To think that people on holiday don't want to go for a walk?

[Notwiththeseknees]

I'm looking at buying a house as a holiday let. The house is amazing - really fab. The gardens are beautiful and we would put in a big pool. It is between 40 & 80 minutes drive of the sea, UNESCO sites, big architecturally gorgeous market towns and fantastic scenery. Village is 5 minutes away by car, bigger village 10 minutes away with restaurants & supermarket. BUT the immediate surroundings are a bit 'okay'. There doesn't seem to be anywhere to have a really nice walk, an okay walk, but not an "ooooooh, that was a lovely walk" walk.
How much does a lovely walk in the immediate vicinity add to your holiday enjoyment? Especially if you have amazing gardens to potter in and a lovely
pool....

Hmmm, it's not necessarily that I like to go for a nice walk, just that I don't want to drive every day. I'd like to be able to walk to local restaurants in the evening so I can have a drink, and I wouldn't want to possibly spend 3 hours in the car one day so I can go to the beach - I could do that at home! I want more on my doorstep than just a nice house with pool, so I wouldn't book somewhere like there personally I'm afraid.

For me being able to walk direct from a property is an absolute must. BUT.... when I do a uk holiday let its because I want to go on holiday with my dogs so it's a dog friendly property. So therefore walking the dogs IS the holiday

If I didn't have the dogs with me I probably wouldn't be interested is going for walks.

I too have a dog so a good walk is my priority. Pre-dog I think I only took 1 "walk" ever on holiday. Although we did tend to walk to local villag e / cafe etc. if distance allowed.

I'm a walker, so it wouldn't work for me. But I know plenty of people who don't walk anywhere and would only drive/ get taxis. Are taxis readily available for if people want to go out for dinner and a few drinks?

Either way 40+ minutes to the sea and sites is a long way, too long if that was the main purpose of the trip.

I want to be within walking distance of somewhere to eat/drink but the walk itself doesn't have to be amazing, just safe.

Ooh no we like a nice walk. We walk miles as a family on holiday.

It would be nice to walk to the village or a taverna for a drink/eat. I don't think it'd be the sort of place I'd rent if you have to drive everywhere.

I like a walk on holiday too.

To the pub usually, but I also have a dog so would want a decent dog walk before arriving at the pub!

Even when DH and I go abroad, we go for a walk and a mooch at the local shops/bars every day.

"People" are different from each other. People who like a nice walk on a holiday will want to book somewhere you can go for a nice walk. People who don't, won't care.

It was the central location that I thought might appeal if you didn't want to stay at the property all the time.

I remember a holiday to Portugal where we just chilled & BBQd & went to the port (25minutes away) every few days for supplies and we just flopped, we didn't set foot outside the boundary other than to go to the car. But with my dog I look for good walking areas...
I'm not sure how many people would drive down with their dogs as it is overseas... but easily doable.

Another comment would be assuming this is UK is the pool inside or outside? I wouldn't be interested in an outside pool in UK

I've holiday for a long time, the properties that always get snapped up and are always full are those with hot tubs!

Hmmm, if there’s no really nice walks locally and it’s a 40-80 minute drive for any attractions, that might put me off a bit tbh. There’s only so long you can spend in the pool

I'd want to be able to walk around nice places from the place I'm staying. A big part of a holiday for me is not having to drive once I'm there. I like a nice walk.

For a holiday home it'll need something to make people want to stay there. This one doesn't sound like it's close to anything, even in a car.

A holiday where you had to drive everywhere wouldn't appeal to me personally.

It depends where it is. In the U.K. or Ireland I love walking as an activity. In a hot climate not so much. If it’s somewhere warm I prefer sun beds and books.

OTH I would always want to be a safe evening walk or very cheap cab ride from bars and restaurants so I could enjoy a meal out without having to worry about getting home. It sounds as if this place will be too remote for that? And the beach and other sites are too far away for a quick trip so that would put me off.

I am sure there will be a market for a beautiful, remote house only accessible by car but it will be largely limited to people who want to cook on holiday and/or don’t drink alcohol. Perhaps you could market it in publications aimed at non drinking communities like JWs/Mormons/Muslims?

If it’s on a farm or in the middle of beautiful countryside or there is a lake/wood/mountain 5 mins down the road then the 40-80 mins wouldn’t be too bad. When we stay in Wales or Dorset we are about that far away from some beaches or towns.

We are dog owners though and DH walks ddog every evening on holiday. Walking through a housing estate or “ok” surroundings woukd not appeal to him as he can do that at home.

Walking out of the house and being on a farm/in the countryside/ambling around a lake - perfect.

The gardens sound lovely but what is the noise like from ndns/traffic/passers by?

For us, holiday lets don’t have to be right next to a beach or beautiful town or tourist attraction IF they are in the right surroundings or have a USP.

I always make sure we're in walking distance of a village or town. Up to a mile away.

Having to drive to get anywhere wouldn't be what I was looking for when booking our UK holiday properly. And the cost being 40+ mins away isn't necessarily a problem, but certainly not a selling point.

I was hoping the property would be the attraction and the historic bits & beach if you got bored with that, but looks like I was totally wrong.
My UK house is on the beach, but most people just seem to chill in the house & garden and only go for a couple of walks if that. But bars & restaurants are on the doorstep so that is more convenient....

Like pp I would want to be able to go out for a meal and drink and be able to walk home if it was with my family. If I was on my own I would just read, swim, sleep so not so much.

No way would I want to go on a holiday where I'm reliant on a car. I'd want to be able to stroll from the house to the town/cafe's/restaurants etc. I'd like to be free to have a drink when I feel like it. If I'm going to drive to specific destinations for a day trip I wouldn't want to be more that 10-15 minutes in the car and I wouldn't want to do that more than once a week.

In France, we were on the edge of a little village and we liked to walk to the bakery in the mornings. We had a little walk around the village which was nice but more to just take a nosy rather than expecting an outstandingly beautiful walk. We drove out almost every day to see things in the area and would stop at a supermarket on the way home. Our villa had a pool which we used one afternoon.

In the UK we would probably drive less and mooch about the local area more. Maybe eat in a local pub/restaurant and walk home?

The house is rural, in a hamlet, no traffic, little noise. There are nice walks & cycling but I'm from an AONB so maybe I've judged them a bit harshly. They are just country walks. There is a USP, but could be outing so can't mention it. But the feedback is really useful.

It totally depends on what people are after. People who want to walk will not book with you. People who want to get away from everything, buy in supplies and hunker down in isolation would book with you. Who are you hoping to attract? Families (not so good as young dc need things to do, places to visit and older dc might want to be able to walk to the pub, beach etc), couples or small groups of couples maybe would like it.

Sounds lovely to me.
A local walk would be nice, but wouldn't be the decider for me.

I would be looking for a property that met our needs on a practical level re number of bedrooms etc. It would have to include off toad parking too.

I would pick location based on places we wanted to visit and wouldn't be put off by a drive of 40 minutes.

We live in s wales and don't think anything of driving around 45 mins /1hr to go to Westonbirt arboretum or wwt slimbridge. Equally we travel up to 1.5 hrs to go to the garden of Wales, wwt Llanelli or Gloucestershire based national trust properties.