Travel influencers reveal their best UK holidays – cheap caravan parks, secret beaches… and overhyped places to avoid

The Sun

17-07-2025

When the sun comes out, there is no better place to cool off than on a stripy deckchair with a Mr Whippy and a sea breeze.
However, chances are, half the country will think so, too. So how do you avoid being packed cheek-to-jowl on heaving beaches?
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To find out, we asked seven top family travel influencers for their favourite off-the-beaten-track beach or the place they go to handle the heat, combat the crowds, and avoid the rush...
Swap Lime Regis for Charmouth
Lifestyle Influencer Chantelle Champs loves popular Lyme Regis in Dorset, but she takes her three girls to nearby Charmouth to go fossil hunting.
She says: "We love finding new places to explore and a few years ago we booked a last minute break to Lyme Regis in Dorset.
We had never been before but the trip was a hit and everyone loved it. We've ended up going back every year since.
Dorset has a great coastline and there are so many different beaches to explore, you are not restricted to one area.
This is great because in the school holidays, Lyme Regis is really popular, so you can easily go a bit further along the coast and find a quieter spot.
Our favourite place is Charmouth Beach. It's beautiful and looks so much more natural and undiscovered than Lyme Regis itself.
I love the beach, but I am not much of a sunbather and with three girls under 12, we like interesting places that keep us all occupied.
Our favourite activity as a family is searching for fossils, which is really fun and costs absolutely nothing. It kept us all entertained all day.
We usually find a few different pieces which we collect and take home as souvenirs.
In between Lyme Regis and Charmouth is also the area of East Cliff.
This is an old Victorian dump site. You can still find fossils here, but we also found the base of a ceramic pot from the Ritz London, which we all got very excited about.
You can also see a statue of Mary Anning, who was one of the first female palaeontologists in the UK. She found her first fossils at the age of 12, so my girls know her story well.
It's the most easy-going, laid back place to go in summer and we hardly spend any money.
You can rent a little cottage close to the beach for less than £100 a night.
It's one of our favourite UK holidays."
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'Pay what you can' attractions
Howey Ejegi, a digital creator at @howeydon and howeydon.com and dad from Dundee in Scotland, saves the beach for cooler days and heads to the Scottish Deer Centre with son, Jaivon (both pictured above) instead.
He says: "Living on the Fife coast, we have some of the most beautiful beaches in Scotland a short drive from us.
However, in summer, everyone has the same idea and they get really packed, with traffic jams and car parks all full.
Aberdour Silver Sands is probably the most popular beach but we prefer to go in spring or autumn. It's not as hot, but sometimes we get the place almost to ourselves, so it feels like a secret beach.
When it starts to get busy with locals and tourists, Jaivon and I prefer to head inland to the Scottish Deer Centre near Cupar. This wildlife park spans 55 acres and has 12 species of deer, wolves, otters, elk and bears.
What's great about this place is that they have a 'pay as you please' admission, so guests pay what they can afford.
It's a great incentive to encourage visitors from lower-income areas to experience the park without worrying about the admittance price.
We love it. It's really educational and you can easily spend the whole day there, staying for lunch or bringing your own picnic.
I know people head to the beach for a cheap day out in the school holidays, but this is our favourite local spot when the coast gets too crowded."
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Quiet Cornwall in peak summer
Lifestyle vlogger Kerry Whelpdale and her two energetic sons love to surf, but instead of hauling their boards to Newquay's busy Fistral Beach, they ride waves a bit further along the coast .
She says: "We love surfing and there is no better place to do that than in Cornwall.
However, everyone knows that Newquay is far too busy, especially in summer. Even if you are able to find a decent place to stay, it likely won't be cheap.
We found a solution to this and not only is it a bargain, but we also often get the beach to ourselves first thing in the morning - and it never gets overcrowded.
We stay at the Park Dean Newquay Holiday P a rk. It's just up the coast from the busy town of Newquay and ideally located to explore the whole area.
Better still, Watergate Bay beach is walking distance from your accommodation - extra handy when you are carrying your own surf board!
We booked a Glamping Pod for £100 a night for all four of us in the school holidays.
The pods are so cute and we had our own kitchen to make lunch and dinner, which was so nice after an active day surfing.
The resort itself has evening entertainment for families but we didn't even indulge last time. Everyone was so tired, we had pizza on the deck and chilled out in our pod until the next morning.
If you have younger kids, it's absolutely ideal.
There are three outdoor pools and a splash park with waterslides.
For those who want to surf, the beach closest to the park is really quiet if you get up early to catch the first waves and I highly recommend it.
It's definitely busier after lunch, but nowhere near the crowds that fill up the main beach in Newquay.
It's a family favourite for us, but get in quick as the pods get booked up fast in the Easter and summer holidays."
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Swap Brighton for Portsmouth
Vicky Philpott from vickyflipfloptravels.com avoids busy Brighton and heads to the island city of Portsmouth with her family.
She says: "When it's sunny, people flock to Brighton in East Sussex for a beach day, and I am always baffled why they don't think a little bit outside the box.
We skip the crowds of Brighton Beach on a sunny day and head to Southsea Beach instead.
It's just 1 hour and 30 minutes from London on the fast train and has such a chilled vibe.
There's plenty of cool coffee shops and the charming Albert Road has lots of independent shops, too.
It's just like Brighton, but quite a bit cheaper, you can get a coffee there for £2, whereas the going rate in Brighton is double that!
On the beach there's always enough space to spread out without hordes of day-trippers.
My toddler, Reggie, loves playing with stones on the big pebbly stretch and there's a little splash park on the seafront, as well as a park, zip line, golf and pedalo boats at Canoe Lake boating pond just over the road.
The pier has rides and arcades and,, of course a great fish and chip shop too - although you'll pay a bit more to eat here (£13 for haddock and chips), considering the prime location.
If you want to stretch out the afternoon, get an alfresco bistro table at Greek Cuisine Tony and you can enjoy £7.50 gyros on the pier - easily enough for two to share - while watching the paddleboarders and swimmers do their thing."
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Secret beaches in picture-perfect nature reserves
She says: "We live just outside of Reading, but rather than battle the crowds on the south coast during the summer months, we head to Norfolk instead.
This is a very underrated coastline and home to some wonderful, endless beaches.
Our best-kept secret is the Holme Dunes Nature Reserve.
This stunning stretch is a little bit further off the beaten track than busy seaside towns like Sheringham and Cromer but it's perfectly unspoilt and a paradise for nature lovers.
As well as thick fluffy sand, you can watch out for rare sightings of black-tailed godwit and ring ouzel.
You won't have to battle for a place to pop down a towel, but do bring a cooler and snacks for everyone as there are no facilities on the beach.
However, there is a fascinating visitor centre and cafe near the entrance, so if you have little ones, you're not too far from the real world.
Parking is cheap and easy, too.
Whilst not exactly a secret, we usually end the day at Wells-next-the-Sea.
It's less busy at teatime and you can walk along the beach past the colourful beach huts.
The beachfront cafe serves a big sourdough pizza for £12 and a tub of ice cream for £4.50. Enjoy both with your legs dangling over the sea wall."
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Private paradise in hidden sandy coves
Victoria Watts Kennedy from travel blog BridgesandBalloons.com is known for exploring lesser-known places around the world. Here in the UK is no exception.
She says: "Devon is beautiful but in the summer, the beaches and villages along the coast are some of the busiest in the UK.
Instead of heading to popular Salcombe, we have a secret spot that we go to every year.
Soar Mill Cove is a beautiful, isolated little bay, hidden along the rugged coast, just 15 minutes from Salcombe.
It's the effort to get there that makes Soar Mill Cove so special.
It's beautiful when viewed from the cliff, but take the mile-long path that winds down the headland and you'll find a golden, sandy beach.
The tiny, sandy inlet, backed by magnificent cliffs, feels like your own personal paradise – and the journey to get there is all part of the fun, especially with kids.
It's easy to park the car at the Soar Mill Cove Hotel at the top of the hill. Parking is only £5 for the day.
If you want to splash the cash, the hotel is in a top location, but rooms start at £180.
For a budget option, you can stay three nights at the Challaborough Bay Holiday Park for only £249. It's a 35-minute drive from Soar Mill Cove."
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Ditch the busy south coast for the wild North East
Macca Sherifi, from travel blog An Adventurous World, says the south coast gets all the hype but when he wants to escape with wife, Chloe, and two-year-old Cooper, they head north.
He says: "When it comes to beach destinations, people always flock to the south coast, but the north of England has beautiful beaches too.
I am firmly flying the flag for Durham and Northumberland in the north east.
Take Seaham Beach, which on a bright and sunny day is absolutely gorgeous, with mile after mile of golden sands and craggy rock pools just waiting to be explored.
My two-year-old loves searching for colourful sea glass, as well as the odd pebble. Seaham Beach is known for being one of the most colourful beaches in the UK for these colourful gems.
It's an activity that is great for any age and I must admit, I enjoy the challenge too! We can be there for hours and spend next to nothing all day.
If you venture a bit further down the coast, you can also see the Seaham Beach caves, which is ideal for teenagers or older kids.
It really is a beautiful spot, and very close to Durham, which has very affordable hotels to base yourself in, meaning it's really good for anyone on a budget too."