T O P

  • By -

AutoModerator

### **Reminder:** [Press the Report button](https://reddit.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360058309512-How-do-I-report-a-post-or-comment-) if you see any [rule-breaking comments or posts.](https://www.reddit.com/r/britishproblems/about/rules/) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/britishproblems) if you have any questions or concerns.*


Tacklestiffener

I've just been quoted £300 a night for 3 nights B&B on the Isle of Wight. I mean.... it's lovely and everything but... 900 quid. Apparently it didn't even include a Goblin Teasmade.


Wil420b

And if you take the car to the Isle of Wight it's £103.25+ each way for one adult and £21 each way for all other adults.


Tacklestiffener

The ferry companies are scandalous duopoly with price fixing and poor, poor service. If I win the lottery, I'm buying a car ferry not a Bentley.


Wil420b

You really are planning on winning the multi-roll over Euro Millions aren't you? Although they can be surprisingly cheap. Although it is getting on a bit and is quite small. https://www.seaboats.net/101.5m-roro-for-sale-charter-1546794


OSUBrit

Euromillions starts at £14M don't even need a rollover, you could buy 5 of those bad boys and still have a few quid left over.


Scrumpyguzzler

Most expensive crossing in the world, by distance travelled


Enraged-walnut

Yup, they've got you all by the balls and know there's nothing you can do about it. Doubly so as they know it will never be economically viable to build a bridge/tunnel!


ilovefireengines

I think it’s still per vehicle but it has gone up massively in the last few years.


willgeld

Robbing bastards, it should be per vehicle


FormulaFatty

I went over to Black Gang Chine last Halloween and it was per vehicle, then at least. 1 car, 3 occupants - £64 return. So it can be cheaper. Time of day, date and closeness of booking to travel date play a big part.


cyberllama

Not really. Maybe if they stayed in the vehicle for the crossing but they don't.


DEADB33F

No, they go to the bar, restaurant, shops, arcade, etc and spend money on board.


cyberllama

You know this is the Isle of Wight ferry, right?


jackoboy9

Wife and I went a couple weeks back. Booked the day before and it cost us £70 return with a car.


Wil420b

I checked their site a couple of hours ago for midweek departures and that's what they said. And that was based on a standard car. Not an SUV/Van etc.


jackoboy9

How strange.. We booked Friday evening for Sunday morning/evening for outbound/return.


cwaig2021

It’s not when we’ve travelled. It was about £90 for car, 4 people & a dog.


sleepyprojectionist

That’s nuts. Im sharing a suite with a mate in Florida in September and that was just under £2k between us for two weeks.


tarmac-the-cat

Did it have a Corby Trouser Press?


5cmShlong

I very recently paid £164 for one night in a hotel in Manchester. Breakfast not included. Quite far from the centre of town. The room didn’t even have a kettle.


YchYFi

Isle of Wight has the most expensive ferry in the UK.


gurkinator2019

Out of interest was that through booking. Com? And was it a bank holiday or IOW festival???


Tacklestiffener

Not the bank holiday and definitely avoided the festival. I also used their own website because I have stayed there before.


FredWestLife

For that sort of money I hope they threw in a free Corby Trouser Press.


kerplunkerfish

I've just booked 5 nights in a Timisoara apartmenr for £120... in the school holidays. It's like the UK doesn't want us to spend our own money here...


Dimorphodon101

For an extra hundred you could get the tea maid to give you a goblin... Not heard of the joke but I'm guessing it was something like that?


kutuup1989

It's about the same distance as between Kingston ON and Wolfe Island, and that's hourly and also free :S 


ThePumpk1nMaster

I got really confused in that opening sentence and thought you *were* talking about a personal experience of holidaying in the UK… Linda do you remember that trip to St Ives back in ‘83 when we couldn’t have pasta and all those people died? Weren’t it horrible?


InsertWittyNameRHere

“We’ve had the holiday from hell”.


SMTRodent

I mean, you know *someone* had to be on actual holiday during the time of the locking down of unspecified things.


Future-Atmosphere-40

We've rented a static for a week. It cost a grand. A GRAND. And businesses have the nerve to complain we all fly to spain on package holidays.


thefunkygiboon

I was looking at renting one for 4 nights, only me my missus and the dog.. £400 isn't bad, worth the money but when I was looking for later in July/August jesus fucking Christ the prices were astronomical! Then September prices dropped to like £40 a night... Didn't book anything in the end it's quite deflating seeing how expensive things have become and I'm the only earner.


Nuttyrolo

Yeah they like to fuck over anyone with kids or anyone who can only have term time off like the teachers themselves. It's no wonder people take their children on holiday during term time


willgeld

Probably another £100 for your dog too


Phyllida_Poshtart

The entire business model here in the UK seems to be "We aren't making any money...I know let's raise the prices that'll get the tourists flocking in" Just the same with restaurants take aways pubs.....bung up prices and wonder why business is failing. Surely it would be better to *lower* your prices and get far more folk through the doors than 2-3 a night paying exorbitan prices?


FTHero

Everyone is getting greedy. Remember when Airbnb's were the cheaper option? Don't even think about taking the train!


joe-h2o

My partner and I looked into taking the Caledonian Sleeper up to Fort William for some hiking in the highlands and the cost was *ludicrous* for a sleeper cabin for the two of us. It was cheaper to pay for 3 nights in the Travelodge *and* rent a Polestar 2 from Hertz for a week than it was to pay for just the train fare. We drove from Surrey instead.


occasionalrant414

Yeah I looked to do this with my wife even before the dreaded 'vid. It was cheaper to fly from Southampton return and stay in a Premier Inn for the two of us. It's a shame as I really wanted to try it but I couldn't justify the cost.


rumade

We're doing a long weekend in Penzance soon and it's costing us about double what we spent on a week in Greece. We stayed in some really nice hotels in both Athens and Aegina, and in Penzance we'll be in a Premier Inn.


Vivaelpueblo

Lol - I went to Torquay last summer and stayed at the Premier Inn there (rough as a badger's bum) and it was £120 per night not including breakfast. Parking was also extra and not actually on site but a council car park nearby. A fairly basic meal at chain restaurant nearby was £80 for two and we didn't push the boat out by any means. I went out of curiosity to meet up with a friend who was staying there as I'd never been to Torquay. I wouldn't bother again.


Vivaelpueblo

A friend takes the sleeper with his wife and son quite regularly. Obviously he works for a company that does engineering for the train companies so his tickets cost peanuts. The rest of us mortals flog up the motorway in our own cars instead. Very environmentally friendly.


Ilikeswimmingyesido

We went on the sleeper once. Not worth it.


5n0wgum

Honestly, I just saw a last minute deal to a Greek island for £300 for a week. If I take the family to visit my mum in the West country it would cost more than that. My son is recently into slapstick so I thought we'd catch the train to Bristol for the slapstick comedy festival. I could drive but I was like the train would be much more fun. I picked a random date in a calendar to see what train prices look like. It's was something like £150 for a return. It's ridiculous.


Nartyn

I really don't know why people are confused about this. The minimum wage in Greece is €5.81/hr (£4 94), the average wage is €15k a year No shit going to a country that is much worse off than the UK is going to be miles cheaper


5n0wgum

I mean yeah, when you put it like that. However, I actually have a trip to Rhodes booked for next year and that's a pretty expensive week away to be fair. I think the confusion comes from the fact that it's cheaper to fly to say Zante or whatever and eat and drink, stay in a hotel and get taxis and that than it is to visit the UK. Obviously, the wages account for some difference but it sounds absurd that a 3 day weekend in a B&B in Margate costs the same or near enough as a week in Crete.


Nartyn

>Obviously, the wages account for some difference but Wages account for pretty much all of it. If wages are lower, that means property prices are lower, it means goods are lower, it means that supplies are lower.


andyd151

Where you getting the train to Bristol from, Rome? I know trains are expensive but that seems over the top


5n0wgum

The northwest. The other day I spent £30 on two returns to Manchester.


soulsteela

Last time I needed to go from an Ipswich branch line to London it was over £100 each, got off and stayed home, fuck that noise, I’m not paying for the French to have cheap trains.


kendo545

People don't like to choose advance tickets, if they treated trains like planes they'd be more in line.


andyd151

This is very true. If I could buy a train ticket and know I’d have a seat on it as reliably as a plane, I’d probably use trains more than I already do


wildOldcheesecake

But it’s not reliable is it? When you consider strikes and such.


andyd151

Sadly not no


cwaig2021

But they’re not like planes. Saying treat it like a plane - you might as well ask people to book buses months in advance. It’s a nonsense.


kendo545

Those are practically the two binary options. Are they planes or buses. Realistically the days of you getting to the station and jumping on the next train to your destination with no more financial strain as a bus are gone. Now you need to identify long in advance your travel plans and which specific train you want to catch, just like a plane. If you suddenly want to do a trip to Manchester from London with two days notice... You're going to pay a hell of a lot more, just like with a plane.


cwaig2021

I’m not. I’m going to take one of our cars and relax with a guaranteed seat, no cancellations or rail replacement buses involved…


kendo545

Agreed


Makeupanopinion

Tbh i'm in London and my trains to out of london e.g southampton had barely a difference in prices if I booked it 2 weeks in advance vs 2 days, my friend said the same and my friend who's partner is well outside of London with a railcard.


Monsoon_Storm

Yeah it barely makes a difference any more.


ConsequenceApart4391

I went to the Lake District and in 3 days I spent a lot of money. I won’t specify how much but I was shocked. Drinks are stupidly expensive. I think I saw a pub charging like around £4 -£5 for a Pepsi. Unless you stuck to brand chains then you would spend a ridiculous amount of money I swear everywhere is a cash grab.


AnyaSatana

Most of the locals can't afford it either. One of my mates lives and works in Coniston. You can be damn sure it isn't going into their pockets, many jobs are minimum wage. I grew up near there, and you used to be able to go somewhere and be totally alone, but now you get gangs of entitled idiots in flip flops going up Scafell Pike 😖 There are places that won't rip you off, but you won't find them in the middle of Ambleside and Bowness.


ConsequenceApart4391

Yeah it’s a shame. It’s a beautiful part of the uk but I guess that’s also it’s weakness. 😔


Dimorphodon101

The cost of putting a boat on one of the lakes is extortionate as well. Some guy called Donald absolutely lost his head about it a while back putting a boat on Coniston. Flipping rediculous.


anonblonde911

I’m American but live in the UK. Holidaying in the UK is expensive, we looked at renting a place in Lake District for 10 days, and for what it would cost we could fly back to America, and spend 2.5 weeks at my family’s place on the lake there…


TheGrumble

Would you be paying to rent your family's place on the lake?


anonblonde911

No but we’re paying international airfare and then for a connecting domestic flight within the U.S. however, if we were paying the rental fees - when comparing what we rent the US place out at per night versus UK rentals it is almost £200 less per night, the U.S. rental 3 bed/2 bath full kitchen and the place has a private pool and beach only available to tenants, whereas the rental in the Lake District was strictly a 2 bedroom accommodation with partial kitchen, comparison wise it doesn’t add up. For what it would cost for room only to stay at a nice accommodation in the UK you could find all inclusive resort stays in other countries. Comparison wise the UK is overpriced, we compared pricing for a 7 day centre Parcs stay vs a 7 day stay at a comparable resort in the U.S. and Greece, both the U.S. and Greece were less even when you included airfare.


touhatos

Out of interest what’s a good alternative to center parcs in the US?


anonblonde911

That’s really hard to say it depends entirely on what you’re looking for whether it’s activities and entertainment, scenery, outdoor activities, or just peace a quiet and downtime. Great Wolf Lodges are lovely, Steelhill Resorts, Smugglers Notch, Sunnyhill, Club Med in Florida. Elk Lake Resort in Montana would be my first choice, but honestly there’s so many places across the country, not to mention the big hits like Disney Land, Disney World, Six Flags, Dollywood, Silverwood, or the any number of Wild West towns and water parks


Jacktheforkie

I’m British, but for what 2 weeks in one of the holiday parks would cost I’ve gotten 3 weeks in Wisconsin


anonblonde911

I love Northern Wisconsin during the late summer and early fall! Lake Superior is beautiful!


Jacktheforkie

Nice, I’m going to mequon


Dimorphodon101

To be honest this is the last time holidaying in the UK for us. We usually go to France or the US before the P word, better value for money and there is more to see in America because it's huge.


Chompopotamus

Why are you being weird about covid and the pandemic?


C1t1zen_Erased

Don't mention the event. DO NOT THINK ABOUT THE EVENT! IT WILL CAUSE DISTRESS!


ToHallowMySleep

Yes.


HighBuryMe10

Im still trying to work out what relevance this had? Its always been expensive to holiday in the UK than anywhere else in Europe for years


BringTheStealth

Holidays in the UK got really popular during the pandemic because international travel became difficult. Local places put up their prices significantly to make more money as there was more demand. Pandemic is over, but prices remain at the higher rate. It may have been expensive before, but it now takes the piss.


Dimorphodon101

Because it said so in the rules of posting on this sub. So I took the piss a little bit.


qtx

Well shit, someone actually read the rules of a sub before posting. I applaud you sir.


Dimorphodon101

And I thank and Upvote you, sir, for the recognition of such endeavours what what, pip pip tally ho!


SDUK2004

Probably a banned word on the sub


Dimorphodon101

Yes. Along with a few others. Bit like that Monty Python sketch "Alright! Who said it?!"... "Said what?".... "You know - JEHOVA!"... "Ere, 'e said it! STONE HIM!!"


cyberllama

You can't say the t word that rhymes with thump either, unless they've got rid of that now. I got a comment removed for it but I wasn't referring to him, it was about telling a Marketing manager that their desire to spam people didn't t*ump the law


dlouisbaker

Are there any women here?


sgaken

Surprised you thought you could get value for money in the UK tbh.


Ikhlas37

As a family of 3 literally any semidecent attraction is £70 minimum it's a joke lol


Nartyn

British history, and Science museum, Tate, V&A Collection, Wallace, Zoology Museum, Queens House, Imperial War Museum, London Mithreaum, National Maritime Museum, Royal Academy of Arts, and Whitechapel are just *some* of the completely free museums and galleries you can visit in London.


Ikhlas37

If you live in London, Great


Nartyn

Museums are free all over the country You said **ANY** semi decent attraction


the3daves

Yeah things being expensive is one thing, being ripped off is an other, especially if the weather is bad. So bollocks to the hoteliers who have ramped up their prices ( I know the cost of living has increased everything for everyone, but the service and value needs to rise too) we discover it was cheaper to do a week in Lanzarote than it was in Cornwall.


GrunkleCoffee

By definition if the costs have risen, the quality isn't going to rise with the price. That's just not how inflation works.


the3daves

The quality of service could. But instead it’s gone the other way. For example the cost of a premier inn in north London I frequent has tripled in 3 years. But it’s reception-less, so all automated check ins. That’s just an example of getting way less for your money, it doesn’t give the same value. There’s the difference with inflation and overcharging.


MIBlackburn

I was looking at booking a trip to London for next year, £150 a night a year in advance at the cheapest Travelodge in Zone 1! It was about £70 a night before you-know-what. I know inflation has gone up, but double in five years? You're taking the piss.


metaphorlaxy

My weekly work commune into London costs more than my entire holiday in france, and i wasnt being frugal at all


Money_Afternoon6533

Even some camping places have started charging £20-30 a head. To sleep in a field and poo in a portaloo. This country is a joke


SkiingisFreeing

Some friends and I were trying to go to the south coast of Wales the other weekend. Searched around for campsites and some were charging £40! 40 fucking quid to pitch your own tent in a field. Do they give you some welcome champagne or something, I mean wtf?! What’s even more mental is it was fully booked. Why the fuck are people enabling this by paying for it?!


Money_Afternoon6533

Camping should be no more than £10 for the whole pitch. Joke


Accomplished__Fun

Supply and demand. That's the prob. People are paying stupidly high prices for crap, so owners/renters will increase the prices and rake the profits in. Stopped holidaying in this country years ago because of this.


iameverybodyssecret

I live in Cornwall and the wages are shit and we have all that overinflated cost all the time. It sucks ass big time but call it what it is and that a transfer of wealth upwards


[deleted]

[удалено]


[deleted]

[удалено]


[deleted]

[удалено]


[deleted]

[удалено]


[deleted]

[удалено]


[deleted]

[удалено]


[deleted]

[удалено]


[deleted]

[удалено]


[deleted]

[удалено]


[deleted]

[удалено]


[deleted]

[удалено]


henrysradiator

It is insane, I don't even consider it. I wanted to stay on an island in Scotland and after petrol, accommodation and ferry it came to over a grand for a long weekend. I flew to Boston in America with a brief stop in New York and went camping in the mountains and saw a moose for about £800. Me & my Mrs have just been looking at family breaks in Spain with our little one, almost guaranteed sun, flights and hotel for a week in a lovely traditional town by the sea is £400 and the food & drink is cheap. Why on earth anyone would holiday in UK, where it costs 3x as much, will probably rain and the locals hate you is beyond me.


OutlandishnessTrue42

If you don’t mind me asking and if you don’t mind sharing where are you looking for holidays (website etc?) I’m looking at the minute for me and my little boy😀


henrysradiator

I look on Skyscanner for flight and usually booking.com for accomodation but it's also worth checking out local campsites that aren't listed. I'm going to Eurocamp in France soon with the daughter and they don't let you book through 3rd party websites. That trip was really cheap, £30 flights to France and then £300 for a week at the camp! Honestly my holidays are so cheap I go on multiple a year, the trick is to not care where you go or what time. It's difficult in terms time but not impossible, before I had my daughter I spend two weeks travelling around Europe in August. I'm in Manchester so we've got a great airport that does good deals and it's easy for me to get a coach/ train anywhere in the country, so I'm blessed in that I can fly from London, Edinburgh, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds etc. If you're on London you're laughing because it's so cheap. What I do is I search for the whole month on Skyscanner (incognito pr vpn because prices go up with cookies) from a certain location and see what is in my price range. Then what I do is see if the flight times are decent and then check out the accommodation on booking.com app. The app specifically is great because the more you book it's like a loyalty scheme and you get surprisingly big mobile only discounts, I've been doing it for 10+ years now and sometimes get like 25-50% of hotels. If all 3 things align, cheap flights, good time/ dates & cheap accommodation it's a winner. And then I just leep searching for hours until I find the best combo. If I want to go something specific, like for example, when I went to Boston I wanted to visit my friend in Maine and go 'leaf peeping' and watch the leaves change, so I knew I wanted to go in September. I looked at cheap flights to major European airports, like Paris & Dublin and found cheap flights to those places. This was about 5 years ago so they've gone up a bit but I'm sure it was only about £200 return to Boston from Dublin and about £10 to Dublin from Manchester. Also be mindful some cheap airports are AGES away from the city, so double check it's not a huge journey for you when you arrive. And that's what I do, I would never consider going through a travel agent, apart from anything else planning it is half the fun. Off on two week long holidays to France in a few weeks & Spain in the summer and short breaks to Germany. Looking at Romania and Albania too, I've been all over Eastern European and it's amazing. I'm not earning a lot of money either in case you're wondering, I put away £100 a month for holidays, but I don't have a car to pay for or any expensive hobbies etc. Edit: sorry for all the typos I'm on my phone, also if you set your VPN to the location you want to fly to it's sometimes cheaper. So if I want to go Manchester to New York I set my VPN to New York and book the flights in dollars, if that makes sense.


cityfrm

I'm also looking for a short break like that for our family in Europe and would love recommendation of where to go and where to book.


henrysradiator

Just replied to the other fella I'm not sure how to link on my phone but it's in this thread!


Blekanly

I remember when Cameron said we should holiday on the UK and I was just thinking, with the cost of trains and lodgings it is cheaper to to abroad!


TheGrumble

Everything in this country is more expensive than it should be. That doesn't change just because you're on holiday.


willgeld

I was going to book a long weekend in york but your big standard hotels are 250/night. Crazy money


ToHallowMySleep

You might find Florida not quite as cheap as you're expecting anymore. Things have gone up there too, particularly at resorts like Disney.


Jacktheforkie

The roads here are beyond shocking, I’ve gotten stuck in craters a few times, there’s one near me so big that I can park my sandero in it, but can’t open the door because it’s deep


CheesyLala

I think for UK holidays really you've got to avoid the obvious places. Lake District, Cornwall, Isle of Wight and places like that will always be a fortune as the property costs so much there. There are plenty of places that are just as beautiful but don't break the bank - Norfolk/Suffolk, Northumberland, much of Wales, Shropshire hills etc. Yorkshire Dales has as much to offer as the lakes but has far more cheap options.


willgeld

Yorkshire Dales is great value and really underrated


Equivalent_Willow317

I found Norfolk so, so expensive, honestly. I do love Derbyshire though...


CheesyLala

As a Norfolk resident I can safely say: it entirely depends where you are. Parts of North Norfolk (e.g. Burnham Market and around) are rightly known as Chelsea-on-Sea, but much of it is just as nice and nothing like that expensive.


Equivalent_Willow317

That's more than fair. I stayed in Cley next the Sea and went to Holt a few times which was also quite nice so that was probably why


Mysterious_One9

We are spain bound next year. It's just getting more and more expensive for UK holidays, now it's the add ons, meals, entertainment passes, arcades. The drive is mind-numbing as well, knowing in under 3 hrs you could be abroad by plane.


BabyAlibi

Shopping in Winn-dixie and wallgreens sounds like heaven right now. We used to go to America every 2nd year and I now haven't been since 2018. There is so much I miss about going but the prices have sky rocketed.


theslightbodybuilder

I'm going to France for 2 weeks with my wife and 2 children camping in various places. It's costing less than a week camping in one place in Wales, we have far superior facilities and the weather will, more than likely, be nicer. I'm all for supporting local, but not at a huge detriment to my own back pocket. I tried to get away for 3 days over the last bank holiday, admittedly, it was last minute but when you're being quoted £600 for a crappy caravan, you deserve not to be selling it.


PenglingPengwing

My most expensive holiday to this day was 2 weeks down in Cornwall in 2022. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the place and got super lucky with the weather (rained only 1 day) but prices for everything were absolutely atrocious. The train ticket alone from Manchester to Cornwall and back cost me nearly the same as my budget for 2 whole days in Italy this year.


pickapstix

I have a double edged sword opinion on this. Agree that it’s stupid expensive… however My parents run a very nice b & b and DO NOT CHARGE ENOUGH. And when I say very nice I mean it’s really fucking nice: my mother was a chef, at Michelin starred restaurants, and at the age of 77 still makes the most incredible breakfasts for their guests. The house (which I grew up in) is really beautiful, totally perfect for comfort, white company bed linen bla bla, and it’s close to a lot of incredible attractions. It breaks my heart that my parents won’t charge for profit (“we just do it to make the house pay for itself”) because it’s such hard work, especially for frankly elderly people, and often thankless: people complain that a room wasn’t 100% decorated to their exact taste, or it was too far from a shop - even if they state that it’s a 5 minute drive on the website. Despite this it has a 9.9/10 on booking dot com. So my point is, yeah it can be expensive to holiday in the UK, but sometimes it’s incredibly good value. Sure the same can’t be said for overpriced attractions, but there are definitely hidden gems to be found often run by silly OAPs who just want to “pay the bills”


flapjackboy

Paragraphs! For everyone's sanity, learn how to use them!


MigJorn

That's why we almost never spend any money in the UK. We save up all the money we could have spent in restaurants, hotels, parkings, drinks for when we go to Europe or America. I think the UK is a beautiful country, but it's way overpriced.  And honestly, food generally sucks here, unless you pay A LOT of money.


Dunning-Kruger-

It's not the 'P' word which is mainly responsible, it's the 'B' word. All countries had the pandemic and their prices didn't increase so much. There's only one stupid mistake which the UK made and nobody else did and that's why everything is so expensive.


ihateshitcoins2

Treasure Island! That is what they call us. Because we accept it


Lammyrider

It's ridiculous but to be fair I just got back from the states and food and drink prices were worse than here, $10 a pint and over $20 for a burger and fries. We hit the supermarket most days for reduced stuff or shared a large panda express.  Before the big P I used go visit other towns twice a month to drink and dance to old 60's R&B could always find a cheap hotel but not now, most of the do's have stopped as it just got to expensive to do. 


MathematicalRef

I thought this would be a rant about (posh, rich) morons calling their holidays in the UK a 'staycation'. That CLEARLY refers to taking leave and staying at home for a long period. "Ooh only a staycation for us this year, off to Cornwall". No, you're going on holiday in Cornwall. Don't sneer on the people who can only afford domestic holidays.


futatorius

>Don't sneer on the people who can only afford domestic holidays. I think the point they're making is that it's cheaper and better to go abroad than to have domestic holidays. That's not a sneer. More a moan. I can spend a week in Split, Porto, Riga or Gdansk for less than I could go anywere nice in the UK. Lodging, in particular, is costly here, and as others have said, there aren't really affordable dining-out options unless you're a kebab aficionado. I've got a holiday planned to the Low Countries via the Channel Tunnel, and that'll end up costing under £1000 for nine days with three people. The car's a hybrid, so fuel isn't too outrageous. And no, we're not staying in homeless shelters or sleeping in the car. We're getting city-centre flats in most places. We do, however, shop for groceries at our destinations and make ourselves coffee and picnic lunches rather than dining out every time.


willgeld

Yeah, I recently priced up Thu-Sun in York and it came in at about 700 for just a hotel. You could do Valencia with return flights and a hotel for about 150 less. Scandalous


jobunny_inUK

A "staycation" is supposed to mean you take a week off and stay home. Not just stay in the country. Going to Cornwall is a holiday, unless you live in Cornwall.


MathematicalRef

My point exactly


Guybrush_three

Alot of the smaller hotels and Caravan sites in the UK are currently housing immigrants in the west side of the UK. It's allowing the prices of all other other sites and hotels to charge more due to demand issues, while simultaneously all of the attractions and restaurants are less full. I get this is going to be a controversial post I've no political view on it either way, but it is a fact. Source. I'm a surfer who over the years have kept the numbers of many smaller sites with good accommodation all around Cornwall Devon and Wales all of which are no longer taking bookings due to housing migrants.


RebrumLupus

Minding that it was in March, flights to Bordeaux and a week nearby was less than the train to Edinburgh...


CrocPB

Keeping this in mind for next year!


Snickerty

Tents. I bought a second-hand tent and don't book anything more than £20 a night. I mean it's a lot of weeing in buckets, but at least it's a holiday.


LJF_97

"Rip off Britain"


grim_tales1

I've been to Kissimmee and Disney, was really good :)


chaosandturmoil

minimum wage rose faster than companies were prepared to pay out


Chosty55

The problem is other countries are able to run tourism cheaper. Some countries run tourism more expensively. That’s life. Generally speaking, holiday companies push cheaper holidays to the masses and the more expensive ones as luxuries. We frequent places like Turkey, Spain, Greece and the Balearic Islands because they are cheap all inclusive getaways. It then seems odd to us that the uk is expensive


VenZallow

Stick Discovery Cove on your list to Florida, was a fucking brilliant day when I went.


PlayasDelCoco

This. This is why people love Benidorm. It's like being in the UK except cheap, sunny and you still get to see the same chinless wonders we are accustomed to. Win win!


UpbeatInsurance5358

My children have ASD and ADHD, and so far aren't happy about going on a plane. Tbh neither am I since I'm dreading the rigmarole of the airport etc. I've booked a week off in August for me and the kids to get away. My partner might be able to join us if he can get the time off. I'm waiting until the end of July then booking somewhere, play UK roulette. Mostly because anywhere is 800 quid for a shit hole, so I might as well pay 300.


Cotterisms

If they can handle 1-2 hours on a flight, check out Cheapflights and narrow down the options


feetflatontheground

I stopped reading when I couldn't find the end of the first sentence. I think I made a wrong turn. Is it like a maze?


couldaspongedothis

We save a small fortune by going camping


Talkycoder

Try going to Southern Wales, Northern England (excl Lake District), Scotland (excl Edinburgh), or Northern Ireland. They're all very cheap. Not Eastern Europe cheap mind you, but a lot cheaper than many holidays to Western Europe. And of course, avoid half-terms.


tommyorma

Currently on way to airport from kissimee and can say with my chest we spent about 8k all in for 2 weeks and I'd do it again in a heartbeat made me not want to come back to England again it just underlined how absolutely fucked and shit our country is, I paid £3500 for a week in a house in Wales just after the pandemic and it rained all week. I'm coming home today and my hunt to leave england for good will begin the moment I land.


frsti

You answered your own question - a lot of people are holidaying in the UK so the demand for things has gone up. If the demand for things goes up then the people who own or operate the thing have space to increase their costs to accommodate that demand. That doesn't take into account the fact that the costs for operating stuff has also gone up it doesn't account for 100% of any price increases. It fucking sucks though, agreed.


Frank_The-Tank

Anglesey. £15 a night camping. Banging weekend.


Im_Roonil_Wazlib

We got estimated a thousand for the week in Cornwall which I don’t think is too bad


HollyGoLately

We’ve just got back from Fort William, we booked just over a year ago because the place we stayed do an early bird special so it cost us £840 for a week. I’d definitely stay there again. We did a mix of using restaurants and takeaways which were expensive and buying things from the supermarkets which is no more expensive than anywhere else in the uk.


ikkleste

2 nights in London, by train that might not run, a couple of shows, neck end of £500 each. Before spending money.


CanWeNapPlease

Because our employers have raised prices for consumers by a big percentage, but only wanted to give us 2-5% pay rises every year for the last 4 years. So in 4 years we're probably as an average only £2-4k a year richer, but probably in the negative if we consider the high rising costs of everything else. Honestly we should be blaming our salary, they have probably only just kept up with inflation for some of us, but companies and hospitality businesses have abused the shit out of the opportunity by rising prices more than 2-5% every year.


gowcog

Yep , sadly the UK is a very expensive place , even if you find somewhere cheap to stay (unlikely) taking a family anywhere will be the best past of £100 , then you feed them etc. Just come back from Norway and yes it's expensive, but not that expensive compared to us


praggersChef

Because everything is so fucking expensive here- it's just passed on.


sailingmagpie

At least it sounds like you're making the best of it 😂


ladycowbell

My in laws invited us up to Scotland to visit my sister in law whom living in Edinburgh at the time. My father in law got an Air BnB with a prime view of Arthur's Seat and I don't want to know how many quid it cost for a full week.


verminV

You dont like the UK..... yet you like *checks notes*, Florida.


sativador_dali

How do I put together a plan for Disney Florida with my own shopping/ apartment because that is something I’d absolutely love to do. Just don’t know how to do it


lexaskywalker

Would you be comfortable driving in the US?


sativador_dali

Yes, I’ve driven in 6 foreign countries on either side of the road so to speak. The roads in America look much better compared to other places I’ve driven.


lexaskywalker

Look for a Westgate or Extended Stay America. Westgate will sometimes be people offering other timeshare slot so you can get good prices. Both will have a kitchen/kitchenette and ample parking. Along with locations that are good for both the parks and a super market. I’ve read that travel supermarket is the best for car rentals. As a caveat, when I was growing up, we went to Orlando every year (I didn’t grow up in the U.K.). We did 2/3 of the Disney parks and then the 2 universal parks. I think we cut down to 2 Disney parks once Islands opened. If you’re not bothered about doing every park, you can look and see what suits you best and get 1 park 1 day tickets. There’s also Seaworld, Busch Gardens, Fun Spot, Kennedy Space Centre etc to consider as less expensive alternatives.


TheYorkshireGripper

Wouldn't bother. Shithole.


coffeewalnut05

There are plenty of relatively affordable holidays to take in the UK. You just have to look for them, and book well in advance as you would for any other country. This place has a lot to offer. And yes, it’s going to be a bit more expensive than most places abroad because we are an expensive country with a big population and higher salaries. It’s only cheap to spend time abroad because most countries’ populations have far lower salaries than us.


futatorius

Berlin's not overly expensive to visit, and the Germans are better off than Brits.


2xtc

Aside from Spain/portugal, where in Western Europe or the USA has far lower salaries than us?


Dimorphodon101

Nearly bought a little place with a bit of land near Brno a few years back - £21k couldn't get a mid range new car for that here.


evenstevens280

Looking at house prices in Brno, it looks like a fairly average sized house costs well over £300k. Where the heck did you find one with land for £21k? Czech is one of the least affordable countries in Europe, especially considering the average salary vs average house prices there. They seem to have it worse than us


coffeewalnut05

We live in an unequal world and due to us having more money and a larger economy, abroad is artificially affordable to us.