Alternative cheaper holiday ideas

[OnceRuralNowUrbanbliss]

I'm usually great at creative solutions to problems. I do it for a living but I can't think around this one.

Since divorcing 5 years ago my finances have been dire. I downsized from the family home last year which cleared the first ever debts I had and some savings but then my car died and the new house needed unforeseen fixes.

I'm due to change jobs in a few weeks with a good increase in salary.

I'd like to work out what cheap and cheerful holiday options there are for my two teen daughters, my dog and I.
Cottages and hotels are so expensive.

I do have a little caravan but the car that died had a tow bar and my new one is too small to tow it and has no tow bar.

My best friend has a holiday home abroad which we usually get cheap fights to but dog and cat care would bump this up. Plus the incidentals of airport travel parking food and meals out make this quite expensive.

Am I limited to tent camping and day trips? Am I missing some creative an non-expensive options for getting away and a change of scene this summer?

I'm wondering about (static) caravan holiday parks or house swapping but the teens don't think they'd like these (🙄🙄🙄🙄 I have pointed out that when they are paying for holidays they can choose!)

I'd be ok with a year of no holidays and spend time off work just reading, day trips etc but feel time away together while the teens haven't fledged are opportunities I'll not get back.

House sitting for friends who are away has also occurred to me but not sure how to broach this

I was going to suggest 'holidays from home' which can work as long as you're not one of those people who can't possibly relax in their own home without feeling the need to tidy/declutter/catch up on DIY etc.

Plus as a pet owner, you have the added advantage of not having to arrange for their care.

If you treat it as a holiday it can work quite well. Perhaps do some cleaning and tidying on day 1, then for the rest of the week, you are 'on holiday' so do as little as possible in this respect. Get nice food from M&S etc instead of cooking normal meals.

If you're not having to pay for travel, accommodation, pet sitting fees, insurance etc etc, you could probably justify a small budget to pay for things to make it like a holiday.

So make some arrangements for things to do. Spa day, trips out to a couple of places near and a bit further away that you haven't been to before - look on tourist information sites for ideas.

If you say where you live, people will be able to suggest things to do that you might not have thought of. Go for nice walks with the dog, get ice creams and fish and chips.

Read in the garden or in the park.

Perhaps book a couple of nights in a Premier Inn and have a city break rather than a cottage/caravan holiday? What about National Trust or English Heritage membership, so you can go for days out and only pay the monthly membership cost?

Camping in France is cheap but lovely.

I took my grandchildren to a Haven holiday park. You can take your dog with you too.
Look on there cheap summer holiday part. This year I booked for June
for just my husband and myself. 4 days for £79 but we aren’t using swimming pools etc as we use it as a base.

Thank you I will take a look at Haven. I searched on static caravans but they all quoted £1000 for a week in school summer hols!

The holidays from home could work I think if we worked out a schedule of day trips and fun things.

Do you live somewhere other people would want to visit? I noticed you mentioned house swaps but the dc weren't keen. If you do, I'd possibly explore this further.

When mine were teens I've taken them out the last week of school to go away which brings prices down a lot.

Thanks @subtoprem actually we stumbled on this as a proper concept last night as we're getting applications through Trusted Housesitter from people leaving their own animals at home with Housesitters to travel cheaply to households needing housesitters! It occurred to to me we could do similar so started searching for Netherlands households with cats/rabbits needing care...

My daughter would not entertain the idea of missing school she is incredibly diligent and hardworking so that's out

Look at May half term as cheaper.

Look at cottages for a 5 day break in the summer holidays - often you can get one using a site that allows flexible booking and if you book on an unusual (or leftover) starting day, it can be cheaper.

Dunster Beach Holidays - beach chalets that you stay in and sleep in. These are one up from camping as have a kitchen and loo. You’d get a week in for under £500.

You can camp at a site with lots of facilities. Woolacombe Bay Park has water park, crazy golf etc and lots of lodges and caravans….but also let’s people camp more cheaply and use all the facilities.

The holiday at home idea sounds fab!

If you are interested in a holiday home though I have just launched a new property which is in the Cotswolds on the outskirts of Stroud. It's a quirky town with an amazing Saturday farmers market, cinema, walks on nearby commons and lots of nice pubs. There's a local leisure park with outdoor pool and a museum.

As it's a new venture for me it's on introductory prices so cheaper than it will be in the future. The cottage has three bedrooms, one bathroom and takes a dog.

I've never sent a pm on Mumsnet before - but if it's of interest we can message or I can post a link

How about champing.co.uk/ ?

There are some lovely locations.

Thank you Rbaby. I have PMd you for details. Sounds fab

Wow @NotEnoughTime what an amazing idea! I would love to do that.

And maybe will suggest it with grown up girlfriends. Many thanks for sharing that link.

You're welcome.

Hope you find something

You would need a car but some of the YHA sites are really nice, and they are having a 25 per cent off sale in January for some bookings so it is worth seeing how you can get the nightly price down if you dig around dates.
www.yha.org.uk/stay/book-direct

I can vouch for the one at Boggle Hole being what I was thinking of when I wrote my intro. There are some relatively basic but private rooms, and lovely buildings and setting altogether. Also see if you can look up wildlife reserves (there are a couple of foundations near Royston and in Sandwich that fit this description, but not checked their prices recently and they may be a bit higher). I find it great to stay in places where you have owls etc flying about at night though - that are cared for by the foundations (or perhaps they're wild!)

Hire a car with tow bar for your caravan.

Or out a shout out in your local FB group for someone to tow it to site it for you. I did this once - paid a bloke from the caravan storage place to site and collect the van for me,

Oh wow @Ormally that's a brilliant idea the YHA

I used to take the kids when they were little and had forgotten all about them. I wonder if any are dog friendly. I'll take a look.

Many thanks for the suggestion hiring a tow bar car too I hadn't thought of that. Was wondering whether to sell the caravan but really don't want to it is made of fibre glass so won't rot and I have visions of taking myself and the dog away in it when the teens have fledged.

I did check the wildlife-related 'guest houses' after I made that post and they are still very competitive in terms of budget. Both bird-related (Pegwell, and Falcon's Nest would be good search terms for the 2 above! Can give you more clues if these don't find you what I was thinking of).

We use the home exchange app. You can swap your home, even a rented one, you don’t have to own it, for a home elsewhere. Or you can accumulate points from sharing your home with others and then spend the points on a home in your dream destination. Saves us a fortune in travel accommodation and we have stayed in some levels property in dorset, liverpool, Prague, Brittany, Italy etc etc