Expensive Britain!
 

I have just taken Dr Kim Howells' advice (UK Minister for Tourism) and taken a long weekend break in the UK to support my tourist industry (I'm off to Cyprus in the summer!). I have to see the bank manager tomorrow to discuss how on earth I am going to pay for this! We went to the Isle of Wight.
Hotels in the UK are too expensive and everyone seemed to charge exhorbitant entry fees. The cost of Osborne House for 2 adults and a child was 20 Pounds. Carisbrooke Castle another 12.50 Pounds. The biggest rip-off was Alum Bay which after paying 3 Pounds parking, wanted 20.50 Pounds just to ride a chair-lift and watch sweets being made. They even wanted another 9 Pounds to walk on the headland. These things soon mount up. No wonder the Brits are going abroad as I could have bought cheap flights and gone to the sun.
To restore my faith in the UK, can anyone recommend somewhere where we can have a good family break and not need a second mortgage?

Hi AR,

You shouldn't have believed Mr Howell.

The UK is only for rich Americans who don't know any better.

We've taken 6 European trips in the past 4 years, and have never visited the UK because of the high prices. I am an American who knows better than to try to visit the UK if I am not intersted in spending an arm and a leg. we'll put it on our list of itineraries when things aren't so expensive.

Oh, wow...that is expensive. Especially with a family. I'm not sure where you live in the UK, but if you have any relatives or friends (free lodging!) in London, that might be a good option. Aren't most museums there basically free? I remember some requesting a donation, but nothing mandatory or exhorbitant. The British Museum was my favorite, and your child would probably get a kick out of the mummies.

Cathedrals are also nice places to visit for history and architecture. Again, they may request a donation, but I don't remember it being mandatory for most places.

What about hostels? Are there family-friendly hostels with, say, 4-bed rooms? That might be an economical choice.

But I'm not the best person to ask, as I don't travel with a family, and my trips to the UK were either part of a semester abroad or a subsidized choir tour. They were cheap, though!

Oh! Just thought of something - a trick for visiting the Tower of London for free (although you have to pay extra for the White Tower).

Seven years ago, when I was there on a choir tour, you could get into the Tower grounds for free if you showed up on a Sunday morning to attend church there. Basically, if you were already there, they wouldn't kick you out, and I don't imagine they wanted to start charging people to go to church! That might not be a comfortable option, but if they still do that, it's still the ONLY way to see the Tower on the cheap (for me)!

Thanks everyone. It's not that I begrudge paying entrance fees or for a good hotel (I can name a few wonderful places which are well worth the money), but we are always being ripped off in Britain - from Cars to electrical goods to tourism.
I live in South Wales and am a member of Welsh Heritage (Cadw), so I can visit castles and other heritage places free. Museums are also free these days, but what exactly do we offer as a country for our tourists? Historic places become twee and olde worlde (Stratford) or very expensive (Warwick) whilst seaside resorts have not moved on from penny arcades, candyfloss and donkey rides. Don't get me started on London!

Just curious. Have you compared the cost of the houses you visited with the cost of visiting Biltmore House in North Carolina or the Hearst Castle in California? I thought Osborne House was a real bargain compared to Hearst Castle, and yes, I'd say I enjoyed it just as much and spent even more time at Osborne House including the great gardens and "children's house" there. And have you compared the cost of parking at many attractions in the US with the parking costs there -- let's say comparing the island of Nantucket with the Isle of Wight? What's the going rate for chair lifts around Lake Placid or other tourist areas in the US these days?

Or have you visited the States? I'm not saying there aren't bargains to be had in each place, and of course, London is one of the most expensive cities in the world, but to go to tourist attractions and then complain about the prices which are really not much different most places, doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Yes, you could have a wonderful and relatively cheap holiday in Isle of Wight, but like most places if you choose a lot of places with admission prices it does add up.

Well AR, I live in SW Florida (like Patrick) and you should do a home exchange with me!! My husband is part Welsh, and next time we go to expensive, but LOVELY Britain, Wales will be on our agenda. Patrick is right about costs over here too. Nothing is cheap anymore except our lovely sunsets! Grand Canyon is 20$ per car, same with Yosemite(but at least it is for a week). Williamsburg(like Biltmore) is pretty pricey too. Let's just say more often then not, you get what you pay for IMO. Judy

Hi Patrick and Judyrem.
My point is that our Minister for Tourism has just pleaded with people to support the British tourist industry and holiday in the UK. I feel that this is admirable, but I don't think we British give good value for our tourists. Yes, I have visited the US and went to Liberty Island for a song, climbed the Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial and Arlington Cemetery for free. I saw the Pyramids of Giza for pennies, visited Lenin's mausoleum gratis and didn't faint at the cost of the Eiffel Tower. Some ancient sites in Rhodes are free also.
You can't compare $20 per car to see the Grand Canyon with 20 Pounds to ride a chair-lift over some cliffs!
I must admit that Osborne House was worth the money, but I was illustrating how much a visit to a couple of sites cost. I think I have learned that you don't begrudge paying large sums of money when you visit sites that you have travelled thousands of miles to see, but cry at the thought of parting with $10 if it is within 2 hours of your own house! Perhaps I have been a bit hard? In the way that you think the UK is lovely, I enjoy the US and especially the kindness and exceptional politeness of everyday people.
The one thing I do appreciate though is that I live close to the most stunning castle in the UK - Carreg Cennen. Now, I'd gladly pay good money to visit that.

AR,

I am sorry to say that people like you are rather boring.

Instead of complaining to those people whose services you consider not to be good value, you rant and rave aimlessly on a board such as this. Granted, you might achieve part of your aim by making people aware of their poor service and therefore erode their businesses a little, but you don't actually hit the nail on the head and complain directly. You talk about rip off Britain, but have you ever done anything conrete about it? I suspect not.
Britain is expensive, but then we are not America, which has a gargantuan economy and lower prices and a higher standard of living because of that economy. Britain is not as expensive as some parts of Europe, where taxes are extremely high.

I live in London. I do not earn a packet. I learn to live well by not wasting my money and by searching out the bargains. I will pay relatively high amounts for things that I consider good value, and do not consider myself to be cheap. I also complain to those people whose services are below par. So, AR, why not trythat approach?

I am a Californian who lived in the UK for 5 years and travel back there 2 or 3 times a year.

Some things in the UK are expensive - but some are incredibly inexpensive. I can take a holiday in Scotland or Wales for less than I can in So. California or Florida -- and that includes the airfare.

Unfortunately, some of the real bargains are not offered to UK residents - Like the Great British Heritage Pass. But the free museums and cheap theatre tickets are available to everyone. I can see Judi Dench or Maggie Smith (or BOTH!) in a first run west end play for less than a 3rd rate road company of Art or Le Miz at home. And lovely B&Bs all over the UK will be cheaper than nasty highway-side motels in the USA.

So the UK is not as cheap as some parts of southern / eastern Europe - but there are still amazing bargains to be had.

Petrol. That's another one!!!!!

i'm about as cheap as they come, and three years ago i spent 7 weeks in the UK. i spent less than $50/day, including accommodation, food, and sightseeing. i can't think of anything i did not see that I wanted to see.
obviously rail is not included, I did have a rail pass before i left, and the train conductors very generously neglected to mark my pass, so instead of 8 days i got about 15. Brit Rail employees apparently understand that the fares are ridiculous, and the train is going to run whether or not i'm on it.

anyway, what you really need is a good budget guidebook to point out the freebies and bargains available to you. it's impossible for you to research them all yourself, so spend the 10 quid and buy the book.
or be super cheap and borrow it from the library.

anyway

Angeleno; we took advantage of the very generous conductors too with our railpass, I am embarassed to say(not). As you say the trains still run whether you are on them or not. I kind of like your attitude <g>,,, very pragmatic. AR, when we come to the UK next year, would you give me lots of info about Wales and Caregg Cennen?

Judyrem - It would be a pleasure.

York and Wales-2 of the best places I've ever been and not much money spent. The money that was spent was sooo worth it.

<<we took advantage of the very generous conductors too with our railpass>>

I don't think we were really taking advantage of the conductors - they knew they were giving us freebies and wanted us to travel around some more. That little wink i got more than once was very telling.

We'll be in Wales in August and The Aberconwy Houise in Betws-y-Coed was around $90 a night...darn good price if you ask me.

I do not know about London as we'll be staying in Marriott for free.

US

AR's original message seems to be comparing the cost of visiting castles, etc, in Britain with the cost of a holiday in the sun. Of course, lying on a beach is cheap compared with the cost of travelling around and paying admission fees. Basically, the more things you do, the more it will cost, and this will be true in any country. At Alum Bay, you can walk down to the beach for nothing instead of paying for the chair lift, and you can avoid paying for car parking by taking the coastal footpath from Totland which gives great views and costs nothing. Hotels in the UK do seem expensive, but bed & breakfast is still good value, as are meals in most pubs.

Raeding all of the above simply re-confirms my feelings that "expensive" is almost completely subjective and relative to the individual. I thinjk a better way to approach all of this is to ask, "Is it good value for the money spent?" but then you get into the subjectivity of the term "value"...sigh!