Is it even possible to get UK holiday accomodation for under 1k in summer anymore?!

[ChitterChatter1987]

Getting abit frustrated as I am trying to plan us a summer holiday but the prices are so crazy!

Ruled out going abroad as it's too expensive especially as we want to go in the summer (summer holidays ideally so we can combine using our limited annual leave for a holiday and childcare in one)
We would like to go to Devon or Cornwall, but it's still so much money....everything is coming up at least 1k- even what I thought would be cheaper options such as Haven sites and youth hostels! Not keen on camping for various reasons.

Did look at going before hols in July out of interest but it's still at least £800/900 for even the most basic caravan.
At the site we stayed in in 2019 the caravan which cost us about £600 for the first week of July then is now £1500 for the same one!

We stopped going to center parcs last year for a short break as the prices got so high, but didn't realise everywhere else had gone up so much too! 😩

Have you looked at Dorset? Obviously a different area but I much prefer it. It's never as busy as Devon & Cornwall. Also the New Forest is beautiful. So much to see, gorgeous beaches & you could get a decent air BnB for that price.

I don't know about prices anymore but a good site is Braddicks

Braddicks is not cheap, but his brother next door at seafields is much much better value

Agree! I love Premier Inn too, always, clean, comfortable, fab cooked breakfast where kids eat free, so no need to cook that, you’re all set up for the day, lunch out, snacks in the room, Deliveroo or dinner out - even just fish & chips on the seafront is brilliant when you’re on holiday! If you’ve got a strict budget then £650 for accommodation is great. Honestly thought that post was quite snobby, but then this is MN so… 🤷🏼‍♀️ 😁

Also found Cornwall insufferable in the summer when the masses descend. Gorgeous pretty much any other time of year though.

I'm surprised people are finding short breaks in peak season , aside from air bnb where there seem to be fewer rules, majority of sites I've seen, only allow a week booking in peak season.

As an aside I've often seen cheaper breaks in eg Yorkshire or Northumberland, Devon and Cornwall are nearly always more expensive particularly if you want to be by the sea (I always do want to be by the sea because we are pretty well inland where we live)

we've booked scotland haven next year end of August as its cheaper because the Scottish schools are already back, but we never pay more than 700 (silver dog friendly vans, which are more monwy hen taking dogs) for 7 days at haven! I normally book around xmas for the following year so this xmas we booked for 2026! I also do this with our holiday holiday abroad for the october half terms! keep an eye on haven and parkdead as you can get some fantastic deals! also google caravan parks in the same areas as the haven sites as we've stayed on some lovely independent sites for less than half the price of haven

You'll see Cornwall at its worst if you visit going in the summer holidays. I would try to go at May half term, a bit cheaper, fewer excessive crowds, spring flowers and probably an equal chance of nice weather.

Wouldn't you consider Wales for summer? It's quite a bit cheaper than Cornwall and just as lovely. In fact probably lovelier, as inland Cornwall can be a bit barren whereas Wales has gorgeous mountains and lush green hills as well as its stunning coastline.

Go to Scotland in the acting half of August, after their schools have gone back, and families with kids in exam years have gone home to deal with results, colleges, next steps etc.

The Borders and Dumfries and Galloway are less popular / more affordable than other areas, although the Galloway side of the Solway Firth is lovely.

I've just looked at Hoseasons and there are quite a few caravan holidays in Cornwall under £1000 going first week of the summer holidays with 2 adults and 2 children. Starting price was £463.

We are going to Cornwall for a week in the Easter holidays and a week in Scotland at the beginning of September (daughter will miss 3 days of school) less than £1000 for them both. That includes paying extra to take a dog.

Ive just done a quick skim on Sykes Cottages for w/c 23rd August for 7 days, Cornwall only, prices starting from £582, theres over 1k cottages, dont know how many are still under 1000 but theres tons of them OP

Where have you been looking that you cant find something?

https://www.sykescottages.co.uk/search.html?country=england&region=cornwall&location=&location_long=&locationdist=10&adult=2&teenager=2&child=&infant=&num_sleeps=4&num_pets=-1&startlabel=23%2F08%2F2025&start=23%2F08%2F2025&duration=7&fuzziness=3&features=&min_price=&max_price=&beds_single=-1&num_bathrooms=-1&distance_to_sea=-1&property_type_id=&rating=-1&coordinates=&sort=price_a&show=20&page=&min_offer_value=&max_offer_value=

In the UK, yes. But Devon and Cornwall are more expensive than much of the rest of the country. There are other Haven sites where you'd be fine with that budget and specifications.

Try Pembrokeshire - very like Cornwall, but can be a bit cheaper.

I agree ref Premier Inn - we stayed in one in Jersey and it was much cheaper and better than the supposed 4+ hotel we stayed in previously in Jersey

Of course depends on your child /childrens ages - we only have 1DC and we don't self cater - we usually do a lovely premier inn breakfast to set us up for the day and then eat out for dinner .

Good call, plus I've just checked and Haven have options in the Tenby sites for well under 1k.

Haha I actually live on the Suffolk/norfolk border 😆

Thanks everyone for such a wealth of useful replies! Lots to look into there 😊 Will look into other caravan sites and maybe at Wales too...my husband I think might be keen on Wales as he was born there and has said before he would like to go back.
Also I've remembered we have lots of clubcard vouchers and you can use them on cottages.com so will look at that too.
We would definitely like to go in summer holidays if possible but sounds like there might be some good options still for a few hundred under 1k which is what we are looking for 👍

Does it have to be Devon or Cornwall? They are lovely but so overpriced now, and really crowded in the summer.

I dont know where the idea comes from (not specifically you OP as I see this all the time) that you're looking at thousands for UK accommodation in the school holidays

I got to page 4 on that skyes cottages search and still only in the 700s, didnt look any further

But theres lots of cottage sites, airbnb, holiday caravans (not my preference)

Yes @soupfiend it is a powerful myth. A friend was telling me that it was cheaper for a family to go to Spain than to rent a cottage in the UK - I challenged him to find a family holiday in Spain in the school holidays for £700!

These fit your bill. We've stayed there and it's surprisingly a good base for travelling North Devon. There's a sea pool near the campsite and theres no awful evening entertainment but the town itself is very family friendly.

https://bookings.braddicksholidays.co.uk/AvailabilityRange.aspx?resparkid=9270&resadults=2&reschildren=2&resinfants=0&resholidaytype=1&resarrivedate=2025-07-26&resdepartdate=2025-08-02&resnumnights=7&resdogs=0&resspecialoffercode=&externallink=1&_gl=1eodxum_upMQ.._gsMQ.._gaMTY5OTQyNDA2Ny4xNzM3NTgwMDEw_ga_NC6HK3KYPPMTczNzU4MDAwOS4xLjAuMTczNzU4MDAxMC42MC4wLjA._gcl_aw*R0NMLjE3Mzc1ODAwMTAuQ2owS0NRaUF5OEs4QmhDWkFSSXNBS0o4c2ZTMnUyLUw4MlFlNXlHS2ZUSmg4VGlFRlR1QTc4X0ZTMTVtYU5ZVi13bnBmeEJwY0ZsWWd3WWFBdFFmRUFMd193Y0I.&gclid=Cj0KCQiAy8K8BhCZARIsAKJ8sfS2u2-L82Qe5yGKfTJh8TiEFTuA78_FS15maNYV-wnpfxBpcFlYgwYaAtQfEALw_wcB

The great thing about staying in westward ho!

is you can go for a swim in the sea & walk back to your accommodation to get changed, you can walk the children back in their costumes and get them showered. No sandy car journeys

club card points work at the big sheep