Posts Tagged ‘camping’

Saving money on your holiday

Wednesday, May 6th, 2009

We all enjoy a good holiday, it’s a time to relax and unwind.  A time to forget the everyday cares and worries of work and home life.  The problems come when paying for the holiday causes more stresses and money worries.  So, with the economy the way it is currently, how can we cut the costs of travelling so we can still enjoy a holiday?

Taking a ‘discount holiday’ is one option that you could look a. This is a cheap holiday because it’s taken out of season, or at very short notice usually.  Most of the larger companies like Thomas Cook, Thomson’s etc. all offer things like this, but they don’t generally advertise them in their brochures, for this sort of thing, you’ll often need to pop into a branch on the high street, or look online at their website to find what’s available.  As well as these more obvious holiday companies, there are some online companies that specialise in this sort of thing, so it’s worth putting things like ‘cheap holiday’, ‘cheap holiday in Spain’ or ‘cheap holiday in USA’ into the search engines and seeing what it throws up at you, then having a good look around to see what you can find that might suit you.

Another way to do it, is to change the location of your holiday.  If you normally go abroad, what about trying a holiday here in the UK instead.  After all, when the weather is good here, it’s often just as nice as you’d get in France or Spain, and we have some lovely places around the country that are well worth exploring – from Cornwall and Devon in the south, to Wales in the west, Norfolk in the East and on upwards to places like the Lake District, and into Scotland.

If you want to keep it really cheap you could look at an option such as caravanning or camping.  In the UK and across Europe there are many sites where you can stay for as little as £10 a night for a whole caravan or tent full of people.  Obviously then you have to sort your own food out on top of this, and you’ll pay a little more if you want a site with a few more amenities, but it can prove to be a seriously cheap method of taking a break.

If you’re planning on being out and about in the cities across Europe and need somewhere to lay your head, but can’t afford to stay in expensive hotels, try looking at hostels as an option.  These are a much undervalued resource these days, and many of them cater to couples and some to families too.  The rooms are generally pretty basic, and unless you book a family room, you may be sharing with others, but when you can book a bed for the night from less than £10 in London, it’s something worth considering.

Vialdana

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in General, Savings | Comments Off

Steigenberger Nile Palace or Costa Del Back Garden, holidays in 2009.

Friday, May 1st, 2009

As the elusive British summertime begins its months long game of hide and seek, many of us begin to think of holidays and jetting off to sundrenched beaches and a brief escape from the rat race. In times of financial instability a holiday could be more than some can manage. For some, perhaps the annual break will be closer to home this year.

I was vaguely considering that I could begin to plan a holiday and musing over destinations when I began to think of the practicalities. My passport is out of date and my children don’t have one at all yet. There, in under 10 seconds is a cost of £164. £72 for my own passport and £46 for each of my children. I just don’t need that headache right now. I don’t need to leave the country.

So, my thoughts returned to good old Blighty.
Now, I’ve travelled the U.K fairly extensively, in caravans, tents, guest houses, hotels and friends homes. I’ve even stayed at a substantial number of English Heritage sites. I have children who think Dora The Explorer has the most exciting life and I love the idea of something new, so, wandering around the internet I found wigwams at Humble Bee Farm.
A lovely homey looking wooden building with real beds starting from £15.00 per person per night and just £8.00 for children. So, £31 per night and no great risk from weather conditions. There’s even a secure lock on the door, which might give me some peace of mind about midnight excursions by the gruesome twosome.

Or what about a Cocoon at Nostell Priory Park at £24.50 per night? A small building which looks like a rigid tent and again guaranteeing you won’t be blown away in the middle of the night. No escapees and the dubious pleasure of cooking outside every night, just like real camping.  It also means I don’t have to get up close and personal with nature, I can scurry back to the more-tangible-than-canvas-relative-safety of a plastic house. I’m warming to the idea.

I think my kids will love camping and it’s an adventure I want them to enjoy, though I worry about them getting out of the tent in the middle of the night in the same manner as they wander around the house eating chocolate in the wee small hours.
Still, I checked out the prices and venues. I remember staying in a lovely place in St Austell, Cornwall a few years ago and their prices for a tent are a very reasonable £4 – £9 per night depending on the season. However, prices vary around the country and during peak season. One site I found mentioned a £20 minimum fee per night during the peak season. You’ll often find money off vouchers in the back of The Camping and Caravanning Guide, available from CCC, Blacks and other similar shops.

Most of my childhood holidays were spent in touring caravans in Great Yarmouth and Skegness, or in static caravans in Cornwall, again, I’d quite like my daughters to enjoy that experience so I checked back to the sites we used when I was small. Vauxhall in Great Yarmouth would be around £418 for a week at the end of June in a dinky little 3 berth static caravan. The same week in Widemouth Caravan Park would be £322.00 as an online booking price.

I had romantic dreams of a cottage in the Lake District one year, all open fires and long country walks ending at cosy country pubs. The prices quoted were in the region of £350.00 minimum per week, for two people, in November! Unimpressed I quickly found a late winter sun deal in Majorca with Thomson for less and we skipped off to laze by the quiet beaches instead of the open hearth.
However a B&B begins at £60.00 per night and a weekend break might be just the thing.

I’ve never been entranced with hotels. They’ve always been associated with work related stays for me, though I confess, as a mental mum of two rampant children, I rather like the idea of no cooking and no cleaning up. Still, a brief search shows I could get a short dated booking for £42.50 in a 4 star hotel in Devon and share. I certainly couldn’t leave my little darlings in a room of their own…despite being far too young, remember the chocolate escapades I mentioned? Imagine a whole hotel full of adventure in the middle of the night. It would be Macauley Culkin Home Alone Part 4, The End!

So many people say that by the time you’ve finished, it’s just as cheap to fly elsewhere for a holiday. Perhaps the answer lies with Lastminute.com . The cheapest holiday I can find there is for £450.00 flying from Luton to Costa Brava and I’d still have to get the passports, bringing the total back up to over £600.00 without travel at either end, or insurance, or spending money. But the lure of no cooking and cleaning is strong.  I could even write a blog to enter the 99% off competition and win the chance to have my holiday for just £4.50!  No, I’d aim for the luxury of the Steigenberger Nile Palace in Luxor, Egypt. A snip at £489.00 per person. Still, that would be one paid for, a mere £4.89 from my pocket.

Maybe there is more to be said for Costa Del Back Garden. I think I’ll leave it a little while longer and bag a last minute deal, crossing my fingers for extra savings with vouchers on BView.

Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in Business, Competitions, Features, Findings, General | 1 Comment »