Are you planning your next holiday?
Everyone needs and deserves a holiday, with our busy lives constant rushing around, hectic home lives and demanding jobs, the need for a holiday is growing.
Find your piece of tranquillity here in the UK…
Why holiday in a motorhome and choose to explore the UK?
When you are first considering a holiday in a motorhome you may wonder what makes it different to a ‘standard’ ‘normal’ holiday.
A ‘standard’, ‘normal’ holiday being a holiday in a hotel, apartment or a cottage, a type of holiday that most people have experienced numerous times before.
Probably the most significant difference is the freedom that you will experience. Nothing is set in stone, your holiday home has wheels and therefore can go wherever you want it to.
When you are planning your motorhome holiday if it is peak season you may want to book some of your campsites, however from personal experience we now tend not to do this as we always seem to change our plan!
It’s good to have an idea of where you want to go, this is all part of the fun. Planning places that you would like to see.
A few weeks, or even days before you go come up with a list of places that you may visit and have an idea of a route. Just a rough idea is all you need.
When you set off you will then at least know where your first port of call will be.
Here the freedom begins…
Arriving at your first destination take the time to explore, see what there is to do there that interests you.
From here you can decide how long you would like to stay before moving on to your next destination.
On some holidays you will want to enjoy the relaxation of longer periods of time in each place that you visit.
Other times you will feel the urge to see as many places as possible and move around frequently. The bonus here is that you will never get bored. There will always be new places to see whenever you want to.
Motorhome holidays are also different to ‘regular’ holidays in the fact that you will see so much more.
On a normal holiday most people travel to get there, often on a plane, get a transfer there and that’s it.
Now think about a motorhome holiday, there is no plane journey. You drive to your destination, which for most motorhome holidayers is all part of the holiday. It’s an adventure.
Along the way you will see things that you obviously would have missed if you were in a plane. The bonus is that you can stop too. See a place, a mountain, a lake, a beach and so on that you like the look of and you can stop. Because you are in a motorhome you will already have everything with you that you need for that stop.
Yes it may mean that you get to your planned destination a bit late, or you may not choose to get there in the end that day. The key here once again is freedom.
You are not fixed in one spot, your holiday is fluid and relaxed.
Continuing with the freedom theme
You are able to follow the weather. We have been on many many motorhome holidays over the last 17 years most with an idea of the route we want to follow as I said before. However, occasionally this changes.
We follow the weather. Last year for example, we were on holiday in Spain and Portugal, we had been away for two weeks and were planning our route home. We really wanted to go to Northern Spain and explore an area that we had briefly visited the previous year.
The weather where we were at the time we were route planning was idyllic, wall to wall sunshine, blue skies every day. Perfect. The weather forecast in the area of Northern Spain that we were planning on visiting was 17 degrees and raining!
Not so perfect. Change of route! Easy, we followed the sun.
Where to stay in your motorhome in the UK
The choice is vast. You have several choices, obviously campsites.
When we first started motorhome holidays we always stayed on campsites, our children were very young and we found it best for them.
Campsites do have lots of benefits. The facilities, you will be able to make the most of whatever they offer, swimming pools, restaurants, shower blocks etc. If you do have children with you they will undoubtedly make friends which makes the perfect holiday for them and you.
There is also a safe feel to campsites and children tend to have more freedom than elsewhere.
My own children have really fond early childhood memories of campsites and friends they made there.
You can also choose to wild camp, a totally different experience because you will be using your own facilities and won’t be surrounded by other people like you are on a campsite.
Totally freeing though, and feels like a real adventure. Wild camping is a whole blog on its own though.
Just mentioning it here as an option without going in to too much detail. We also discovered Brit Stops, these are in between campsites and wild camping.
Basically, they are pub car parks that you can stay in in your motorhome at no cost. All you are expected to do is pop in to the pub for a drink or a bite to eat.
Great fun!
Packing and unpacking
The great thing about a motorhome holiday is that normally if you were going away staying in a few different place you would need to unpack and pack as many times as you moved.
Not the case with a motorhome- you simply pack it once, and unpack it once.
Much easier. Less chores=more holiday time to enjoy!
It’s a different experience to a hotel, apartment or a cottage
Although I can’t praise motorhome holidays enough I think that it’s best to go with the knowledge that it’s a different experience to a ‘normal’ holiday.
Obviously there will be less space. It has to be of a size that you can drive around. Therefore some people do find it a bit restrictive in terms of living space.
As long as you are aware of this fact you will be fine. There is in fact more than enough space to live comfortably, it’s just that you will be living at closer quarters with each other if you compare it to a traditional holiday accommodation.
So why would you choose to holiday in the UK
We all crave a bit of sun, sea and sand every now and again, especially when we’re faced with miserable rainy days every time we look out of the window.
Many people associate holidays with going abroad and sunbathing on the beach and most don’t realise that you can have just as good a holiday much closer to home.
One of the great things about holidaying in the UK is that you immediately remove the problem of the language barrier.
Although most resorts abroad employ staff who can speak English, it can still be difficult to get past the language barrier.
We’ve all witnessed the stereotypical Englishman gesticulating wildly and shouting slowly and loudly to signal to the poor bemused French baker that he would like two baguettes and four croissants.
As lovely as it is to embrace another culture, life is a lot simpler if you stay in the UK.
Many of us enjoy sampling the beautiful scenery whilst abroad, but the good thing about the UK is that we have some of the most stunning landscape in the world, so there’s no need to travel great distances when it’s right on our doorstep.
Visit the beautiful countryside of the lakes or peak district if you enjoy walking and being in the great outdoors.
The UK also boasts many delightful coastal villages so your kids can have fun making sandcastles on the beach whilst you enjoy a bracing walk along the promenade or an afternoon exploring charming towns and villages.
Caravan parks on the coast
You’ll also have this advantage at caravan parks on the coast; where after a long day of exploring the beach your motorhome will be just a short walk away.
If your house is full of fussy eaters, as many are nowadays, holidaying in the UK removes the hassle of trying to decide where to eat, or how to translate a foreign menu.
That’s not to say you have to stick to the traditional fish and chips British fare either; we’re lucky in the UK to host a fantastic variety of different cuisines so it’s easy to find something to suit every taste.
Finally, staying in the UK could actually end up saving you money, which means you can spend a little extra on daytime activities and not have to worry about paying off the credit card bill as soon as you return to work.
With so many benefits to staying in the UK for the holiday season, you’d be mad to not give it a go.