The UK is home to a wide range of wonderful travel destinations. From the bright lights and cultural offerings of London to the stunning natural beauty of the Lake District, there are plenty of places that are well-renowned for being perfect for a holiday, especially if you’re visiting with your family.
You might have been on enough classic UK family holidays that you feel like you’ve ‘done’ the popular locations. Or, you might just be looking for a trip idea to somewhere that doesn’t feel overcrowded during the school holidays.
Whatever your travel plans, here are five of the best unexpected family holiday destinations to help inspire your next getaway.
Northumberland Coast
Northumberland is an English county located on the east coast of the UK, just below the Scottish border. If you and your family are looking for a stunning natural playground to explore together then the coast of Northumberland is a wonderful part of the country to explore.
Whilst you won’t experience the same kinds of high temperatures over the summer that you would on the south coast of the country, you will have access to beaches that won’t be anywhere near as busy as those in places like Cornwall.
Some of the top family-friendly attractions on the Northumberland coast include Holy Island which is reached by a causeway, the Northumberland Coast path and an impressive number of castles, including the famous Alnwick Castle. If you do fancy a change from visiting historic buildings and exploring local towns and villages, there is a wide range of outdoor activities on offer, such as horse riding, cycling and even windsurfing.
Penzance
Cornwall is a southern county with a lot of well-known holiday destinations for families. But if you want to stay somewhere other than St Ives, Newquay, Mousehole or Looe, consider travelling all the way to the end of the railway line and planning a trip to the artsy town of Penzance.
Penzance itself has a brilliant cultural offering, with several smaller galleries, plenty of independent shops, fantastic places to eat and some really interesting old buildings. It’s also home to a stunning Art Deco outdoor swimming pool, which holds the title for Britain’s largest surviving seawater Lido and is a great place to take your kids.
You’re also brilliantly based in Penzance to enjoy some of the other top attractions in the west of Cornwall. St Micheal’s Mount is perfect for families and only a short distance from the town, you can easily get to Land’s End on the bus, and there’s also the famous, unique Minack Theatre in nearby Porthcurno where you can enjoy open-air theatre performances.
Robin Hood’s Bay
Another coastal destination for an unexpectedly brilliant family holiday is Robin Hood’s Bay on the Yorkshire Coast. A picturesque little fishing village, it’s a great place to stay at any time of year for a quiet but enriching holiday with your kids where you can learn more about the area’s history and explore other nearby seaside towns.
One of the things that makes this such a great village to visit on holiday is that it feels like a journey back to the past, with historic cobbled streets and the opportunity to find fossils along the sandy beach or in exciting rock pools. Robin Hood’s Bay was once one of the biggest smuggling hubs on the Yorkshire Coast, and there are plenty of exciting stories to uncover with your kids connected to this.
Once you’ve had your fill of the village’s attractions, you and your family can explore along the coast and visit places like Whitby or Scarborough. This is another destination that is ideal if your kids are up for walking or cycling, as there are many scenic trails to explore when the weather permits.
Isle of Wight
When you think of the UK, very few people consider the small islands around the coast as potential holiday destinations. But the Isle of Wight, floating off the south coast in the English Channel, is one such location.
You can reach the Isle of Wight easier than other islands around the UK, as it’s only a short ferry trip from Southampton or an even short hovercraft ride, which is perfect for adventurous kids. There’s a huge variety of different things to do, whether you are spending time on the beaches or walking the countryside, enjoying a wide range of outdoor activities, or visiting some of the island’s many cultural and historic attractions.
Despite being an ideal holiday destination for families, the Isle of Wight isn’t somewhere that gets particularly overcrowded, even in the summer holidays, meaning that you can take your pick from some brilliant accommodation options. Whether you
enjoy a weekend away with a hot tub and some family friends, or decide to rent a cosy cottage for a trip exploring the landscape on foot, the Isle of Wight has plenty to offer families who want a beautifully curated selection of attractions on their doorstep.
Llŷn Peninsula
Our final suggestion for unexpectedly wonderful family holiday destinations in the UK is the Llŷn Peninsula in Wales, which juts out into the Irish Sea off the northwest coast of Wales. Recognised as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, it’s got beautiful beaches galore as well as crumbling castles and endless rolling hills.
If you visit in the summer then you and your family should absolutely spend time on the beaches, with Porthor Beach being a firm favourite both for its surfing opportunities and the unique fact that the sand ‘whistles’ when the wind blows. You can also take to the water around the peninsula on a boat trip, whether you’re watching the world go by on a ferry or learning to sail yourself.
Another benefit of a holiday to the Llŷn Peninsula is that it’s home to several great National Trust properties, including the manor house Plas yn Rhiw which is a good spot for a rainy day. The Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Railway is another great choice no matter what the weather is doing, chugging you and your kids through the countryside.
Summary
Finding somewhere that feels unspoiled and uncrowded can be tricky when you’re trying to plan a family holiday. But these destinations are great examples of the places in the country that you might not expect to be such fantastic places to visit on holiday, but which certainly deliver in terms of the great range of things to see and do.