Are Holidays At Home Really Cheaper?

Aug 31, 2011 by admin

While the whole world seems to be in the grip of an economic downturn, you might be tempted to spend your annual holidays in the UK rather than go abroad. While this might seem a great way of saving some money and enjoying a cheaper than normal holiday, it’s worth researching this thoroughly as this is not always the case.

Travel companies are also feeling the pinch at present and many may have special offers to entice holidaymakers to spend on trips abroad. It could actually be cheaper now than normal to get away for a holiday in the sun. If you can be flexible on dates and locations, it might be worth looking at some of the last minute offers that are available with travel companies.

Holidaying in the UK can still work out as a pretty expensive deal, especially compared with some of the cheaper package deals to Mediterranean countries.

If you’re holidaying in the UK, chances are that you will sort out all the bookings yourself and will not be eligible for the block booking deals that travel companies can use to keep costs down.

If you opt for a Bed and Breakfast in the UK you may end up paying out so much extra on eating out that it ends up not being such a good deal in the long run.

You’ll also need to consider transport to your holiday destination. If you intend to drive and take the car, this can often be the cheapest way of travelling, especially if you’re off on a family holiday with kids in tow. Obviously, the amount of money you spend on petrol will need to be taken into account when comparing prices of holidays in the UK versus holidays abroad.

If you do opt to stay in the UK and take the car, it can be a real bonus to have transport available for visiting local tourist attractions wherever you choose to stay. Public transport in the UK can be quite expensive – it’s often the case that if you’re flying to a European country, the train fare to the airport can actually be more expensive than the flight itself!

Another consideration if you’re staying in the UK is the price of visiting local tourist attractions. Many of these places nowadays charge quite high entry fees and for a family of four, charging £50 or £60 to visit a place of interest is the norm. When you add on the cost of food and drink (and the essential ice-creams) it can turn into a pretty expensive day out.

A visit to the gift shop to buy a few souvenirs of the day will add another chunk of money onto the cost and you could well end up spending a couple of hundred pounds on a day out. If you do this several times during your holiday, you might be forgiven for making an unfavourable comparison with a beach holiday abroad where the costs may be all-inclusive and there’s so much fun to be had on the beach that you don’t actually feel the need to go swanning off looking at the local tourist attractions. Very often a package holiday will include trips to places of interest as part of the overall charge.

The last (but not least) issue to consider is the weather. While you can be pretty sure when you go abroad that the weather will be good, it’s not the case in the UK. If you stay in the UK and the weather happens to be cold and rainy, it can make for a pretty miserable time – especially if you have the whole family cooped up indoors getting bored and wishing they could be out and about.