Holiday idea's for around £300 wanted...Help!!!!!

[ssd]

Hi, we've been holidaying in this country for the last few years, esp. in and around Scarborough. We live in Glasgow and with 2 children don't want to drive tooo far!!!

Would really recommend any hols that would be fun for us and the boys-don't mind caravans but don't want the Haven holidays experience as done it and hated it!!

I know our budget is low but can't be helped

Thanks for any ideas!

ssd x x x x

is camping an option?!! this is what we are doing next year...you can get fantastic tents now. i am like you ...wont consider haven holidays now...totally repulsive! self catering holis in scotland are way too expensive...might as well go abroad for the prices they charge. hth

I live in Belfast and you could do a lot worse than coming over here - perhaps renting a cottage. You could get the HSS ( fast ferry over )

Things to do - off the top of my head ...

Seaside holiday
Water park
Folk and Treansport museum
Aquarium
W5 - Hands on Science museum
Streamvale Farm - Feed the lambs
Castle Espie - Duck reserve
Belfast Zoo

mmmm better stop - anyone would think I work for the tourist board

We house swap through Intervac. Scary the first time, but we have now done it 9 times and have just arranged our swaps for Easter and the summer. All you pay for is your travel there. We've swapped abroad mainly but also in Scotland and England. We swap with people with families so there are always toys, books and DVDs there for wet days. You get to know the family you are swapping with very well through email and telephone calls and so far we have had no disappointments at all.

is there a website for that Libra...as we'd be interested in that! Not sure if anyone would want to come to Newcastle though!!

Intervac.com or intervac.co.uk. You would be amazed where people want to go actually. Two years ago we spent Easter in Solihull, which may not be the first place you think to take a holiday, but it was near my parents' house so we could visit them without staying in their small guest room. There are houses for exchange all over the UK and the world on this site.

Blakes do holiday cottages and/or boating holidays at pretty good prices. You can get a nice small cottage for a week from £150 - depending on when you go of course (prices obviously rise peak season).

SSD - DEFINITELY Isle of Arran!!!!! Absolutely amaaaaaazing. We were there in May and you can easily get a whole week in a cottage by the sea.

Lots to do too and the ferry costs about £70-£90 if you take the car.

Arran Hideaways

Try here ssd. Brodick is where the ferry comes in and where the big Coop is etc.

There is a little cottage that is £280ish for a week.... it has spectacular sea views and a garden too.

thanks libra!! you've found your property ok when you've excahnged??

Our house belongs to the church of england (co dh works for them!) so we'd need to be sure it wasn't going to get wrecked!!

You read my mind about being near parents.. we don't get on with dh folks...MIL!!! they have a tiny tiny house in farnborough and think we can all squish in...like I'm gonna be that close to her for a week!! Also she interfers far too much for us to stay there.

hoping this will give us an option..as guildford is close by!

Monstrousmummy. Our house has always been fine. Of course it is a complete pain to have to clean the house really well before leaving - but to be frank a twice-yearly good clean is probably a good thing! And we have always come back to a spotless house. We have been to Sweden, Denmark, France, Belgium and Ireland as well as this country. It's a really good way to experience real life in these countries rather than the tourist sites. Actually the house in Denmark belonged to the local minister. It was enormous - 16 rooms, an enormous garden (mowed by the grave-digger while we were there) and a barbeque pit. We did discuss whether one of us should look into being a danish Lutheran minister as a career - much nicer furniture than us as well.

Thanks for the replies.

Fangache, what puts me off Arran is the weather which as we know can be v. dodgy and the midgies!! I know of people who go there and love it. What is their to do with kids, are the beaches good and can they paddle or is it freezing?

Like the idea of the house swap thing but most of the houses on it seem huge compared to mine . Do they cater for the average skint family who live in a terraced house in suburbia?

ssd - We were there for a week in May and it only rained once. It was about 18-20 degrees the whole time!! Fantastic.

There are beaches EVERYWHERE! And there is not a midgy problem there..... in fact that never even crossed our minds. We went a walk around the grounds of Brodick Castle on the mountain Goatfell. There's a factory where you can watch them making cheese and another where they make Arran Aromatics soaps etc. Ds LOVED watching all these. We went fishing to a fish farm at Blackwaterfoot where you are guaranteed to catch a fish. There's horse-riding, playparks LOADS to do! In fact we met a family from Glasgow who were just over for the day! They did that once a month coz they loved the island so much.

I thoroughly recommend it. I appreciate that we were lucky with the weather, but there's plenty to do/see even if its raining.

ssd - well we have definitely swapped to a terrace house in the past. Lots of the homes are small flats. It just depends on how you sell your home. We don't say 'the back end of beyond with no central heating'. We say 'near Scottish estuary with beautiful views and close to distilleries and romantic castles'!