United Kingdom

Due to the overwhelming poor summer weather in the UK, travellers have held off their holiday plans and are now beginning to look for sunshine holidays as the seasons continue to change and the weather improves. If you are living in the UK and you are interested in travelling now as the UK’s weather improves, you can do so by preparing ahead of time and knowing where to look to get the absolute best deals possible.

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The UK isn’t generally the most budget friendly place in the world to visit. While there is no shortage of great places to see and exciting things to do in the country, the cost and the unpredictable weather can often send travellers in search of warmer and cheaper climes.

While there is nothing that can be done about the exchange rate, you’re left at the whim of the markets when it comes to that, there are easy ways to save money while travelling the UK without making you feel as though you’re missing out.

Location, Location, Location

London is one of the most exciting cities in the world, as well as one of the most visited in Europe. While there is no doubt that the city is filled to the brim with excitement and culture, it is also filled with ways to spend your money. Everything is more expensive in London. No visit to the UK is complete without a stint in the capital, but if you want to save then you should make it short and head to greener pastures earlier. The northern cities of Liverpool, Manchester, and Newcastle are well known for their nightlife, while the cities of Chester and York offer history hounds days of entertainment. Not only will you get to save money, but you’ll be seeing more of the country while you’re at it. It’s a win, win really!

Where I Lay My Head is Home

Every seasoned budget traveller knows that the best deal is rarely offered by a hotel. Hostels are where you’ll often find the cheapest bed for the night, but if you’re travelling as a couple a private double room often doesn’t seem like the best value for money. A great budget alternative for couples or small groups travelling together is a self-catering holiday cottage. This is a really popular accommodation option in the UK, with many families spending a week or two in a cottage every summer. There are great options located throughout the country and if you are splitting the cost between a few people it can be surprisingly inexpensive. A stay in Thimble Cottage, a romantic Lake District cottage, could cost as little as £130/person for a full week in September. I think you’d struggle to find a deal like that in even the cheapest of hostels.

Food, Glorious Food

One of the best parts of travelling to a new place is the food! Trying new and delicious dishes that you’ve never even heard of can really make for a memorable holiday. The problem is that eating out at top restaurants will quickly break the bank, especially in the UK. Solution? Head to the market and stock up on top quality produce to create your own feast! Here your self-catering accommodation saves you money again. Just about every city in the UK has a local market filled with local butchers, green grocers, fish mongers, and bakers, all of whom would be happy to give you some tips on how to best serve up their wares. Don’t feel like you can never eat out though. Many restaurants in the UK have great lunch offers which vary only slightly in size from the dinner option and are a fraction of the price. A great way to have your cake and eat it too!

The UK is a great place to travel, so don’t let the cost put you off. There are lots of ways to save, you just have to be a bit creative and know where to look for the best deals. You don’t have to feel like you’re missing out just because you’re saving money. With all of the extra pennies you save you might even be able to extend your holiday, and how great would that be?!

Photo Attribution: “British Union Jacks outside a Building in England” by Stuart Miles – freedigitalphotos.net

If you’re planning a break this summer, have a think about heading to the South West to Devon and Cornwall. There’s loads to do in both counties, from lazing on the beaches to taking in outdoor activities like hiking, sailing or surfing.

There are also plenty of festivals going on over the summer – here’s our pick of five essential ones to check out. And to make sure you’ve plenty of cash left over for the beer bill, we’ve also included options of budget-friendly places to stay nearby.

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Relentless Boardmasters Festival: Probably the biggest and the best, billed as ‘Europe’s only surf, skate and music festival’. It’s back this year at Newquay from 8-12 August and includes the ASP World Tour Surfing events at Fistral Beach, the spot in the UK where surfing began. The festival also spills over to Watergate Bay, with music across eight stages in one of the most scenic spots in the country.

Where to stay: Newquay Holiday Park is just a mile away from all the festival action and has caravans for hire, so you don’t even have to pack a tent. There are three outdoor heated swimming pools and a bar and grill on site. Or take a look at the nearby Haven Valley Holiday Park, where you can pitch a tent or hire a caravan just ten minutes from the beach.

Eden Project Summer Sessions: The Eden Project is a must-see for anyone visiting Cornwall, and the summer music sessions make it well worth the trip. This summer there’s Plan B on 6 July, Blink-182 on 8 July and Noah and the Whale and the Vaccines on 11 July. Pencil dates in your diary for next summer too – Eddie Izzard is the first confirmed act for 2013. Gigs take place on the Biotik in the Eden Project’s Mediterranean biome, where you can stroll past lemon trees, olives trees and vines.

Where to stay: If you can tear yourself away from the biome, Penmarlam Caravan Camping Park is nearby and has pitches for tents with great views over the surrounding countryside, free wifi and a pub and café within a short stroll. Pensagillas Park, also in St Austell, has pitches for tents from £10 a night, wifi, and a pub, pool table and takeaway food on site.

Chagstock: Called ‘the best little festival in the south-west’, Chagstock (because it’s near Chagford) is a not-for-profit event running from 20-21 July. The two stage line-up has KT Tunstall, Alabama 3, Seth Lakeman and the Fun Lovin’ Criminals, all at Whiddon Down with views over the northern edge of Dartmoor.

Where to stay: Okehampton Youth Hostel is six miles away on the edge of Dartmoor National Park and has tent pitches beside an adventure centre offering gorge scrambling, kayaking, high ropes course, mountain boarding, archery and a climbing wall. Or you can hire a cosy camping pod at Langstone Manor Holiday Park, with a manor house bar and dining room.

Port Eliot Festival: A festival with a difference, Port Eliot at St Germans in Cornwall from 19-22 July is probably best described as a literature festival with a lot of music thrown in. Performers since the festival started in 2003 have included Jarvis Cocker, Grayson Perry and Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong of Peep Show fame, and this year’s line-up has dozens of events in words, music, cabaret, and fashion among others.

Where to stay: The five star Dolbeare Park is two miles away from the festival site and has tent pitches available as well as an off-licence on site selling Cornish scrumpy. Or there’s Siblyback Lake Campsite at Liskeard, where you can make a week of it and hire windsurfers, rowing boats, kayaks and sailing dinghies.

Looe Music Festival: Round off your summer at this top Cornish music festival from 21-23 September, headlined in 2012 by The Stranglers, Levellers and The Skints. Headline acts will play on the Adrenalin Quarry Stage looking out to sea, with another 60+ bands performing all across Looe in pubs and on the Harbour Stage.

Where to stay: Tencreek Holiday Park is less than two miles from the festival site and has tent pitches, caravans for hire sleeping up to six or eight, a clubhouse, food shop and café on site. Or, if you fancy a spot of glamping, Luxury Cornish Yurts at the nearby Liskeard campsite in Cornwall has hand-made yurts sleeping up to four, which come complete with solid oak furniture, wood burning stove and private deck area with table and chairs.

Starting a holiday is one of the most exciting things you can possibly do. Wherever you’re visiting, you have a plethora of sites to visit, but indecision strikes over where to go first. Whether you’re visiting for a week, fortnight or even staying somewhere for a gap year, it can be difficult to keep yourself occupied if you’ve seen everything within the first couple of days. Luckily, you won’t have that problem when coming over to Cardiff. Whether you’re staying in Cardiff hotels or somewhere more permanent, you’ll have a lot to do in the Welsh capital.

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Finding things to do in Cardiff and the rest of South Wales is easy, no matter how long you’re staying for. If you’re spending a weekend break staying in the Ibis hotel Cardiff gate or staying with a friend for a gap year, the whole area has enough parks, sporting venues, cultural hotspots, bars and restaurants to keep you entertained throughout your stay. If you’re a student on a gap year, then Cardiff has everything you could possibly want. As you would expect, Wales’s largest city has innumerate activities for everyone to do.

For sports fans, the Millennium Stadium is Wales’ national stadium. The 72,000 all-seater venue is home to the national rugby union team, as well as occasionally hosting the Welsh national football team. The stadium also hosts its fair share of pop concerts and the renowned Welsh National Opera. Elsewhere in the city, the Cardiff International Arena hosts live music and sporting events such as world title boxing matches.

If you’re looking to save money on visiting attractions, then Cardiff has many places where you don’t need to spend a penny to enjoy yourself. For students keen on learning, the National Museum and Art Gallery is free to enter, featuring exhibitions relating to both Wales and the rest of the world.

On a quiet weekday morning in the city centre, you may fancy going on a shopping trip. Cardiff is one of the best cities in the whole of the UK to shop, and has an eclectic mix of modern indoor shopping centres, Victorian arcades, markets and modern pedestrianized streets packed with international and local retailers.

During the day, it might be worth walking round one of Cardiff’s many parks. Bute Park and Roath Park are two of the city’s largest inner-city parks, and are an ideal place to spend a warm summer’s afternoon taking in views of the surrounding area. Another great way to spend an afternoon is going to one of the city’s many cinemas. There are multi-screen cinemas scattered around both the city centre and Cardiff Bay.

After an enjoyable and activity-packed day, you’ll want to end it perfectly, and there’s no better way than eating out at one of Cardiff’s many fine restaurants. The centre and suburbs are packed with eateries serving local and world cuisine, reflecting the cosmopolitan nature of the city. However, the breathtakingly modern Cardiff Bay area is perhaps the perfect location to enjoy an evening meal. The Miller and Carter Restaurant and Bar, Signor Valentino’s and Bosphorus Turkish Restaurant are three of the best on offer.

There’s no greater, more exciting city in the world than London, the home of London Fashion Week, the MOBOs & Brit awards, youth culture, the UK music scene, the world famous Royal newlyweds, the most revered parliamentary system, Fleet street, the BBC and a huge number of world-class attractions and historical sites. There’s more to see in this great, sprawling city than anyone could hope to achieve in a holiday – but the question lies, once you’ve sorted your train fare and London accommodation – maybe one of the smart Hyde Park apartments for a regal feeling stay – how on earth do you manage to see this notoriously expensive British capital on a budget?!

Luckily, help is at hand and there are plenty of excellent things to do that don’t involve splashing the cash.

Firstly, London is home to some of the most internationally-renowned museums and art galleries in the world. Visit the incredible National Museum, Science Museum or the Tate – either for free, or for very minimal entrance fees. These are ideally reached by tube if you stay in Victoria apartments or hotels and if you plump for the British museum, you could also take part in a Japanese tea ceremony, or join one of the free guided tours.

For those choosing to stay in the docklands apartments, they are perfectly suited to discovering the murkier history of this spicy part of the capital. For a cost effective activity, join one of the historical tours around this area and visit the old pubs near the docklands apartments for an authentic local experience. It’s a lovely place to find accommodation in too for your trip, both Docklands apartments and Canary Wharf apartments are well placed and plentiful for visitors here and a great spot for soaking up the hustle and bustle of this vibrant business and creative hub of London.

If you’ve booked one of the Canary Wharf apartments for your stay, you’ll be in luck – it’s a great place for good value food. Look for traditional pie ‘n mash shops at the nearby docklands for quirky cockney food at excellent prices. There are also a number of well-priced tea rooms around the area and within London in general – head to Spitalfield for the greatest concentration and avoid paying forty odd quid at The Ritz for your tea and scones!

If the weather is good, then head to one of the city centre parks – again when picking your London accommodation, especially the areas around Victoria apartments are the best option for groups of people and more plentiful than the nearby hotels. Choose wisely and you’ll be in easy walking or public transport travel distance of the incredible Regent’s Park, Holland Park, or famous Hampstead Heath.

Another great thing to do is to book your London accommodation wisely and close to Leicester Square during a film premier. Victoria apartments are well located for this, or look at Hyde Park apartments, youth hostels and hotels all do battle for visitors here – and with luck you’ll get to see a film premiere red carpet for free, or you could book into a cheap matinee show performance – head to the box office for same-day ticket bargains.

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