Holiday location, drivable in a day or two?

bazzabear

bazzabear

bazzabear

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I've just come back from a villa holiday with the family in Menorca (6 of us, including my 3 year old). Had a great time, but we had a few discussions about our plans for next year.

One of the points that came up was whether we could manage a similar holiday by driving instead. Maybe just an idle thought at the moment, but maybe worth consideration?

The main reason for this is the fact that our air travel and car hire together (the two costs we would avoid) came to around £2000. That's a lot of money to spend on petrol and ferries!

There's also the greater flexibility in what weight we can take with us (we would take two cars, both estates), and the fact that I get needlessly irate almost every time I book plane tickets because of the never ending gouging that the swines try.

So, is it feasible? Of course we could simply stay in the UK - but then the higher prices here for accommodation etc might wipe it out, and weather is less guaranteed.

Where could we get to in a reasonable travel time? I'm thinking one day travelling down to the south coast from Cheshire, an overnight ferry, then another day of driving to our destination.
 
Holidaying in Britain. You may as well urinate in a bucket for a week and when it's full just pour it over yourself whilst setting fire to the money you'd waste on some god awful hotel that gets 2 stars out of 5 on Trip Advisor (this is the highest in the UK). You'll save a lot of time for lounging because you can't do anything due to the constant wind and rain which will give you plenty of time to get into petty arguments with your wife and kids about whether fish and chips is better cuisine with or without mushy peas.

Britain really is a great travel destination said literally no one.
 
Ha!

So you agree we should leave these shores then? :D

Doing a bit of research myself, I think I might be barking up the wrong tree. Ferries directly to Spain are 24 hours (and presumably therefore a lot more money), and I don't think we could afford to lose that much time out of the holiday proper.

Unless somewhere closer like Normandy or the Channel Isles are worth considering? I suspect the same unpredictable weather is going to be an issue though.
 
There are plenty of great places to go on holiday in the UK :confused:

But I'd rather go to Europe. Spend a few days in France/Belgium/Germany, drive around and visit places.
 
I wouldn't really think that driving in the UK is an alternative to flying abroad, they are two very separate things. You can't really reduce the price of flying abroad as it's the premium you pay for going further in less time.
 
Get a map of Europe.

Work out how far you'd be able to / want to drive in one-two days.

Draw a circle that distance from your home.

Start planning where to stay within the circle.
 
Could easily get to the French med within 2 days. It's about 15hrs non-stop from Cheshire to Montpellier according to Google. Drive down and ferry over to Calais on day 1, stop somewhere on road then autoroute the next day down to the med.
 
Went for a holiday in Cornwall last year for my birthday...I was pleasantly surprised! Having never holidayed in the UK before I really enjoyed it, would happily go back :)
 
How long would it take you to drive to Menorca? I haven't been abroad for years as I don't like flying, if it would only take a day or two to get to Spain then I'll be going there next year :D
 
[FnG]magnolia;26574117 said:
Holidaying in Britain. You may as well urinate in a bucket for a week and when it's full just pour it over yourself whilst setting fire to the money you'd waste on some god awful hotel that gets 2 stars out of 5 on Trip Advisor (this is the highest in the UK). You'll save a lot of time for lounging because you can't do anything due to the constant wind and rain which will give you plenty of time to get into petty arguments with your wife and kids about whether fish and chips is better cuisine with or without mushy peas.

Britain really is a great travel destination said literally no one.
Click to expand...
What a load of complete and utter tosh. I've read some rubbish in my time but this really takes the biscuit.
 
[FnG]magnolia;26574117 said:
Holidaying in Britain. You may as well urinate in a bucket for a week and when it's full just pour it over yourself whilst setting fire to the money you'd waste on some god awful hotel that gets 2 stars out of 5 on Trip Advisor (this is the highest in the UK). You'll save a lot of time for lounging because you can't do anything due to the constant wind and rain which will give you plenty of time to get into petty arguments with your wife and kids about whether fish and chips is better cuisine with or without mushy peas.

Britain really is a great travel destination said literally no one.
Click to expand...

This is basically rubbish - there are fantastic places to visit in the UK and we have some outstanding areas of natural beauty as well as historic cities. I've been to lots of nice places and guess what - some of them were in the UK.
 
bazzabear said:
Ha!

So you agree we should leave these shores then? :D

Doing a bit of research myself, I think I might be barking up the wrong tree. Ferries directly to Spain are 24 hours (and presumably therefore a lot more money), and I don't think we could afford to lose that much time out of the holiday proper.

Unless somewhere closer like Normandy or the Channel Isles are worth considering? I suspect the same unpredictable weather is going to be an issue though.
Click to expand...

You can do southern Spain in 24 hours from just north of London, obviously a bit longer from Cheshire but doable in 2 days (with 2 drivers preferably). Other alternatives would include the Pyrenees, Tuscany, southern France, black forest/Bavaria all take a days driving.

Have a look at the ferry to Spain, I remember it being pretty cheap, at least for foot passengers, would almost certainly be cheaper than fuel.
 
I'm not sure Magnolia was posting entirely seriously guys. From what I've seen, it'd be a massive departure if he was! :D

If it wasn't for the 3 year old, I might consider south of France in 2 days. But 2 8 hour driving days in a row with a toddler? I think that might be pushing it!
 
Redgie said:
I wouldn't really think that driving in the UK is an alternative to flying abroad, they are two very separate things. You can't really reduce the price of flying abroad as it's the premium you pay for going further in less time.
Click to expand...
I wasn't meaning driving in the UK as a direct alternative. It was driving to foreign shores.

And in terms of the air fare, it wasn't so much the price itself, as the constant attempts to gouge more (the original price basically being a lie, unless you wanted to travel without any luggage), and the generally miserable experience that is flying these days.
 
It certainly does help, very interesting info, cheers.

I think Spain is out - it's just too far. South of France I suspect is also a goner, but not as sure about that.

My estate does about 22mpg by the way. :D

I enjoy driving mind you, especially on the continent. I've done 3000+ mile road trips across Europe before and enjoyed every minute (except the motorways around Paris - shudder). But I think a kid in the back changes things a lot!
 
[FnG]magnolia;26574117 said:
Holidaying in Britain. You may as well urinate in a bucket for a week and when it's full just pour it over yourself whilst setting fire to the money you'd waste on some god awful hotel that gets 2 stars out of 5 on Trip Advisor (this is the highest in the UK). You'll save a lot of time for lounging because you can't do anything due to the constant wind and rain which will give you plenty of time to get into petty arguments with your wife and kids about whether fish and chips is better cuisine with or without mushy peas.

Britain really is a great travel destination said literally no one.
Click to expand...
millions of holiday makers every year who come here say you are wrong but you don't actually live in the UK so likely don't have any idea what a fantastic country this has became since you left.

now please don't come back and spoil it you ****** ;)
 
Google priory barn in Norfolk. Stayed there for a week last week and it was, to use a word I hate, "amazeballs". 5 bedrooms, one with two beds for kids. Very nice place and very well kitted out with home cinema, Sonos throughout the house, excellent kitchen if the weather is bad, otherwise you have 2 massive lawns, patio, and a beach 2 mins walk away, tank museum round the corner ( you can drive them) and a steam train, not to mention awesome fish and chips down the road in Cromer. Highly recommended.

E: linkie
https://www.ruralretreats.co.uk/cottages-in-east-anglia/priory-barn#property

Electric gates make you feel like a celeb too ;)

Yf76eYn.jpg
 
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