To ask if it’s worth having a holiday in the UK?

[TigerLils]

Right, I’ve coped pretty well so far, the past 16 months has been pretty difficult for many and I feel pretty bad about this but I need a holiday. A change of scenery! Some nice weather chilling food and drinks. Obviously it’s limited where you can go at the moment and we are looking at a staycation perhaps (it’s just me and DP) but everything is booked up or seriously overpriced in the UK.

Not sure if it’s worth it but I’m pretty desperate here… ( I need this for my mental health)

Can any of you recommend places to go for a couples getaway in the UK?

We always s/c (or camp) I wouldnt like staying in a hotel for more than a weekend. Weve only had one holiday in a hotel with DC (when they were 3 and 6) and it was the least enjoyable holiday weve ever had!

@MissChanandlerBong90

Each to their own but I can’t relate to people saying they hate self-catering. I can’t eat ‘out’ for 3 meals a day for 7 or more days - I’d end up feeling ill. I love eating out but would find it stressful finding somewhere to eat twice a day every day. And the all inclusive buffet is my idea of hell.

Who eats 3 meals a day on holiday every day? We tend to go to a nice apartment in Greece or Italy, breakfast is a coffee on the terrace, lunch tends to be a salad and a drink at the pool bar as an hour out of the sun and for me looking at menus in restaurants and trying different places every night for the first week before deciding our favourites to return to is one of the best parts of the holiday - absolutely nothing stressful about that.

Personally I go SC as in an apartment or villa but the nearest we get to cooking is a coffee and maybe cheese and biscuits as a pre evening snack. Ive never used an oven abroad in my life

Oh see, my dcs bloody love a buffet breakfast on holiday - always have since being toddlers.

I miss the omelette chefs.

But are they teenagers who don't like getting up in the morning @MargosKaftan?

Weymouth Bay Haven starts at 570 for 2a 2c if you go last week of school holidays (mon 30th - fri 3rd sept).

Autumn term starts on Wed 1 Sept here, so prices would be lower then.

Be my idea of utter hell!!
I've never gone s/c in my life and NOTHING could ever convince me to, ever. And in the U.K.? Arrrrgggghhhhh

How do you know if you've never tried it???

Don't get me wrong - I love an all inclusive in the sun but in the UK when you've got small children s/c is great!

It depends what you like from a holiday really. There are stunning parts of the UK, but I can imagine that if you're a sun worshipper wanting to bask in the sunshine the UK might struggle to tick all your boxes.

Not many People seem to recommend it, but I love Northern Ireland. There's some truly beautiful parts over there and it's generally fairly quiet.

Views from our cottage. Never tire off a glass on the terrace looking at this.

@TheYearOfSmallThings

Our school's the following Monday. When I taught we used to put inset days there and now I lm not working in a school its a week I often book! Regional variation obviously!

Gorgeous lemon!

There's so many places I want to experiencd and visit!

What’s not to like?

@Whammyyammy

UK holidays are a rip off..overpriced to begin with, you'll gey fleeced while there, shit weather, dog shit on the beaches, no parking anywhere.... I refuse to support British tourism

Happily on holiday in Lincolnshire and experienced none of the above, but carry on being miserable. You do you.

Rural Lincs (the Wolds AONB) is gorgeous right now. Depends what you like, we love walking and history, plenty of both here.

I think lots of us like travel, discovering new places, trying new things. I don’t think that means you can’t enjoy our own country and indeed, that is certainly better than sitting at home moaning about no holiday.

I’m not sure an all inclusive in a large resort necessarily equates with ‘luxury’, ‘exploring different cultures’ or seeing the world.

Outer Hebrides are stunning.

MissChanandlerBong90

Each to their own but I can’t relate to people saying they hate self-catering. I can’t eat ‘out’ for 3 meals a day for 7 or more days - I’d end up feeling ill. I love eating out but would find it stressful finding somewhere to eat twice a day every day. And the all inclusive buffet is my idea of hell.

I feel similarly that I wouldnt like to eat out 7 consecutive days, I dont mind a breakfast buffet but not a fan of lukewarm hot buffets for main meals. When we go away, DH often does more cooking and we eat out maybe half the days so even self catering, it still feels like a break from the norm.

If you live somewhere that other people might want to visit you can save a fortune by doing a home swap, eg
www.guardianhomeexchange.co.uk/

(There are other websites.)

It depends on accommodation too.

I noticed that self catering cottages and air bnbs had gone up massively in price.

However, hotels and bnbs don't seem to have increased as much.

We've just booked a bnb on the coast for half the price they wanted on airbnb!

Lucky you lazylinguist but I don't even have 10 extended family. Sounds nice though I hope you have a nice holiday. I guess a lot of this kind of thing depends on peoples situations and budgets.

We don't usually go with extended family. It's usually just the 4 of us and we stay in small, pretty inexpensive self-catering places. Still never had a grotty one - they've always been nice. Or we camp. I far prefer self-catering, because I like a house/apartment to chill out in, where it's just us. When the dc were young, I wouldn't have dreamed of doing hotel holidays. What do you do in the evening while the dc are in bed?

We’ve been house swapping since 2011. Awesome. Didn’t bother with the guardian site too many Brits homelink is better as lots of Spanish and German families keen to swap to improve their kids English.

The belief that the holiday options in the UK are cottages, campsites or city breaks shows how much people underestimate what is available here. A cottage is probably as good fit if you rent a villa abroad but, hold the front page, there are hotels if you define holiday as break from cooking. We have stayed in hotels with breakfast and dinner included and grabbed lunch out and about. We've had a long weekend full board in a castle, we've self catered in lodges and cottages and we've "glamped" and eaten out in pubs and restaurants. There is a huge range of options and to dismiss spa hotels, boutique hotels cheap practical travel lodge type hotels, B&Bs, airb&bs, historical rentals (e.g. light houses), activity holidays and a thousand other options as cottages with sticky floors/dated decor is decidedly short sighted.

Absolutely. Lamdmark trust do (did?) Some really unique places to stay .

“But if you are happy with a slightly dated cottage in the countryside, lots of fresh air and outdoor activities, then it's perfect“

We stayed in a place near St. Ives a couple of years ago that was so swanky I was frightened to touch anything! Copper baths, air conditioning, rising and falling bed TVs and extractor fans, robot hoover. Even the sun loungers had remote controls! Frightened the life out of me

We’re Cornish, live elsewhere for work. Guessing the owners weren’t local, tbf. Not your average Cornish home.

There is a huge range of options....

You can stay in an Oxford or Cambridge college, or in accommodation at many other universities.

Another vote for Northumberland, going in September, can't wait, been three times now.