A week off and nowhere to go...any ideas?

I would have thought going somewhere in the UK with a spa would be just as expensive as going abroad on a cheapy package holiday. Have you tried all Thomson Holidays? I was looking this morning and they have some really cheap holidays.

We've been looking as we are hoping to go away for a week in October. There are some great cottages on the coast (we've been looking at Devon and Cornwall) and they are a bargain at that time of year. We don't have as much choice as we have two dogs but if you don't there's some stunning properties.

I have looked on Thomson but most of the cheapy holidays are to Spain, mainland or islands. I'm from Spain so going back there for a holiday is a bit of a busman's holiday for me as I spend the whole time translating and people tend to ignore my OH once they realise I speak Spanish.

Can you recommend any good websites to look for cottages? We have a cat but we had already booked him into the cattery so that's not a problem. We're in Manchester so i doubt we would drive if it was in the South but so long as it's cheap and a train or short flight can get us there we're up for it!

What kind of budget do you have now?

What week in October , as half term falls from 24th Oct.

Well, I know it's not a lot but the budget for both of us is probably around £500. I just can't afford to pay for another proper holiday on top of our cancelled one.

We've got from Saturday 11th to Saturday 18th. I have to be home on the 19th because I have people visiting from USA.

I know it's not much.

Try the country holidays website, they have a huge range of self-catering properties. National Trust might have, but they tend to be more expensive.

You could easily find something at that time of year for way less than £500 for the property.

Lake District in October is gorgeous, if you like that kind of thing. What sort of place do you want to go to?

What about Marseille, France for 3 days

http://www.bookryanair.com/skysales/FRConfirm.aspx

http://www.hotelclub.net/SearchResults.asp?city=Marseille&inYear=2008&inMonth=10&inDay=12&outYear=2008&outMonth=10&outDay=15&x=36&y=13&curr=GBP

That's the week we are looking at and you'll easily get something for under £300, have a look at:

http://www.holidaycottages.co.uk/default.aspx

http://www.helpfulholidays.com/

http://www.english-country-cottages.co.uk/ecc_homepage.html

That's exactly the kind of thing we were looking for! We just want somewhere quiet where we can go for walks. I've never been to the Lake District and would love to go!

We rented through a company called "Heart of the Lakes" this year. It was fine, good price, and you got access to a leisure centre for the week as well, so somewhere to go if it rained ?

We had a lovely short break in whitby, but i'm not sure there'd be enough going on for a whole week...

Could you do France, ruthy? These prices are for your week:

http://www.cottages4you.co.uk/uce/c4y?goButton=advancedSearch&fromPage=search&region=Normandy&accommonly=on&action=showResults&lang=en&countryId=23&regionId=907&startdate=11%2F10%2F2008&duration=7&sleeps=2&beds=1&price=&accommonlyflag=on&x=25&y=8

Ferry crossing costs about £100 I think, but even with petrol added, most of those are well within your budget. Those are all Normandy as it's not too bad a drive, but plenty of other places on that site too, including England.

My mum and dad live in Windermere (they have a guesthouse) but have just recently purchased and completely re-furbed a 3 bed holiday let. It's pretty available as it has only been 'open' for about 4 weeks! Happy to post details if you want. HTH

What about Scotland?

Crieff Hydro is lovely and has a Spa.

You could have 5 nights DB&B for £650.

There are loads of places up here.

Or we went to Blackpool for a few nights to the Big Blue Hotel. It is a boutique hotel and was lovely (great food) and we got to be kids again going there. ?

Shearings website have some cheapish hotels with good deals (some of the deals are actually All inclusive ! ) No idea what they would be like though, but hey, after a few bottles of free wine I wouldnt really care! ?

We are going there soon https://www.vrbo.com/en-gb/?vgdc=HAUK&preferlocale=true

Hi!

Sorry I didn't reply sooner... I've been checking out all of your suggestions, thank you! Just as I was getting excited, OH pointed out we still have to pay for the cattery if we go anywhere for a week and we really can't afford that as well as a week away, even somewhere in UK.

I'm so annoyed about how we've been left without a holiday. I know there's always people worse off than us and I know we'll get the money back eventually but that's not really going to make us feel better in the short term or give us the break we've been saving up for and looking forward to.

Anyway, so we've decided to stay at home but do day trips instead and we have the following planned:

Sunday: National Wedding Show (Birmingham) seeing we get married next year!

Monday: Lake District - lunch, cruise and walk on Windermere

Tuesday: Alton Towers

Wednesday: Spa Day for 2 in Manchester

Thursday doesn't count because I now have a hospital appointment

Friday: Go Ape during the day & something in the evening

Saturday: A bit of shopping & cinema at the Lowry

How does that sound? I know it's not very cultural.... ?

I think that sounds lovely. I did Go Ape for a hen do last year and it was fantastic!