Can’t afford to go abroad for your holiday, or just don’t feel like travelling too far? Why not holiday in the UK instead? To many people, staying in the UK for their holiday might not sound very appealing, but there are so many ways you can see different parts of the country. Getting away to somewhere hot and sunny doesn’t have to be the only option, and the UK can still get plenty of sunshine at certain times of the year too. Choosing to holiday in the UK instead of going abroad can still give you a super fun trip, and you can find lots of affordable options too. If you want to stay in the UK but still do something new, here’s how you could make your holiday amazing.
Consider a Staycation
Before you decide to go anywhere, it’s worth thinking about whether you want to take a “staycation”. Staying right at home might not appeal to everyone but it can be an inexpensive way to take a rest and to experience some new things. A staycation allows you to stay put and explore the things around you from your home. The UK is perfect for doing this, because it’s pretty easy to reach many different places within a few hours. Of course, it depends where you are, but you can often discover many new things.
Your staycation could involve exploring your town and city in a way you never have before. Maybe there are places you have never been to because they’re usually places for visitors rather than those who live there. Or there could be things you have never seen or done just because they’re outside of your usual routine. You could also start to explore further away, whether it’s taking a walk just a short train ride from your home or perhaps driving to the nearest beach.
Make the Journey Fun
It’s not always just your destination that’s most important. Sometimes getting there is half the fun, and your journey doesn’t have to be stressful. There are several ways to travel around the UK, from driving to buses, trains, planes and even cycling or walking. You can make your journey a memorable one by choosing a mode of transport and a route that will help to improve the experience. What you prefer may depend on which transport you find least stressful or most enjoyable, and where you want to go. You might enjoy driving along country roads, or perhaps you want to journey up to Scotland on a sleeper train.
If you decide to walk or cycle somewhere, the whole point of the holiday will often be the journey. Whether you decide to go from point A to point B or you take a circular route that takes you back to where you started, it could be a fantastic way to see parts of the UK in ways you’ve never seen them before. You could even consider a sailing trip, which would be an excellent way to explore the coast or some of the smaller islands in the British Isles.
Go Somewhere Completely Different to Home
The UK is certainly not all the same, although some people might feel like it is. It’s actually very diverse, with four distinct countries and plenty of varying landscapes and scenery too. If you want a holiday that really feels like a holiday, choose a destination that’s different to your home. It could be as easy as leaving a city and going out into the countryside, or going from your rural home to somewhere more populated. You will find that even areas that you might expect to be similar can be very different. One coastal town isn’t the same as every other coastal town in the UK, for example.
Visit a National Park
The UK has 15 beautiful National Parks. Three of them are in Wales, two are in Scotland and the remaining 10 are in England. Each of these parks offers something different, with both nature to explore and fantastic history, culture, food and drink, places to stay and things to do. Visiting one of the parks is a good way to see a new side of the UK, and there are different ways you can choose to experience them. You might be someone who likes to get active, in which case you could explore by hiking, biking or even canoeing. You could also enjoy a national park by staying at a spa, trying out different tearooms and shopping in independent shops.
Get a Complete Holiday Package
One of the benefits of a UK holiday is that you can organise it really easily. There’s no need to do anything too complicated to get exactly the holiday that you’re looking for. If you want to know that you will have everything that you could ever need when you’re on holiday, a holiday park is a brilliant option. At Lyons Holiday Parks, options for staying include holiday homes and camping, so you can choose accommodation that suits you. You can benefit from a range of facilities, offering you everything that you could need for your holiday. What you can’t get from the park, you can easily find nearby.
Choose Accommodation That Works for You
When you stay in the UK, you can discover a huge range of different types of accommodation. Just choosing the right place to stay can have a huge impact on how much you can enjoy your holiday. First, consider your budget. At the bottom end of the scale, there’s camping. Then you can discover hostels in many locations, particularly in cities or in places where tourist numbers are high. Bed and breakfast accommodation and guesthouses come next, which give you your own room but can sometimes mean sharing a bathroom.
Of course, if you want a little more luxury, there’s the option of a hotel. These come at all kinds of price points, from budget chains to luxury, 5-star hotels. Which one you choose will depend on your requirements and what you want to get out of your holiday. If you won’t be spending much time in your hotel, somewhere quiet and clean is likely to be good enough for you. However, if you’re going to base your stay around the hotel, you might be looking for somewhere with a spa, a restaurant and perhaps some grounds to explore.
There’s also a great choice of self-catered accommodation. This can include serviced apartments, Airbnb properties, rented cottages, and more. These are excellent if you want to have some more independence and a space that you can use more freely.
Take a Tour
Who says that your holiday has to be in only one place? The UK is pretty small, relatively speaking, so you can cover a lot of it fairly easily if you want to. Even if you don’t want to travel from one end of the country to another, you can still choose a particular region to explore, whether you do it on foot, by car or by train. If you decide to take a tour, you could plan your own itinerary and arrange your own transport. Another option is to join any tours offered by tour companies that might take your fancy. Many of them will be coach tours, but you can also discover tours in smaller vehicles, walking tours and more.
Be Prepared for Any Weather
Anyone who lives in the UK knows that the weather can be unpredictable. We have four fairly distinct seasons, but that doesn’t mean it won’t suddenly rain in the middle of summer or get extremely sunny for a few days in December. With such unpredictable weather, it’s always better to be prepared for anything. You never know when you could be taken by surprise, so it’s smart to plan ahead. This includes packing the right clothes and other items, but it can also be helpful to have contingency plans. If you’ve planned to go to the beach but it starts to rain, what will you do? Go anyway and wear your raincoat or do something else?
Look Beyond the Beach
The UK has plenty of coastline, which means you’re never really far from a beach. When the weather is good, people flock to the beaches to enjoy them, whether they’re sand, pebble, shale or other materials. A seaside or beach holiday can be a fantastic way to spend your time, but it’s not the only way to holiday or to enjoy a holiday in the UK. You might want to save the beach holiday for your next trip abroad, especially if you enjoy affordable locations like Spain.
There’s so much to see and do beyond the beaches in the UK. If you want to have an interesting holiday that offers something different, look beyond the beach and consider choosing a different type of place to visit. Head to a city, spend time in a forest or climb a mountain to get a new perspective.
You don’t need to go abroad to enjoy your holiday. There’s so much to do right here in the UK, and it’s easy to make your holiday amazing.
‘Contributed Post’
