Help please lovely MNetters - 5 live are interested to know your thoughts on family holidaying in the UK?

[JustineMumsnet]

Has the credit crunch and collapsing pound made the UK a preferable option for your holidays this year? Are you planning to stay put for a change and risk the UK weather? Is the UK up to scratch in what it can offer families? Or will you be scraping together as many anaemic pounds as you can and translating them into a pathetically small pile of Euros in search of warm sea and sunshine?

Essentially do you think the UK stacks up now as a family holiday destination now we're the poor men of Europe?

(It's for Victoria Derbyshire show - this friday am)

Thanks!

We love holidaying in the UK, it used to be our secnd holiday but this year will probably be the primary holiday.

I think there is a lot to do for families here and I dont see us as missing out in anyway by staying in the UK.

I have this theory that it is okay to have a week in the UK every year - Cornwall or Scotland or Wales or the Lakes. Good for the DCs to get to know something more about their own country.

But not as a main holiday thank you - I like to see the sun at least once a year. We might eat in more but really I'm not cutting down to that extent unless I get made redundant ...

We've always thought the UK stacked up as a family holiday destination! In fact this year DD will be 10 and she's just got her first passport so we can take her to see Pompeii.

Our summer holiday will be in the UK though.

Of course it will be rainy and horrible.(translation: please everyone else go in chartered airborne cattletrucks to bake in the sun so that lovely quiet UK places aren't ruined for those of us who love them )

We also love holidaying in the UK, we usually camp/yurt/some other hippy rustic type affair, with maybe one night of indulgence on route. We go abroad to visit family so do not really have the willpower to haul ourselves across the world for another trip to relax. Our UK holidays have aways been our relaxing time as a family, we do not stray too far.

This year with one less income, we will probably skip visits abroad and just do UK. We will likely to North/East Devon,Cornwall or Dorset. All of these we go to regularly and like Twinset have never so far seen it as missing out.

And tell victoria derbyshire to ensure she reads her research correctly before talking. She has a habit of sounding a bit like she sits in ivory tower - althougn I do quite enjoy yelling at her in the mornings!

With LeninGrad on this one - thought of taking 1yo twins through airport security checks, departure lounge facilities (lack of)and possibility of delays etc makes me feel quite ill! Will probably drive to Hungary next year though.

Agree with Quattro. We go to Cornwall or the south coast for half term, or maybe a week during summer,but I need to be able to swim in something a bit above freezing so head to warmer climes. We had no furrin holiday last year due to me being fat pregnant so I am really looking forward to it this year. Having said that, I do work for a bank, so lord knows what will happen.
Tell Victoria to check back with me in a few months

(actually, tell her I will speak to her on air if she gives me a two week holiday on the Med - I can be her "person with the foreign regional accent"!)

we ususually holiday here as always on a tight budget anyway, and hate flying with small children, especially on low budget airlines which is what we can afford. Disappointed though with price and quality of food in holiday destinations in uk, restaurants so expensive and quality often poor. Disappointed in expense of dismal child attractions too.

the failing £ is putting me off booking abroad at the moment but i think i probably will end up going away.
holidays in the uk are just as expensive as a package deal somewhere hot.

We have just cancelled the villa we had booked for Majorca at half term. The euro is weak against the £, Easyjet want an arm and a leg for the flights just because its Easter, then we need to factor in car hire for 2 weeks, an overnight stay near Stansted and airport parking charges. We can go to somewhere in Scotland for about £600 which will probably work out about 1/3rd cheaper. Also when you are in the Balearics etc, when it rains (as it did on our holiday last year) you are really stuck for things to do. At least in the Uk you can usually find a cinema, bowling, museum etc.

We've just booked a week in the far north west of Scotland for late May this summer.

We had a fabulous week the same time last year - warm and sunny, gorgeous empty beaches. Beautiful.

Obviously we can't count on the weather being as good but I had loads of family holidays up north when I was little so I know what to expect and we'll take the waterproofs and plenty of books & games.

Tbh, after last year we'd probably have gone anyway, but the strength of the euro certainly makes the decision an easy one.

We stay in the UK for most of our holidays, cheerfully picnic in the car and change clothes twice a day, take flasks of tea and spend £80 for a meal for 4 in the evening. But disappear off to the sun once or twice a year depending on budget. The weather in the UK is just tooo unpredictable.

Should have added that planning to go to Devon in June to avoid aforementioned nightmare. Usually do hols both home and abroad in a year. Holiday rentals have improved over recent years but it still amazes me how many holdiay cottage owners put so little effort into standards/facilities and want top dollar. Chuck out yer chintz FGS

We were actually pleasantly suprised by the cost of our trip to Italy - I think the travel companies must hedge, so this year's prices may not yet reflect the exchange rate (obviously lunches etc while there will be dearer). So if you're a sun addict, may be better to still go this year than next.

We always holiday in the UK - No passports in the CQ household!
We've recently been doing Featherdown Farms holidays, real luxury camping.
You take a risk with the weather, but then nowhere is guaranteed good weather all the time.
And you're not ripped off with exchange rates and the cost of basic items.

...the urchins rate Center Parcs as prime destination.

We will be going abroad though, probably a ferry to a Brittany eurocamp. Just feels more 'abroad' without being expensive....

Another thought, if you book via Expedia or Travel republic, pay in £ not Euros as you would do if you booked direct with hotel.
eg, just booked hotel in Italy for week in May. Hotel website rate 120-200Euros per night depending on hotel. Booked via Expedia, £60 per night. Euro can do what it likes between now and May, I don't have to fret.

Until the youngest of my three is 5yrs then we will stick to the UK regardless of the economic climate.

The thought of airports and too much sun with 3kids under 5 sends shivers down my spine.

It's not always that much cheaper either. We're going to Center Parcs for Easter w/e and it's costing £900 for the weekend. But with a 5yr old,a nearly 3yr old and a baby it 'stacks up' far more than the stress of leaving the country. There's lots for kids of all ages and there's no expectation of good weather so it's not reliant on it. When they are slightly older we'll venture further afield. Of course we miss it but they don't know the difference at their age.

For families who are having to switch for financial reasons, I think it's worth remembering that for the kids, it's all about, (a) the new experiences you're giving them (b) the fact that they're getting quality time with you without the mania that is mon-fri mornings.

Airports are rubbish. But holidays in the uk just don't seem like...erm.....holidays?

It's very expensive, the food and service is generally poor, and just so reliant on the weather - usually shite.

I know only priority should be quality time with the kids, blah, blah blah, but give me sunburn, mossies, cheap Euro plonk and a bit of language argy-bargy anyday. Oh. And Swimming. Whatever anyone says, swimming outdoors in the UK is just rubbish and cold. And swimming is a vital part of any holiday - ONLY enjoyable abroad.

3 essentials for holidaying in the UK:

wetsuit
national trust family membership
waterproof clothing and stout boots.

Oh, and a GSOH.

Not sure what we're doing, but UK holidays are expensive accommodation, food, activities all way too much when you need to pay for a family.

Why can't cafe's chuck in a tiny bit of diluted orange juice to a £5 meal? (yes piza express I'm talking to you)

If you have 2 children you frequently need 2 hotel rooms, even though for us certainly even if we booked 2 we would all be sleeping in 1!

Activities can't stand paying for my 3 yr old to go somewhere, still sleeps in the pushchair if given the chance, why do we pay for childrens admission by height even if they are too short for most of the rides

oh and the UK is always too full

(thinking about Wales actually)

sorry should be admission by age not height

We do the "sun" newspaper holidays every year. We go somewhere different every year and go in the October half term so its winter and cold.
It is expensive even when supposedly subsidised by teh newspaper offers because we always upgrade...we need heating when in a static with children in October.
Days out are expensive and eating out is expensive...hence the choice of a static, we go to the supermarket each day and get something for tea in rather than eat out.

Every 4 years we save like mad (for the whole 4 years) then go to Florida for our big holiday.
When we can rent a villa that sleeps 10 people for £300 per week in Florida, why would we pay £600-700 for 5 nights in August at bloody Butlins or the like?

BUT we love England and we want our children to see as much of it as possible. Thats why we make the effort.

(Also we go with freinds and eat and drink tons and laugh allot....so tis grand!)

We're off to Dorset in June, we went to Spain when dd1 was almost 2 and I was pg with dd2, she screamed the entire way on the flight and promptly fell asleep on landing (and of course buggy was miles away with suitcases) she wasnt overkeen on heat so spent half the day in the apartment with her and in the evening was grumpy.

We went to dorset before and loved it lots to do and when we went last time we had brilliant weather so spent 4 days at the beach which cost about £5 a day in ince creams We'll take some food with us and theres a huge Asda near the site we're staying at so will go and get bacon, milk etc down there. We'll have breakfast at the caraven, if we're going to beach I'll make a picnic and we'll probably eat out half the week and bbq the other nights. It cost £240 for tghe caravan and we'll spend about £300 when we'e there but we wouldnt be able to go abroad for that and tbh we wouldnt have had a holiday this yeat but dd1 starts school in spetember so took advantage of the fact we can go in June

We tend to do a few short breaks in the UK - mainly to Scotland and/or the Lake District.

We do go abroad every year, that will not change for the simple reason it is not so much a holiday but the only opportunity for me to see my Dad and his side of the family (I'm half Spanish). We were planning to go for about 2-3 weeks driving instead of flying but have decided to do a longer holiday in Scotland and just have a short break in Spain in the autumn.
I dread what will happen when ds goes to school, I'm firmly against taking kids out of schools for holidays once they reach year 3 (don't see it as a problem for the first couple of years), but we can't not go to Spain as I want ds to grow up knowing his Abuelo and the rest of them. Especially as my dad won't visit here - the credit crunch (would like to remind everyone we are in a GLOBAL recession, so it is not just us!) is hitting harder in Spain, plus my dad owns a small building firm so he is very hard up at the moment, as he hasn't got a lot of work on.