UK Staycation Ideas

Coastal staycations

Britain's coastline is the classic staycation setting — good for anything from a bracing winter walk to a proper beach week. Dorset covers the Jurassic Coast's fossil beaches and chalk cliffs; Cornwall has the country's most varied coastline, from surf beaches to fishing harbours; the Isle of Wight packs a whole coastal holiday onto an island you can cross in under an hour; and Northumberland has some of the emptiest, least-crowded beaches in England, backed by castles rather than promenades.

Countryside breaks

For walking, slower pace and proper scenery: the Cotswolds is the classic English-countryside staycation, all honey-coloured stone villages and gentle hills; the Peak District and Yorkshire Dales (see where to stay in the Dales) both offer serious walking country within a couple of hours of most of England; and the New Forest combines ancient woodland with ponies wandering the roads and a genuinely different pace of life.

City staycations

Not every staycation needs a car and a week off — a city break covers a lot of ground in two or three days. Edinburgh has a compact, walkable old town built around a castle on a volcanic rock; Bath is a whole Georgian city built around Roman baths, small enough to properly explore on foot; York mixes Viking and medieval history inside a walled city centre; and Cambridge pairs centuries-old college architecture with an easy day-trip distance from London.

Wales & Scotland

For something that feels further from home without leaving the UK: Snowdonia has the highest mountains in Wales alongside a genuinely dramatic coastline nearby; Pembrokeshire has a coast path with some of the best sea-cliff and island scenery in Britain; and the Isle of Skye delivers the closest thing the UK has to Highland drama, all jagged ridges and sea lochs.

Camping & glamping staycations

If a tent, campervan or glamping pod is more your speed than a hotel room, our camping section covers sites across all of the regions above, from basic farm fields to fully-equipped glamping — organised by destination, with the same honest write-ups as the rest of the site.