Staycation anyone?

To those who asked WHY there is a toll on the Severn Bridge, the reason is that it was built under the infamous DBFO (Design-Build-Finance-Operate) initiative. Put simply, the Bridge is owned by a private company who paid for its construction and in return receive the tolls which they collect. The tolls will only be removed when they have recouped their costs.

Correct whitewave, and Prince Charles was there last week too!

Off to Devon for our usual week/ fortnight in August. We have had rain, hail, wind, fog and freezing cold weather. It's a lottery and not nice to be trapped by the inclement conditions but it is always beautiful and it only takes three hours to get there if we go at the right time. We live frugally there and go often. When we arrive we say to ourselves that we would hardly be on the plane by the time we are on Lyme Regis sea front. Swings and roundabouts.

Maggiemaybe, flights between Newquay and Leeds start again on the 28th October, 3 times a week. Quite why they are winter only is anyone's guess!

lillie Port Isaac!!!!

Cant ever understand why theres an ever increasing charge to go into Wales. The residents of that country dont seem to benefit from the revenue.
It will be coming down (apparently) in a couple of years which will be a relief when visiting family!!

West Wales...into Wales via M50 and M4.
Out of Wales....M4 and M5. Cross the lovely Severn Bridge with no charge !!
Cant ever understand why theres an ever increasing charge to go into Wales. The residents of that country dont seem to benefit from the revenue.

Someone's enjoying his staycation a lot!

Live at the seaside, so who needs holidays. Sunny and dry part of the country with lovely surrounding and lots to do. If we do go away I can't wait to go home.

I agree with bez about West Wales having unspoilt non touristy places and uncrowded beaches. We've been going for years and the weather has mostly always been kind to us. But we have always managed to avoid the school holidays. This year we can't and it's going to be interesting to see what a difference it makes to the uncrowded beaches.

Our last holiday abroad was to Berlin to stay with a friend who worked there. It was 1990....the year after the Berlin wall came down. So visiting East Berlin and driving through East Germany was very interesting. Since my early retirement
a few years after then weve always had a dog and have always taken him... and later her...away with us on self catering holidays West Wales is our favourite destination because there are many unspoilt non touristy places and beaches to enjoy. And yes....weve had many sunny weeks there too !!

We have just enjoyed a few days touring the West coast of Scotland with our son and daughter in law. We were always going to count it as a bonus if the sun shone and packed the wet weather gear along with the t shirts! It was so lovely not to be hampered by any airline weight restrictions, and to just chuck everything into the car, including the dog. The sun did shine for the most part, but on one truly horrendous evening, we lit the wood burner and poured over a jigsaw. Thoroughly enjoyed our staycation. [ smile ]

How lovely roses I love Cornwall and the Lakes Watching those poor folk on the news queueing for 15 hours to cross the channel, hasn't changed our minds!

Never mind going on the Severn Bridge, our Sat Nav took us off the M25 this weekend only to bring us straight back on it at the same junction just a couple of hundred yards up the motorway. No reason for it. Trouble was, everyone else was doing the same thing following the orders given!

Having had so many holidays abroad, like you KatyK getting tired of airports.Will have a Cornish holiday in Sept and next year, if we feel the same, it will be the Lakes here in UK.Must be good for our tourist industry.

We've had a couple of lovely breaks this year Nottingham to visit family and Devon with all our grown up grands, OH and I usually have a couple of UK breaks each year as he doesn't fly but I usually manage to join one of my daughters to a trip to the sun somewhere and visit my son who lives abroad but I'm waiting on a THR at the moment and too much walking gets painful so until I have the surgery (who knows when) I will staycation.. we plan on another week somewhere in Sept. I do find that a week here or abroad is pretty similar in cost.

We too once went over the Severn bridge by accident my excuse was the terrible signposting while there were roadworks on the M5

The last time we drove down, we crossed the Severn Bridge by accident I'm still not sure how that happened!

The last time we drove from Yorkshire to Cornwall was a couple of years ago and it wasn't too bad. We stayed overnight in a Premier Inn in Bristol and it made a lot of difference. We only went as far as Crantock. We did the journey back in a day, but crossed the Severn Bridge to have lunch with DH's sister, so we had a few hours break. One year we booked a cottage on the Lizard and the last part of the journey seemed to take an absolute age. West Wales, where we are going this year, is not that much less a journey, but doesn't seem quite so onerous and we have done it so many times. Trouble is, this year DH wants to go "off piste" and drive down through mid Wales, instead of the motorway. Watch this space!

I have lived in the Lakes for the last eighteen months and love it. Couldn't persuade DH to go anywhere for the first year we were here! Have recently had short trip to Barcelona and have second trip to Berlin planned.

Same as Luckygirl, OH has PD, and sometimes on the morning of a planned, fairly local outing he might decide to cancel. It would be difficult for him to be confronted by a journey to the airport, and all that's involved, followed by a flight. Better to stay in the UK, much though I'd love to go further. At least, if I drive, we can stop whenever. We have enjoyed a number of UK holidays in rented properties over the years, and not been too unlucky, weather wise.

"Inishowen" - had 3 amazing holidays in Ireland recently. Belfast and Antrim Coast, Donegal and north west coast and then Killarney. Flown and ferried it and loved them all. Beautiful place and people so friendly.

We'd never do the drive to Cornwall now from Yorkshire. We had a break there earlier this year by coach, which went very well - plenty of stops and at least you can read your book, snooze, or chat to your neighbours if you like! Our DD1 and friend fly down to Newquay from Manchester most years to surf, and she has recommended that to us. For a brief few months there was a direct cheap flight from Leeds to Newquay, but sadly by the time I got round to wanting to book, it had been whipped off the schedules

Have to have my holiday when schools finishes because of our grandaughter who lives with us, but my daughter, our grandaughter aunt takes her on holiday abroad and we have family who have a holiday cottage in Suffolk so we stay there and can take our cat. Next year though my grandaughter will finish the end of May beginning of June because she would have done her GCSEs so now we will be able to choose when we all can go away. My h likes potters in Norfolk a family run holiday camp which caters for everyone but think gd and d will still go abroad

DH hates going away - me? I would fly away at least 6 times a year for a couple of weeks, no more - I would love to visit the Galapagos, Antarctica, the fjords, China....

Usually we have time with the GDs in Bristol, minding them while both parents work, so I suppose that is our staycation.
So probably we'll just go to Bristol again. [I've nothing against Bristol, but I do like visiting another country.

And - those of you who complain about the queues at Dover, think of what it does to us who live near/there???

I mived to Portugal 8 years ago so my staycatoons will now be in Portugal. My elderly Mum luved with us yntil 19 months ago so any trip had to be meticulously planned. When we have visited England for family reasons we have thought of adding a weeks holiday while are there but the cost of even guest houses so so high that we haven given up on that idea. We can stay at a 5star hotel in Porto with breakfast cheaper than we can stay in a Premier Inn without breakfast. This I know because have had 6 trips back to the UK in the last 5 months and stayed at several Premier Inns. Great hotels they are and cannot fault them