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2 nights in a campsite, non electric pitch, in Yorkshire dales for me and my son, in a small 2 man tent. 62.50!!!!
Wow, we paid £30 per night on a 5-van CL recently for a fully serviced caravan pitch - 16 amp electric, superfast wifi broadband, waste water outlute and fresh water to plug into.
It was £40/night for family (2 adults, 2 kids) inc electric though!
Seems to be the going rate these days. But look at the price of a cottage if you want to feel better.
We've booked to go abroad for the first time in three years. Via the Eurotunnel. Arrgghh.
Camp sites are not looking cheap, when you can get a B&B for £60 a night
Camp sites are not looking cheap, when you can get a B&B for £60 a night
Usually nearer £100, and would likely be two rooms for a family, making it £200.
I stay all over the UK in property owned by climbing clubs for about £10 a night always in stunning locations. It was just the trips to Nepal to have a decent CV to get membership of my club that were expensive!
I need to start me a ‘lighweight, cheap, 2-berth caravan’ thread…hmmm
This is where it will start, but, will not be where it finishes 😉
We've had UK holidays for the last 7 years - mainly due to cost and the only available week for us to actually have a holiday is just after Xmas due to work.
Isle of Wight / Devon / Cornwall mainly. This year we may...go to Spain and combine it with visiting family but every time I look at it it's 3x the cost, flights and insurance alone are the same as the budget for uk accommodation.
We also run an Airbnb, it's priced at £75 a night, specifically to try to make it as cheap as possible for people to stay. After fees etc a two night stay does work out at £100 a night, but if you stay for 5nights we also heavily discount it.
Did consider taking the camper off-island for some short trips, but the 💩 weather has put those plans on hold – hoping for a drier autumn.
Weather on the East coast has been good. The area we are in is oversaturated with holiday lets, there are still loads available. Our house that we rent out that sleeps 4 is about £120 night in high season and we aren’t fully booked for August this year.
It was £40/night for family (2 adults, 2 kids) inc electric though!
Seems to be the going rate these days. But look at the price of a cottage if you want to feel better.
The quickest search of Hoseasons cottages shows that they start at around £425 for 4 people for a week, so not that much more expensive. We tend to pay around £6-700 for a week in a cottage.
But saying that a camping holiday is cheap because it's only £X per night doesn't take into account the cost of the camping gear. Tents and sleeping bags can be expensive, and don't often get used enough to make them cost effective. And the less said about the ridiculous prices of campervans, the better.
Family of 5 here, so we've done all the variations on UK holidays - plenty of camping, several cottages, caravans, etc. All have their merits. All end up costing similar amounts.
I need to start me a ‘lighweight, cheap, 2-berth caravan’ thread…hmmm
We bought ours 8 years ago and there's a 9yo one selling for what we paid for ours new at the same place.
Holiday prices in the UK seem to be frankly ridiculous just now!
I spent an hour looking this morning for a week in a 1 bed cottage for next February somewhere in Scotland preferably Aviemore/Cairngorms area with a log burner. Looking at a grand, just for a cottage even outside of mid term holidays.
The last time we went away on a Sking holiday in Bulgaria in Feb 2020; flights, half board hotel, ski pass & 6 days accommodation was £1,300 for the pair of us! That same holiday for 2023 is coming in at £1,556.
The quickest search of Hoseasons cottages shows that they start at around £425 for 4 people for a week, so not that much more expensive. We tend to pay around £6-700 for a week in a cottage.
Your typical prices there are more than double the cost of camping...
The quickest search of Hoseasons cottages shows that they start at around £425 for 4 people for a week, so not that much more expensive. We tend to pay around £6-700 for a week in a cottage.
Your typical prices there are more than double the cost of camping…
I know! That's why I followed it up with another paragraph. So, add the (not inconsiderable) cost of a tent, sleeping bags per person, costs for cookers, gas, roll mats, lights. Yes, these can all be stored and used next time, but how many people camp often enough that they recoup the cost of their camping gear compared to the cost of a cottage. That's why I finished by saying:
Family of 5 here, so we’ve done all the variations on UK holidays – plenty of camping, several cottages, caravans, etc. All have their merits. All end up costing similar amounts.
We bought ours 8 years ago and there’s a 9yo one selling for what we paid for ours new at the same place.
Oooft, that does seem to be the issue.
See: my inlaws 26 year old, £12.5k rusty Mazda Bongo.
This is where it will start, but, will not be where it finishes
Probably!
Your typical prices there are more than double the cost of camping…
I assume for the camping you have included the insurance, depreciation, running costs, extra fuel to tow, gas etc? This has been my concern over a caravan in the past - using sites is not as cheap as you may think quite often...
Monkey jnr currently away on an 8 day Scout camp. Then in Aug, we're off to Chester and N Wales (again) to see the in-laws as they're now too old to make the 250+ mile drive south. As always, I'm hopeful I'll get to hire a bike at Swinley or somewhere up a Welsh mountain, but no doubt - like every single time thus far - I expect to be running around looking after everyone else and have no time to myself.
The missus isn't up for overseas travel as she's recovering from surgery that didn't go particularly well. All of our recent hols have been up north or southwest.
I know! That’s why I followed it up with another paragraph. So, add the (not inconsiderable) cost of a tent, sleeping bags per person, costs for cookers, gas, roll mats, lights. Yes, these can all be stored and used next time, but how many people camp often enough that they recoup the cost of their camping gear compared to the cost of a cottage.
Can't speak for anyone else, but I spent about £800 all in back in 2013 for my family camping gear. I recouped that in about two holidays...
I assume for the camping you have included the insurance, depreciation, running costs, extra fuel to tow, gas etc? This has been my concern over a caravan in the past – using sites is not as cheap as you may think quite often…
I was talking about camping, not caravanning. I don't tow anything...
Camp sites are not looking cheap, when you can get a B&B for £60 a night
Where’s that, Hartlepool Headland?
I assume you mean 2 people per room so really £120.
I spent an hour looking this morning for a week in a 1 bed cottage for next February somewhere in Scotland preferably Aviemore/Cairngorms area with a log burner. Looking at a grand, just for a cottage even outside of mid term holidays.
I just spent 2 minutes looking and found a 2 bedroom cottage in Carrbridge for less than £800.
I just spent 2 minutes looking and found a 2 bedroom cottage in Carrbridge for less than £800.
Got a link for that Col, interested.
We should’ve gone up that way in January 2020 but covid & that….
I think as is the STW way that the original idea of the thread has been misunderstood. We don’t actually need to know where you could have gone, it was ideas for budget stuff that perhaps would be useful, days away, activities locally, people with free tents as someone mentioned earlier, I know “budget” is relative but try and come up with ideas. I mean to be friendly and positive and don’t do emoji’s!!
A lot of people can’t afford £800 plus transport, not even £200, the point of my original post. Perhaps some of you holiday home ABNB owners could step up?
Got a link for that Col, interested.
https://www.seasgairlodges.com/properties/65
7 nights. Arriving 3rd Feb - £796
Some prices from the trip we've been on, all for the two of us:
300e train to Berlin
57e train from Prague to Regensburg
18e 2x9e tickets for Germany
210e train from Strasbourg home.
250e 14 nights camping for two people, a tent and bikes - cheapest 11e, most expensive 23e
160e a studio in Prague for two nights
160e two nights in a hotel in Strasbourg
8e Bertha Block in Berlin
30e pizzas in Berlin
40e more pizzas in Berlin and drinks
??? lidl, aldi, Penny, Carrefour, Kaufland express etc. on food - cheaper than at home usually.
1233e for 19 days away. Or about a grand in your money. We could have done it cheaper by using regional trains on the 9e ticket rather than ICEs. We could have camped in both Prague and Strasbourg but sometimes town centre accomodation is nice. In Berlin we stayed on the Flakensee campsite and went in on the S-bahn with the bikes. we pedalled only about 700km, lazy this year.
What about pet sitting for a cheap break? I have a dog that has never been in kennels that I need looking after occasionally, sometimes family aren't available. I have looked into finding people through trusted house sitters, but never got round to it.
I've done camping when my children were young - they're now adults - using Eurocamp usually in the Vendee.
Would do again with grandchildren but, other than that, those days have gone.
Towing caravan? No thanks.
Motorhome? If I want to blow a minimum of £30k.
7 or 14 days with bbq everything? Not for me.
Cost of eating out for 7 or 14 days in UK as a family? Second mortgage required.
You do what you want - as will I.
Can’t speak for anyone else, but I spent about £800 all in back in 2013 for my family camping gear.
Blimey. I don't really have a clue, but guesstimate it would be around 4 grand or so.
Blimey. I don’t really have a clue, but guesstimate it would be around 4 grand or so.
Six person tent for £400 on sale, about £400 for air mats, kitchen equipment, chairs etc. We already had some stuff - sleeping bags, coolbox, lanterns. I should've added £150 for a second hand roofbox and bars.
Yeah, buy an appropriately sized Decathlon/Go Outdoors Airbeam tent, mats, bags and burner and I doubt you would be anywhere near a grand. Some extra bits like water bottles help but that's really all you need.
Chairs, tables, "kitchens", heaters and all the other bollocks that drive the cost up aren't even close to being essential (okay chairs are nice but you can get by with the fold out mat type). Most decent sites have a communal fridge and/or kitchen facilities should you need them or even a BBQ hut.
Somewhere like Comrie Croft would be where I'd look at. Cheaper options again are out there but that's down to knowledge.
A great way of saving money, time and effort if you're camping is to camp in the grounds of a youth hostel or an independent hostel. You can then use their kitchen for all your cooking, saving you the bother of taking all the kitchen stuff in the car. Quick run up to the hostel in the morning in your crocs to get some hot water for a brew!
Also if it rains you can then use their lounges and indoor spaces, saves the kids going mental inside the cramp confines of a wet tent.
We're doing this next week, going to the old YHA, Derwenterwater Independent Hostel near the shore of the lake. Hopefully the kids'll make friends and me and the wife can chill.
We've done that at many St James Way hostels in Spain, Jekkyl. Other bonuses include being away from the snorers, in a mosquito netted tent that cools quickly over night. On a couple of occasions we've decamped from the dormitory to outside in the middle of the night.
Yeah, buy an appropriately sized Decathlon/Go Outdoors Airbeam tent, mats, bags and burner and I doubt you would be anywhere near a grand. Some extra bits like water bottles help but that’s really all you need.
Yup. We certainly bought stuff we didn't strictly need and still spent less than £1k. The off-season is better for buying a tent (placeholder for obvious gag).
Something, something, winter, discount, tent....
Something, something, winter, discount, tent….
Edukator
Free Member
Some prices from the trip we’ve been on, all for the two of us:
300e train to Berlin
57e train from Prague to Regensburg
18e 2x9e tickets for Germany
210e train from Strasbourg home.
250e 14 nights camping for two people, a tent and bikes – cheapest 11e, most expensive 23e
160e a studio in Prague for two nights
160e two nights in a hotel in Strasbourg
8e Bertha Block in Berlin
30e pizzas in Berlin
40e more pizzas in Berlin and drinks
??? lidl, aldi, Penny, Carrefour, Kaufland express etc. on food – cheaper than at home usually.
1233e for 19 days away. Or about a grand in your money. We could have done it cheaper by using regional trains on the 9e ticket rather than ICEs. We could have camped in both Prague and Strasbourg but sometimes town centre accomodation is nice. In Berlin we stayed on the Flakensee campsite and went in on the S-bahn with the bikes. we pedalled only about 700km, lazy this year.
Did you read the original post? Can you understand that some people are struggling?
I did read the original post and presented a 19 day holiday that even with passports would be cheaper than many of the other suggestions.
If the suggestion of an 800 pound a week cottage didn't incure your wrath why did mine? No neef to answer that, I know.
Fact is that accomodation is so much cheaper once you cross the channel that a foreign holiday using busses or trains can be cheaper. Chreck out Flix bus and BlaBlabus if you think the train prices I posted (which are about the same from London) are beyond you budget.
Camp sites are not looking cheap, when you can get a B&B for £60 a night
Some campsite are outrageously expensive for what you get, I agree. As we are a couple, per person sites tent to be better for us than per pitch sites. Families would find that the other direction. We never get electric, cool box + ice and gas stove is fine for us. But if I was with children for a week I would probably want electric to make the trip easier with keeping things cool and cooking and device charging. Although my parents used to take us camping in the s of France for 2 weeks with a single burner gas and a cool box which looking back seems quite impressive! Suspect we ate quite a lot of bread, ham and cheese 🙂
We have done the cost comparison to B&Bs or premier inn etc before but even if there isn't much in price, it is just SO much nicer (for us) to be outside in the tent with a fab view, lots of space and much cheaper to cook and eat at the tent. Also nicer to sit outside with a fire and chat than to sit in our hotel room on the beds or watch TV.
Obvs you have the set-up cost of camping equipment, but I reckon you could do a basic family tent set up for less than £500 and a really deluxe set up for les than £1,000.
Also, obviously, camping is generally a bit shit in the rain.
fixed for us by getting a Coleman Fastpitch Shelter on offer @ Go Outdoors! Big enough to cover the tent entrance, have a nice seating/cooking area & safely have a fire pit. Then relax with a beer & a burger and watch everyone else on the site getting soaked 🤣Also, obviously, camping is generally a bit shit in the rain.
I you are a single adult or a couple, you could set yourself up as pet sitters on TrustedHouseSitters for a free holiday in return for pet sitting.
I've frequently got pet sitters off there. They feed my pet and send me photos and updates for free, and in return get free accommodation in a nice house. Win win. All they have to pay for is transport here, food and any activities they undertake whilst on holiday.
I would never offer the sit to a family with children though, although maybe pet homes-with-children would be more open to that.
You could also look into house swaps. Or hitting up friends or relatives that live in other parts of the country. A change is as good as a rest 🙂
fixed for us by getting a Coleman Fastpitch Shelter on offer @ Go Outdoors! Big enough to cover the tent entrance, have a nice seating/cooking area & safely have a fire pit. Then relax with a beer & a burger and watch everyone else on the site getting soaked
Yeah those are good! I've been trying to persuade the other half we need one of those for years!
I did recently buy a universal awning extension in the go outdoors sale for £125 which should give us enough space to leave the kitchen stuff outside of the main tent, cook and sit under cover. Also should keep the door area dry cos out tent design is a bit annoying with no 'rain safe' entry way. Bought it a few months ago after we got back from a week in Wales where I spent several evenings sitting under the small tarp to cook in rain!
Apologies for my previous post. I just sometimes get frustrated with the disparities in society, often reflected on here. I shouldn’t have been so rude, it was unnecessary and unwarranted.
No worries, Wheels, I see it's gone, I didn't report it but someone must have. The mods have also taken the first sentence off my reply.
I understand your frustration, I've been there. My solution back in the day was a one-way £10 booze cruise ticket, hitch hiking or biking and wild camping/sleepin out around Europe. You could still eat well out of the big bins and skips outside supermarkets back then too.
It's still possible to have a really cheap holiday anywhere if you don't mind sleeping out. When I walk the Compostelle routes there are pilgrims who just sleep out rough. In Spain you can legally sleep out pretty much anywhere public so long as you don't put a tent up. I cycled from Paris to Berlin with Madame and junior aged 7 and wild camped more than on paid sites. Washing was at any tap with the other person holding up a towel for discretion. In France communal woodland is a good bet - we never take cooking equipment so can't be accused of being a fire risk. In the Pyrenees it's just not an issue, just lie down and fall asleep, if it rains head down and find a church porch.
How cheap you go depends on how much discomfort you are happy with. Plane, train, bus, hitch hike, bike, walk... . A flat, an hotel room, a B&B, a dormitory in a hostel, a tent on a campsite, a tent, no tent... . A restaurant, a bar, a takeaway, a delicatessen, a supermarket, a rubbish bin... . I'm familiar with them all and very often a holiday these days includes a mix of them all - except eating out of supermarket rubbish bins, mainly because they are locked away these days.
How cheap you go depends on how much discomfort you are happy with.
Exactly. And how much the kids hate you once you've got home. 😀
lol @ a delicatessen!
Fact is that accomodation is so much cheaper once you cross the channel that a foreign holiday using busses or trains can be cheaper.
This is true.
I remember taking the kids for a night at 'The Hilton' in Blackpool. They moaned about the place not being that good (having stayed at Chester Doubletree). I said, well this is about the best you get in Blackpool !
I was thinking of booking a couple of nights at a B&B for the 'Lights' sometime in Autumn, but some of the Booking.com/trip adviser comments on some of the B&B's are shocking !!
The other trick we have done is to not head directly to the obvious places for holiday. Some research can pay dividends.
Example:
UK:
Staying on Ullswater campsites or cottages in the Lakes = £spendy. Stay in Eden valley campsites / cottages only 10 miles away = noticeably cheaper.
Aviemore = pricey, Kingussie = cheaper for only a few miles...
Scottish Islands - cottage in countryside = costly, house in the village or town but no view = bargain relatively.
Seeing as we are out and about each day, as long as accommodation is clean, comfy and warm, what more do we need?
South / West Wales road trip. Love it.
If anyone needs a cheap / basic campsite in Dorset pm me.
This is the site we use for finding camp sites, it's never failed us yet:
https://www.camping.info/fr/recherche-carte?area=-31.77246,61.333539,52.602539,37.996163&zl=5
Oops, wrong window/thread, sorry.
Exactly. And how much the kids hate you once you’ve got home. 😀
Ha! I will say though that mine always seem to enjoy camping. Loads of freedom and they usually make friends with other kids on the site.
Chatting with someone walking through Wales who we met today. He said that the cheapest camping he had found so far was £5.00 for a night in a field with a tap. Public toilet #properstinky just down the road. Llanthony Priory. @Welshfarmer, is it your place?
Better not be, charged me a tenner 😂 And he has a loo.
Exactly. And how much the kids hate you once you’ve got home. 😀
They promised Disney World and I got Android instead of Apple that's why I turned to a life of crime.
Ambrose wrote:
Chatting with someone walking through Wales who we met today. He said that the cheapest camping he had found so far was £5.00 for a night in a field with a tap. Public toilet #properstinky just down the road. Llanthony Priory. @Welshfarmer, is it your place?
That is my next-door neighbour up the valley. The one down the valley also does camping for £5 a night, as does the next farm after that!! I have toyed with putting in a tidy campsite with proper loos and showers but the competition here is so strong and the other sites so cheap I don't think I can make it work.
We have 2 weeks off coming up soon. My partner is going to Italy and I will be hopefully bikepacking, camping and doing a multiday walk.
I just don't want the hassle of the airports and travel chaos, I am just waiting for the summer holidays to end and the kids go back to school.
So my holiday funds will be spent mostly on food and nice things!
Fact is that accommodation is so much cheaper once you cross the channel that a foreign holiday using busses or trains can be cheaper.
Yep this is certainly true.
We're off to Italy tomorrow (driving) we got a free channel crossing by using our Tesco vouchers with Euro Tunnel and our campsite accommodation is considerably cheaper than the UK like-for-like.
I think domestic breaks are more about making the countryside more accessible to city dwellers who don’t have access to cars.
Something the politicians never grasped is that there’s a large amount of people who will never move upwards socioeconomically and/ or own a car. No matter how hard they work, they’re going to be stuck.
And then there’s a lot of fundamentalist environmentalists who would never lower themselves to car ownership.
Cities like Glasgow, Edinburgh, Sheffield, Leeds and Bradford are at the foot of big hills, it’s just a question of attaining the necessary elevation.
That means attaining elevation quickly without having to navigate around the existing infrastructure.
Cable cars, and funiculars may be the solution.
Nationally, we need to move the economic resources, squandered on moving people around by car when they should be walking, and massively increase investment in footpaths, visitor centres and outdoor education.
It’s unfortunate that the drinks lobby has such leverage on restaurants. Hypothetically giving people an hour hiking or brushing up on their map skills in Edinburghs Pentlands (accessed by cable car) and by the time they return to the city centre, they’ll be famished. Quids-in for anyone selling food.
With an ageing population, we’ll need some means to keep ourselves occupied, whilst rejuvenating our cities.
You could try WWOOF or WorkAway for nearly free holiday in exchange for your labour. Pick an area of the country and see what's available. I've worked on vineyards and solar panel projects for a range of diversity. Lots of weeding positions if you don't have practical skills but affordable chance to see a different lifestyle and a new place.
Last 3 years we have been in the UK for holidays, this was the first year we went abroad.
It certainly is not cheaper to have a holiday in the UK compared with going abroad.
Was listening to a Radio 4 programme yesterday with a lady from the Lakes saying that visitor numbers for a week are well down this year compared on last and the norm.
Of course they are, the price of accommodation in the lakes this summer was ridiculous !
The trick with providing cable cars, etc is to write in “all profits go to the local childrens hospital” at the planning stage.
Guaranteed turnover.