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?! 😂

It must be annoying to have lots of visitors, but people who live by the coast are so lucky. I miss it so much but had to move inland for work.

I think if you live by the coast you have to accept there will be lots of tourists in the summer. There are pictures of packed beaches since Victorian times.... This is Brighton!

It will be busier this summer because many people would usually go abroad. More money being spent in the UK will be good for the economy. When I'm sat shoulder to shoulder on the beach this summer or queuing for the cafe I will be telling myself this!

If you live 50 weeks of the year in a rural / coastal location and want to escape maybe consider central London. This summer with no office workers or overseas tourists will be empty. There are loads of green spaces, quiet walks by the river and safe to cycle now with minimal traffic and less pollution.

Once in a lifetime opportunity to walk through Soho to Westminster.

Devon and cornwall are beautiful but I dont understand the appeal of somewhere so jam packed with people! It would totally spoil it for me, I'd rather stay at home.

It reminds me of the problems places like Barcelona and Venice have been having with too many tourists in recent years. Air bnb is both a blessing and a curse it seems!

Yes because only horrid outsiders litter and only the lovely locals know how how to be clean.

We live in a holiday spot. We tend to look for something different for our holidays, that we don’t have at home. So city break or Premier inn next to bowling / cinema / laser quest in a rando suburban place. Theater in London / other large town etc. / theme park etc. guess it depends what you’re in to but there’s (in a normal world) much more on offer than crowded beaches and mediocre food.

@JackieWeaverHandforthCouncil

Yes because only horrid outsiders litter and only the lovely locals know how how to be clean.

Yes we have the beaches covered in litter all year round but we use invisible litter. Honestly my local beach is disgusting as soon as the holiday makers arrive. We rarely go on a beach in July/August.

@MoonfacedMilksop

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.

Cruise ships?!? Are cruise ships really going to be operating, that seems like madness.

@Macncheeseballs

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!

Spot on

What about a tour of the little towns and villages in the UK? As someone else said plenty of Market towns but probably not the greatest fun for the DC. To be honest anywhere coastal will be very busy, maybe just do some days out from where you are?

Our annual trips to Cornwall have started to cost as much as a week in Disney World looking at next years prices,thank god we booked as soon as we could, it’s not surprising but still shocking at the demand for staycations now. I’m in a busy city so I’m used to chaos 24/7 it can be very draining and that’s with all the space and facilities a city has. I envy you being on the coast but I don’t envy trying to live a normal life when everyday is like a carnival in the summer season.

YANBU I live in the south coast and it’s carnage here the first sniff of decent weather. One area where I’d normally walk my dog, the car park is full at 830am and just gets worse until the evening. Beaches etc also rammed. As a local, you just end up trying to get everything done first thing so you’re home before the crush. It’s not like this normally, and it is actually unfair on locals who live here whose lives are made very difficult by the crowds, not to mention the logistics of trying to use roads, the dreadful ‘sling the car anywhere’ approach to parking, the accumulation of rubbish and the arrogance and rudeness of some visitors.
Some of the villages stay quite quiet so long as you don’t go to tourist hot spots, so worth looking at but be warned, many UK breaks are already fully booked.

Come to the beautiful city of Edinburgh, plenty to do and see, lots of green spaces and we’ve even got a beach!

So if everyone is going to Norfolk, Suffolk, Devon, Cornwall, the lakes, the mountains, the forests and coasts... where should I go?

I don't think it's very fair if you live in a beautiful and well-known place to expect it all to yourself and resent others coming there.

I live in London and agree with others, this spring and summer might be a great time to enjoy it.

@Hadenoughofbloodycovid

Come to the beautiful city of Edinburgh, plenty to do and see, lots of green spaces and we’ve even got a beach!

That's where I want to go, trying really hard to persuade DH for two years but haven't got there yet. To be fair he is disabled and would find the journey difficult but I am determined to get there somehow.

@weareallpassengers

www.theoldpiggerybandb.co.uk/

try somewhere not remotely touristy. .I stayed here once it was lovely and def no crowds

That looks great! I love reading people’s recommendations

idontlikealdi there are about 3 different cruise companies offering short breaks like these [https://www.pocruises.com/ultimate-escape?s_kwcid=AL!13500!3!509950970301!b!!g!!%2B2021%20%2Bcruise&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIirrz-qPf7wIVFZOyCh08zAUgEAAYASAAEgLjCPD_BwE&otprrf=https_www.google.co.uk]

If there is a cruise ship most days dropping off people for a daily excursion it will be even more chaotic than usual. My town has a permanent population of about 5,000, in summer during the daytime this regularly triples. Add another 5,000 and I genuinely don’t know how people will physically fit.

Sorry, link didn’t work www.pocruises.com/ultimate-escape?s_kwcid=AL!13500!3!509950970301!b!!g!!%2B2021%20%2Bcruise&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIirrz-qPf7wIVFZOyCh08zAUgEAAYASAAEgLjCPD_BwE&otprrf=https_www.google.co.uk

you know that saying “how about wales?” is like saying “how about england?” right?! it’s a whole country. if you don’t want somewhere busy in wales, avoid anglesey, most of gwynedd, south pembrokeshire, gower, anywhere within an hour of cardiff. i do get what you’re saying about the business, it’s not that OP doesn’t want to share, it’s that the level of influx this year is going to be ridiculous which is a fair point.

*busy-ness not business, but i can’t remember how to spell it properly

I think if you live by the coast you have to accept there will be lots of tourists in the summer. There are pictures of packed beaches since Victorian times.... This is Brighton!

We do!!!!!!

OP wants to escape to somewhere quieter this year. Not sure why that’s so controversial

I love it here in the summer, I love the buzz tourists bring with them. The place is dead in the winter, in the summer it all comes alive, although I do breathe a bit of a sigh of relief come the end of September when it quietens down and it’s peaceful again.

We work round it, go to the supermarket and town early, avoid the tourist attractions and go to the quiet, off the beaten track beaches. We’re all well used to the busy summer season, and given our economy is based on tourism, welcome it.

However, I’ve never witnessed the kind of behaviour we experienced last year. I’ve lived here all my life and I’ve never had people pissing or shitting in my garden, I’ve never come home from work and found a visitor parked on my drive, I’ve never found a tourist trying to ride my arthritis ridden, elderly, retired pony and then been verbally abused and physically threatened when confronted, I’ve never witnessed the litter, vandalism or destruction we experienced last year.

I want to go away somewhere a bit quieter this year. We were hoping to go on a bit of a road trip this year. We were waiting to hear when year 11 DD is likely to finish school so we can go out of the school holidays, but am worried we’ve missed the boat

I totally sympathise. Somerset coast here. Last year it was madness. Nothing like the usual holiday traffic. It was awful. We couldn’t believe what we were seeing.

Camper vans parked up in residential streets overnight and emptying the chemical loo contents into the drains beside the roads. It was so strange. People having actual fights over car park spaces. Insane.

We’re going to the Isle of Wight in May half term. That any good?

@Hadenoughofbloodycovid

Come to the beautiful city of Edinburgh, plenty to do and see, lots of green spaces and we’ve even got a beach!

Happy childhood memories of swimming in the sea at Portobello! Not for the faint hearted! Best fish and chips and ice cream, though. Great place.

It's already started...trying to get home from work over the Tamar Bridge on Tuesday and Wednesday took ages; a marked difference from last week and Monday.

We live in a seaside village driving distance to a huge number of varied attractions so get a lot of people who base themselves here for a holiday, as well as lots of day trippers. I genuinely don't mind visitors as it means we have a lovely, thriving local high street. My problem is not being able to take my son walking on the beach in the morning because of all the broken glass from the night before...