Joe
20 May 2021
Can’t get away to your holiday destination of choice this summer? Our new study reveals where in the UK boasts the closest climate to top locations abroad, to help you find your new favourite holiday hotspot at home.
With staycations set to be the order of the year once again with Brits restricted from travelling to the majority of Europe, people are starting to look at alternative options in the UK.
Whether it be a long weekend in Barcelona, a city break to Budapest, a picturesque trip to Santorini or a boozy beach break in Tenerife, there are plenty of alternative options in the UK - and Dorset Coastal Cottages have done the analysis to show which places should be on your bucket list for 2021.
The study took the average annual climate figures for the top 10 most searched-for international holiday destinations that Brits look to visit, and pinpointed UK alternative staycations that are the most closely matched.
Climate figures analysed include average rainfall, average temperatures, and average sun hours.
Top At-Home Holiday Hotspots
Tenerife is always one of the most popular holidays for Brits with its hot weather, big beaches, warm seas and generously-priced alcohol, so instead of taking the short flight to the Canary Islands, why not take a trip to Dorset?
With 1,329 hours of sun on average per year, annual temperatures of 8.35C and 1,338 inches of rainfall, Dorset has a similar average across the three to Tenerife - where there are 2438 hours of sun, temperatures of 21.5C and average rainfall of 895 inches.
If you still fancy a trip to Tenerife but Dorset isn’t for you, why not try Worthing on the south coast or a trip up to the north of Scotland and Dingwall?
Prague is another hotspot for British tourists with its castles, cultural heritage and famous markets, but with international travel out of the window this year you could make a similar trip to Edinburgh.
When travelling to the Czech capital, it can be one of the cheaper holidays with an average cost of around £467 per person for one week but that is roughly twice the price of a week’s trip to Edinburgh - one of the most beautiful and picturesque cities in the whole of the UK.
The top European holiday destinations were selected based on their search volume in the UK to provide a top 10 list of Madeira, Santorini, Barcelona, Budapest, Amsterdam, Tenerife, Istanbul, Paris, Prague and Berlin.
With the average climates worked out for each city along with other factors such as the size of the area, the population density and number of bars/clubs, they were then compared to every city and region in the UK to find the closest three matches to each city based on overall averages.
And if you were planning on a romantic trip to Paris, you can instead visit County Armagh in Northern Ireland or midlands cities such as Nottingham or Stoke - while Cairngorms National Park could prove to be a worthy replacement for a city break in Berlin.
Regardless of whether you’ll manage to get abroad this year, there are loads of beautiful and exciting locations in the UK that can give you that holiday feeling. If you’re looking to explore the picturesque beaches in Dorset, find somewhere to stay with our Dorset Coastal Cottages.
Key sources used in the study include the MET office, Climates to Travel, Weather and Climate and Budget Your Trip.
Disclaimer: Whilst every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information at the time of writing,
please ensure you check carefully before making any decisions based on the contents within this article.