The 10 Best Family Friendly Destinations in the UK for Summer 2022

Family getaways: The UK's top 10 destinations if you're travelling with little ones

• comparethemarket.com launches its Family Staycation Index featuring the places to visit in the UK in 2022
• Windsor and Maidenhead crowned as the top destinations for families, thanks to the range of entertainment options, food, and attractions

Searches for 'family breaks UK' have increased by +175% in the last 12 months** and comparethemarket.com can reveal the first edition of its Family Staycations Index. The index highlights the best locations for family breaks by looking at a variety of factors including types of accommodation, food, entertainment, healthcare facilities, green space, and beaches, along with the cost of an average meal.

The top 10 destinations for a family staycation are: Windsor and Maidenhead

Cornwall

St Albans

Cambridge

Stirling

Hastings

Winchester

Isle of Wight

Oxford

Warwick

Windsor and Maidenhead come out on top for family staycations due to the museums, entertainment opportunities and healthcare facilities. Families love the area because there’s so much to do with kids – Windsor Castle, Legoland and the Windsor & Royal Borough Museum are just a few examples.

Whilst in second place is Cornwall with a total of 142 beaches, making it an ideal summer staycation whether you want to swim (Perranporth is renowned for its sandy dunes) or surf (Trevone is a favourite for catching waves), there’s the perfect beach for you.  

Alex Hasty, director at comparethemarket.com explains the importance of making sure you have the right insurance in place if you’re planning a trip with your family this year: “Even if you’re not travelling abroad, it’s still just as important to take out travel insurance. This will help keep you and your family covered in case of unforeseen circumstances such as losing your items or them being stolen to give a peace of mind while you’re away from home”.

  To find out more about the research, head over to: https://www.comparethemarket.com/travel-insurance/content/family-staycations-2022/  

Methodology

Using a weighted ranking system, comparethemarket.com’s ‘family staycation index’ was produced by creating a ranking table based on seven different factors, to find the best "Staycation" locations in the UK. Every factor was looked at for 367 locations across the UK, of these locations only 75 had all the data available to be able to be indexed and ranked based on the chosen seven factors. All factors were based on per 1,000 people except for a ‘cost of a meal’, which was calculated via the average price in pound sterling for a three-course meal for two people in a mid-range restaurant for each location. To calculate the overall "Staycation" ranking, each factor was indexed to give a score between 0 and 1, with a total possible score of 7. These scores were then summed across every factor for each location, to provide a total score, which was then used to rank the locations.

 Data Correct as of 16/02/22.  

Sources for the factors analysed: 

• Museum Data: number of museums per 1000 people in each location via Which Museum
• Food Price Data: the average price in pound sterling, for a three-course meal for two people in a mid-range restaurant, for each location via Numbeo
• Accommodation and Food services: estimated number of businesses that provide accommodation and food services per 1000 people, via ONS
• Entertainment and recreation opportunities: the estimated number of businesses that provide entertainment and recreation opportunities per 1000 people, for each location via ONS
• Green Space: Average amount of green space within a 1km radius (m2)", shows the average combined size of parks, public gardens, or playing fields within 1,000 m radius (m2), for each location, according to ONS
• Beach Data: shows the number of beaches, for each location via https://www.thebeachguide.co.uk/
• Healthcare facilities: estimated number of businesses that provide healthcare services per 1000 people, for each location via ONS
• Population Data: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates/datasets/populationestimatesforukenglandandwalesscotlandandnorthernireland

**Data for ‘family breaks UK’ was taken from keywordtool.io and is correct as of 15th February 2022.

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