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?

@StrongerOrWeaker

I like weekends away in the UK but no more than that.

I agree. UK holidays hold absolutely no appeal to me what so ever. Unless I can spend my holiday chilling the sun and eating and drinking al fresco into the night, I'm not interested

The Norfolk & Suffolk coast varies from v touristy to out of the way & quiet to quaint with boats & than you have the broads where you can small hire day boats & their are woods & places to see seals or bird sanctuary's
pretty villages ( with great food pubs!)Market Towns & historic buildings & castles
& windmills!

I adore Wales. Pembrokeshire, Brecon Beacons, Snowdownia, anywhere. A self contained cottage for a wonderful retreat away of peace and solitude

Staying on a boat on the Norfolk Broads is fabulous. Admittedly the weather can make or break it, but if you are lucky with the weather you'll think you've died and gone to heaven. Even if it rains, if you want to relax inside the boat with a good book and some music, watching the ducks and swans go by it's still a holiday.

UK holidays hold absolutely no appeal to me what so ever. Unless I can spend my holiday chilling the sun and eating and drinking al fresco into the night, I'm not interested

Fair enough, horses for courses. But in light of current restrictions and the uncertainty of whether a working person can afford to go abroad without having to factor in a suddenly imposed quarantine or paying for a ton of tests, some people just need a break wherever they can get it.

Loads of gorgeous places! What do you enjoy?

Book a Travelodge in a beautiful area where there’s a lot to do. Use it as a base to sleep and shower and get out and about. The one in Halifax is in a converted mill, it’s nice. From there you can go to Howarth, Hebden Bridge, Saltaire, the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, numerous NT properties. You can walk on the moors, have pub lunches, go to Bradford for a great curry. A great holiday for not much money.

@Miljea
'Hence Spain. Where a 'day in' isn't box sets or board games, watching the rain; it's sitting in the shade beside the infinity pool at your private villa, as the sun climbs higher, then putting something interesting together from stuff sourced from a local market, drinking a bottle of 4 euro red'
That sounds heavenly!

If you live down south, head to Lincolnshire- there is something about the space that feels so different- because the land is quite flat the sky seems vast. And some lovely towns and villages to explore

UK holidays hold absolutely no appeal to me what so ever. Unless I can spend my holiday chilling the sun and eating and drinking al fresco into the night, I'm not interested

Which is exactly what we did in Devon a couple of weeks ago. I came back with sunburn. We lazed in the most stunning, other worldly spots, we sat outside drinking and eating food we don’t usually eat at home.

Unless I can spend my holiday chilling the sun

I love the idea that you spend your holidays trying to cool the sun down.

@NewLifeInTheSouth

UK holidays hold absolutely no appeal to me what so ever. Unless I can spend my holiday chilling the sun and eating and drinking al fresco into the night, I'm not interested

Fair enough, horses for courses. But in light of current restrictions and the uncertainty of whether a working person can afford to go abroad without having to factor in a suddenly imposed quarantine or paying for a ton of tests, some people just need a break wherever they can get it.

I get that and I was caught in the testing issues last year when mandatory testing was introduced after we booked our holiday and we lost our holiday and our money because the testing company couldn't cope with demand though strangely that company are now one of the governments approved release from quarantine testing companies - hmmm

I appreciate everyone likes different things but other than the odd weekend away in the UK (as I have a few friends who live in various towns on the coast) I'd rather wait until places like Greece and Malta are on the green list

There are loads and loads of places.It depends what you like to do. DH and I go for weekends away into the countryside. We choose a gastro pub or restaurant with rooms above it - usually really stylish and half the price of hotels. We go for country or coastal walks, visit local EH or NT gardens and sometimes the houses too, have really good dinners, lazy breakfasts with the papers and long baths with champagne.

There are so many places. Choose a corner of UK you can get to easily and don't know well. The Cotswolds are gorgeous. So is Wilshire, so are Kent, Suffolk, Norfollk. Further north, Northumberland is stunning, Lancashire around the Ribble Vale. Or the Yorkshire Dales, the Lakes, the Peaks. Pretty much anywhere in Cornwall, Devon, Dorset or Somerset.

If you like cities, Bristol is an amazing city break. Bath is pretty. Edinburgh is stunning. Oxford, Cambridge, Durham, Canterbury, York.

I don't know Wales that well, but it's stunning too. So much of the UK is incredibly pretty.

I wouldn't recommend a holiday let in Scarborough Old Town, because if you come there will be even less parking for residents this summer. Anyway I think they are all full booked out 😁

I find it really odd when people say they don’t count the U.K. as a place for a holiday. The UK is a fab place to live so there are fabulous places to holiday! Loads of green countryside, beaches, hills, lovely cities...I guess people maybe mean the weather is unpredictable, but does that always have to spoil a holiday? Tripping over museums, galleries, theatres, children’s activities...

Yes I’d say it’s better than nothing!

Holiday cottages etc. are expensive in the uk, but for the two of you, guest houses, b and b’s and hotels all vary in price, and some are good value, especially mid week.

Lots of options available. Although certain tourist hotspots could be booked up, there are many lovely areas in the uk to visit.

If you get the weather I agree it’s awesome. We fluked when kids tiny and we couldn’t face going far and had a boiling week in wales it was like the Caribbean. But my memories of Wales as a child are grey rain which sorry doesn’t do it for me summer holiday wise!

Its a great time for a city break and attractions are opening back up again but without masses of overseas visitors. I do understand this is bad news for the businesses concerned but a great time for us to visit the things on our own door step and hopefully plug that gap for them. There are some incredible deals at the types of hotel that business people usually use, so Holiday Inn Express and similar. Its possible to get rooms at these for £50-60 a night in London at the moment and it's such a great city to explore.

@MsTSwift

If you get the weather I agree it’s awesome. We fluked when kids tiny and we couldn’t face going far and had a boiling week in wales it was like the Caribbean. But my memories of Wales as a child are grey rain which sorry doesn’t do it for me summer holiday wise!

I do remember a week in the IOW when my son was little and we struck gold with the weather. So much so we had to make a trip to Next to quickly buy beachwear as we wasn't prepared for it being that warm.

But for me, the weather is crucial for my enjoyment, even for a day out. I don't want to spend several days cold, wet or trapping round indoors finding things to do.

Each to their own and we all like different so if people do enjoy UK holidays, I say go for it

But the comments that people who only like foreign holidays are lacking something or must enjoy Benidorm - what absolute bizarre shallow incorrect snobbery

Agree with every word Sam. Actually it’s a curse being a sun lover and born English I should have been Spanish 😁

Book an Airbnb or similar anywhere you like. Then figure out stuff to do. I've been to two random locations on the Welsh borders for long weekends in the past couple of months (one in Herefordshire & one in Shropshire) and had a great time once I got to each location just by finding things to do each day - exploring EH castle ruins, local beauty spots, wandering round parks, reading, visiting cute local towns, wild swimming, etc. Just book somewhere & go.

My ex refused to holiday in the uk and always made it his mission to spend as many days of his annual leave out of the county as he could. I found it quite sad and depressing that despite all his foreign holidays he'd hardly seen any of the UK - the country he was born in and had lived in all his life.

Don't get me wrong, I love going abroad and experiencing different cultures but I also love seeing and learning more about the country I live in!! The uk is beautiful and has such rich history.

We had a really nice weekend in Rye pre-children. other places in the UK we've been and really liked are Southwold, Padstow, Portland (Dorset), St Davids (and Pembrokeshire in general), a road trip around the Scottish Highlands, Whitby - there are loads of beautiful places to go in the UK :)

I hated U.K. holidays when I was little so I was quite set against them but actually we’ve had some lovely ones, I guess my tastes and where I like to go are just different to my parents.
I remember my parents being stressed out all holiday and that was never any fun. There was a relentless itinerary and we didn’t stay in the nicest places.

I would advise against Cornwall during peak times unless you don’t mind paying over the odds. U.K. holidays can be expensive generally though so make sure you don’t book something you’re half hearted about or you’ll really begrudge it.