That's the problem we find in this country Sue - holidays are way over priced. You also have the added costs of paying to visit attractions if the weather's bad.

a couple of years back [when we still had a caravan] OH decided we would go away for a week in July instead of going abroad, taking into account fuel, pitch fees etc then the additional cost of food/drink compared to abroad it was just less than popping over to Spain for a week, then take into account duty paid goods [fags and booze] that we would bring home it cost a lot more, and to top it all we had 6 out of 7 days of rain..... not got rid of caravan and have gone back to a tent for short weekend brakes and go abroad for our main holidays

wizard

We are also retired and like to holiday in Mallorca and Tenerife, but have been taking shorter UK breaks at reasonable cost with Innkeepers Lodge we have had three days in York, Horning on the Norfolk Broads, Borehamwood for the West End and most recently Norwich. The cost of three nights in Norwich with a good continental breakfast was £19.95 for two each night £59.85 in total unbeleivable value for good quality accomodation all the others were £99 for three nights. Of course the advantage we have is that we can go any time and take up these great offers. And we can use our bus passes we leave our car on the carpark and travel the area free ie from Norwich to Lowestoft for the day, can't be bad, haha.

Dave.

We have now got into a pattern of having a hotel winter holiday (Jan/Feb) abroad - somewhere like the Algarve or Malta and a couple of cottage holidays in May and September/October in the UK. Jan/Feb is often a good time to go abroad - hotel prices are usually very good.

There are some very lovely and high quality cottages available nowadays and if you go off peak then they can be very reasonable. Obviously you really do need to have a car for these.

We went to the Algarve in January and found that because of the euro/sterling activity it was more expensive than the UK for a lot of everyday items.

I have looked at holidays/flights abroad for 2010 and they do look quite expensive to me. Have booked our favourite Cornish cottage for May 2010 - only £215 for a week and it is a very well equipped place too. Long drive but well worth it! Ok so you take a chance with the weather but having a cottage means you have at least somewhere warm and cosy to go back to. We have occasionally had bad weather abroad too!!!!

With regard to rail fares they do need to be booked well in advance so as to get the best deals.

Pippa

Rail tickets must NOT be booked well in advance! The cheapest fares are never released until 12 weeks before and for weekends this may be a bit less. I did post a fuller explanation on how to work the system in the UK forum a few months back but I couldn't get it to stick near the top so it's way down the list now!

I have bumped the topic in the UK forum HERE

luci

Ta, having checked my own link it appears that they aren't even achieving 12 weeks at the moment, most are only giving 10 weeks and the Welsh routes are down to 8 weeks.

With regard to me suggesting that rail fares need to be booked well in advance - you tend to not be able to book more than 3 months ahead on sites like trainline in any case. That is what I meant by in advance.

I have booked several trips for my mother - usually around 10 - 12 weeks before date of travel and always got a really good price - they have always got more expensive nearer the date.

Pippa

Hello again!

I was a bit concerned as many people now think in terms of airline deadlines (a lot are already looking at booking summer 2010) and wanted to make sure they didn't jump in too early.

By the way, if I remembr correctly The Trainline is one of two booking agencies that now add a service charge to rail tickets (Raileasy is the other). There are still several other's that don't, if you check fares via Nationalrail.co.uk it will list them all and offer links.

sorry guys no thanks to holidays in the uk, would never take the risk what with the weather, food costs, and drink..would rather safe for holiday abroad...anyway the weather here even when hot, is not the same as abroad...

I think more and more people are deciding to holiday in the UK at the moment. It can actually be cheaper to eat and drink here than in many eurozone countries whilst the euro/sterling rate is not good.

We also have some stunning scenery. Why do you think so many Americans love this country??

I think the answer (if you are fortunate to be able to) is to holiday both here and abroad.

I do welcome the increased tourist trade for the UK - it can surely only be good news?

Pippa

Whether the UK is good for holidays rather depends on where you come from.

Last week I met two groups of Norwegians (and my father met a third group) all of whom were here for canal boats. Now I would say UK canal boats are expensive and our weather was rubbish last week. But if you come from Norway then it seems good value and the weather is better than at home! And the scenery and towns are completely different. So, not a bad holiday for them.

But if you live in the UK any town you visit will seem pretty much the same as where you came from. You get the same shops, same pub/restaurants chains with same menus and quite often the same gormless and barely trained staff. You get a hotel trade that has never been properly regulated so star ratings mean little in the first place and aren't accurately assessed. That assumes that you can find a hotel because most councils don't consider providing information to prospective visitors to be their responsibilty. I know that if I want info for Germany, Austria, Switzerland and many other countries all I need to do is go to http://www.town-name.countrycode and there's a 95% chance I'll find it.

I disagree that the scenery is stunning. It might be if you come from the Netherlands but I'd say pretty would be a better description. If you can find your way through the Photo Galleries you'll find some that I posted of a bus ride over an Austrian mountain road. One shows the bus at a stop - the altitude at that point is exactly that of Ben Nevis added to Snowdon! Now that's getting closer to stunning!

And whilst I'm on the subject of public transport - oh dear! We have a disjointed system that varies in quality from one extreme to the other. It's basically expensive unless you know how to work the system. And the national timetable informations systems (mostly paid for out of taxes) are a disgrace that ought to be investigated by the Frau.d Squad.

What we do have are some interesting attractions, museums and stately homes etc. but if you live here these are the sort of things that are more suitable to day trips or weekend breaks not proper holidays.

Holiday in the UK? I'd rather stay at home and watch day time telly!!

I beg to differ! We holidayed in the Yorkshire Dales in May and went up over the buttertubs pass and the scenery WAS stunning - pretty describes small villages with thatched cottages not hills and mountains that seem to stretch for miles with nothing escept the odd farm - that is stunning.

The mountains of Scotland are spectacular - especially when the heather is out.

The one thing a lot of people do comment on when they return from abroad is the fact that our country is green - something that isn't always the case in other areas of the world.

Without meaning to be rude I am glad that not everyone shares your attitude about the UK - the tourism industry would collapse if they did. Fortunately, even in a credit crunch families are finding that the good old UK is not such a bad place to holiday after all - especially when the weather is fairly good as it is at the moment.

For myself, I will continue to take a winter holiday abroad as you can generally assume the weather will be better than at home in Jan/Feb and a couple of UK cottage holidays. The best of both worlds.

Pippa

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, I agree with Pippa there is some stunning scenery in the Uk, but I also respect Steve's point of view to prefer other countries.
We all have different ideas of a perfect holiday, Cities, Country, Coast, for some the price of a pint of beer is vital in making their choice and what bars and entertainment are available, myself I am obsessed with getting value for money others look for luxury, As I get older I am not so keen on hanging around airports although we travelled four times last year. There are some excellent hotels in the Uk some privately owned who offer service at a price, as regards staff certainly in Spain most hotels now offer self service buffet style meals and the dining room staff are only table clearers. In the Uk a lot hotel staff come from Poland and some that have served me have trouble with the English Langauge but many are certainly professional. Living as I do near Skegness the town offers the sort of holiday which suits mostly working families at a price they can afford.

Dave.

I also had a holiday in the Yorkshire Dales in May and overall I found the area stunning, and some of the small villages with their individual shops and cafes (not chains) I found very attractive. My OH had never visited the Dales before and immediately fell in love with the area. We stayed in a lovely B&B where we received a warm welcome and enjoyed some excellent meals in local restaurants. On previous holidays we have visited Scotland and I thought that some of the beaches there were absolutely beautiful equal or better to many that people rave about in far flung areas of the world.
As to comparing the Alps with Scotland, well I have visited the Himalaya where the altitude of both of Austrias highest mountains the Großglockner and the Wildspitze added together wouldn't add up to the height of many of Nepals peaks but that doesn't make Austrias mountains any less stunning than Nepals or Scotlands peaks any less stunning to me just because their height doesn't reach the altitude of peaks in other countries, they are just different. For me added height doesn't necessarily mean added beauty.
I almost always enjoy holidays in the UK and rarely have a bad experience.

I have always maintained there are many beautiful parts to the UK..even more so when the weather is nice.
We have our main holiday abroad, usually to Egypt or Malta as we are scuba divers, but went to Thailand earlier this year. The Canaries are another favourite. We tend to explore the UK alot as we like to scuba dive in different areas. Among my favourites are Seahouses in the North East, St Abbs in Scotland and Carnforth on the edge of the Lakes. I love the East Coast of Scotland, I love the North East..and Yorkshire/Nottinghamshire is where I am from so we can explore that any time we like.
We used to book into digs for when we were staying over diving but with the expense and credit crunch etc, we cannot afford the costs of diving and hotel fees too..so the hotel de la tent is becoming a favourite.
The thing is..I never count little breaks away in the UK as holidays..I prefer to go abroad...and as beautiful as the scenery is abroad, it is not a patch on the beauty of the UK.

Well I live in the lake district and we have some of the most stunning scenery, rain, shine any season ! but we never venture to the tourist spots during holiday season, which is pretty much all year round now, abroad is where we like to go , because you gotta see the world before you die, surely !!!!!!
I realise this years awful credit crunch has put paid to a lot of people's hols and us brits are expected to stay in the uk this summer, well, great prediction from the weather people so far ( apart from the last coupla days !!) for a fab summer, but we actually got a lot more value for money going AL in jamaica for our 2 week hols ! having said that, we've got a week off in august and hubby doesn't want to fly again after the long ahaul flight recently, so we are going to edinburgh for the festival for 5 nights and will thoroghly enjoy this also !

I have always thought it is expensive to holiday in the UK. For what it has cost us sometimes just for a weekend break scuba diving we could have had a week in Spain...mind you, that was before the credit crunch and the collapse of the £ against the Euro....

Haven't I have stirred things up!

the point I was trying to make is what is the point of spending "quite a lot of money" to get "not a lot of difference" from normal life when, with a couple of hours flying, you could get a "signficant difference" for the same "quite a lot of money". Look at it as a "difference per £" factor. The comment about Nepal being more stunning than Austria is undoubtedly true but it will cost much more to get there so the "difference per £" won't be much better.

As for the comments of how nice somewhere is even when it rains - who wants to go on holiday in the rain? Unless you live in a country with even worse weather or where it never rains so it's a novelty.

And our much heralded glorious summer may have scraped in for the South East but apart from the week of extreme heat it's not happened for much of the UK. Certainly Wales and NW England have struggled to top 20C since then and it's been showery for most of the time. At this moment several roads, one railway and a fair few houses in South Wales are under water and the BBC forecaster has just described tomorrow in NE England as "more like October or November". This is of course the second anniversary weekend of the floods that took out much of Central England and the South West.

My apologies to Scotland - they do have a quite good accomodation info service unlike the rest of UK - but their public transport info is still as bad!!