Can't decide where in the UK to go this year - looking for a fab cottage not too far from the coast.

[PaddingtonBore]

not sure where in the UK we want to go! We were looking to spend about £400 per week for a cottage. Ideally no more than 5 hours drive from Manchester, so not the North of Scotland, nor Devon/Cornwall. I wondered if any of you have returned from places you'd recommend?

Not tried any of their southern cottages yet, but I swear by babyfriendlyboltholes - have you tried them before?

here

Oh, they look lovely sycamore, but the ones I've clicked on are all a bit out of our price range .

we were wondering about North Wales this year... any recommendations (that could be perfect from Manchester)

How many beds/rooms do you need?

Yes, the southern ones are pricey - we tend to go to Wales as DH family is there - much more reasonable!

Grimma - you should check out that link for North Wales....

we just need 2 bedrooms, so I don't want to spend £££ on space we don't need.

this one is owned by a MNer and seems to tick the distance and price range boxes.

I heart Pembrokeshire.

Coastal Cottages of Pembrokeshire - appallingly slow website so best try ringing them, but some of the cottages seem to be in your price range I think.

choosyfloosy - there are some gems on that site! We'll definitely have a think about Pembrokeshire.

The Gower Peninsula is lovely. Don't know about cottages as we camped. We are in Cheshire and went to the Isle of Arran last year. It was gorgeous and took 5 hours or less from us.

How about Whitby? I don't have any cottage recs though, but it's close to the Yorkshire Moors and is a nice drive down to Scarborough, Robin Hood's Bay, Filey and Bridlington.

we stayed in the Farmhouse last year

ooh- I always wanted to go to Whitby when I was a teenage Goth. Is it frightfully cold on the North-East coast (soft southerner)?

little bump to see if anyone can find me a bargain

The BFB site is doing special deals for Mumsnetters at the moment see here www.babyfriendlyboltholes.co.uk/affiliate_offers.php?referral=mumsnet The ones in West Wales and near Longleat (Bath,Somerset area)have 2-beds and come in under £400 on lots of dates.

These are very nice Whitby

Go to the Llyn peninsula,North Wales.Stay near the Ty Coch Inn which is a pub on its own beach. We used Nefyn Holidays I think.

puffling, we've just looked at the Nefyn holidays site and DH in particular is very taken. I think we'll pick something from that site. thank you very much for recommending it!

We have just come back from Pemrokeshire, and I loved it too - although v cold. How old is your child/children?

The beaches were beautiful, and there were lots of things to do it seemed, although some were not open over the Christmas period.

We booked with www.Ownersdirect.com

ooh we stayed at Captain Cook's Haven in Whitby last year, booked thru Hoseasons, very reasonable, we stayed in Cooke's Cottage

Apologies. www.ownersdirect.co.uk

this year we're going here www.dacrepark.co.uk/content.aspx?PageID=5
again thru Hoseasons, also stayed here two years ago

a friend reccomended here but it looks pricey www.coastalretreats.co.uk

Sexonlegs...what was the name of the accommodation you stayed in in Pembrokeshire??

Whitby is gorgeus- but quite crowded in high summer.
but Sandsend, just down the road
http://www.bookcottages.com/cottages/100-KOC-clematis-cottage.htm and right on the sea nice beachgives you the best of both worlds.

Sandsend is a lovely oldfashioned seaside village- swimmimg( not always arctic!) river, lovely beach, which can be completely uncrowded if you walk a small distnce from the cafe- Beach cafe- local crab sandwiches- yum)
it has another cafe with cappucino, and a pub, vilage shop.

Ruthie, we stayed in a 4 bedroomed cottage called Primrose Cottage in Stackpole - 4 miles from Pembroke. It was gorgeous.