Want to get away from busy Devon

[Peanutkitten]

Live on the coast in a beautiful very popular holiday destination that is already fully booked for the summer (which is great for our local economy!) but after last summer it was just so busy, this year we want to get away to somewhere quiet. Thing is, everything I look for in a holiday is what we have on our doorstep, so where else can we go in the U.K.? Never holiday’ed in the U.K. before! DC 10 and a newborn.
Apparently we can rent our house out for £3k a week?! That’s ridiculous! But we can’t as we have a sweet old cat!
AIBU to want the beach to myself again?! 😂

I think most places will be busy, why not come to Wales. Mountains , castles and I’ll come to Devon and look after the cat

How about a remote Isle in scotland, if you don't like people? You chose devon to live in because its beautiful, you need to learn to share!

Try something different? Midlands, lovely market towns and country estates with parks?
... most people will be in Devon or Cornwall over the summer! 😉

Whereabouts in Devon are you? I rent out my house in pretty much the most expensive town on the south coast of Devon. It sleeps 10, is 2 minutes to the beach and only over the August bank holiday week can I charge £2,500. The rest of the school holiday it’s more around £2,000. You’ll also need an awful lot of checks and a change of insurance unless you’re just planning on doing it informally.

But I fully empathise with you wanting to get away. It was shoulder to shoulder round the harbour last year, never been like that since 80’s. Add in the bloody stupid plan to have cruise liners offloading an extra 5,000 people per day for day trips and it’s going to be absolute carnage.

Yes YABU. The beach in Devon isn't just yours. I recommend Lincolnshire. Lots of space on the beaches (outside the main resorts) and it's full of misanthropic bastards as well.

Ah, come on biffbaff no one could have predicted quite how mental it was in Devon and Cornwall last year. Locals expect there to be disruption from April to Septemberish but last year was absolutely insane. You genuinely couldn’t leave my town by car for days at a time - shops ran out of food etc. I imagine this year will be similar/ worse if they let the cruise ships do their thing and then some normality will return.

Anywhere nice in the U.K. will be busy in high season this year. You could take a holiday in Reading or Swindon or some random village near nowhere but if you want beach, nice countryside or attractions it will be busy.
Also I've Airbnb'd my house with the cat in situ. I have someone come and feed him and only book to people with 5* reviews who agree to leave him alone! He's not a people cat.

Do you know anyone (friends/family) in a different location that you could house swap with for a week? Then you'll also have a trusted cat sitter!

I know the feeling (lived in Devon for several years) I always loved September as it got quieter again!

There are lots of places in the country where you can have the beach to yourself but it's pretty damn cold especially in comparison to Devon! 😂

Scottish Islands BTW is still unknown and travel to them last year was only for essential reasons!

Quieter parts of the UK that I love are areas around Norfolk, Northumberland, parts of mid Wales.
Scotland would be a very long drive for you most people head to the Highlands or the Trussochs but Moray and the North Aberdeenshire coast is quieter. Not masses to do other than walks though and most people are probably sick of them! 😂

If those who are visiting are observing whatever Covid 19 restrictions are in place at the time of their visit this summer (if any remain), YABU. Hasn't Devon been a holiday destination since Victorian times?

I'd agree with the suggestion of Wales, suggest you research the options.

Completely agree with biff baff, you can't choose to live in a top holiday destination and then complain its busy, it's like living in Central London and complaining about the crowds, adapt

I think people are underestimating how busy Devon and Cornwall will be- it won't be like a usual busy season where our visitor numbers are huge, it will be rammed as people can't go abroad. A friend of mine works in a public service and they are estimating double the normal visitor numbers in the summer.

I've told the children we will have to live strategically and only go out early or later in the evening, no driving places at midday, and not the busiest places.

It becomes unliveable at a point.

It isn't usual summer busyness the Op is complaining about, it's everyone on a packed island not being able to escape and all heading for the same few places!

Cannock chase near me?different lots of woods, go ape, castles nearby and you cna get places with hot tubs. Lush.

My Thirlestone based pals have an underground black market in quiet rentals - friends of friends / house swaps. Find someone with a cat and swap with them! (If you are be thurlestone, pm me - am near non coastal holiday destinations, will swap!)

Scottish I reckon Norfolk will be heaving as well this year!
(And parts of Suffolk too)

cuthbertdribbleandgrubb it was physically impossible to socially distance at all around the harbour here last year. It was like being packed in at a festival. There is a massive difference between it being busy as it is during a normal summer and being unable to leave for work as cars parked across drives, shops being unable to get deliveries as traffic entirely static, people setting up for a picnic in my own bloody garden and then telling me off because ‘where else are we supposed to go?’ 😂

I completely get it OP. I live on the Cornish coast and last year was absolutely bonkers. I'm thinking of visiting Wales or Scotland. Or maybe the Yorkshire Moors..

The main concern locals have is the cruise ships dropping an extra 5,000 people a day off by boat. Normally numbers are at least slightly limited by how many people can park at the park and drive but an extra 5,000 is just going to make it unbearable for everyone.

I'm in Scotland and have struggled to get an Air BnB anywhere up here. Almost all booked solid or over priced. Managed to get 4 nights in Aberdeenshire. It will have to do

I live in the Lake District, so used to a busy holiday season and tourists everywhere, it’s par for the course.
But last summer was absolutely bonkers, police had to close roads to stop people parking on them (people actually parked in the middle of main roads, completely blocking access for emergency vehicles, residents etc) and the amount of littering and vandalism was awful.
I’m already dreading this summer,

The Midlands & the Cotswolds will be heaving. They were last year, too. I live in one and work in the other, and it’s been insanely busy. We keep getting leaflets from companies saying they can let our flat for £2.5k a week for holiday breaks

I think England is likely to be pretty crazy in most places, if most people aren’t able to go on holiday.

I 100% get it, I'm from a seaside town on the south irish coast originally and locals dread the summer , the people who come to our town have no respect for it. The mess they leave and the disruption they cause is not worth the small bit of revenue they spend.

Hey OP, I’m in central-ish London, large flat, and am happy to swap for a short while and cat-sit?

I’d see if you can rent your place out and go somewhere with your pet, if it won’t run off. Have a change of scene, maybe mountains or a big city.

Why don’t you just forget about replicating home and have a city break? Embrace the (socially distanced) crowdedness.

Totally understand op, if you live in Devon or Cornwall even if your area isn't a holiday hotspot you are disrupted. I think those on holiday forget that many folk are going about their daily business. If anyone is heading our way, please learn how to navigate country roads before you get here.