Should I stay or should I go? Our writers debate the best bet for your summer holiday
After Spain was unceremoniously ditched from the UK safe list, many will be reticent to travel abroad. Here, our writers make the case for leaving Blighty behind, and for staying on British shores.
‘It’s not selfish to go abroad; in plenty of destinations, you’re doing them a favour’
Why you should leave Britain behind
By Annabel Fenwick Elliott
I’ll admit it. When lockdown eased and Boris Johnson started coaxing us back out of our homes, I was suffering from Stockholm syndrome. I’d grown content with my Groundhog Day scenario; just my pooch and I, far from London. The prospect of leaving my postcode, let alone the country, was unappealing. But this paralysis was never going to last. The day after travel restrictions were lifted on July 4 and we could board a plane to Europe, I was on a flight to Venice.
The UK is wonderful and I’m lucky to be a citizen, but I’ve lived here most of my life, with many more years ahead to enjoy it. We’ve had this nation entirely to ourselves for four months. But when again might we get the chance to see Europe’s greatest cities almost empty? Not until the next societal apocalypse, and they don’t come around very often.
Isn’t this what we all want, as tourists? To see Paris, Vienna and Dubrovnik in the absence of others? To share restaurants with locals, not hordes of other foreigners? To lie on a beach with more than a metre of space around our towel? The window in which to savour these luxuries is small; after the gates open but while the masses are either still too tentative – or, in the case of most non-EU residents – not yet allowed to return.
Never again will you be able to see Venice, as I did earlier this month, with clear lagoons, empty piazzas and lonely bridges; where pigeons outnumbered people on St Mark’s Square and the only other voices are Italian. If you’re torn over whether to take a punt on this city at the moment, I’d urge you to go.
If my situation allowed it, I’d do more and go further. If I won the lottery tomorrow I would spend the next six months navigating the monopoly board of newly-reopened countries, hopping from square to square, seeing the world as an old-time explorer might, before cheap flights opened the floodgates to overtourism.
It’s a hassle to travel at the moment, you might say; what with the exasperating rules, the ever-morphing guidelines, the baffling logistics, and the muzzled transport experience. But have you seen Britain at the moment? These factors are no less messy. I’d rather be faffing around with one-way systems and hand sanitizer in sunny Spain than a camper van in the New Forest.
I’d also, frankly, enjoy a break from our collective British mindset at the moment. Large swathes of us having been pummeled by Project Fear into a confused mob of paranoid, sanctimonious finger-waggers. I’ve had quite enough.
Yes, the British hospitality industry needs our cash at the moment, but so does every other nation on Earth. Spare a thought for the countries where nearly half of GDP comes from tourism. I’d be lying through my teeth if I said this was why an island in the Indian Ocean is next on my wish list – but it offers another excuse.
Finally, don’t say, in case you’re tempted, that to travel at the moment is irresponsible, lest we bring the virus home from abroad. That ship sailed long ago.
Serious though the situation is, our government’s policy on who can and can’t enter the UK without quarantine is now nearing a joke. As it stands, we can’t return from holiday on the Portugese island of Madeira unless we agree to lock ourselves away in isolation for two weeks, despite England’s own infection rate being 11 times higher – but we can go to France, where the infection rate is double ours.
In short, you are just as safe from coronavirus in most other countries as you are here. It is not ‘less risky’ to have a staycation this summer, it might actually be more. And it’s not selfish to go abroad; in plenty of destinations, you’re doing them a favour. To that end, I would argue that if you possibly can, there has never been a better time to explore the fine countries that have just rolled down their drawbridge.
We want to hear your holiday plans for this summer.
— Telegraph Travel (@TelegraphTravel) July 29, 2020
‘If I had just one nation to explore for the rest of my life, it would be Britain’
Why you should stay in Britain
By Penny Walker
The beauty of Britain is endless. From the shimmering seal-infested waters of the Isles of Scilly to the raw untamed Scottish Highlands and the compelling landscapes of Wales.
We have a history that’s etched across our land and a plethora of activities to keep even the most bored children entertained for hours. Then there are our great big outdoors; beaches of golden sand that will never burn the soles of your feet, towering mountains, wild woods, and tumbling waterfalls that have inspired folk tales, and vast swathes of green and gold so inviting that even straight-laced Theresa May admitted to succumbing to a frolic or two among them.
If I had just one nation to explore for the rest of my life, it would undoubtedly be our pretty little isles – in spite of the weather.
When you add in the Covid conundrum, for me, it’s a no-brainer. Not just because of the thought of navigating airports and planes in a pandemic-ridden, mask-wearing world – although, really, who wants to go through that right now? – the insurance worries, or the threat of having quarantine unfairly foisted on you at the drop of the hat on your return, but because of the wonderful people in our hospitality and tourism industry.
I have witnessed the crisis tear apart booming businesses and have spoken to hoteliers desperate to make enough money in just a few short months to see them through the winter.
I’ve heard the arguments of British holidays being more expensive than those overseas and, while I don’t disagree, if you’re willing to forgo a little luxury for a little fun, I believe you can have an equally rewarding holiday on home soil.
I grew up camping. In fact, I didn’t stay in a hotel until I was 18. A holiday wasn’t a holiday unless it cost less than £10 a night for a family of six and was spent under canvas; playing cards by lamp light and cooking on gas.
Yes, when it rains you have to move your bedding away from the edges and push the roof up to disperse the water bulging above your head, but when you get a glorious day, you cannot beat waking up in the middle of nowhere to hear the sound of a rushing river, the roaring sea or the rustle of leaves through the trees. And after being locked in the four walls of my home for months on end, I want to breathe as much fresh air as I can.
For some, luxury is a factor, and each to their own. But I’m inclined to believe that those who think Britain doesn’t have it by the spade-full obviously have not holidayed on home soil for a while. We’ve got gorgeous cottages kitted out with all the mod cons, historic homes carefully restored by the National Trust and the Landmark Trust, sleek hotels with heated pools and treehouses with copper bathtubs. There is accommodation to suit every tribe, no matter your budget or taste.
The biggest obstacle for those keen to travel the UK this summer is availability. But there are tricks to get around that too – sign up to a couple of cottage or glamping sites, such as Boutique Retreats, Classic Cottages or Canopy & Stars, and you’ll find out the moment a new property becomes available to rent, and there are still a handful of these coming up every day. In other places, pop-up campsites are springing up in the grounds of properties that have found it impossible to reopen this year.
Hotels seem to have more availability, as do days out. Last weekend, I visited Stonehenge for the first time. I’ve often driven past it and always despaired at the crowds that I would need to contend with. But now, due to limited capacity, you can explore on a summer weekend with a tenth of the number of visitors that would normally be there. With tour groups and international visitors also absent, there was even last-minute availability for the inner circle experience – something that I was assured usually sells out months in advance.
The pandemic has made us all adapt to a new way of living, and, for a summer at least, we have our glorious isles almost to ourselves. So make the most of it, and support the local businesses who have made it their job to supply us with much-needed light relief and fun after what, for many, has been a rather dark time.
