What the heck do I take on a self catering holiday?

[DancingWithYourDog]

Just that really. Going for a week in the U.K. with DS (11) on a self catering holiday. There’s just the two of us. Super excited but quite overwhelmed trying to think what to take. Obviously clothes and toiletries.

What about food? Can’t afford to eat out much but kitchen facilities look limited. Menu planning for the week feels risky until I’ve had a poke around the kitchen.

Games I suppose. Feel quite nervous I’ll get it wrong.

Top tips would be great!

Meal plan and take your favourite foods

Try and find out if you need to take stuff like washing up liquid, dishwasher tabs and te towels. Easy to pack a box of kitchen stuff like that if you need to and saves buying it all new.

I always find foil and sandwich bags useful for picnic lunches.

If you don't want to eat out much what about ordering a Hello Fresh or Gousto box to take with you?

If you are going by car, I always find it cheaper to take stuff like condiments, oil, foil, washing up liquid etc with me. Means that any shop you do will just be food needed.

I usually get an online shop delivered to where I'm staying to arrive the first evening. I go for easy things like pizza garlic bread and salad, plus a few treats. It's nice to have a pub meal or fish and chips if you can afford it otherwise it's a bit of a busman's holiday. Does it have Netflix for the evenings? Yes some games are good eg pack of cards but a lot of places will have them.

Check with owner what will be provided. Find out where nearest supermarket is for fresh stuff. Pack a bag to take from home with whatever your essentials are that you would resent paying for. We usually take a few store cupboard meals like pasta and sauce and baked beans. I pack a week's worth of tea bags, coffee, cereal, snacks like crisps, biscuits, a couple of bottles of wine, maybe bread, jam etc. Then buy milk, fruit, salad, cheese etc there. I sometimes splash out of ready meals which I wouldn't do at home but cheaper than eating out. Treat yourself to a couple of meals out - fish and chips needn't break the bank, or find out where's recommended on Trip Advisor. Check if you need to take your own dishwasher tablets, loo roll etc. Enjoy!

I pack heavy, so go around your kitchen and bathroom, tea towel, foil, cling film, washing up liquid, dishwasher tablet, sponge, kitchen roll, bin bags, soap, coffee, tea, butter, cereal, milk, toilet roll, toothpaste, towels etc you can always bring it home.

Food think different, tinned beans and sausages on your lap in front of the TV can be the best meal if unusual, or picnics even if they are in the accommodation , little wins are the aim of the trip, ice cream at midnight or marshmallows or hot chocolate before bed, it's not money that makes kids memories, have fun.

We go self catering, we take:
toilet rolls
soap
shampoo
kitchen roll
dishwasher tablets or washing up liquid

coffee, tea bags, sugar, milk, bread, cheese, butter, ham, cheese, pasta, pasta sauce, jam, marmalade, pizza, bacon, sausages, eggs, tomatoes, salad stuff.

I have a cool box and a couple of cooler bags to take food in.

Anything you buy on holiday will come home with you (if you are driving?) so unless you're forced to shop in an expensive corner shop and there is no supermarket nearby then I wouldn't take anything at all other than a sharp knife, salt and pepper and whatever to eat on the first evening/breakfast - depending on when you arrive.

I’d consider taking a good knife. I find they’re often rubbish in self catering accommodation.

Check (if the info is available) if you need towels, tea towels etc. I usually take a couple of teatowels, a toilet roll, kitchen roll, anti-bac spray and a cleaning cloth. Also handy is a small amount of oil, washing up liquid, salt and pepper etc. Things that you'll only need a small amount of. Also take a sharp knife. Almost no SC places have adequate sharp knives IME.
Depending on what time you plan to arrive you could potentially take a tupperware container of spag bol/curry/chili (or easy to heat alternative) to havethe first night. Agree foil/sandwich bags are also a good shout.

Foodwise I would bring a couple of jars of stuff that means you don’t need to do a massive shop to have a nice meal. I tend to bring pasta plus pesto pods, microwave rice pouches and a nice jar of curry sauce. Needs minimal / flex additions and if you don’t use them they come back home with you. Keep food basic and get some nice treats in as specials. Cake / popcorn / drinks etc

I always have a 'poorly box' so plasters, antiseptic cream, paracetamol, etc

What do you normally eat in a week ? What are your breakfasts ? Lunches ? Dinners ? Snacks ? Drinks ?

My husband and I go 'shopping' in our own kitchen before we go away on a self catering holiday.

Cornflakes
Sugar
Tea
Coffee
Marmalade
Marmite
A frozen loaf of bread (to defrost en route)

Non food:
Toilet paper
Shower gel
Shampoo
Hand Soap

On arrival at our destination we only need to go to the supermarket for milk, fruit, meat and treats

Take some clips, rubber bands, Tupperware or whatever else you normally use to store opened packets of things.

I would take all essential household items like: toilet rolls, kitchen rolls, salt, pepper, tomato sauce, brown sauce, jam, probably crisps and cake, chocolate. Also things like a tin opener and bottle opener.

You can do a food shop when you're there for your meals and then have the odd takeaway.

My advice is to take the essentials as then you can save money buying them all again when you're there. There will be probably be pots and pans but there's usually things missing like a tin opener.

salt / pepper / oil / herbs / cornflour
opener for: tins / beer / wine
kitchen roll / clingfilm / tin foil
squash / icecube tray
teabags / coffee / milk (some longlife for emergencies)
Biscuits & other munchies
coolbox / gel packs
fly paper
wash up sponge and liquid / dishwasher tablets (as applic)
try to buy food there, to support local economy

multi-socket extension cable
basic first aid and DIY
paper and pen

Tea
Coffee
Sugar
Tea towel / kitchen hand towel
Washing up liquid / dishwasher tablets
Soap powder / comfort
Oven glove
Oven tray
Kitchen roll
Bin liners
Antibacterial wipes
Loo roll
S&P
First aid kit
Paracetamol / ibuprofen / gaviscon
Pasta
Cereal
Small condiments (usually a mayo and a tomato ketchup)
Playing cards

Lots of great advice above. We usually also take a knife, as most self catering ones seem to be super blunt and useless!

Corkscrew.

Check if you need towels. Even bed linen depending on what kind of self catering you mean (I’d expect a cottage to provide bed linen, not necessarily a static caravan).

Kitchen stuff - washing up supplies (cloth/sponge/liquid), bin bags, kitchen paper, foil. Potentially tea towel and oven glove (again I’d expect towel provided in a cottage but not a caravan). Laundry powder if you intend to do washing. Dishwasher tablets if you have a dishwasher. Decent knife. Scissors. Hand soap.

Couple of toilet rolls.

I take batch cooked frozen meals for a couple of days - lasagna, chilli or casserole etc. That’s the first couple of days meals sorted out cheaply plus the big frozen blocks of food keep my cold box of milk, butter etc cold on the way down! I take basic other food too like cooking oil, pasta, jar of sauce, baked beans, breakfast cereal, stuff for sandwiches, biscuits etc.

Stuff to do - books, games, cards or whatever you would enjoy.

Oh my god tea and coffee hadn’t thought of that!
No Netflix but there’s a DVD player. We don’t have many dvds to take though because we have Netflix!
Love the idea of beans and sausages. Could have nachos one night too that’s quite easy.

We are driving yes, so can fill the boot if needed.

And just to mix it up a bit - take some containers and bags freezer blocks etc so you can do packed meals out if you fancy a change. I find self catering places quite bad for that kind of stuff. We used to do a picnic breakfast with a wrapped brioche, banana and a flask of coffee / hot chocolate. Kids loved it.

Breakfast stuff
Lunch stuff
Snacks
Play dinner by ear.

Everything mentioned so far plus your Netflix password and sky card from your box if they have sky, but remember to take it home!

Have a look on local Facebook groups. Many sell DVD bundles cheap and you can just resell when you get home