When it comes to half-term getaways, staycations prove popular with families looking to spend a week away without breaking the bank. And there are plenty of offers that won’t take your hours, or even days, to travel to. However, one mum has found that travelling abroad can still actually be cheaper than opting for ever-popular Devon.
Family travel expert and founder of The Travel Mum, Jen Carr, has revealed how her family trip to Duinrell Holiday Park, in the Netherlands, cost less than a trip to Devon. She explained: “We priced up a summer week in Devon recently and found a two-bedroom caravan on a holiday park for £2,100. That’s before petrol, food, and activities! Instead, we booked a trip to the Netherlands, and, to our surprise, spent less overall.”
She continued: “Driving from where we live to Devon would have meant seven hours in the car each way and about £120 in petrol, plus the stress of motorway jams and backseat meltdowns. Instead, we found return flights to Amsterdam for £380 for four people.
“If you book early, you can often get them even cheaper, especially from London or Manchester. The flight itself takes just one hour, and from Amsterdam Airport we hopped in a quick taxi straight to our holiday park.”
The Carr family opted to stay at Duinrell Holiday Park, just 40 minutes from Amsterdam. There, they booked a modern two-bedroom lodge for just £950. Similar accommodation would have set them back over £2,000 had they holidayed in Devon.
Jenn adds that Duinrell was an “absolute dream for kids and grown-ups alike”, with the cost of their stay including unlimited access to the on-site theme park, and huge waterpark, with both indoor and outdoors facilities.
Continuing to sing the praises of her holiday, Jenn added that food was also cheaper than had she booked a staycation, as she said: “One of the biggest shocks? How affordable eating out can be in The Netherlands compared to UK hotspots like Devon.
“In Devon, we’ve spent £60+ on a pub lunch for four without blinking. At Duinrell, we ate at family-friendly restaurants nearby where main courses started at €10 and kids’ meals were around €6.
“Supermarkets are great value too, we stocked up on fresh bread, cheese, fruit, and snacks at the local town, saving loads by preparing a few meals at our lodge.”
And affordability wasn’t the only benefit of the trip, with Jenn noting that it was also much quiter than Devon during peak season.
She wrote: “If you’ve braved Devon in peak season, you’ll know the pain: packed beaches, tiny lanes, queues everywhere. At Duinrell, we cycled to Wassenaar Beach, just 15 minutes away, and it was huge, sandy, and blissfully quiet compared to British hotspots.
“Getting around was easy too — wide roads, excellent public transport, and no stressful traffic jams on tiny overcrowded roads!”