What Makes a Proper British Holiday?

Where did your travels take you this summer?  Europe, further afield, or just good old Blighty?  Year on year more of us are holidaying right here in the UK, and a recently published list of the nation's happy places reveals that most of our favourite places aren't that far away from home.  Indeed, two thirds said they would never go on holiday abroad if good weather could be guaranteed here.  Where do you love to visit?  What's your happy place?


While Cornwall was universally chosen as the favourite place to holiday in the UK, a pub lunch in the Cotswolds has been voted the nation's ultimate 'happy place'.  Other top choices include hiking in the Lake District, ice creams on Brighton beach, fish and chips at Padstow, and the white sandy beaches of the Hebrides.  Up and down the UK, there is plenty of culture, history, great regional food and wonderful scenery to discover and explore.  Plus we don't need passports, travel delays and expensive travel insurance - we can even take the dog!

Many of us are keen to pass on treasured childhood memories to our children, and take them back to beloved haunts from the West Country to the Scottish Highlands.  For us, our happy place is in and around the New Forest and Devon, places where Steve and I grew up or visited regularly as children.  We try to get to both several times a year and make a habit of re-visiting old favourites, as well as always finding somewhere new to visit.


Us Brits are creatures of habit when it comes to our favourite activities when we get to our chosen days out or holidays, with skimming pebbles, paddling, building sand castles, hunting for fossils and sampling the local pub being favourite activities.  We're fans of traditional food and drink too, enjoying those ubiquitous ice creams, cream teas, pasties and candy floss beloved of generations of British holidaymakers.  No mention of a good old stick of rock though, surprisingly - and a Pot Noodle if you're camping, of course!

A few more prosaic folk mentioned getting soaked in torrential summer rain and being blown about on the beach as essential UK holiday experiences too, and who can forget sand in your sarnies?!  Us seasoned British holidaymakers will picnic in all weathers, and since when has drizzle and a bit of a gale stopped us playing on the beach?  You can always repair to the car to watch the sea gulls whirling on the breeze.


What makes a great British holiday for you?  What are your memorable holiday moments?

Check out the infographic below to see other British families' favourite happy places.


Infographic c/o SACO


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