Vacation V Staycation Costs

We have been watching the programme on Unique B&Bs at it seems most are hoping for £150-£200 per night

Your comment seems to be a diversion, however it does raise the question as to £150 to £200 per night for how many people and what else is included. Breakfast perhaps, even dinner? 

Pentewan Sands has always (at least as far back as 30 years ago) been very expensive in July & August. Mrs M's parents went there for several years, booking the same pitch a year in advance each time, before we introduced them to the site we used at approximately half the cost on the other coast of Cornwall.

It would be interesting to see a comparison with other sites nearby, I think a former member of the forum (an ennobled one ) used to mention London Apprentice - would that be correct in that area?

From memory, London Apprentice is a couple miles away, back towards St Austell. We visited Pentewan Sands a couple of years ago, but stayed in a ‘static’ as we took our daughter and grandchildren. I guess the big draw is it’s proximity to the beach. Very busy when we were there, and if I’m honest, not my thing at all. We did actually take the kids when they were young, probably 1982. Back then, it was easy to get a decent size pitch (we were tenting), whereas now they seem more packed in. It’s changed a lot in that time.

I remember. I think it was River Valley he used to visit. It's is bit inland so doesn't have Pentewan's beach frontage but it is dog friendly. 

https://www.rivervalleyholidaypark.co.uk/touring-pitches

 

The user and all related content has been Deleted User

When we first started our our continental trips back in 2003 I seem to recall working out that if away for 2 to 2 1/2 weeks it was no more expensive than the UK, and I'm allowing for extra insurance, more miles and a crossing. I think now it's nearer 3 to 3 1/2 weeks. 

But as we know it's not just about costs. We prefer French sites, the facilities, the different cultures, food, wine, need I go on.

 

Colin

Plus a free bar for 10 people I’d expect🤷🏻‍♂️😊

Does price have anything to do with it? Surely you go where you want to, and pay the price. If we go on a seven night cruise which could cost perhaps £2000 I don't compare that with going to Cornwall or Italy, I go because I fancy a cruise?  The last 3/4 years we have toured exclusively in the UK and finding lots of interesting places to visit. Previously we have spent a lot of time touring in Europe, often going twice a year up to eight weeks which restricted our ability to visit much of the UK. Maybe in the future we will return to Europe but I am not particularly bothered when that happens. I think if people are always going to think of the UK as second best, particularly in terms of cost, I think my advice would be to stay at home until you are free to cross the channel because it seems to me that you won't enjoy touring in the UK?

David 

IMO i think doing costing like this is very subjective, e.g. we normally spend April thru June in Spain, only because we have family in Spain and it tends to be much warmer than France during that period.

So that it is not stressful for pooch we normally travel Portsmouth - Caen or Poole - Cherbourg, doing it this way ferry crossing is much cheaper, return £500+, however you have to factor in minimum 8 night stop overs for the journey down/return to Spain/France on a reasonable site and of course diesel.Tolls are not such an issue now as Spain no longer has toll roads, not even on the primary routes, France still has tolls but no idea of much we spend have one of those magic things you stick in window and the barrier just opens.

The site we normally use in Spain was €14 per night fully svcd and 7kw per day electricity, good site with direct access to beach including dog friendly, minimum stay 1 month to get this price, however, mid June thru August same pitch will cost you €32 , you do get a swimming pool, bar/restaurant, and first rate facilities, and the pitches are large enough for caravan, awning, car and an outside eating/lounging area.

The other option is ferry direct to Santander/Bilbao, cost £1k+ plus probably 4 stop overs out and back to ferry port plus diesel.

I have never kept a log of how much we spend on e.g. diesel, and this is a big variable dependant upon MPG when towing, not forgetting travel and breakdown insurance

This year we have decided not to bother with over there, but for the month of September we have booked a site in Devon, approx cost £1k, we have been to site several times, it has all we require e.g. indoor swimming pool,  regular mobile food vans, with lots of local food, it is also in striking distance of resorts such as Bude.

I have now got a tick sheet of all the documents for us and the dog that we will need for overthere, jabs and health check for the dog, check we do not have anything in the fridge that resembles anything like meat or dairy, even if it is Danish bacon , check that no borders have been closed or internal travel curtailed as a result of Covid-19.

For a UK get away we get the van ready maybe a week before first trip and from then on we could be off within 24hrs and on site probably at most 6 hours drive, and personally i dont buy this thing about getting better food/drink over there, we dont have any problems sourcing local food and drink of a high quality in the UK, the only caveat on all of this for me would be the quality of the weather.