I'm a travel blogger – these are the best websites, vouchers and discount cards to save hundreds on a holiday in the UK

The Sun

4 days ago

AFTER working as a travel blogger for over a decade, I've picked up a lot of great hacks for saving money.
My site emilyluxton.co.uk is all about helping other travellers. I love a bargain and I never book anything without making sure I've found the best price possible.
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The UK is one of my favourite destinations to explore, but let's face it, it isn't always the most budget-friendly.
Thankfully, there are dozens of easy ways to save cash - in some cases, hundreds of pounds - off UK holidays.
From money off hotels and transport, to deals for on-the-ground travel costs like attractions and meals, these are the best websites, vouchers, and discount cards you need to know about:
Always check hotel comparison sites
Before you book your hotel anywhere, check a price comparison website to see if you can get it cheaper elsewhere.
According to TripAdvisor, doing so could save you up to 30%.
The ones I use the most are KAYAK, Trivago, and TripAdviso r - and it's usually worth checking all three, as often one may have access to a deal or booking platform that the others don't.
When I booked a guest house in Hastings recently, the price was 13% cheaper booking through Agoda - a rate I only found by comparing prices on TripAdvisor.
Get a railcard
With train tickets in the UK sometimes costing more than a flight to Spain, it pays to save money any way you can.
Save a third on train fares by purchasing a railcard from National Rail.
Most railcards cost £35 a year (except the Disabled Persons Railcard, which is £20).
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The best value is the Family & Friends Railcard, which can be used by two named adults and saves you a third on up to four adult fares, and 60% on up to four children's tickets.
Often, you only need to use the railcard once for it to pay for itself.
Last week, I took the train from Dorchester to London with a friend, and it actually worked out £16 cheaper overall when we bought a Two Together Railcard.
Plus, if you have a Tesco Clubcard, you can also use your points to purchase a railcard.
Book clever with Split My Fare
You can save even more on train tickets by 'split ticketing' using a site like Split My Fare.
Split ticketing means buying separate train tickets for different sections of the same journey, which can work out a whopping 90% cheaper.
It's so easy. You don't have to switch trains; you will just have two or more tickets for different parts of the journey.
On longer trips, the savings can be significant.
Using Split My Fare and a Two Together Railcard, my recent trip to London cost £90.50 for two returns - instead of £152.60!
Check out Lastminute.com's secret hotel rooms
Lastminute.com is already known for its last-minute holiday and hotel bargains, but did you know it also sells ' secret hotel ' rooms at a much lower price than the advertised room rate?
It's a way for hotels to quietly sell off their unbooked rooms on the cheap.
You'll be told the rough location and the star rating, but you won't find out the name of the hotel until you've booked.
It's a bit of a gamble, but it could lead to big savings - and you can sometimes guess the hotel before booking, by running the description and location details through a search engine.
Right now on Lastminute.com, you can book a 'Unique & Trendy Hotel near Shoreditch ' at £102 for one night in August.
I can't say for certain what hotel this is, but some online detective work suggests it's one that's being sold for £135 on other sites for the same dates.
See if you qualify for Vouchercodes.co.uk
Before I buy anything, I always do a quick search on vouchercodes.co.uk to see if there's an active promotion or voucher code I can use.
You can either browse the Travel category, or search for the specific brand you're booking.
Right now on vouchercodes.co.uk, there's a 9% discount code for Hotels.com and 5% for Travelodge (both worked when I tested them).
Get money back from Quidco
Once you've found the best price for your trip, don't forget to check Quidco to see if there are any cashback offers.
There are hundreds of travel brands on Quidco, including Hotels.com, Expedia, lastminute.com, Travelodge, trainline, Radisson Hotels, Parkdean resorts, and loads more.
All you need to do is use Quidco's link to visit the site before booking, and you'll get a small percentage of the purchase price as cashback.
Look out for flash sales: earlier this month a 24-hour flash sale upped the Expedia and Hotels.com cashback rates to 9%.
Take a look on Campsites.co.uk
If you fancy a spot of camping, glamping, or caravanning this summer, check campsites.co.uk to find your perfect site.
Not only do the customisable search and customer reviews make it easy to find the right site for your needs, but prices are often much lower.
For example, a non-electric camping pitch at Tehidy Holiday Park in Cornwall is £183 for 7 nights in August on campsites.co.uk, but the same pitch would be £238 when booked direct.
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Check into a Hoseasons
There are over 750 holiday parks listed on Hoseasons, and often the prices are lower than if you book direct.
For example, seven nights in a three-bedroom lodge at King's Lynn Holiday Park in Norfolk is £1,105 on Hoseasons vs £1,225 when booked direct (Based on booking seven nights from 21/8/25).
The prices aren't always cheaper on Hoseasons, though, so make sure you also check the holiday park's website before booking to compare.
Tap your Tesco Clubcard
If you collect Tesco Clubcard points, you can turn them into vouchers to pay for a huge number of travel costs.
The points are often worth double when you convert them, so the savings can be big.
Get 2X value at hotel brands including Hotels.com and Best Western, holiday brands like Butlins and Hoseasons, and travel brands including National Express, Railcard, and P&O Ferries.
You can also get 2X value on days out like theme parks, castles, and zoos, to help keep those holiday spending costs down.
Dine using a tastecard
Dining out when you travel can get very expensive.
One way to keep costs down is with a tastecard membership, which can get you 2-for-1 meals or 25% off the total bill at thousands of restaurants.
Membership is usually £79.99 per year, but you can get your first year for £29.99.
If you use it to dine out every night of a three-night trip, the savings will be well worth that upfront fee!
A tastecard can also get you discounts on cinema tickets and days out at popular attractions, including up to 45% off at Thorpe Park and up to 20% off at SEA LIFE London.
Too Good to Go
If you're self-catering on your UK holiday, I have a great hack that could save you a lot of money on meals and snacks.
Download the Too Good to Go app to find local shops, cafes and restaurants selling off their surplus food at incredibly low prices.
The idea is to help fight food waste - but it's also a brilliant way to save money on takeaways.
Things are often bundled into a 'surprise bag', where you'll get a bundle of goodies worth around £10-15 for less than £5.
My best result was a £3.50 surprise bag from Costa which contained three Moroccan flatbread sandwiches, one lemon tart, two tiramisu cakes, one cheese twist, and two croissants.
National Rail Days Out
Travelling by train can get you access to some great savings thanks to National Rail Days Out.
They have 2-for-1 entry at top attractions like London Zoo, Caernarfon Castle, or the Bluebell Railway in West Sussex.
There are also huge discounts, including a third off at theme parks like Thorpe Park, LEGOLAND and Alton Towers.
Search for your chosen destination to see what deals are on offer before your trip, then just download the vouchers.
Remember: the deals are only valid if you travel by train, and you'll need to show your train tickets alongside your voucher for entry.
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Go old-school with a Heritage Membership
Another way to potentially keep travel costs down is with a National Trust or English Heritage membership, both of which get you free admission and free parking at hundreds of attractions.
Take a look at the attractions in your holiday destination, to see if a membership could be worth it.
National Trust membership for a family of 4 is £168.60.
Family admission at many National Trust sites is over £40, so if you plan on visiting 4-5 sites over the course of a year, a membership will probably save you money.
English Heritage membership for a family with two adults and up to 12 children is £144 for a year - but there is 25% off if you buy before the end of August, so it's only £108.
Prices at the more famous attractions like Dover Castle and Stonehenge can range from £50 to over £80 for a family ticket (depending on the day and ticket type).
So, again, if you visit four or five attractions in a year, the membership will most likely have saved you money.
Say ahoy with HolidayPirates
If you can be flexible with where and when you travel, you can find some great bargains on HolidayPirates.
It's a deals platform where a team of experts pull in amazing travel deals from around the web.
They find some of the best offers out there for everything from last- minute package holidays to half-price hotel breaks.
Right now, UK offers include Butlins packages at £252 for a family of four, a four-star spa hotel in Liverpool at £99 per night, and a long weekend glamping in Bude at £219 for a family of four.
It's less helpful if you're searching for a specific date and destination, but great if you're open to ideas.
Filter by destination and month to find the best deals for when you want to travel.
You can also sign up to their newsletter to get deals straight to your inbox - or even subscribe to their WhatsApp channel and get notified every time a new deal hits.
For something special, try Luxury Escapes
If you're looking to splurge on a lavish hotel for an extra special occasion, take a look at the deals on Luxury Escapes.
This site has savings of up to 70% off on high-end hotels, often with some luxe extras like free meals, room upgrades, or spa credits.
The savings on pricier hotels can literally be hundreds of pounds: a night at very fancy The Kensington in London is £235 in mid-August, with breakfast and a free nightly cocktail, vs over £390 (minus the cocktails) when booked direct.
Pay attention, because the price shown is sometimes the members-only price, and the non-member price may be slightly higher.
Membership costs £129/year plus a one-time sign-up fee of £250, so it's not really worth it unless you book a lot of hotels.
Sign up for OneKey and other loyalty programmes
Sign up for the free memberships and rewards programmes at hotel booking sites like Accor, IHG®, and Expedia Group to get instant access to members-only prices and other loyalty rewards.
Expedia, Hotels.com and VRBO have a shared reward programme called OneKey, with member discounts of 10% or more on 'over 100,000 hotels worldwide'.
You also earn OneKeyCash on eligible stays, a reward currency to spend on future bookings.
The more trips you book, the more the rewards increase: Silver members get 15% or more discount, while Gold and Platinum members get 20% or more.
I once snagged a £60 pub stay in mid Wales for just £36.19 with my Gold member discount!
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Take advantage of Groupon
Groupon UK has a huge range of deals on services and experiences, with some great offers in the travel category, including holidays, hotels, spa days, attraction tickets, and more.
You can filter by destination and by travel type, including family travel, so it's easy to find the best bargains.
August deals include a seven-night stay in a two-bedroom holiday home for six at Ladram Bay Holiday Park in Devon for £137 per person (the same week is £207 per person when booking direct).
There was also a double room for two with a full English and a bottle of Prosecco at Leonardo Hotel Liverpool for just £79. Equivalent room when booked direct was £93.60, not including the Prosecco.
Take a look at Wowcher
Wowcher is another deals website. It's a little trickier to use for travel searching, as there's no way to filter by location or travel type.
But if you have the time and patience, there are some amazing deals for holidays, spa breaks, and attraction tickets.
We got family tickets for Africa Alive Zoo in Norfolk at £36 for two adults and up to three kids (saving just over 51% against the website price).
They also helpfully flag up which deals have Summer Holiday availability.
Be wary of hotel deals where you can't check availability and book then and there; with these, you'll get a voucher to redeem at the hotel 'depending on availability'.
The discounts for these deals are staggering, but it's a risk, as there may not be any availability when when you want to book.