About holiday costs

[Chippychipschips]

I always holiday in the UK because it’s what I can afford plus I don’t really like travelling.

For some reason this choice always warrants a big lecture from people about how holidaying in the UK is too expensive so that’s why they go abroad.

I am all for people doing what they want but just think this is bullshit.

If I have a budget of £800 to spend on accommodation for a family of 4 the UK is my best option. Yes I know I won’t get the guaranteed sunshine or cheap dining but the UK is all I can afford.

What people actually mean when they say things like this is you can get more for your money abroad. This is probably true but if my budget doesn’t stretch to £3/4k for a weeks all inclusive then it’s not an option for me!

It really gets on my tits that people imply you are spending badly when they don’t realise choices are obviously dictated by budget!

It does bug me that the UK is overpriced but I still want to go on holiday. I could save for years to go abroad but if I’m not really bothered why can’t I enjoy a UK holiday once a year?

I know this is not a big issue but I have shared my holiday plans with 2 people this year only to be told how badly I am spending my money (by people with a lot more disposable income than me)!

@rookiemere

I was just thinking the same thing.
Totally irrelevant.

What is relevant is actually wanting to go to a particular place. I don't want to go to some random place in 'Europe' just because its cheap and warm. I don't like huge hotels, don't want wimming pools and nightlife.
I do very much want to to go to the little cottage in Barmouth, 2 minutes walk from the beach, close to the beach cafes and restaurants and 10 minutes walk from the railway station so we can zip up and down the coast to castles and steam railways. Ditto the flat on the Isle of Wight for our third time as we love it so much

Cyprus flights are incredibly expensive as are the homes ( I know this as we go twice a year ) . This year we switched one holiday with Portugal and flights where £430 for 5 of us plus teh villa was cheaper . You can also take the car if you fancy driving ? We have done it before for longer stays

Thanks, I will do. We have the flights but not the accommodation yet.

UK isn't always cheaper though. We've had a holiday in the UK last year and it cost £1350 for the caravan for the week. On top of that we had to pay petrol to get there, get back and whatever was used driving round for days out. We then had to budget for food, costs of days out, drinks if we went out on the evening etc. In total with all that, we spent a little over £2300 for a weeks holiday. We had no sun the week we were away either (in the summer hols)

Our second holiday was 10 days all inclusive last week of summer holidays. Including flights, airport parking and spending money, days out we spent £1800.

We booked abroad again for this summer holidays and got a fantastic deal. 14 nights, 4 star hotel, all inclusive plus flights and transfers is £2100.

The same caravan for the fortnight is coming in at £1950. No where particular fancy either, Northumberland.

The extra £150 is easier to find to go abroad than the extra money needed for spends, petrol, days out, activities, food and drink.

Yabu. It's cheaper to get the ferry to France and stay in a gites there, than a holiday cottage in the UK. Activities are also a lot cheaper there.

I went last year and stayed in beautiful huge places during the school holidays cheaply.

Ignore.
have you tried ready camp? Great holiday for kids, lots of locations and if you book early it’s very cheap. We’ve had brilliant times and already booked for this summer.

Had a look, thanks. It’s over £1100 for when we want to go to stay in a tent. Over £2k for a cabin. Oh well, thanks for link anyway.

All the Scottish people on here thinking how clever they are pointing out that their summer holidays start in June make me laugh. That's hardly of any use to the OP in her situation if she has to take English school holidays!

You might as well say "travel to the Algarve need only cost a few Euros. Granted, I live in southern Spain..."

Op didn’t state English school holidays though, did they? They stated “school holidays” - how do we know if they are English or not?

We don't know if she's English or not.

But your first suggestion for a cheap holiday starting on the 30th June is only of use if she's Scottish. Why assume she's Scottish?

Abroad is often cheaper if it’s not local holidays /German holidays for popular locations.

we did centreparcs in the Netherlands and even with crossing and extra fuel, it was cheaper than a UK one on the same dates, but local (and French) kids weren’t off so it was their low season. The English summer holidays match relatively closely to local ones so it’s really more expensive during the summer than the UK.

I hear you op!
We go self catering abroad and people are always telling me we would be better off going al inclusive! I don't want to go all inclusive and I never asked for an opinion.
My friends always holiday in Cornwall and pay 3-4K for two weeks. They get really cross as people are always saying they could go abroad for the same price. They don't want to! They go somewhere they want to go and are happy paying that price for where they want to go!! It is annoying how everyone always think a holiday abroad all inclusive is best!l. Best for them maybe but not for all of us.

Where the hell are people getting cheap flights too! Mine are 600 more than last year and we are going to mainland Spain in school hols?

I totally agree OP. Its not just the cost of flights or tunnel, but also the airport parking, travel insurance and if doing a long drive then hotels/petrol/food en route to final destination. FWIW we (family of 4) did 2 weeks in Brittany last summer - 10 days in a small mobile home on a nice campsite and 3 nights in a hotel, plus ferry, a few meals out and entry to 3 or 4 attractions for ~£2500, which I thought was quite good.

I assumed she is Scottish because I’m Scottish. Why would I choose the English holidays? Would you automatically assume the English holidays?

But school holidays or not - turkey is going to be very very cheap this year given the earthquake, so that’s not really a fair comparison as I wouldn’t be surprised if that holiday was been charged considerably more before the disaster.

plus with Turkey normally, the prices rise with German school holidays rather than English/Scottish ones.

There is nothing wrong with the OP preferring a specific UK holiday. However it is possible to holiday abroad for the same price or cheaper particularly if you use Airbnb if the OP would one day like something different. Some places are cheap to fly out to in August like Ireland. I’ve just bought flights to Madrid for 6 people in the school holidays for under £500. I expect to spend £500 on an Airbnb.

@Chippychipschips well… BA have flights to Barcelona for about £100 each in August ( that includes cabin bag and cabin sized case) and there are many, many apartments nearby for around £500. Maybe it’s a case of not knowing where to find a bargain. Happy to help if you want ideas on a budget!

@headstone x cross - great minds…very slow multi tasking typing!

I wouldn't automatically assume any nationality. Why would I assume she shared the same nationality as me. Why should she?

I would assume that a poster complaining about the huge cost of holidays abroad would probably have to travel when holidays abroad were at their most expensive. And I would also be aware that England has ten times the population of Scotland.

So assuming she was Scottish just because you are Scottish is... odd.

So you are assuming she is English then, just because there are more English people? Thats … interesting.

Did I provide her with “school holiday dates”? Yes I did. Just because they aren’t HER school holiday dates, doesn’t mean they are wrong.

@BedKnobsAndBroomStix that’s a great bargain. I can see from this and others that there are bargains to be had. So it can be cheaper to go abroad if you can get the amazing deals.

I think as well as cost the issue I am having is the reactions I had.

I told people IRL about my lovely holiday plans and they responded by telling me I should go abroad instead. I wasn’t complaining or asking for tips. It’s like ewwww your plans are gross, let me tell this fool what a real holiday is! It’s annoying!

Anyway if I do decide that one day I do want to take the family abroad I will revisit this thread for tips! Meanwhile I shall continue to enjoy my UK trip.

@Chippychipschips yes, I can see that. When I posted, I had only read your OP. Since then, you elaborated more about not wanting to go abroad. If I’d read your updates, I wouldn’t have posted Spanish recommendations! I initially thought it was just a cost issue. I will admit that I didn’t really ‘get’ uk holidays as my main summer trip but then again I’m travel obsessed and we’re all different. Sounds like you’ve bumped into some very rude people!

*don’t really get

I agree with you OP, we are a family of five and I’m uncomfortable with taking the kids out of school in term time so we holiday in the uk in school holidays, usually camping. Somebody is always there to tell
me it’s cheaper to go abroad when it absolutely isn’t. Like you said, you need passports, different clothes and loads of extra money for trips and eating out on top of the massive cost of the holiday in the first place which we just don’t have.