Anyone else find U.K. holidays hard work and exhausting?

[Swimminglesson7]

With young(ish) children, I find U.K. breaks a big effort. Glamping in cold, rainy woodlands, staying in a holiday cottage and driving to a heaving beach daily…

Having to pack for every weather eventuality: sandals and factor 50, jumpers and wellies.

Am I alone in finding U.K. holidays to be not-quite-holidays?! The kids are having a blast. But I’m sick of lugging picnics and bodyboards and water bottles from one spot to another, then cooking and cleaning endless meals in a cottage or glamping site. I feel like I’m almost entirely servicing their fun.

(Meant to be lighthearted!)

I've just had a lovely holiday self catering in the UK. I don't find hotel holidays that restful. Kid who can't go to kids club anyway due to special needs. And has major food issues so it ends up stressful trying to find some acceptable food in AI places. Needs rest days, which in a hotel means sitting in the hotel room, yay.

Our cottage is lovely. We've eaten out or had ready meals. Booked a place with a hot tub so it feels special. I can read my book in peace. We didn't go to Cornwall like every other person. Beaches are sandy sensory overload hellholes anyway. We've been to some nice museums, done some nice walks, just chilled. It's been really lovely.

I understand why some people only like a holiday abroad. But for us, it's just so much stress.

Most of us are knackered and past the point of exhaustion. I think that is why SC feels me with dread. Relentless home school, and eating, baking 'for fun', cooking for 'fun' cleaning the house morning, noon and night to avoid getting rats due to the sheer amount being chowed down, it is not many people's idea of fun after two sodding lockdowns. I hate cooking now, I hate baking, I hate family bloody board games, family crafting, family walks, I am positively allergic to all of it thanks to the pandemic.

I know what you mean. I was offered a week's SCing at mate's rates recently--I thanked the friend very much, but said no. I live in a country where restrictions have been light compared to the UK, but still. I had 10 weeks last year of two kids at home, cooking three meals a day (and clearing up after them), cleaning up endless mess and snacks caused by having children around the house all day, no cleaner, no grandma help. I think it's permanently put me off cooking. It's not a holiday unless someone else is catering, as far as I am concerned.

The bloody cost is off the scale and it just does not match the freedom of going abroad. Same old, different place. Even self catering abroad is more fun with the markets and products in supermarkets. And eating out is usually cheaper and far better. The weather is unpredictable in the UK, you have to drive and spend money for crap attractions. The cost of entry here is far more than many places abroad

All of this, plus the mean and grudging hospitality from too many service providers

If I'm after lovely scenery I can go 20 miles up the road for the day, but for an actual holiday I want something more than can be found in the UK (and I want it in the sun)

When we got (to the small zoo) yesterday we learned that their pricing policy is ‘dynamic’. This means that after a long weekend of torrential rain they got a sunny day and decided to hike the prices

Dear god it gets worse I get seasonal prices or maybe more on a bank holiday, but not swapping about day by day

Out of interest how do they square this on the website? Does it say "Admission £x, but we'll charge more if we feel like it on the day"?

@stepupandbecounted

I think we all need a five day spa break with childcare paid for by the government for getting through the last two years. It is the least they can do.

Most of us are knackered and past the point of exhaustion. I think that is why SC feels me with dread. Relentless home school, and eating, baking 'for fun', cooking for 'fun' cleaning the house morning, noon and night to avoid getting rats due to the sheer amount being chowed down, it is not many people's idea of fun after two sodding lockdowns. I hate cooking now, I hate baking, I hate family bloody board games, family crafting, family walks, I am positively allergic to all of it thanks to the pandemic.

Amen to this @stepupandbecounted

To the person who mentioned high end large French campsites. Amen to that if you have children or even teens— especially in the south. Great water parks, beaches around lakes (or at coast) , good on site and quite cheap restaurants and serving hatches where you take saucepans and they fill it with that days dish of the day— book the higher end statics with verandas etc and you are sorted. Kids of all nationalities get together. Combine with odd days out and I found it worked really well by being abroad yet casual and I never cooked ! Also sat outside with wine chatting to other families in same position when kids asleep . I think UK holidays may work for families who like a lot of outdoor stuff cycling , bodyboarding etc in all weathers and are very self contained as a family, but personally I like the company of others in the mix and consistent weather

If the UK ever wants to make UK holidays affordable, there will need to be some serious thought about staggering summer holidays region by region (complicated but might be possible--England and Scotland have different holidays already), OR starting a system where children get XX days of "leave" every year, with families having to take responsibility for catching up on any work. Not sure how workable either of those are, though.

@Funnylittlefloozie

You're doing it wrong. Leave the kids with grandma and you go for a luxurious week in a Highland spa hotel. Its a much better way of doing a UK holiday.

I think the average family do not have the luxury of leaving their children with a grandma…maybe grandpa instead 😊

Yes agree

You're not wrong. Normally we self-cater somewhere in the Northern half of France so I don't expect a tropical climate but being in a different country just makes it feel more like a holiday. Also, accommodation and attractions in the UK just seem so much more expensive.

The dc are over excited so I feel like I'm telling them to stop running/ shouting constantly, I'll be happy to get home and have decided to leave tomorrow afternoon

Your kids are having a lovely time so you decide to pack up and go home early? Good lord, there are some really miserable people on this thread. No wonder you’re all having shit holidays with your attitude!

To the person who mentioned high end large French campsites.

Camping is not my idea of a holiday, whether it’s in the UK or abroad. Not having a proper bed to sleep in is just absolutely miserable - I’d rather stay home!

Just got back from a week in an AirBNB in Cornwall with a 5 mo and a 4yo. I now need a break 😁

I honestly do think it's the "kids" part rather than the UK part though. We get AirBnB because we need the space and the ability to cook in - if we exclusively ate out we have to watch our eldest live on nothing but toast/chips/cheese sandwiches for a week. But then there's the washing up, and the cleaning, and the laundry... And suddenly you're just at home with a different view (and without all your stuff).

Tbh for me it's the DP who's hard work on holidays. Even before DC. He has very high but incredibly nebulous expectations of "enjoying himself", so ever day we have to plan activities, and then of course with the kids it's a bit of a chore, and he gets all despondent. But I remember from before kids he would often get fed up if he felt we weren't "making the most" of holidays, but when I asked him what that meant he didn't really know. I think to be frank the poor sod doesn't know how to relax. Which means I don't get to either! 😆

I have put my foot down now and said the next holiday we do, whether in the UK or abroad, needs to be based on a complex that has an indoor pool and a good play area. Those are the things my kids actually love and I want easy access to them. Days out are all very well but they're hard bloody work, and there's actually a lot of time to be filled around them which this time I'm sorry to say were largely filled with tablet 😳 so his snobbery about "resorts" will have to take a back seat at least until we have 2 primary age kids who can wipe their own bums!

I did it once a few years ago but never again! My idea of a holiday is heat, pools and at least half board food provision with my kids having a blast in a kids club or a water park. My second idea of a holiday is a fabulous city break during decent weather months, still staying in a lovely hotel and eating out.
Raining self catering in England doesn't do it for me as a holiday, although I like a weekend away visiting many of our historical towns and cities. I live in a nice part of the UK so when the sun is out I can easily visit a beach or national park. Otherwise I stat at home and save my money and undoubted resentment!

@NinaGonk

Yep I hear you OP. It's basically about filling in the hours and hoping you wear them out so you get a quiet night. Mine is 6 so I reckon I've got maybe 6 more summers to do this type of stuff. Bet I miss it then!

My kids are teenagers and I can confirm that you will NOT miss the holidays where you had to work all the time while your partner did nothing and said “ You should chill more “.

It was hard when they were babies/toddlers, especially with ds who has autism. However now it's good. We stay within walking distance of the beach, shopping delivery when we arrive, don't eat out (see above) and they carry stuff to the beach.

We’ve just come back from a holiday in the UK. We use air bnb as two of the kids are autistic so we need the space. We spent a week and a half away and I’m honestly knackered. DH couldn’t come as he broke his leg just before we left so my parents have come to help. Two of the kids have coeliac so eating out is very difficult. The teen (13) has moaned more than last year and I’m not sure I want to holiday with any of the kids again.

@domesticgoddess3. No, I don’t do camping either because I can’t stand communal washing facilities etc— but the top end static mobile homes are good on the French campsites - reasonable proper beds and bathrooms etc - we did Eurocamp and I couldn’t fault it