AIn England, we are bombarded with promises of cheap weekend breaks to Europe – Rome, Paris and Berlin for example – from £99 per person for three nights’ hotel and flights. But, as many of us will attest to, having a holiday at home can be very expensive.

Taking this to extremes, a quick search for the Savoy, London’s five star premiere hotel on the Strand, reveals the most basic room – a Superior Queen – for the princely sum of £605 nightly. Grab breakfast, and that’s £50 more. Even a modest room at the local Travelodge on a midweek night will set you back £87.75, although that does come with unlimited breakfast buffet!

That got me thinking, what’s the lowest I could possibly pay for a week’s holiday in England?

I understand it’s entirely possible to do a week away for free, if you’re prepared to make huge sacrifices. You would have to hitch lifts for your transport. You would have to use free accommodation sharing like couchsurfing.com, a friend, or the generosity of strangers, or maybe even wild camp or sleep in the open. Finally, you would have to rely on the generosity of strangers to give you free food, or shops that were throwing out expired goods. I wasn’t prepared to make those sacrifices. I wanted to relax, but to do it in a tight budget.

Could I make £200 work for all my expenses? This would include a place to stay, all my transport, food and drink, purchases and any other costs I wanted or had to make.

After some thought, but not with much concentration, I made a run for Cornwall. The British Weather looked promising and I hadn’t explored a lot of the county.

The 1^st Day

My first big expense is fuel to get to and from Cornwall from the London area. It’s an unavoidable cost unless I want to hitchhike. Trains and buses are quoting ridiculous amounts to get there. Cornwall is also not that accessible without a private vehicle, and though buses exist, they aren’t the cheapest or most useful.

I jump in the car and take it slow, hopefully saving on some fuel economy. Halfway through the day I stop off for a break, and my coffee addiction gets the better of me. I’m £3.15 lighter and I haven’t made it to Cornwall yet. I also brought with me some leftover cheese, chicken and tomatoes from meals over the previous days. Is that cheating the budget? Should I add that to the list? I decide it isn’t, as I savour a mouthful of goat’s cheese.

As I approach Cornwall through Devon, a quick search of accommodation reveals a hostel at Treyarnon Bay. It means sharing a room with other people, getting used to the snoring and the rustling of backpacks late at night and early in the morning, but it’s a small price to pay. I book three nights for £40.

When I arrive, the location defies my expectation. The hostel is set right on the edge of “Trey Bay” with a beautiful view of the beach, a café /bar downstairs and picnic benches outside to enjoy a cool Cornish Cider watching the sunset go down over the cliffs. I could go find a supermarket and get some cheap grub, but I can’t resist. I have a cider and still try to keep the costs down with a Thai Sweet Chilli Chicken Salad.

As the sun goes down, I realise I’m only on the first day in Cornwall and I’ve already spent £54.90. Over a quarter of my targeted budget is gone.

Total Expenditure:- £54.90

The 2^nd Day

I take to the Cornish Coastal Path. It’s 630 miles long, making it the longest single path in the UK. It’s a 4-5 hour walk to Padstow, home of the celebrity chef Rick Stein.

Luckily, I’m a big walker and paths come free. You can spend a whole day away from home, people watch and see the world go by – or more aptly you go by the world –  while not spend a single penny of her majesty’s money.

Later on, as I return on the ferry, I realise the bus back to my hostel only comes every two hours and I’ve got 90 minutes to spare. In the small town of Padstow, temptation is everywhere, most of it in the form of Cornish Pasties, ice cream, fish and chips, fudge and novelty gifts. I succumb to a Cornish cider – damn that cider too! – and another £4.65 is gone. The bus back is £3.60 too.

Returning to the hostel, it’s Saturday night and it’s heaving. The queue for food and drinks is out the door and down past the picnic tables outside and there’s live music on as well. I wait 45 minutes upstairs with a good book, but it’ still packed and there’s nowhere to sit. I decide to make a getaway in the car, and end up in The Cornish Arms (a pub owned by Rick Stein) just outside Padstow. I have a drink and a burger and chips. I wrestle with my conscience when leaving the payment – tip or no tip. I’m on a tight budget but I decide to leave a couple of extra pounds as the service had been very attentive.

The sun is shining and I make it to the outskirts of Padstow having spent £2 on a couple of waters from a burger van nestled in the car park at one of the beaches. It’s time for a cappuccino – damn this caffeine addiction – and the little ferry from Padstow to Rock across the bay, catches my eyes. It’s only £4 return, which is reasonable for a little jaunt on the water.

Total Expenditure:- £90.40

The 3^rd Day

It’s the last day I’ve booked at this hostel and I decide it’s time to have another walk. Of course, the coastal path goes two ways and I’m far too intrigued of what’s to the south. I set off South this time, making Watergate Bay outside Newquay at a reasonable afternoon hour. I’ve spent nothing.

It pains me when I have to hand £5 to the bus driver for my journey back, and then the sight of the hostel’s coffee machine tempts me. They do surprisingly good coffee. I’m tired and I should, by now, have saved some money by getting food from the supermarket but the café is just there and as it’s early and quiet. I grab a pizza and a beer for a reasonable £12.45 then head upstairs before I can spend any more money.

Total Expenditure:-  £110.55

The 4^th Day

 I feel like it’s time for a change. The rest of Cornwall is beckoning, and I haven’t booked any further nights at the hostel. Another hostel on the Southernmost point of England is next to a lighthouse on the exotic sounding Lizard Peninsula – and three nights will only set me back £45.

I check out, end up having a last coffee at the hostel and then see some charity bracelets. Rubber bracelets, like coffee and cider, are one of my Kryptonites (yes I have a few!)

Before I head onto my next accommodation, I decide to drive to Land’s End. It’s the most Western tip of the UK, allowing me to hit the most West and the most South in a day. On my way through the town of Penzance, I spot the cheapest petrol station I’ve seen over the last few days and decide it’s time for a fillup. I’ve been dreading this moment but it comes to £29.01. I’m pleasantly surprised as this has covered me from London to Cornwall, and then down to Penzance, as well as a couple of local journeys.

Hitting Land’s End, however, I see that parking is £6 and then I decide to buy a fridge magnet of the Land’s End sign for £2. To be fair (and in my defence) a photo by the sign costs £10. I felt this was a cost effective way of remembering my day and I love fridge magnets. Add that to the list of cider, coffee and rubber charity bands on my addiction list.

Land’s End is a little touristy, and disappointing, so I’m uplifted when I reach my hostel outside Lizard. It’s gorgeous. Perched next to the cliffs above the Southernmost tip of the UK, next to the lighthouse, rabbits are running through the gardens and the views are incredible.

I check in and have also brought supermarket food for some of the meals over the next few days. I’ve been very frugal, spending £11.77 on fruit, veg, salad, popcorn, coffee, sugar, squash and milk. It’s simple but it’s an amazing amount for the price.

Of course, I then completely ruin it by heading into the village and finding the pub. I have a Berry Rattler (another local cider) and a chicken madras curry. Then to top it off, and because I haven’t eaten a dessert for a week, I have ice cream, waffles and chocolate sauce. I leave a tip without thinking this time and walk out having spent £24.

Total Expenditure:- £232.58

The 5^th Day

I’ve failed, gone over budget, and there’s two ways to go now. All out rejection of the £200 a holiday idea where I see myself drowning in Cornish pasties and ciders, throwing money at seagulls and just spending what the hell I want. Or trying to keep this malarkey from going over £300. I decide on the later. Unfortunately the £120 of yesterday was a combination of three nights accommodation, a nice dinner out and petrol. I decide today to go on a short walk, read a whole book, and just relax. I eat from my supermarket stash – coffees, melon and popcorn for lunch and a hearty feta cheese salad for dinner. I head out to explore the sunset falling on the Southern most point of the UK, and I’m surprised that I’m totally alone. I spend nothing.

Total Expenditure:- £232.58

The 6^th Day

I get up early, grab a coffee and venture out on the coastal path. The knee is playing up but I hobble into the town of Coverack after 6 hours walking. I’ve had grapes and mango squash on route from my supplies, but I buy a keychain of brightly coloured rocks from the local area in the small village of Cadgwick (£2.50). In Coverack I have two hours to wait for the local bus, so grab a cappuccino as reward for my time on the path (£2.50) and sunbathe down at the little harbour, watching the boats float up and down in the tidal waters. Like the North of Cornwall, the buses turn out to be expensive. I need to change to get the 10 miles back to Lizard, resulting in 2 single fares at £5 each. I have a discussion with the driver of the second bus and politely but firmly mention that £10 to go 10 miles is a lot of money when it’s not my fault there is no direct bus and I could have stayed on the first bus and ridden it for the full 30 mile length for £5. He relents and allows me the journey for free. Cornish buses are the most expensive I think I’ve experienced in the world to this point – even London buses are £1.50 for as far as you want to go on the network.

When I get back to Lizard, I eat dinner at the most Southerly pub in England – the Witchball – where I find they do a mean cheese burger topped with onion rings and good chips too. Coupled with a Rattler Cider and a tip, I leave them £20.

Total Expenditure:- £262.58

The 7^th Day

I wake up early at 6:30am to the cloudiest day yet – the last six days have been nothing but glorious sunshine, and Cornwall in May has felt like Summer on the beach in Spain. I’m even sunburnt on my face, and upper arms, and developed quite a colour. There’s time for a walk around the area before deciding to head back to the London area. It’s around 300miles but will take 6 hours with breaks.

I try to make it a payment free day, but later I find myself in car park at the services. I’m looking over at the Starbucks and Mcdonalds. I decide a £1.89 large coffee from McDs is better than spending over twice that at Starbucks. The beans are still Arabica and it’s pretty decent, and a good way to cut your coffee costs in two.

When I’m a few miles from home, it’s time to fill the tank. Petrol has risen in England recently to £1.319 a litre. The dial goes up and up. It hits £38.50 before giving up. I’ve travelled 674 miles in total with 2 fill ups at the total cost of £67.51. It’s still pretty good at roughly 10p a mile, the benefits of having a car that averages 52 miles per gallon.

I total my costs for the week.

Total Expenditure:- £302.97

In Summary

Weekly Costs were as follows:-

• Food & Drink:- £120.36
• Accommodation:- £85
• Petrol & Buses:- £81.11
• Other:- £16.50

And in my Defence….

So I failed in my attempt for a week’s holiday in the UK for £200. However, with a few tweaks it is possible. I missed out on some of the delicacies of the region like Cornish fudge, ice creams and Cornish pasties. On the flip side, I’m on a diet so this helped my weight loss goals and I still got to go out for 5 evening meals during the week.

Though I was conscious of my expenditure, I actually sacrificed fairly little. I stayed away from anything too expensive, didn’t spend too much on useless tat and got outside (which is the point of somewhere beautiful like Cornwall).

So I had a great time and spent less than I would have. I like eating out, but had I been prepared to cook in, I could have taken the money from those five dinners and converted it into supermarket spend. That £87.20 could have been just £15 of eating in food. That would have taken me down to £230.77.

I like doing linear walks for long miles and then riding the bus home. But take out that expense, and you’re down to £200. Have a friend or a couchsurfer where you can stay free of charge, or prepared to camp, you’re considerably under £200.

There are ways and means – it just depends how much you want to sacrifice.

I failed in my goal, but I had a great week for less than most people spend at home in a week, and as they say –

#noregrets.