To think holidaying the UK will cost as much?

[hollyhollyday]

We are pricing up whether we can comfortably afford to go abroad this year. DH suggested instead that we go to the lakes or Cornwall for 4/5 nights. AIBU to think that by the time we’ve spent money in the UK on days out, restaurants / breakfasts, accommodation and fuel it will be a similar price to having gone abroad?

Its possible to make it much cheaper or much more expensive it just depends how you choose to do each thing.

I know, but we’d rather not go away if we were having to do it on a really thought out budget it would make more sense to me to stay at home

Yanbu at least abroad you have the weather so your not paying for activities like you would be in the UK. If you got a good deal and free child places or if you book flights and accommodation separately and direct it absolutely can be cheaper

What is the actual budget? And for how many? Cornwall is expensive and cornwall and the lakes you are going to have to pay for activities and days out. Boat trip in windermere for example.

We always have a tight budget and UK holidays always work out cheaper than abroad ones except occasionally when I've completely lucked it with flights for £20 or similar, or when we've taken the car over to France. But it really depends what a holiday looks like for you. We tend to self-cater, hire a car when abroad, and do lots of sightseeing. What do yours look like?

Pembrokeshire and Gower lovely and often cheaper than Devon/Cornwall

If you go to Cornwall then that's definitely more expensive than an equivalent time, including additional tracel costs, of getting to eg a cheap easter European county. Your AIBU doesn't give enough detail though because there's no set budget for a holiday "abroad" nor is there a set budget for a UK holiday - there are a lot of places much cheaper than Cornwall! Yanbu that there is definitely an overlap. Better to set your budget and come up with a uk option and an abroad option that meets that budget, then choose between those specifics

Cornwall or the Lake District could well end up costing more than going abroad.

Obviously it depends on where you stay and what you do, wherever you go, but those places are both expensive for accommodation, eating out, activities etc, unless you just go for walks/the beach etc. Plus if the weather isn't good, you'll likely end up spending more in indoor activities, or staying in the accommodation, doing pretty much what you can do at home, for free.

If you can afford to go abroad, do that. If not, look at doing something that will be cheaper so a couple of nights in a hotel for a city break or a few days in a less overpriced part of the UK.

Cornwall/Lakes seems to be the worst of both worlds. Lovely parts of the world, but expensive without guaranteed sun, and will be a bit shit if weather is typically English, which it could well be, just like now - glorious sun for weeks on end, and now it's going to break just in time for the Easter weekend

Going abroad is no guarantee of decent weather.

It really depends what you are doing.

We normally stay in the UK, hire a cottage for a week and self cater for at least 4 days, but we do visit lots of places. That never, ever comes in at the £3.5k it cost to go to Italy last August, half board, plus activities on top (2 adults, 2 teens)- we had a great time, but air travel was a massive PITA, lost luggage, delays etc.

But if you want to eat out a lot in the UK that will be expensive. And if you want somewhere overlooking the sea in August again that will be pricey - and much less chance of good weather in the UK.

This year we're looking at shorter city breaks, UK and abroad, rather than a weeks sunshine/cottage holiday.

In 1998, so before all the economic crises of the past 25 years, I priced up a visit to the UK for 3, staying with my parents for Easter weekend and then driving up to Edinburgh stopping off at a few interesting places on the way. I was very conservative.
The result shocked me. I then looked online for a last minute to somewhere hot and sunny (and a bit more exotic than the UK). I was able to get 2 weeks, all inclusive including flights for 1k less than the UK trip.
Guess where we went?
The UK is VERY expensive.
If you have an overall budget, I would suggest going online and looking at what you could get for that elsewhere.

We get great holiday rentals for under a grand a week by going to areas that are less popular than Cornwall. Think west Wales or the non-Cotswolds part of Gloucestershire. Great areas, loads to do, nice rentals, no faffing at airports etc.

We’ve just finished a week at a haven park for 4 of us all in cost us about £800 including activities and food.
our lanzarote holiday in 12 weeks will be £2k
it depends on what you want to do there’s no straight answer

Without a budget, dates, location etc it’s impossible to say

very hard to say. I refuse point blank to cook when on holiday so I don't do self catering. no problem with day trips and picnics. so you can do it cheap anywhere based on your standards and location. however for me I will always pick abroad due to the fact I want heat. I know people say can rely on the weather abroad either but you have a far higher percentage of sun abroad then you do here

Not been on a uk holiday in 25 years and will never again.
Unpredictable weather(usually crap), always busy, filthy beaches and my biggest bugbear is the costs.

We stopped for an ice cream at a uk tourist coastal town a few years back whilst out on my DH motorcycle. £5.95 for each ice cream cone, 2 weeks later we were buying a similar ice cream in the med for €1.30!

Our rip off tourist industry is its own worst enemy.

You know they don’t chain you to the kitchen if you go self catering? It simply means that meals are not included in your hotel booking, plenty of restaurants out there!

Agree I spoke to someone recently tly who said ot was cheaper to take the family to the Canaries than Devon.

Lakes and Cornwall are both pretty expensive.

you could easily get abroad much cheaper than either.

now if you said Northumberland or north wales…

yes I do know that but I still choose not to do it. that's allowed !!!
people have different requirements for their holidays

I know they do. It’s the assumption that those who choose self catering are cooking on their holidays that I find baffling.

that's the reason why people do selfcatering mainly though get a big tesco shop etc delivered then cook etc in order to save costs. anyone I know who does self catering that's what they do. so you can see where the assumption comes from and its often mentioned as a way to save costs on holidays

We're in Cornwall this week for half term. Prices are crazy and it's not even summer. Each car park is about £6 for 4 hours, It's about £5 just for a Cornish pasty. We have 2 dcs plus dcs boyfriend with us. We reckon we'll end up spending just under 1k for the 7 days which includes some food out and some food shopping and parking/ petrol etc. this doesn't even include accommodation costs. If you decide to come down here in summer then you'll have to contend with ridiculously busy roads and you'll struggle to park in car parks unless you get to them for 10am. We used to come down here every summer but have stopped now as Cornwall in summer is no longer fun and is stupidly expensive.

Big Tesco in Spain/Greece/Italy?

Who is eating in the plethora of restaurants in the tourist areas if not people who go self catering?

Everyone I know who chooses SC does so because they prefer local restaurants to buffet style AI

Everyone I know who chooses SC does so because they prefer local restaurants to buffet style AI

That's exactly what we do when self catering. Admittedly we will stock up on drinks, snacks and easy food like prepared meat and salad for a BBQ, ham, cheese etc and top up with near daily bread and pastries but I love a nose around a foreign supermarket and I don't count putting some cheese and olives on a plate or lazing on the terrace while the BBQ is going as 'cooking' but we will eat out at least once a day, sometimes twice in local restaurants.

Hardly any work, a much nicer experience than buffet AI but also comparable in cost, unlike ££££s for a la carte AI.

On holiday I want to be served at an outside table for lunch and/or dinner and I don't want to have to get washed and dressed for breakfast.