Staycation Archives - The Stray Ferret

Great getaways less than three hours’ drive from Harrogate

(Above image: Derwentwater, The Lake District. Pixaby)

Popular escapes close to home in Yorkshire and beyond

With the cost of holidays abroad seeming to go up and up each year, more people are choosing to stay closer to home for weekends away and longer trips. After all, it can be a lot of hassle getting to and from the airport and going through security, whereas with staycations all you need to do is jump in the car or get on the train and you’re at your destination.

But where are some of the most popular places close to home?

The Lake District

(Image: Scafell Hills, Eskdale. Pixaby)

Distance from central Harrogate: it depends where in The Lake District you visit but it is approximately a two-hour drive to most locations.

The Lake District is known for its stunning landscape featuring lakes, coast and mountains – including the highest mountain in England, Scafell Pike that is quite a feat to climb up – all of which make for beautiful backdrops for walks that the area is renowned for.

As well as walking, there are many other outdoor activities to make the most of this scenery including gorge scrambling, abseiling, rock climbing and paddleboarding.

Although Windermere is undoubtedly one of the most popular locations, be sure to check out other places in both the North and South Lakes including the town of Keswick and smaller quaint villages such as Grasmere and Buttermere. You can keep your energy up with some Kendal Mint Cake along the way.

There are also popular tourist sites to visit such as The World of Beatrix Potter, one of the most famous literary names the Lake District is associated with.

Did you know? There’s actually only one lake in The Lake District and that’s Bassenthwaite Lake. The others are ‘meres’ or ‘waters’.

Saltburn-by-the-Sea, North Yorkshire

(Image: Saltburn-by-Sea. Wikipedia Commons)

Distance from central Harrogate: approximately an hour and a quarter drive.

Saltburn-by-the-Sea is often the go-to destination for a day trip to the seaside thanks to its miles upon miles of sandy beaches.

Parking can often be found close to the front, and from there you can take a walk along the dramatic clifftops that comprise the Hunt Cliff reserve that are among the highest cliffs on the East Coast of England.

Some of the must-dos include eating fish and chips on the beach and riding the famous funicular Saltburn Cliff Lift, which provides access to Saltburn Pier and the seafront from the town.

(Image: Saltburn Pier. Pixaby)

Did you know? Saltburn pier is the only remaining pier in Yorkshire.

Read more:

Bamburgh, Northumberland

(Image: Bamburgh. Wikipedia Commons)

Distance from central Harrogate: approximately two and a half hours’ drive.

Known for its pristine, stunning white beach, you almost feel as though you’re not in the UK when visiting Bamburgh, and its impressive castle stands proud atop a 180-foot crag so you can see it from pretty much wherever you are on the coastline.

There are sand dunes abound, rock pools to go crabbing in and cafés and pubs aplenty to grab a bit to eat in.

Other places to visit nearby include Seahouses and Holy Island, the former of which you can walk to from Bamburgh.

Did you know? Bamburgh Castle is not just a tourist attraction; it’s a working castle and is one of the largest inhabited castles in the UK.

The Peak District

(Image: the Peak District. Pixaby)

Distance from central Harrogate: approximately an hour and a quarter drive.

One of the top things to do in the Peak District is to go on a countryside walk taking in the arresting vistas with a pit-stop at a pub along the way.

Aside from this, the Peak District has many charming villages and towns to explore, including the spa town of Buxton, known for its Romanesque architecture.

Other must-visits sites include heading to Bakewell for a Bakewell tart (spoiler alert: it’s nothing like Mr Kipling’s), uncovering the area’s caves and caverns and seeing the fascinating rock formations, as well as visiting the many stately homes and castles that are in the area.

Did you know? The Peak District features Britain’s oldest long-distance national walking trail, the Pennine Way. It starts at Edale and stretches to Kirk Yetholm in the Scottish Borders and is 268 miles long.

(Image: Chatsworth House. Pixaby)

Read more:

Have the district’s glamping sites benefitted from foreign travel chaos?

In the past few years high end camping or “glamping” as it is more commonly known, has become increasing popular, with a number of new sites springing up in the district.

Now as families weigh up whether to risk airport and port chaos to go abroad or remain in the UK, how is this relatively new holiday industry faring?

Some providers in the Harrogate district have reported an increase in trade, others have seen a downturn.

This has been put down to an increase in the cost of living, as well as last year’s demand being “unprecedented” due covid travel restrictions.

The local glamping industry

Tom Sterne, owner of Yurtshire, between Ripon and Pateley Bridge, said advance bookings for the luxury glamping and wellness retreat have been growing by the day.

He said:

“Since the news about flight cancellations and chaotic scenes at airports hit the media, the number of enquiries we have received has increased markedly.

“When we opened last July, we benefited from the sudden switch to staycations, from people across the Harrogate district and further afield, who would normally fly off to the sun and we are witnessing a repeat this year.”

A break in Nidderdale

Lindsay and Chris Morrell, whose annual summer holidays in Tuscany have been on hold since the covid lockdowns began in March 2020, have booked Italy next year.

But the couple, who used to live in Harrogate and have since moved to Northumberland, decided to take a break in Nidderdale for their 2022 getaway.

Ms Morrell said:

“With the problems people are encountering at airports, we didn’t want to risk booking for Tuscany this year and hope that issues affecting overseas travel will be sorted out by the time we are ready to venture abroad.”

Chris and Lindsay Morrell

For friends Carroll Shaw and Annie Brown, who live in Ripon, overseas holidays are no longer on the agenda.

Ms Shaw said:

“Why would anybody who lives so close to the gorgeous Nidderdale countryside, want the hassle of flying thousands of miles to lie on a crowded beach?”

A slow start

Louise Pullan co-owns the Breaks Fold Farm camping and glamping site in the Washburn Valley, next to Thruscross Reservoir, in the Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).

She told the Stray Ferret that the beginning of the year had been very quiet, but it had started to pick up.

Breaks Fold Farm.

Ms Pullan, who runs the site with her husband Richard, said:

“It has been a very slow start.

“We were 60 per cent down in May and June based on our 2019 bookings.

“However we have seen a rapid uptake in bookings into July and August in all our accommodation.

“People are watching their finances and holidays maybe aren’t top of their priority lists.

“We have noticed we are getting a lot of local guests from Harrogate and Skipton, so maybe the fuel prices are also having an impact on people’s choices.”

Ms Pullan said the campsite’s main customer base is short stays of two to three nights.

A difficult financial time

She said the price had been kept the same for the last three years, with discounts on longer stays to try and help people out during what is a difficult financial time.

She said:

“This is difficult as we as a business are now seeing increasing costs. For example our waste emptying costs have gone up 30 per cent, a bottle of gas has gone from £55 to £85 and our business insurance is double last year’s.

“We can’t afford to employ somebody this year due to soaring inflation, which is putting a huge pressure on us as a two-man band.

“Energy prices are just completely unbelievable and some of our fellow owners are up on 57p per kw, seeing their energy bills over double on previous years.

“We are only going to be able to absorb this for so long, unless hospitality businesses are offered some form of relief such as a VAT cut, like they were through 2021.

“Some sites have tried massively to capitalise on the staycation boom from 2020 and have made their prices unreachable for some.”

Cutting back

Claire Jones, owner of Strawberry Safari shepherds huts, in Wormald Green, between Harrogate and Ripon, said she had also seen a quieter year compared to last year.

Strawberry Safari.

She said:

“We believe this is due to a combination of people going abroad and also cutting back on short breaks in between their main holidays, due to cost of living increases.

“That said, last year’s demand was unprecedented and so it’s hard to compare the two.

“We have still seen some lovely guests this year, many of whom are here to enjoy the many events happening in and around Harrogate.”

Staycation bookings ‘piling in’ for Harrogate district campsites

Bookings have surged at Harrogate district campsites since the government’s ‘roadmap’ announcement, raising hopes of a staycation summer.

After almost 12 months of opening and closing, the campsites welcomed the clarity provided on Monday about when they could welcome holidaymakers once again.

When restrictions were lifted last summer, there was a staycation boom locally, with several campsites saying there had been an influx of people wishing to holiday closer to home.

They now hope for a repeat this year.

Marie Laverick manager of Woodhouse Farm caravan park, said the phone “has been ringing off the hook” since the announcement. She said:

“The phone hasn’t stopped, so many people are either booking their pitch or rearranging dates for the new restrictions.

“We are gutted about Easter; we lost it last year too and we’ll lose the first May bank holiday but it looks good going forward. We had 50 bookings overnight!”

Phil Brierley director of York House Leisure, which owns four holiday parks in North Yorkshire including sites in Boroughbridge and Ripon, said it was important for the industry to continue to be supported by government.

He said:

“We are very happy that there’s a plan in place and there’s light at the end of the tunnel.

“It’s great news but it’s bittersweet because the parks industry was originally shut down in March so this year will be the second Easter in a row that we have missed. We have effectively experienced a year-long winter so there’s an awful lot of ground to make up.

“We have certainly seen an increase in enquiries at our parks since the announcement. We would hope as an industry to see continued aid from the government, such as 5% VAT, extended business rate relief and the furlough scheme.”

Woodhouse Farm Caravan Park. Photograph: Facebook

The roadmap allows caravan parks to open on April 12 but without any facilities such as toilet blocks. On May 17 the sites can fully reopen.

Similarly in Great Ouseburn, Burrows Park has seen an increase in bookings. Co-owner Richard Kay said:

“Assuming the government roadmap targets for easing covid measures are met we will have a full opening on May 17. We look forward to welcoming back all our regular site users and to a very busy summer. We hope that the weather is with us and all our guests enjoy their time!”

Richard Flinton, chair of North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum, said at the county’s weekly media briefing yesterday:

“We are optimistic in terms of what the future is for our hospitality sector. People can start booking and should enquire about refunds should they not be able to go ahead.

“This is a real opportunity for us. We do look forward to welcoming people back to our beautiful county.”

Campsite bookings soar as Spain quarantine proves ‘too risky’ for travellers

The 14-day quarantine rule for holidaymakers returning from Spain to the UK may spell disaster for trips abroad this summer but campsites across the district have told the Stray Ferret they are inundated with enquires.

Camping in the North Yorkshire countryside has become a popular alternative for many who can no longer go abroad, or who may be deterred by the cost of a seaside holiday cottage.

Studfold’s caravan, camping and glamping park in the Yorkshire Dales has seen enquires quadruple. Ian Walker, who owns Studfold told the Stray Ferret he has been “shocked by the surge of interest in staycations”.

‘We have had quite a few families coming that have never ever camped before, but due to the uncertainty they just didn’t feel comfortable going abroad. We have had phone calls this week from people who had holidays booked in Spain but now want to come to us instead.’

We spoke to a family at the campsite who should have been flying to Spain.

“The thought of travelling with the children and having to wear a mask etc just wasn’t really an option. As soon at the quarantine announcement came we started to look for staycations. We were lucky to manage to get a pod here for a night and we have also booked a little break at a site in the Lake District later this summer.’

Monk’s Meadow Glamping, Harrogate

Barbara Bradley, owner of Monk’s Meadow Glamping site near Pateley Bridge, said it had noticed a “significant increase” of interest.

“Our glamping pods are booked right the way through until September, which is unusual as people would normally see what the weather was doing and book a couple of weeks in advance. This year if you don’t secure a place well in advance you just wont get booked in.

“People have had to change their way of thinking as over the years they have got into the habit of going abroad, but this year this has become a lot more difficult, especially with the Spain quarantine rule. People are just too anxious. I think people are just desperate to get away and have realised that there is so much to offer on their doorstep.

“The busy long weekends are having to make up for the fact that we aren’t taking midweek bookings as we are leaving 72 hours between guests checking out and us cleaning the pods.”

The Cud Life campsite in Killinghall.

The Cud Life campsite in Killinghall is only open to motorhomes and caravans as it has not opened the toilets and showers.

Tanya Umpleby, who owns the site, told us they made the decision for safety reasons and because they do not want a surge of campers that “do not understand campsite etiquette”. She said:

“We are a quiet site and we just don’t want this sort of behaviour in our peaceful setting. We have however seen a huge increase in numbers, as soon as I put the phone down it rings again!’

Harrogate district to go ‘staycation crazy’ from July 4

Campsites, caravan parks and holiday cottages in the Harrogate district are expecting people to go “staycation crazy” over the remaining summer months.

Toni Fernandes is the general manager of the Lido Leisure Park near Knaresborough. It has around 500 caravans that are used throughout the year as second homes. He told the Stray Ferret he was “very, very happy” with the announcement yesterday that they can finally reopen and he has already been inundated with owners who can’t wait to return to the site on July 4.

He said:

“I think there will be a queue! We’ve put a lot of measures in place for the café and the restaurant and the environment is safe for people to isolate themselves.”

He also said that a busy Lido will provide a much-needed boost to the Knaresborough and Harrogate high streets.

He added:

“We can have 2000 people here. The impact that it has on the high street in Knaresborough and Harrogate is massive. We hope opening will really help the local businesses and the economy. We’re very excited and I think staycations are going to go crazy.”

In Summerbridge, Rosemary Helme owns several holiday cottages that will be open for guests from July 4. She still has vacancies for the rest of the summer and is hopeful that people will be taking advantage of their self-catering facilities.

She welcomed the announcement from the government yesterday on reopening but said guidance on what they are supposed to provide for guests remains “confusing”, especially around cleaning. She said they will be opting for a common-sense approach.

“We’re talking about taking out books, games and things people can move. But you can’t clean a pack of cards for instance, or not without difficulty!”

Nearby in Pateley Bridge, Trevor Brohier and his wife Jules are gearing up to welcome guests to Moorhouse Cottage, which includes both a B&B and self-catering facilities.

Moorhouse Cottage.

Mr Brohier told the Stray Ferret that they are excited to get their business going again.

To begin with, the B&B only be open on weekends to give them a chance to deep clean after guests leave.

He said:

“That will have a really negative effect on turnover but we’d rather be safe than sorry.”

Whilst Mr Brohier said the B&B experience will be as close to normal as possible, fans of familiar B&B staple, the full English breakfast, will have to wait a while longer — as all cooked breakfasts will be off the menu for the time being.