Self-catering is the biggest single saving available. A static caravan
Tingdene coastal holiday parks, with its own kitchen, means you're choosing when to cook and when to treat yourselves to eating out, rather than paying restaurant prices for every meal of the trip by default. For a family or group of any size, this alone tends to be the single biggest saving compared with a hotel-based break, where every meal usually comes at hotel prices.
Cost works differently too. A self-catering caravan holiday means you control your food spend, cooking most meals in rather than eating out for every one, which suits a longer stay or a bigger family group where restaurant bills add up fast. A hotel bundles more into the room rate but gives you less choice over how you spend each day.
On-site facilities are worth checking properly rather than assuming. Look at what's actually included in your stay versus what costs extra, whether the pool, if there is one, is heated and what hours it runs, and whether there's anywhere on site to eat if you don't fancy cooking every night.
A static caravan is bigger inside than most people expect from the outside. Most units have a separate living area with a sofa and television, a kitchen with a cooker, fridge and the basics you'd find in a small kitchen at home, and two or three bedrooms depending on the size you've booked. It's closer to a small, self-contained holiday cottage than anything resembling camping.
A UK staycation can be planned around almost any budget, provided you know where the genuine savings sit and where cutting corners actually costs you more in the long run.
Bank holiday weekends behave the same way on a smaller scale. Even outside the main school holidays, a bank holiday weekend pulls in extra demand because it gives everyone an extra day off without using annual leave, so these particular weekends fill up faster than an ordinary one either side of them.
