cottage and cooking or camping and eating out?

[Doraemon]

Which would you go for? Hire a cottage and do picnics, cook evening meal etc, or go camping and use the money you would save to eat out more? Ideally I would have cottage and eating out because I get cold camping and I'm fed up of cooking and cleaning all the time but budget is tight.....

You've got the worst of both worlds with those options!

Camping is crap/eating out is great.

A nice cottage is lovley/cooking every night is no bloody holiday is it?

I point blank refuse to make more than a sandwich on holiday as I shop and cook every single day of the year. If I had to go on holiday and cook I'd rather stay at home.

I'd wait until I could afford cottage/eat out!

Yes I'm with paula ,if those were the choices I'd stay at home .

I agree with Paula too.

Staying home not an option, this will be our annual holiday. Have spent too much money on new house with dodgy wiring and ancient double glazing. Perhaps we could live off fish and chips....

Then how about preparing the menu beforehand?

So day 1: fish and chips
Day 2: soup from supermarket/pre-made with store made bread
Day 3: BBQ with pre marinated chicken, sausages and burgers

Etc

Ok, here's what you do -

Hire a lovely cottage with a big freezer. Bring 6 days worth of dinners with you, already cooked casseroles etc,ready to be defrosted and reheated, and have fish & chips on night 7.

This is the only way to go!

Camping isn't much of a holiday for me as Iprefer my creature comforts and my own bathroom.

We do a mixture of simple meals/ready meals/precooked meals and eating out when we stay in a cottage. I think paula has the right idea.

Cottage and eat out.
Just go for a few days.
Sell the kids or something

I really dont mind cooking on a cottage holiday. We have a decent lunch out and in the evening something simple like chicken and salad or salmon and new potatoes or a takeaway. Basically I go for meals that can be done in around 20 minutes

would cottage and ready meals (nice ones, mind!) and takeaways be do-able? That would make it more bearable.

Either for me, I love camping, but if we do stay in a cottage we use a lot more convenience food than at home, jars of pasta sauce, ready grated cheese, microwave rice etc.

How about a static caravan, cheaper than a cottage?

Much as I love camping, I wouldn't do it in the UK for my annual holiday - if it rains you've wasted a week being wet and miserable. Get the cottage and eat takeaway chips for a week :)

Definitely the cottage for me, but I'd keep the 'cooking' very simple - bung a pizza in / throw a jar of sauce on some pasta type things, and would definitely get chips in a couple of times. I HATE camping, but it's personal preference isn't it - dh loves camping, so he'd choose that I suspect.

Well, to buck the trend, I'd camp and cook on a BBQ. If it rains, get fish & chips.

I must be hard core then! We like camping and it suits out budget.

What is your budget? I'm just wondering big there's any middle ground like a isolated caravan or a yurt? The yurt might have a fire pit? Take your own hot water bottle.

We tend to cook over a fire put when camping - so lots of BBQs

I'd do a food order from supermarket for a cottage. It would be the easiest food ever-I cook from scratch normally, but it would be frozen pizzas, ready cut veg, pasta n sauce, sugary cereal, sausage rolls for picnics-I even buy those vile luncheables for the kids picnic when we're on holiday-picnic takes 1 min to put in a bag. make sure there's a dishwasher.

Nothing beats a bed-I have camped many times and that's the thing that gets me every time.

How close are you to a beach at home?

I ask as I've done cottage and cooking and it's no holiday. I'd never camp.

Now we can afford it we do self catering and eat out or hotel. If I had my time again, I wouldn't go away, I'd do day trips to beaches and eat out. No cooking, no cleaning someone else's house.

I second the static caravan option. We managed to get a week in the summer holidays for less than £300 a couple of years ago and had a great time.

We had breakfast in the caravan, made a picnic lunch and ate out every night.

Tempting as the selling the kids suggestion is, we have compromised and gone for mobile home. Cheaper than cottage, warmer than proper camping and there's a swimming pool and play ground on site. So hopefully we will end up with a mix of barbecue, fish and chips, pub and the inevitable pasta with tomato sauce..... And a truck load of cocoa pops because I am mean and only let the kids eat them if we're on holiday.

In your situation I would go for a caravan and eating out. We do this every Easter holiday. Breakfast in the van, lunch is either picnic or light sandwich in a cafe depending on what we're doing that day, then evening meal is out somewhere.

We only do Mon - Fri to keep costs down.

Cross post there - you have the best of both worlds now

And its the only time of the year the DCs get coco pops too

Frosties for my DCs

I'd camp and cook! That's half the point of camping!

Lol at Coco Pops. My kids look forward to camping as it's the only time I buy those variety boxes of cereal! It keeps them quiet until I start the bacon!