spent half the day mumsnetting from my phone because we have been bored rigid on a "day out" at a local national trust event.
The egg hunt clues were crap or missing, I ended up offering lunch at Frankie and Benny's if we could get the hell out of there and warm up.
I am sick of having to buy tons of layers of warm clothing that get taken off and then lost - if anyone finds an age 11-12 Joules Aire bodywarmer can I have it back please ? - I am sick of paying £60 in petrol and entrance fees for an hours entertainment at best.
For the price of Alton Towers I can fly two people to Spain, I feel I have done every farm, theme park, old house in the half of the country I live in.
AIBU to stay shove the staycation and save up for warm sunny weather and pastures new instead ?

Oh and obviously walking is free! Except for a pub lunch ofc.

YANBU

Just YANBU

We've done a lot of this sort of stuff generally. This Easter, I've moderately enjoyed Hampton Court (not too bad on the rip-off scale) Tate Britain (terrible on the rip-off scale) but worst of all I had to endure Alton Towers. It is miles away from anywhere and beyond loathsome.

It's time there was a stately homes thread for parents. Overdue, IMO.

We did the Easter Egg trail at our local NT. Wet and muddy but we knew it would be. Hot drinks / cakes for 4 under £14.

Just back from a week in France (Loire Valley). It was lovely but in a way very similar to the same kind of outing being lovely in this country: a lot of the fun came from using our imagination, finding out about these places ourselves, telling good stories about them, making up family jokes. The vagaries of the Valois family are now part of the family lore forever, but we could have done the same for the Tudors. As Seahorse says, you get out what you put in. And that includes evenings spent listening to rap texts about how ancient castles tire your feet (yes, thank you, ds).

Being a foreigner by birth, I find English beaches quite exotic though...

We spent yesterday in the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. £5 to park a car and you're in. There'd were 10 of us in two cars so that was £1 each. And it's fantastic.

We are NT members - we go to Belton House at least once a month so we get our monies worth - now they are opening a big indoor area we might go even more. We dont eat there because it is quite expensive, just find a nice place for a pub lunch outside of Grantham.

Car picnics.

I evangelise on car picnics. Pack delicious things, NOT just boring sandwiches - pots of fruit salad, sausages, apples, dippy things, maybe sandwiches if DH insists on them...... take car to a nice spot - get appropriate clothes on sunscreen/rain hat etc. Explore and look around... then jump back in the car for lovely picnic. Maybe drive somewhere else...

Does this sound borring? I suppose so if you have older kids.

Beach rocks - even in poorere weather... Sorry you had such a crappy day. perhaps this site may be useful : www.dayoutwiththekids.co.uk/

There?s so much to do in the UK. Beautiful beaches, lovely woodlands, stunning moors and countryside, river walks, highland and lowland walks, historic houses and gardens, window shopping, visiting different towns and City parks are all free (or very cheap) The weather has been lovely most of the winter so we can?t complain about the odd rainy day.
We would all get fed up of living anywhere after a while but the key is being happy where you are

I agree with Horses - The national forest and the peak district are both on our doorstep - we are really lucky.

fuzzpig geocaching looks like fun. We are planning on doing some over the holidays. We moved to Oz in June 09, the weather is better, there is more free outdoor things to do, there are less people around,the beaches are lovely and parks are great. Don't even have tp pay to park most of the time and the trains/buses are cheap clean and reliable.

oh forgot to add I looked at Noddy pictures to!

Went out to soft play yesterday and spend the best part of £60! Once you factor in transport, entrance fees, dinner and of course cuppas! It's easily done....it's hard to do stuff in the UK for cheap.

I do take everyone's point about planning,picnics etc. FWIW our "local " is leeds castle pay once for a year's membership, take a picnic (I even made them drink soup outside on the strike day in November. However we have relatives in Southern spain and iy is so much easiet to entertain the dcs for free out there. They have a pool, there is a river to swim in (free). It is nearly never too cold for a bike ride or picnic. We do do all that stuff in the uk but there is not the feeling of enduance that tends to accompany it here. With the need for a treat after wards

I do love South Ken though :)

South Ken is why schools have INSET days!

The British Museum is usually much less busy even on holiday weekends.

Does this sound borring? I suppose so if you have older kids.
No, because they can walk further and climb further up trees etc. Older kids can appreciate wildlife and geology. I'd say it gets less boring as they get older.

Once more into the breach ...... I plan to stop off at M&S for supplies

We bought some Treasure Trails for our local area from a bookshop and did the first one yesterday. We really enjoyed it (DS 11, DD 13 and me). We were planning to do the next one today but our clues (and us) would get soggy. I've registered on their website to get some more too. The one we did yesterday was a bit like Cluedo, we followed clues found on local buildings and landmarks to find out whodunnit... we got it wrong but we had a great afternoon!

www.treasuretrails.co.uk

Op go to France, they will rip you of just as well as the English do - but all with such a more exotic accent.

TBH it is the days out you are picking and you will pick just the same in other countries and therefore it will not make any difference where you are in the world

I?ve lived in a hot country, believe me it gets very boring after a while, it was almost always too hot to do anything except swim or go to the beach, you spend your life avoiding the sun, there?s not much to do indoors and everything was just as expensive as here.
In the UK there really is something for everyone, there are so many things to do for free. I really appreciate how amazing our country is after living abroad. I thank my lucky stars every day that I live in a country where my children get to experience the Arts, culture, History, beautiful countryside, interesting towns and Cities and meet people from all walks of life, truly I am blessed?. God save the Queen LOL

We have lived abroad and travelled quite extensively with less children, some how the weather does make all the difference to my enjoyment.
Pompeii was too much but something between that and pissing down would do me nicely.

We tried a treasure trail in our home town with the DCs aged7 and 5 last year, it went over their heads a bit and needed a lot of prompting from me, but I enjoyed it and think we will do more of them as the DCs get older.

I've lived in a place where winter was too bloody cold and summer was too bloody hot and sticky. Spring typically lasted 2 days; fall was the only good season for being outdoors. We really did find ourselves going to the mall for a walk. Nothing like living somewhere like that to make you appreciate the UK!

Heswell, do you live in the North? I can?t remember the last time it rained down in the South (probably why we`re in the middle of a drought)

shockers thank you for that link - we will use it.

We can use them locally, and there are a few in easy distance of my mums when we go to visit.