To think it's more of expensive to holiday in the UK?

[hibbledibble]

Like many, I holidayed in the UK this year, due to covid complicating trips abroad. I work in person for the NHS, and can't risk having to isolate on return, if a country's status changes.

I do feel utterly ripped off though. The holiday hasn't been anything extravagant, just driving to a self catering accommodation. The accomodation costs are astronomical, as are eating out and day trips (many days were nearly £100, and that wasn't even including food). I have looked at TUI and it would have been cheaper to get an all inclusive package, and that way I wouldn't have to cook, clean, and could even have used the kids club for some child free time by the pool.

Instead I've had tepid to cold weather, rain, and didn't even get to go to the beach on our seaside holiday as it was too cold.

Not sure what to do in future. I can't afford expensive UK holidays anymore, but not can I risk letting down my department by having to isolate.

dyrne No specific suggestions, apart from the real family holidays one, which looks interesting, but I'm not sure if they are still running based on their website (a lot of broken links, including the one for booking, and no dates this year).

Totally willing to be convinced. I have searched extensively on various booking websites for UK breaks, and they have all been very expensive. If you do no of any cheap gems then do share, or be prepared to admit they don't exist.

The 'tips for cheap holidays' don't work if the accomodation itself is very expensive, this is the first stumbling block.

It's the parking costs that are extortionate here too, a trip to the beach on holiday and the car parks are astronomical. Even driving around Spain, never had to pay for beach parking.

@hibbledibble

Still haven't had a single suggestion for a cheap UK, from those who say I am unreasonable. If these do exist, then please share! I'm willing to be convinced.

No one is going to act as your personal travel agent for free! You haven't even suggested dates or areas yet have shouted down anyone who has tried to help.

There is cheap AND decent accommodation out there but not in the most popular areas like Cornwall or Dorset in the school holidays booked last minute. Go North, it's cheaper. Go to Wales, Scotland or Ireland if you're in England for example.

Most of all don't expect a TUI all inclusive holiday with kids club if your booking self catering in the UK. If you go into it this negatively it will be miserable and a waste of money. Change your mind set or just stay home and save yourself the misery as your setting it up to fail.

@bellamountain

It's the parking costs that are extortionate here too, a trip to the beach on holiday and the car parks are astronomical. Even driving around Spain, never had to pay for beach parking.

We went to Scotland for 12 days, spent the whole time visiting different coastal places and didn't spend a single penny on parking. Went to Northumberland today and spent £6 for all day parking by the sea which seemed a lot but other than lunch that was all we spent so on reflection not bad for a full day's entertainment.

ceecee I haven't shouted down anyone. I just haven't seen any suggestions.

Since you are asking, I'm willing to travel anywhere in the UK, and looking for school holiday dates. Pretty open minded.

This isn't about being a 'personal travel agent', I have just asked for a single affordable suggestion, if they exist. People are prepared to say lots do, but can't link or name a single one. Seems strange..

I haven't said that I'm expecting a kids club or all inclusive, I'm have just mentioned this to compare value.

bell you are absolutely right regarding parking. It's extortionate.

@hibbledibble

ceecee I haven't shouted down anyone. I just haven't seen any suggestions.

Since you are asking, I'm willing to travel anywhere in the UK, and looking for school holiday dates. Pretty open minded.

This isn't about being a 'personal travel agent', I have just asked for a single affordable suggestion, if they exist. People are prepared to say lots do, but can't link or name a single one. Seems strange..

I haven't said that I'm expecting a kids club or all inclusive, I'm have just mentioned this to compare value.

I've just given you the answer - go North or to other parts of the UK. I won't be linking to the places I frequent as then the whole world will book them up and force the prices up, you need to do your own research. You also mention 3 bedroomed accommodation which I am sure isn't what you get with TUI, so probably not a fair comparison. I normally book 2 bed cottages and the kids share in the UK but it depends on how many are going. I'd normally just do a one bed apartment abroad. TUI don't exactly specialise in luxury, I work in travel and actively avoid them having stayed in a complete hovel the last time I used them, and them actively cocking up transfers etc. The places I book in the UK (cottages, lodges, hotels even luxury caravans) are all superior to any TUI holiday I've been on. I attach no value to kids clubs or all inclusive, I like food to be ordered from a menu and served to me. Abroad I book self catering as I like an apartment but just eat out. It's a similar price to AI but better quality food. This also works in the UK although I'm prepared to throw a couple of pizzas in the oven and pop the dishwasher on after as I don't consider that "housework" or something that will ruin my holiday. Takeaways also work well on UK breaks.

I don't book UK breaks with any kind of work discount, I just look carefully which takes time and effort. This summer I paid precisely £471.50 for a week in a very nice cottage, well located in a popular destination. Sea view, private parking space, stayed in the summer school holidays. No need to slave in the kitchen when you can eat locally caught crab and lobster. It also offered free cancellation up to 24 hours before. It exists, many worthy places exist. I'm sick of saying this as people just bleat they don't believe me. I don't need to prove it, you need to find it.

@hibbledibble

ceecee I haven't shouted down anyone. I just haven't seen any suggestions.

Since you are asking, I'm willing to travel anywhere in the UK, and looking for school holiday dates. Pretty open minded.

This isn't about being a 'personal travel agent', I have just asked for a single affordable suggestion, if they exist. People are prepared to say lots do, but can't link or name a single one. Seems strange..

I haven't said that I'm expecting a kids club or all inclusive, I'm have just mentioned this to compare value.

If you’re convinced we’re all lying to you then what’s the point of us going to the effort of linking you specific instances?

This isn’t some vast conspiracy. People aren’t deliberately choosing to pay extra to prove some sort of weird point about holidaying in the UK.

I love going abroad; I love holidaying in the UK. Both are fantastic in their own ways and nobody is forcing you to go on holiday in the UK if you don’t want to…

I have looked North too ceecee and haven't seen anything near what you have described. I don't know if you booked a long time ago. I don't have that luxury due to the nature of my job and rotas. I'm not asking for a link publicly, but feel free to pm examples, if these places are still available. I imagine they are not. The 'north' is also a pretty big place!

Dyrne I don't understand the secrecy, it's a bit like a freemasons here. People saying, yes these places do exist, but giving little clue as to how to find them.

Feel free to pm you? No I won't waste my time, I will continue to book them myself or share with my friends, not randoms online who haven't endeared themselves to anyone. Gems are kept secret so they stay gems. You will hate them anyway and it will be a waste as your heart's not in it and you'll compare them to TUI.

I love UK holidays, we do several a year but I also love going abroad. They are very different and should be approached and enjoyed differently. I sometimes book early, last year I booked very late. It's the luck of the draw and to what's available last minute and being flexible is key. I tend to look at the best prices then narrow them down by location and amenities before choosing rather than thinking I will holiday in X. I sometimes book places direct, or through Hoseasons or Airbnb. I never use places like Expedia, Trivago or booking.com. No reason why, I just cut out the middle man where I can. Airbnb is the exception and excellent for good deals, hosts will normally tell you to book direct thereafter as it's cheaper. You have to spend a lot of time reading reviews and facilities. There is no secret club you're excluded from, it's hard work and you have up put the effort in. Oh and I tend to go to Scotland these days. That's the most advice I'll give you, it's over to you now.

It's always expensive because you're 'going' somewhere with the same economy as you're 'coming from'. There's no change of economy that means you stretch your money by going somewhere it buys you more.

ie £1 buys you £1 worth of goods or services vs some countries where £1 buys you what would be £2 worth of value where you come from.

@hibbledibble

ceecee I haven't shouted down anyone. I just haven't seen any suggestions.

Since you are asking, I'm willing to travel anywhere in the UK, and looking for school holiday dates. Pretty open minded.

This isn't about being a 'personal travel agent', I have just asked for a single affordable suggestion, if they exist. People are prepared to say lots do, but can't link or name a single one. Seems strange..

I haven't said that I'm expecting a kids club or all inclusive, I'm have just mentioned this to compare value.

Why would people lie about it? 🤣 What sites do you use when looking in the U.K.?

@CeeceeBloomingdale I disagree about Tui. We had a gorgeous 3 bed villa in Kefalonia with them a couple of years ago. It had a pool, beautiful gardens and was on a cliff with the most amazing sea view. With flights and car hire it came to £1300, first week of September.

It is more expensive, yes. And the other problem I’ve found is that the UK tourist industry really isn’t geared up for solo travellers - hotel rooms are a set price, obvs, but any packages or ”experiences” are based on 2 sharing etc. Ask how much it is for one and it nearly doubles.

I’ve asked about things a couple of times and found the “nearly doubling” thing (and you do have to ask because it seems unusual to find places that actually cater for people on their own and who don’t want to share with a random stranger), so I’ve said I’ll save my money and go abroad where it’s not much different in price between sharing and not.

The places I’ve spoken to have said, in effect, that they don’t need my money and they’re needing to recoup last year’s losses, so good luck to them next year when people can head off to Spain again and leave the rip-off merchants behind. I certainly will be heading abroad.

People always say this but when we’ve looked for five of us the costs are stilll far higher. Flights alone more than the cost of the holiday. You’d still be paying for days out when you get there. It was only ever cheaper for us to do this before we had kids.

I really dont understand where people are finding these cheap holidays abroad.

This year 3 of us went to a Haven type place in the UK.
Caravan cost £600, and the travel was a 2 hour drive, so not too expensive.

I have just had a look at Tui for same week next year. The cheapest it is showing is self catering in Majorca at £1612. We would hate to sit by the beach or pool all day, so once added day trips, as we do in the UK, it would be even more.

That is so far out of my budget it's unbelievable. So another year in a UK caravan for us.

It does depend on how many people you're taking, obviously. Abroad was cheaper growing up in my family but there were 3 of us and 1st child was free on packages, so I slept on a camp bed in a hotel room or on the sofa bed of a 1-bed apartment. If you need 5 proper beds as you have 3 teenagers then TUI comes up as about £4k for a week in Majorca all inclusive. That's 2 bedrooms and 1 kid in the lounge, and in Sept so not school holidays!

The irony is I have been holidaying UK as I felt I couldn't afford to go abroad, and I would dearly love for this to be a possibility. Maybe next year prices will normalise.

Sure, no one 'needs' a holiday, but after the utterly shitty time I have had at work the past year, including working on covid wards, I feel I could do with some time away. Unless you have worked on covid wards in a very resource stretched hospital, then you cannot understand how horrific it was, and the difficult decisions that staff had to make.

There have been some very bizarre responses, of yes these places exist, but not telling you about, so nah nah. It seems very childish. In any other thread, if someone made an improbable assertion, they would rightly be asked to back it up with evidence, and would do so.

@Zorinindustries

I really dont understand where people are finding these cheap holidays abroad. This year 3 of us went to a Haven type place in the UK. Caravan cost £600, and the travel was a 2 hour drive, so not too expensive.

I have just had a look at Tui for same week next year. The cheapest it is showing is self catering in Majorca at £1612. We would hate to sit by the beach or pool all day, so once added day trips, as we do in the UK, it would be even more.

That is so far out of my budget it's unbelievable. So another year in a UK caravan for us.

We can easily spend a good 4/5 hours on at least 5 days on different beaches when abroad, we swim in the sea a lot, go snorkelling, go for a drink/lunch or lay on the beach and read.

We are child free, but people with DC will make sandcastles, rock pool, also swim/snorkel, play ball games etc. So not doing nothing/boring at all and obviously doesn't cost anything. We wouldn't spend that long on a UK beach as it's rarely warm enough to spend a lot of time in the sea or just laying there.

I've already posted how in Mallorca, the nearest equivalent to visiting Lands End, which costs £££s is free apart from very reasonably priced if you buy food/drink while there. If you stay in a hotel, the pool often has slides etc, so will amuse DC for a while. We also just like to sit outside or lay on a sunlounger and read for hours. Something else that you can rarely do in the UK.

Many people can go to France on the ferry for similar to what you're paying for a UK caravan and it's likely that the weather will be better so feels more of a holiday.

BarbaraofSeville, I guess it depends on what you like doing.
The days you described on the beach would bore me senseless. Ds is 13 so too old to build sandcastles etc but not old enough to enjoy lying around reading.
And Dd refuses to go anywhere near water, she would have to spend at least 45 min after washing and drying her hair! :)

To be fair, if I spent my day lying around reading I'd feel it was a waste of money. I can read a book in my own lounge.

If I'm somewhere new, I like to see the place, I get a fear I might miss something interesting, so like to do as many local attractions as possible.

On my last holiday we did a castle, a day on the seafront with mini golf, little train, rides, shops etc, a museum, and a day doing craft activities, a trip to the zoo (not my favourite, but the DC enjoyed it)

But ferry to France sounds interesting, I'll look into that.

@hibbledibble

The irony is I have been holidaying UK as I felt I couldn't afford to go abroad, and I would dearly love for this to be a possibility. Maybe next year prices will normalise.

Sure, no one 'needs' a holiday, but after the utterly shitty time I have had at work the past year, including working on covid wards, I feel I could do with some time away. Unless you have worked on covid wards in a very resource stretched hospital, then you cannot understand how horrific it was, and the difficult decisions that staff had to make.

There have been some very bizarre responses, of yes these places exist, but not telling you about, so nah nah. It seems very childish. In any other thread, if someone made an improbable assertion, they would rightly be asked to back it up with evidence, and would do so.

The only reason I’m not taking time out of my day to find you a lovely cheap U.K. holiday is because with the attitude you’ve displayed on here so far I imagine you’ll come back with ‘but look, on TUI you can have a week in Benidorm that same week for £199’.

This reminds me of "give me one good thing about brexit" threads.

84% have agreed that it's more of expensive to holiday in the UK

A few have said it isn't necessarily.

You're like a remainer on those brexit threads saying "I am honestly willing to be convinced" - why can't you just accept that 84% agree with you?

I not sure what the point of the thread is anyway - are you suggesting something should be done to make UK holidays cheaper?
What?
and by whom?

The point made above about solo travel is a valid one.