needing a car and UK holidays

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Been researching a few places to go to for a short break and my impression is that most place nowadays need a car. We live in London, dont own a car and DC both get too car sick to travel by car. Yes, we've gone to a few places in Kent but otherwise so much of advice on internet is 'a quick drive to....just park there...' Never quite realised just how limiting not driving would be when planning a holiday with kids in the UK.

UK has a great train network

Oh, I didn't see your DC got bus sick too! Does it help that the Land's End buses are open top, so you can sit outside? 🤔

I don't drive, and have taken my DC on many lovely UK holidays by train. Usually holidays parks, sometimes hotels for city breaks. We've done Yorkshire (Matlock Bath), Skegness, lots of Norfolk and Suffolk, Clacton, Devon (Dawlish Warren as already mentioned, and other towns along that train line), York, Brighton and lots of others. The journey is part of the adventure.

Train to Sheringham or Cromer, accommodation in either.

There is a brilliant bus service along the North Norfolk coast road, passing lots of different types of beaches from fossil hunting at West Runton to the vast sandy expanses of Wells.

Zoo in Cromer, lots of places to see, train for a day in Norwich, boat to see the seals from Morston, crabbing from Blakeney or Wells quay, small museum in Cromer showing the mammoth bones from W Runton, arcades (small scale) in Sheringham and Cromer, beautiful views.

Oh, sorry, bus sick not good for brilliant bus route!

But plenty of N Norfolk on the train: Sheringham , Cromer and West Runton. Steam train from Sheringham for fun.

Yes, this is me and I totally get you too OP as like you I don't have a car and live in London

Lots of suggestions here for city breaks which are fine but if you want to go the countryside or to the beach things start getting a little tricky and also very costly.

Of course there are plenty of beaches that you can get to them by train but once you get there you'll have to spend more on local transport be buses/trains/taxis unless you're in a holiday park.

Countryside is even worse as some places are a bit remote. You can get a train to the closes station and from there it will have to be taxi

We used to holiday from London to Newcastle/Northumberland by train. The Metro system there runs to fab beaches and the city is a great base for holiday.

National parks? You can hire bikes at several train stations in New Forest, Peak District has extensive bus services, of course use train initially - aren’t there summer family travel passes?

Love UK holidays by train (and I do drive- but taking the train is just a different part of the holiday and you plan it differently to have more of a "base" somewhere and really get to know an area well). So many options from London as PPs have said. Ones I've done include Dorset coast, IoW, Kent, East Sussex... All beautiful and often there are bus/breezer type options in the summer months so you can then explore that way once you are there. IOW isn't as expensive as a foot passenger and there is a great bus network.

I'd say the only type of holiday that would be tricky/impossible by public transport is camping, unless you are into ultra light weight minimalist camping/trekking type holiday.

Otherwise everyone carries their own things, pack light, look at where you can get to. Youth hostels are often good options for accommodation. If you stay in self catering type accommodation then look to book supermarket deliveries for food, then you don't have to lug it all with you.

Oh and don't forget the family Railcard gives you all a discount off train travel. There's a kids go for £1 deal on with southeastern at the mo too. I just got tickets for three of us to Kent coast for £22 (advance tickets), then we are going west to East Sussex, then back to London via Eastbourne as a loop. I think I spent about £70 all in for one adult and two children (3 journeys, one 1 is an advanced set of tickets). It's an adventure and I find train travel often feels more relaxing than sitting in a car on the motorway (though I do that sometimes too).

£63. I did the maths properly!

I don't drive - hasn't stopped me taking my son all over the UK on holiday, though if you have to exclude buses it will be trickier.
North Wales has very good rail links, service is not frequent but enough trains to be doable.
Train from Birmingham International (about an hour from Euston,) will take you on the Cambrian line, Machynlleth, Tywyn, Barmouth, Harlech, Porthmadog, Criccieth, Pwthelli all on that line.
Alternatively you can take the other line via Chester - all the resorts on that coast on the train line including Colwyn Bay, Llandudno, Conway and Bangor.
Isle of White also very easy, train to Portsmouth - you could spend a day or two in Portsmouth. Ferry over to Ryde,local train service with stops at Sandown, Shanklin and Ventnor.
You can hire bikes to get around

I use Stugeron travel sickness pills regularly and have never felt drowsy on them. DD also gets very motion sick, and they haven't made her sleepy either. The only downside is needing to remember to take them 2hrs before travel (although I've found the effects are noticeable after 30mins if you forget), but they don't need to be topped up for another 8hrs after that. I've suffered with awful travel sickness all my life, and discovering these tablets a couple of years ago was honestly a complete game-changer. I can even read a book in the car now!

YANBU... Live in London so we don't own a car but we often hire one at great expense. Both DCs get travel sick. I have no idea why people in the 20th century thought cars were a good idea..! But buses outside cities are so bad nowadays they're unusable.

People outside London LOVE cars. They're obsessed with them, and will brook no argument. I have a conspiracy theory that they're making non-car infrastructure awful on purpose, to make them feel better about their PCP loans.

10 minutes as a limitation for car and bus travel is extreme, you need to change that. YABU

Heck, changing planes in Paris airport involves longer bus journeys, and how do you think people survive where there isn't a tube or train within a 10 minute bus ride? I used to cycle an hour to the nearest train station at a rural teen, but that's not for most people!

Urban ridiculousness at it's best!

Isle of Wight? If your kids don't get sea sick as there is a short catamaran /hover craft rude, If you can only do train then it would probably only be interesting for a couple of holidays. But there are places to visit in walking distance from the train stations on the IOW.

You give Phenergan the night before travel OP, so drowsiness isn’t an issue (although it does cause drowsiness immediately).

Alnwick doesn't have a railway station (it's turned into Barter Books). Closest station is Alnmouth.

Unfortunately, we have tried lots of meds and solutions. If we give it the night before, it doesn't work the next morning. They often also go hyper before becoming drowsy which is weird. Not sure the meds actually even stop the nausea in my kids. Don't fancy them associating every short trip with feeling sick when there is no need.

Thank you for all the suggestions. Will save the list. We have done quite a bit of the Kent and Sussex coastline but not elsewhere.

Exmouth could be good. It’s accessible by rail (not sure on time from London). Lots to do in Exmouth itself. And can get the train into Exeter for other excursions.

And a cycle path called the Exe Estuary trail.

Plenty of train links to the Norfolk broads. Many tiny little stations. They are very quaint. Can get to the coast, hire a boat which is a fab way to see. Train into cambridge. Check Greater Anglia website. (many train websites have info on this sort of thing).

Glasgow has lots to do in the city and trains to loch Lomond and Edinburgh

There is lots you can do without a car in the UK and I'm sure there are some good books on this subject.

Cornwall has a good bus service beyond Penzance - take the train to Penzance and carry on by double decker sightseeing bus.

We’ve done car-free holidays in Whitby a number a times; lovely little town, seaside and an easy-going coastal path in either direction.