The 'Great Where To Holiday In The UK' Hunt

MSE_Martin

With cheap flights and travel so accessible these days, it's easy to overlook the great holiday spots on our doorsteps. Holidaying in the UK can not only be cheap but it's better for the environment than flying too!

So I thought I'd tap MoneySavers' collective knowledge for the best places to holiday without going abroad.

dmg24

That was a scarily fast hop from the This Morning studios!

Having travelled all over the world, my favourite holiday still has to be ... Skegness!

I fell in love with Skeg, and more specifically Butlins, as a child, and have been going back ever since. I even worked at Butlins in Skeg for a year!

In Skeg you have lovely beaches, fish and chips, and the best amusement arcades (I'm such a classy bird!).

Butlins is actually at Ingoldmells, where there is also Fantasy Island and the best market! Endless tat, but who cares, it is all part of the fun!

Further into Lincolnshire, you can have a day out in Lincoln. Absolutely lovely traditional market town, great for sightseeing or for shopping.

Enjoy! x

toozie_2

We've rented cottages all over the UK. Not normally from a cottage letting agency, but directly from the owner's, thus avoiding the 'cut' these agencies take.

Usually find these by Googling the area we want to stay in, and then emailing anyone advertising a cottage with the right amount of bedrooms.

Once the cottage is booked, I search for places of interest, entertainment etc nearby, finding free tickets and BOGOF entry etc.

Change any Tesco Vouchers into Day Out or meal Deals if required.

I start a cardboard box for food to take, tins of tuna, beans, crackers, coffee, tea. We don't take loads though, because its more fun going shopping to the nearest large supermarket when we get there.
We buy easy to cook, tasty things, maybe stuff we wouldn't have normally at home.

After settling in the first stop is the tourist information, we all choose leaflets of places we'd each like to visit-usually I've already got Deals/BOGOF vouchers for some of these by Googling. Sometimes you actually get free vouchers at the T/Info.

We try and please everyone, and go to places we all want to see/or do.

Meals could even be pate on toast, dips and breadsticks. Anything goes.

We usually take a couple of games as well, and sometimes there are different ones already in the cottage.

When the kids were young, we used to take a couple of boxes of Ice Pops to freeze, so they could have as many as they wanted, saved buying expensive lollies.

Another + point was I gave the kids some money for their holidays, maybe £10 each, my parents might give them £5 each, and sometimes my sister. This was their holiday spending, when that was gone, they didn't usually ask for more-this money was for what they fancied in shops etc, junk mostly!

We always had a great laugh.

Angua2

Hiyas.

Just want to share a great place in Scotland for budget (summer !? hasn't it been a shocking summer) holidaying. We (2 adults & 3 kids) had a fab time in Granton-on-Spey at:

http://www.caravanscotland.com/wigwams.htm

The wigwam was perfect. So much easier than a tent PLUS when the rain came we weren't flooded out like those poor souls under canvas.

Not only is this caravan site extremely good (clean, good kiddies play area, within strolling distance of Co-op), the area is full of things to do & see - some on the dear side and others free.

Things to do recommendations: The Highland Folk Museum at Kingussie (we ALL loved it, spent entire day there, AND they have a great cafe),

Highland Folk Museum at Newtonmore and Kingussie

Located at two towns, 2 miles apart, this Museum aims to include preserving and recording aspects of Highland life from the 1700s onwards, as well as interpreting the people's lives through interactive living history and activities.
Kingussie, opened in 1944, is the spiritual home of the Highland Folk Museum. Here visitors may see parts of the core collections as well as the 'Blackhouse', Britain's oldest re-created building. Newtonmore, opened in 1995, is a mile long living history site that includes re-constructed buildings, a 1700s 'Township', a 1940 working farm, live interpretation and a range of visitor facilities.

Skint_Catt

Betws y Coed, Snowdonia, North Wales.

We stay in a cottage let directly by the owners and there is lots to see and do in Snowdonia, Conwy, Llandudno, Angelsey etc etc. Fantastic!

inkie

Had a brilliant holiday in Barnard Castle earlier this year - booked direct with the owners £170 for the week (Sping Bank). We are going to Cheshire over the summer.
There are so many lovely places to go in the UK - can't see the point in going abroad until the winter . We set a budget and stick to it - and it's amazing what free things you can find. I refuse to see a holiday as an excuse to spend more than we would have done at home - that way we end up going away more frequently.

tubster

The Landmark Trust is incredible - dozens of castles, lighthouses and forts to rent. If you rent larger properties for a week in low season and can find enough people to go (Jan to March) you can live like a king for about £120 per person per week (self catering). Plus the profit helps look after the buildings. You need to buy a catalogue to book (about £12, and you can ask for this amount off your first booking).

http://www.landmarktrust.org.uk

ailuro2

www.libertontower.co.uk is a castle we stayed at last year-built around 1480 and furnished with authentic period furniture. But it has underfloor heating too:D Fantastic if you like things that go bump in the night.:eek: Just a few minutes walk away from the bus route that takes you into the centre of Edinburgh, so the best of both worlds.

www.templandcottages.co.uk has a smaller real fire than Liberton tower, but still wonderful to cosy up in - we have stayed there twice- a great set up, everything you could need, and a little more. Pool tables, indoor swimming pool. goo dchoice of cottages, lovely owners. We'll be returning there soon, we hope.:T

boardwitless

The Travelodge site has a great pricechecker for their saver (£26) and supersaver (£15) rooms - You have to book in advance for both. Naturally, they aren't right on the coast for that price (although the trad. holiday destination rooms are only about £50 per night per room). We got a family room for 4 of us (king sized bed, pull out sofa bed) for £26 per night for 4 nights in Reading for a bit of sightseeing - close enough to Windsor Castle, Legoland (lastminute.com discount tickets bought in advance) and close enough to London if we wanted to go in by train. We are taking cornflakes, bowls and sugar with us for brekkie (Tesco express a couple of minutes away for the milk) so that saves us the £4 costs of a Travelodge mini breakfast. Hope the rain keeps off

Norma_Desmond

I know I'm a bore about the delights of Pembrokeshire, but if you've not been before you're in for a treat.
When the sun shines it's like being 'abroad' and of course we've got the only coastal national park in Britain.
Tenby and the south coast is beautiful and not too commercialised, but if you like wild and magnificent then head north - the coastline between Cardigan and St. Davids will take your breath away.
I've even seen a pod of porpoises in the bay this morning - we're not known as the 'dolphin coast' for nothing.
There are loads of tiny cottages etc. to rent around here, and like I said, we're nothing like say, Cornwall, in terms of heavy tourism and traffic jams!

Ecky-thump

We are off to St Minver, near Padstow, Cornwall, the first week in September, and we are hoping against hope for better weather.

The cost is £250 for a 10ft wide static caravan for the week, just for the two of us, him and me. Not been there before, but have done other sites in Cornwall with much pleasure and would recommend this type of holiday.

You do not have to buy their meals or go to the noisy shows, if there are any on the site you choose to go to. We alternate the days for eating out and eating in the caravan. They have a full kitchen in there, so no excuses!

We love the break and the full relaxation we get, having our own roof over our heads and our own front door, as it were. No stress and cheap enough for anyone. I give it 5 stars!