‘Cheap meals and dangerously affordable cocktails’: readers’ budget holiday tips | Travel

Eco tenting in Suffolk

In July we took our trusty supermarket-bargain tent to Ling’s Meadow, a small eco-campsite close to the Norfolk-Suffolk border, for a brief however fabulous break. Every spacious pitch has its personal picnic bench and hearth pit. Eco-conscious amenities embrace composting bogs and solar-powered lighting and bathe. Waking as much as the decision of a yellowhammer and handing over to the screech of a barn owl was my thought of bliss. It’s an awesome base for exploring, together with Knettishall Heath, the Suffolk Wildlife Belief’s largest reserve, simply 5 miles away. We plan to return to Ling’s Meadow subsequent summer season.
Pitch for 2 £28, lingsmeadow.co.uk
Sharon Pinner

Cycle-camping throughout Scottish lochs

The place is the furthest you’ll be able to cycle? After a brief prepare trip to Loch Lomond, I cycle-camped 100 miles throughout three lochs (Venachar, Earn after which Tay) in Scotland ending up in picturesque Pitlochry. Although I had points with my bike, I paid nothing as bike restore stations had been dotted alongside the route. Wild tenting is authorized throughout Scotland, so we paid nothing for that both. The largest expense grew to become some celebratory drinks in Pitlochry’s Previous Mill Inn adopted by the prepare journey dwelling. A phrase of warning: attempt to reserve a spot in your bike on trains in northern Scotland. The most affordable holidays contain not paying for motels, however the freest contain no automobile journey!
Tim Moss

Polish traditional – Wrocław

An extended weekend in Wrocław has been my cheeriest vacation thus far – how might exploring a metropolis filled with tiny gnomes not be? We needed to squeeze three days’ price of garments right into a small bag, and our room rattled with the morning trams, however regardless of! Road artwork, lovely structure and inexperienced areas made wandering the town a (free) pleasure. Wonderful, low-cost meals was straightforward to search out, from freshly baked pastries to Polish classics. A visit to the flea market sorted souvenirs, and we completed our evenings with (dangerously) inexpensive cocktails and native beer.
Siobhan Maher

Leisurely pedalling, Cotswolds

An inexpensive and cheerful Cotswolds vacation by bicycle was sensible for my household final summer season, particularly because the climate was so dry and heat. The distances between villages are simply sufficient for a leisurely pedal, and the youth hostels are an awesome choice at about £25 an evening for a dorm mattress or a easy household room. No have to test information about petrol prices, strikes or gridlocked motorways. Picnics from native retailers and farms allowed us to eat what we wished for lunch with out anxiousness about payments or service expenses. Plus we got here again fitter and extra energised than regular after a visit.
Nick

Interrailing once more after 50 years

Fifty years after doing Europe on a budget by Interrail as a scholar, I made a decision it was time to repeat the expertise as a senior citizen final summer season. The seven days in a month for over-60s remains to be a steal at just below £300. The trains are extra snug than among the rattlers from the Eighties and you continue to get monetary savings on motels by taking exotic-sounding night time trains corresponding to Vienna-Venice or Paris-Barcelona. The latter left at midnight and we had been having fun with espresso and churros on La Rambla at 7am the subsequent day with out spending £70 on a resort. Some ferries are included too, making the Greek Islands doable!
Invoice

Frugal Seychelles – sure, actually

Seychelles just isn’t a spot famend for funds holidays, however it’s potential to be frugal. My high tip is to get round the principle island, Mahé, by bus. It can value you 12 rupees (73p), whereas a personal chauffeur will set you again not less than €150. They arrive each half hour however there are stops all the best way across the small island. The very good seashores are free! sptc.sc/timetable
Sara Houston

Essex methods

We stayed on Mersea Island just lately, which was an absolute pleasure only a prepare trip away from London. Our week was stuffed with walks on uncrowded seashores plagued by pearlescent oyster shells and lined with pleasant crayon-coloured beachside huts, consuming lobster on the seashore for £20. There’s even a winery to go to.
Rosie

Swap store

My greatest tip could be to make use of homeexchange.com. We now have a reciprocal trade with a household in Galicia in late September swapping automobiles and all of the comforts of a house away from dwelling. Have had over 40 swaps and holidays in San Francisco, Arkansas, New Zealand, Australia, Eire, France (numerous), Spain, and have a month-long keep developing in South Africa in November. Our New Zealand exchangers rescued us for 4 additional weeks when stranded on the outbreak of Covid. It’s an awesome group: give it a strive.
Timothy Moynihan

North Yorkshire hostelling

YHA Hawes is a superb place to remain no matter group measurement you’re travelling with. The Yorkshire Dales location gives very good views from the lounge and eating space, the small city is a couple of metres away, with pubs and retailers. Pleasant employees actually make the keep full. There are personal rooms with en suites and shared rooms, all moderately priced.
yha.org.uk
Louise

Profitable tip: Discuss your strategy to a free keep in Spain

I’ll always remember spending per week in rural Spain, merely chatting. I made lifelong pals, laughed till my face ached and immersed myself in Spanish tradition, all for the worth of an affordable flight. Week-long English immersion programmes all through Spain are at all times in search of fluent English audio system of all ages and backgrounds. In return in your dialog, you’ll have your personal room in a sensible resort and eat scrumptious Spanish meals. Keep near the rugged Sierra Mágina nationwide park, dwelling to vultures and eagles, or the recent springs of Jaraba, close to Zaragoza. No educating expertise is required, only a love of speaking.
volunteers.grupovaughan.com; thisispuebloingles.com
Cathy Robinson