UK holidays - soo expensive

[Feebee2]

I was talking with two b&b owners. One said to the other, how much are your family rooms? He said three, she said mine are two seventy five.
I foolishly thought they meant £2.75 and £3 for each child. Then the penny dropped. £275 and £300 per night for a b&b. I was gobsmacked.
Completely true story, this is Keswick.

[gl20]

This thread reads like a copy and paste of pre COVID threads along the lines of...

‘We looked at a (AI, 5-star, peak time) holiday in Greece but it was cheaper for us to book a (2* I-Drive motel, room only) holiday in Florida, so that’s where we’re going! Europe is soooo expensive! ’

Swap Florida for Greece and Greece for UK and hey presto it’s the new-normal, Dibb-subjective price comparison/justification thread😁

[Moorlandman]

Local tourist spots have told us they don’t want us. I’ll be off to the continent the second it’s possible

[Cloverlady]

My plusses and minuses on caravanning for what it's worth!

We bought a really gorgeous nearly new caravan (beautiful modern interior! You can get some stunning caravans - have a look online! ) and used it for about 6 years for family holidays. It suited us whilst the kids were little but I would not have one now personally. I prefer hotel rooms, just my preference now! and our older kids, 17+, would not be interested in it at all now

We had to buy a different car to tow it with and it cost a lot when bought, so looking back it wasn't such a good investment if we worked out the usage over the years.

Towards the end, and nowadays, the site fees for where we wanted to stay (not big all singing all dancing sites but not rustic sites either) became as much as a hotel room. We would never use the shower etc in our caravan so stayed at really nice sites which cost a lot.
And caravanning is lovely if it was nice weather but we had an awning etc which was a lot of work putting up, especially if it was wet or rainy. Then you have the insurance costs and the storage costs, I would not want it on my drive.
The thing is you can't guarantee nice weather in the UK sadly and sitting outside in the evening when it had been raining , all I can remember is the midges and insect bites and not getting the kids clothes dry.

However, the thing I DID really like was, if it was raining at night I loved hearing the patter of raindrops on the roof! So cozy!
So in my opinion, it was a great option for us - whilst kiddies were little

[Smilesonfaces]

Originally Posted by Cloverlady

My plusses and minuses on caravanning for what it's worth!

We bought a really gorgeous nearly new caravan (beautiful modern interior! You can get some stunning caravans - have a look online! ) and used it for about 6 years for family holidays. It suited us whilst the kids were little but I would not have one now personally. I prefer hotel rooms, just my preference now! and our older kids, 17+, would not be interested in it at all now

We had to buy a different car to tow it with and it cost a lot when bought, so looking back it wasn't such a good investment if we worked out the usage over the years.

Towards the end, and nowadays, the site fees for where we wanted to stay (not big all singing all dancing sites but not rustic sites either) became as much as a hotel room. We would never use the shower etc in our caravan so stayed at really nice sites which cost a lot.
And caravanning is lovely if it was nice weather but we had an awning etc which was a lot of work putting up, especially if it was wet or rainy. Then you have the insurance costs and the storage costs, I would not want it on my drive.
The thing is you can't guarantee nice weather in the UK sadly and sitting outside in the evening when it had been raining , all I can remember is the midges and insect bites and not getting the kids clothes dry.

However, the thing I DID really like was, if it was raining at night I loved hearing the patter of raindrops on the roof! So cozy!
So in my opinion, it was a great option for us - whilst kiddies were little

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I am really hankering after a new tourer but husband is having none of it
We started caravanning as newlyweds in our mid twenties, no kids so we probably were not quite the demographic but we just loved the freedom. We eventually had a lovely brand new van when the children were growing up. We used it every other weekend and for weeks away as well throughout the year, husband leaving me on site with the children in school holidays. We used it throughout the year, always went away for New Year. Numerous visits to DLP. Wonderful memories of travelling all over the UK and France.
The initial outlay is expensive but you use it you get your moneys worth.

We stopped, similar to Cloverlady, teenagers didn’t want to caravan,mum was ill and it always meant buying bigger cars so we just got priced out. Insurance, storage, servicing. It adds up and isn’t worth it if you aren’t using it. A decent new van is £30,000.

I think I must have my rose tinted spectacles on though because I cannot ever remember a wash out caravan holiday. As they say it’s never bad weather just the wrong clothes !

[duncanb]

Guess it's good old supply and demand .
People want a holiday but are worried about situations.
Add in of course the claw back from period of inactivity hence price at present.

[faffajane]

It is very expensive to holiday in the UK, particularly if you stay in or near popular touristy areas. We did book to go to Malta this year, which obviously is not going to happen now, but the price for a week in Malta was half the price of a week in the UK.

[Warkman58]

Of course U.K. holidays are more expensive than Greece, Spain etc.
Look at the owners costs, their staffing wages, their taxes.
Those that prefer to go to Spain and Greece because they are cheaper, no surprise.
Let’s reduce peoples wages in this country to their levels, their health service and lack if infrastructure.
You wouldn’t rake a wage cut, yet you base your holidays on cheapness

[Hopefulholiday]

Ah I love to hear about people’s tourers, we had one until the kids were teens but at that point having them both in that confined space ceased to be fun.
We rarely had good weather but I liked being in the van in the rain as I felt cosy.
I would consider getting one again when it’s just the two of us as it gives you a lot of freedom, but as been mentioned they aren’t necessarily a cheap option.

[Smilesonfaces]

Originally Posted by Hopefulholiday

Ah I love to hear about people’s tourers, we had one until the kids were teens but at that point having them both in that confined space ceased to be fun.
We rarely had good weather but I liked being in the van in the rain as I felt cosy.
I would consider getting one again when it’s just the two of us as it gives you a lot of freedom, but as been mentioned they aren’t necessarily a cheap option.

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I always thought we would get another van when it was just us going away again. Husband doesn’t want to tow and I don’t feel quite ready for a static. My brother has a motor home but it cost more than my house ! It is certainly not a cheap holiday.