Coastal Holidays and Seaside Breaks in the UK
Coastal holidays make up a good part of what we do. Some are classic seaside breaks — a comfortable hotel near the front, evening meals, a bit of entertainment and days out along the shore. Others are built around the coastline itself: a boat out to the Farne Islands, Clovelly's cobbles dropping to its harbour, the causeway to Lindisfarne when the tide allows it.
Everything is escorted. You travel by private coach with a driver who knows the roads, the excursions and entrance fees are arranged before you leave, and several tours carry a number of single rooms with no supplement.
Frequently Asked Questions About Our Coastal Tours
Enough to see things properly, and rarely more than a mile at a stretch. Coastal days do involve uneven ground — cobbles at Clovelly, sand at Bamburgh, steps down to a harbour, a gangway onto a boat. Most visits are arranged so you can do a shorter version and sit somewhere pleasant while others go further. If a particular excursion worries you, ask us and we will describe the ground honestly.
Often, yes. Several of our coastal tours set aside a number of single rooms carrying no supplement, and the number varies from tour to tour. They tend to go first, so it is worth asking early. Where those rooms have all gone, a single supplement applies and we will tell you the figure before you commit. Solo travellers are a normal part of these groups, not an exception.
Private coach travel with an experienced driver, your hotel, breakfast and evening meals, the excursions listed on that tour and the entrance fees shown, plus cancellation protection on most departures. Lunches are usually left free so you can choose where to stop. Some itineraries visit National Trust properties, so members should bring their cards. Joining points differ by departure — ask us which ones apply to the tour you are looking at.
Boat operators on exposed coasts will not sail in a heavy swell, and the Farne Islands sailings do occasionally get called off. When that happens the driver reworks the day along the coast, which usually means more time somewhere like Bamburgh or Seahouses. How a cancelled sailing is handled financially depends on the boat operator concerned, so ask us and we will tell you the arrangement for that trip.
Many people travel with a stick and manage well, but coastal touring does mean coach steps, some standing and ground that is not always level. We cannot promise particular provision on any given tour without checking it, so please tell us what you need at the enquiry stage. We would rather talk you towards a resort-based break with shorter excursions than have you struggle on the wrong itinerary.
Yes, and a good many of these tours run as private groups for gardening clubs, U3A branches, church groups and groups of friends. Prices are calculated on a stated number of passengers travelling, so the size of your group affects the figure. Some tours also offer a free place once a certain number of paying passengers is reached. Tell us your dates and rough numbers and we will quote properly.
The British coastlines we know best
Northumberland gives you the most coast for the least company. Our Coast and Castles tour brings you to Bamburgh Castle, which stands on a dune above miles of open sand, and takes a boat out to the Farne Islands, where puffins nest in their thousands through late spring and early summer. Lindisfarne is reached across a causeway the tide covers twice a day, so the timing of that visit is set by the water rather than by us.
North Devon is steeper country. Clovelly's cobbled street falls so sharply that no cars go down it and goods still come down by sledge. Part of the old Lynton and Barnstaple narrow-gauge line, closed in the 1930s, runs again nearby, and the Valley of Rocks is a dry gorge above the sea with wild goats on the ledges.
On the Yorkshire coast, Scarborough Castle occupies the headland between the two bays, with Whitby and its abbey a short drive north.
Seaside resorts and their evenings
The traditional seaside break still works, and it works best in the towns that were built for it. Blackpool's Tower Ballroom has a sprung floor and a Wurlitzer that rises out of the stage; we take afternoon tea there, and the same tour calls at Carnforth Station, where Brief Encounter was filmed, and at the Spitfire Visitor Centre.
Eastbourne sets its Victorian pier against Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Britain, with the Towner gallery in town. Newquay is beaches and clifftops — Holywell Bay, Trenance Gardens, the harbour. At Weston-super-Mare, our festive tour uses the Royal Grosvenor as a base for Brunel's SS Great Britain, the Roman Baths and the Bristol Christmas markets.
On these resort tours breakfast and every evening meal are included, and most hotels lay on evening entertainment, so nobody has to go hunting for something to do after dinner.
Coastal Europe and small-ship cruising
Warmer coasts come into the programme as well, reached by air and sometimes continued by small ship rather than coach. The Dalmatian islands — Hvar, Brač, Korčula — lie close enough together that a vessel carrying a few dozen passengers can cross between them in a morning and tie up in the middle of each old town. You are ashore most days, and there is no queueing for a tender.
Further south, the Bay of Kotor cuts inland like a fjord, past Perast and the little man-made island of Our Lady of the Rocks. Puglia has a low, sunlit coast of small harbours and olive groves behind it. Sardinia and Corsica sit eight miles apart and feel like different countries. Norway is another matter again: fjord and Arctic sailings from the north-east ports, with the aurora a possibility in winter.
Choosing when to travel
Late spring into early summer is the best of the wilder coasts. Seabirds are on the cliffs, the Farne Islands boats are running, and a garden such as Alnwick is at its fullest before the August traffic arrives.
Autumn suits the resorts. Blackpool's illuminations run from early September into the new year, the promenades empty out, and the light along a seafront in October is worth the shorter afternoons.
For the Adriatic, May, June and September are more comfortable than the height of summer, when the old towns get hot and busy. Winter has its own case on the British coast: our festive tour pairs Weston-super-Mare with the Bristol markets, and a Somerset shoreline in low December sun looks better than most people expect.
