To ask you to find me a (less popular) holiday?

[Goingagainstthegrain]

Have one 4yo. We were all set to stay at home and miss the summer holiday rush, then book for September/October but DH has been told he has to take a week off work at the beginning of August. He doesn't fancy sitting in our house looking at these same four walls as we've been staring at for the past year. Nor do our usual local days out/attractions have any pull for him since we've done them to death.

We'd usually go to the seaside (south-west way) but turns out millions of people have the same idea this year, I wonder why ! So not much available and I imagine it's going to be rammed...

Where can we go that's different to where we are at the moment (London suburb) but not popular as a holiday destination? We don't mind what type of holiday - city breaks, moors, inland, mountains etc. - but just want to go somewhere, anywhere else but where we are!!!

Any suggestions for killing a week?

We went to Northumberland coast a couple of years ago and it was absolutely lovely

Northumberland, mid Wales rather than snowdon or the Brecon Beacons.
A different city? Manchester, York?

Could you choose an activity/attraction that you would like visit that is not in a traditionally touristy place, then build your holiday around that?

Look at what’s available on the youth hostels website. They do private rooms now and most also sell meals (but you can still self-cater if you want to).

East Midlands? Visit the Space museum in Leicester, go to Nottingham/Sherwood forest, Peak District, lots of National Trust type places. Lots to do without being a tourist hot spot.

Another vote for Northumberland. Although it's a loooooong way from London! And a lot of northerners will of course be holidaying there too, I wouldn't want to drive all the way to Cornwall to be ripped off for parking and ice cream, so it's probably going to be far busier than it was when we visited in late June.

Bit of a long way but many beaches empty in NI if you know where to go. My in laws live in Portaferry and on Saturday afternoon it was 31 degrees - they send a pic of them enjoying a local beach with only 12 other people on it! Generally due to lower populations it's really easy to do things/park here.

We went to arbroath yrs ago. very quiet

City break, eg Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester. Places that don't scream 'tourist'. So avoiding Edinburgh, for example. Any medium-to-large town will have something different for you to experience.

We know someone with an air B&B in the cotswolds usual number of hits 12,000 currently 25,000

City break probably the best tbh.

Actually I meant 1,200 to 25,000!

I’m off to Scotland in August. A combo of Edinburgh and Loch Lomond. There’s some
Lovely beaches along the East coast.

We're thinking maybe city break if we can find a hotel with a pool (to trick DC into thinking this is a "proper" holiday ). Chester or Manchester might be good. I think Northumberland is just a little too far for us (and it's so nice there we'd probably just swap the southern England crowds for Northern England crowds!).

@RandomMess. I can well imagine! I think we're best going to where all the holidaymakers are coming from!

There are temporary camping sites In Cornwall in places such as Bedruthan Steps. These are often on farms so simple facilities.

How about Cardiff. Can go see St Fagans, go down the bay and have a day at the beach at Barry Island or Porthcawl or St Donuts

www.booking.com/hotel/gb/private-detached-annex-near-village-with-shops-pubs.en-gb.html?aid=304142;label=gen173nr-1DCAEoggI46AdIM1gEaFCIAQGYAQm4ARfIAQzYAQPoAQGIAgGoAgO4Apav24cGwAIB0gIkNzVmOTJlNTYtYzEyYS00MjE4LWI5ODYtNDRiODEwZjdiODlj2AIE4AIB;sid=0ab7093e8c7c6c815b6de671b7dc5f3d;age=4&atlas_src=hp_iw_title&checkin=2021-08-01&checkout=2021-08-07&dist=0&group_adults=2&group_children=1&no_rooms=1&room1=A%2CA%2C4&sb_price_type=total&srepoch=1626789972&srpvid=575662fd1454019b&type=total&

Castle Coch and Cardiff castle are worth a visit too

We're off camping in Mid-Wales. We usually the campsite is full in the summer holidays but you get the odd pitch free for a couple of nights.

This time every pitch is booked for every night and we were told that the ones not paying in full on time were having their holidays cancelled because they had so many people waiting for pitches.

Agree that inland might be better.

The Peak District sounds nice with a trip to Alton Towers? As a PP said lots of NT properties and there are things to do on quieter days.

How about Chester? Chester itself is lovely, there's the Zoo as well and you could drive to the Wirral for a beach day.

Ah just seen hotel with pool. This one is nice though not in the centre of Cardiff

www.booking.com/hotel/gb/viilagehotelcardiff.en-gb.html?aid=304142;label=gen173nr-1DCAEoggI46AdIM1gEaFCIAQGYAQm4ARfIAQzYAQPoAQGIAgGoAgO4Apav24cGwAIB0gIkNzVmOTJlNTYtYzEyYS00MjE4LWI5ODYtNDRiODEwZjdiODlj2AIE4AIB;sid=0ab7093e8c7c6c815b6de671b7dc5f3d;age=4;all_sr_blocks=21726827_91467008_0_2_0;checkin=2021-07-31;checkout=2021-08-07;dest_id=-2591777;dest_type=city;dist=0;group_adults=2;group_children=1;hapos=1;highlighted_blocks=21726827_91467008_0_2_0;hpos=1;no_rooms=1;req_adults=2;req_age=4;req_children=1;room1=A%2CA%2C4;sb_price_type=total;sr_order=popularity;sr_pri_blocks=21726827_91467008_0_2_0__87880;srepoch=1626790303;srpvid=3fbf63cfe41c007f;type=total;ucfs=1&#hotelTmpl

I would think Scunthorpe might be quiet? 😁

Actually I meant 1,200 to 25,000.

Oh my Random, that's some increase!

@grannycake

We went to Northumberland coast a couple of years ago and it was absolutely lovely

Northumberland is stunning BUT beaches there have featured in so many awards lists/newspaper articles this year I think you might find it's extremely busy and booked up.

On a more constructive note, one of our friends with a young family was exploring the Chichester area, where there's a lido and some resorts around Somerford Keynes. They ended up visiting family (in Northumberland funnily enough!) instead so I can't give any further info but might be worth exploring?

Isle of Man?

Actually forget I said that ..... ok it's usually quiet enough there though