Forget the airport queues. A fresh roundup of reader-favourite British holidays from The Guardian Travel makes the case for staying closer to home, and the picks go well beyond the usual Cornish suspects.
The winning tip is the most surprising: a beach in Scotland that could pass for the Caribbean. David Balfour's Bay sits on the tidal island of Erraid, just off south-west Mull in the Inner Hebrides, with white sand and clear turquoise water — palm trees included. The sea can hit a mild 18C in August and September, and you reach the bay on foot from Knockvologan beach at low tide. Mind the tide tables, though; one reader woke from an afternoon nap to find the water creeping up and faced a bracing swim back.
Closer to the south coast, Mudeford in Dorset gets a nod for its golden sand and Mediterranean-ish feel, with walks along Hengistbury Head and a tiny harbour ferry that turns a beach day into an adventure. Over in Suffolk, Walberswick draws families for crabbing in the creek and swimming off a clean beach — and arrival is half the fun, via a rowing-boat ferry across the River Blyth from Southwold that has been run by the same family for five generations. Seafood at the Anchor and the Bell comes highly recommended.
If quiet is the goal, the Forest of Bowland in Lancashire covers 312 square miles of moorland and is a designated Dark Skies area. One hiker met just two other people in five hours in Gisburn Forest, and the drive through the Trough of Bowland delivers the best scenery. Skipton, with its castle and canal, is 35 minutes away and doubles as the southern gateway to the Yorkshire Dales.
Elsewhere: Lundy island off north Devon has a letterboxing treasure trail of 27 hidden boxes, including the elusive 'Lundy Bunny' stamp — a hit with preteens armed with binoculars and a compass. The train ride from Coleraine to Portrush on the Antrim coast hugs the sea the whole way and delivers you to fish and chips, the beach and Barry's Amusements. Bishop's Castle in Shropshire pairs a hilltop campsite with a medieval high street, the House on Crutches museum, and the Three Tuns pub, whose brewery licence dates back to 1642. Rhydywernen Farm near Brecon in south Wales offers goat-feeding, stream-side camping and stargazing under near-zero light pollution, with Pen y Fan hikes on the doorstep. Berwick-upon-Tweed packs Elizabethan walls, castle ruins and three bridges over the Tweed into a compact border town. And on the Wirral, Birkenhead Park — the 1847 design that inspired New York's Central Park — makes a surprisingly good family picnic base.
The common thread is that none of these require a passport, a flight or foreign currency. For anyone priced out of summer abroad or simply tired of the hassle, these are ready-made long weekends.