Holidays

We are due to to go to Cornwall on October 21. We can but hope

Gillybob - What a pity you had to end your perfectly reasonable contribution with an irrelevant comment about the Prime Minister and his fiancee.

Travel for leisure is a luxury rather than a right and I don’t think anyone should be travelling anywhere outside of the UK this year in case we spread the virus to other places. Airports and stations cannot possibly be safe places to be let alone on a plane train or ferry.

We are told that travellers from France can come here without quarantine but that’s CRAZY as what happens at Calais? People from all over Europe will come here via Calais or the euro tunnel and will not have to quarantine whatever their home country.This hasn’t been thought through.

We live on the Kent coast in an area not particularly popular with tourists due to shingle beaches, but we are hoping that the usual influx of tourists doesn't happen here. Not because they're not usually welcome but because our local resources are so limited at the moment.

GP services are very limited at the moment as are associated services, if we do have lots of holiday makers and they are poorly, they will need to access the services that are already struggling to cope.

In addition, many of our residents are quite elderly and we are all going out of our way to try to protect them. Something that visitors would find very difficult, and in fairness why should they be concerned?

But one thing that we would really struggle with is sharing out our food supplies further than we are at the moment. Just this last weekend, when there was an apparent rush to the seaside, we were battling the queue at the local supermarket with tourists buying the ingredients for bbq's and picnics. We found ourselves facing empty shelves again.

Hopefully things will settle down again in the not too distant future but not before services are in place to welcome visitors without impacting on the wellbeing of the local residents.

Could be Margate, GabriellaG54?

I haven't explored half of the UK so I've no intention of going any further afield in the future.
The highlands and islands of Scotland and all other British isles plus the numerous beaches, architecture, mountains, valleys and coastlines, inland waterways, sleepy villages (off season) and bustling towns parks, gardens and activities. A million places and things to interest me here.
Next stop Worcestershire. I have farming friends there and would be thrilled to spend time there again...when we can do so, freely.
I usually prefer staying in Air BnBs or YHA hostels as you meet such interesting people.
Anyway, I can but dream and plan now which will give me a modicum of pleasure.

No holidays here either. I did have a very wet weekend in Cheshire last year when we went to the Tatton park RHS flower show. It must’ve been begrudged cos it lashed down the entire time I was there

Would love a proper holiday....sigh......

I've only just 'got' EllanVannin's joke.
I kept looking and wondering what town ended with argate and decided it was Harrogate with letters missing...???

I can't believe the number of people complaining about restrictions, not able to go on holiday, having to stay at home etc etc.

It's as though they think the government is doing this deliberately to us all as a punishment or something. It is FOR OUR OWN & EVERYONE ELSE'S SAFETY, peeps.

We certainly will not be booking any holidays in advance for the rest of this year. Many employers are seriously struggling this week with trying to provide safe a working environment for employees in regard to Covid-19.

The above along with similar problems in protecting passengers on public transport may see the infection rate (R Number) creep back up again in the coming few weeks.

Should that situation come about then nothing more than is allowed now will re-open. The hospitality industry along with the Holiday industry could be in a situation of not reopening until well into the Autumn if at all this year.

We cancelled our annual Easter holiday with our older grandchildren and don't expect to take another holiday this year. I live in a seaside town with very low rates of coronavirus transmission, but a very elderly population and locals are deeply afraid that day trippers will bring the virus in. It's a worrying juggling act because the hotels and B&B's are really suffering. The local pubs, cafes, restaurants etc. are faring better by doing deliveries and/or takeaways. We can get milk, fresh fruit, vegetables, seafood, locally sourced meat, ice cream and even freshly baked cakes all delivered to the door and a local cafe has set up a 'fine dining' at home experience that is very popular. Many of our local hotels rely on coach tours, and of course the chances of them re-starting this year is pretty slim, and festivals, which have all been cancelled.

We’ve resigned ourselves to no holidays for the rest of the year. Luckily we came back from Lanzarote on 1 March so we have at least had a break. Going to make the most of our local area with a few day trips further afield social distancing. We’ve travelled quite a bit in our time so we feel we can cope for a year. Better to be safe than sorry.

Re.Ryanair. Before you pick them out specifically. Most airlines big and small are not dealing with flights after 1 July. Why would you expect a refund from them just because you have decided not to go.
We have already had a voucher from them or offer of a refund for a flight in June and have had a refund for a flight next week.
If the country concerned is only accepting visitors after quarantine - like Spain - the flight will be automatically cancelled.
We had an AirFrance flight to Guadeloupe booked for mid July but that has already been cancelled with an offer for either a voucher for identical flights, same seat, same flight up to 31 December or a refund. We are hoping to go next spring.

Had one holiday cancelled in April -still waiting for refund. Summer meet up with distant family in France, no idea, but probably not and we had paid the balance.
Like others, apart from the health risk, I wonder about the point of going if nothing is open. I suspect the holiday insurance people will only pay up if you nail their ears to a post.?

We live about 10 miles away from Keswick, we have kept away and largely at home from 10 weeks ( prescriptions delivered, on line shopping deliveries etc )
We decided we would drive to Keswick today , to gaze at Derwentwater and wander the town to see how it felt all closed up.
Booths surpermarket car park in open , but the other 2 car parks including the one near Derwent is closed.
Everything in Keswick ( bar the supermarket is closed ) If people are planning to drive to national parks ( as allowed) I'm not sure what they are expecting to find.
As an aside , Buttermere which many will know is in the heart of the lakes is also a no go area as all car parks closed, with tree trunks laid across the entrances so people can't move them, no public loos open.

Thanks for the photos of the New Forest. I could easily live there.

Exactly LadyO I normally use a cafe or a pub if there are no public toilets available but I've had to limit my walks to about one hour...

Maccyt1955
So true about loo provision... even going for our longer local walks here we have wondered about needing to go ? the choice is behind a tree if in the countryside, or what? In the old days you pop into a cafe or pub and buy a drink to use the facilities ... ?

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I am totally amazed at the number of holidays some of you enjoy. For many years (11?) our only holiday has been the week or fortnight on the Isle of Barra in the same rented cottage with the whole family. We rebooked immediately we got home last year and I have been looking forward to the break throughout what has been a very difficult year. Now this......
We cannot consider going when the entire Western Isles has only had 1 case of Covid, due to restricting flights and ferries to returning islanders or those with essential business on the mainland.

I have my favourite beach (on Vatersay) as my backdrop when Skyping with the family, My daughter decided to copy me but picked a picture of a different beach, thus we are socially distancing even on line. See pictures for what I am missing Favourite beach & view from Holiday cottage.

Same here Davida.

We cancelled our June holiday in Italy the day before the balance was due. It meant losing our deposit but we weren’t sure how long we would wait for a refund so it seemed like the best option. Unfortunately we also lost the substantial cost of the travel insurance we had already taken out. DH is over 70 with underlying health conditions so we can’t see a holiday on the horizon any time soon.

We are booked into a hotel for a week in Devon in late July and are hoping to go. This virus will always be with us now and we cannot wait until a vaccine is created to return to normal as the economy would collapse. It's easy to say things like "bring on full lockdown" when you are financially secure, but most younger people need to work to pay their mortgage etc and need to feel as safe as possible. I have seen pictures from the Honda factory were I live and they have done miraculous things to protect their staff as much as possible to make it safe to return in June. I'm sure most reasonable employers are doing the same according to HMG guidelines. I'm told they need to get their safety precautions signed off by an outside H&S person (previously much maligned!).In reality many people will need to get this virus to provide herd immunity to protect the ones that are at risk. That's my opinion anyway, we must be brave.

I had a cruise booked for mid April and had struggled to book this as my husband had only died a few months before.We had enjoyed cruising since 2012 and the year before he died we had been on 5 cruises,all at very good prices and three of them to celebrate birthdays and anniversaries.
My travel insurance was still in force so I decided to book one on the same ship we had been on twice.I knew I could get through each day as I knew what the programme would be. A month before departure I was offered £400 onboard credit and spent a lovely evening deciding how to spend it ! The following day the cruise was cancelled. I very much doubt that I will be able to holiday again although a friend and I have a 5 day coach holiday booked in October to Cromer. I can't see that going ahead as forty 70 + year olds on a coach going to a Hotel with 2 or 3 other coaches would not be going ahead.
So many disappointed people but better being safe than sorry.

I think Ryan Air are using their usual marketing model - make as much money as you can and damn the customer. They are starting flights from 1 July. If the 14 day quarantine rules still apply to a number of European and global destinations, large numbers of people won't be able to go. As the flight is not cancelled you can't get a refund.

Some people can't help it can they? They would bring their political nastiness into even s Pandemic.