The 10 best British holidays to relive your childhood

The first holiday I can recall was to a caravan on the north Norfolk coast. I was little, memories are vague. But I do remember building sand castles and cockle-picking, peeling tin foil off chocolate mini rolls and wooden-forking vinegary chips. Oh, and my dad chasing a windblown lilo into the North Sea. Uncomplicated. Uncool. Brilliant.

Nowadays, summer holidays seem to have become so much more sophisticated. Soft play and paddleboards. E-bikes and Go Ape. Organic sushi. Lactose-free ice cream. You can probably track your wayward inflatables on GPS. Or even get technology to travel for you: Booking.com’s 2023 Travel Predictions found that 35 per cent of the 24,000-plus people surveyed were interested in spending multiple days “travelling” in the metaverse, using VR and AR tech.

Why is it, then, that there is such a wave of nostalgia about? The more advanced the world gets, the more we want to chuck our devices off a Victorian pier, dance merrily around a maypole, play an impromptu game of rounders, string a daisy chain and lick a Fab lolly instead. When both present and future seem bleak – as they do, in case you hadn’t noticed – we have a tendency to crave the comfort and familiarity of the past. Which means nostalgia is hip; the good old days are the new trend.

Perhaps that is why the National Trust has decreed this year the “Summer of Play”. From mid-July to September 2023 more than 170 of its places across the country will have a “family festival” feel, hosting old-school fun, from den-building to sports days. For instance, a puppet show and obstacle course will nestle within the magnificent landscape gardens at Wiltshire’s Stourhead; an enormous straw bale fort will be built at Shropshire’s Attingham Park; Devon’s Buckland Abbey will have Tudor dressing-up and a storytelling nook.

Is there a danger in nostalgia? There is an argument that it can get out of control, with reports of childish “kidults” ruining the holidays of actual kids and Rolling Stone naming “Disney adults” – basically grown-ups in limited-edition Mickey Mouse ears – the most detested social group. But it doesn’t have to be so annoying or extreme. Dabble in a little light wistfulness and you might be able to reconnect with your inner child, forget your worries and find a bit of simple wonder this summer.

Here are a few ideas to take you and your family briefly back to less stressful times…

Chug back in time

Norfolk

Avoid the latest train strikes by riding the steam-hauled Bure Valley Railway instead. Norfolk’s longest narrow-gauge line links the market town of Aylsham and Wroxham, on the Broads; August 26-28 kids travel free (£19/£10 adult/child; bvrw.co.uk). Nearby is Sheringham, where you can board the Poppy Line for steam-chugging along the coast (£18.50/£13.50 adult/child; nnrailway.co.uk).

Where to stay: Lilac Barn (sleeping 4) is a characterful conversion in Swanton Abbott; from £901pw (0333 015 1328; norfolkcottages.co.uk). Or try Aylsham Carriage (sleeping 2), a cute converted rail-car near Aylsham; from £343 for four nights (01702 567928; hostunusual.com)

Go sailing in style

Cornwall

Get a taste of the golden age of sail. Falmouth is hosting the start of the prestigious Magellan-Elcano Tall Ships Race (August 15-18; falmouth.co.uk/tallships). There will be lots of onshore festivities, a Parade of Sail and a chance to hop aboard for a look below deck (£5/2.50 adult/child). Afterwards head to the National Maritime Museum, hosting an arrrrr!mazing Pirates exhibition (£16.90/8.50 adult/child; nmmc.co.uk).

Where to stay: Mix old ships and new sleeps: St Michael’s Resort, by Gyllyngvase Beach, opened four Spa Garden Lodges in July; B&B doubles from £320pn, Lodges from £200pppn (01326 312707; stmichaelsresort.com)

Play old-fashioned games

Isle of Wight  

Make medieval revels at the Randy-O. This summer-long programme of archery, slack-lining, stowball and other oldie sports held at Newtown National Nature Reserve is based on an annual fayre first held here in July 1318 (free; nationaltrust.org.uk). Combine it with the Isle of Wight Steam Railway (from £19.50/£8.25 adult/child; iwsteamrailway.co.uk); better still, come for the railway’s Steam Fair (August 25-28), when vintage vehicles, coconut shys, falcons and fairground gallopers join the train-tooting fun.

Where to stay: Retro Staycation, near Ryde, has a selection of classic mid-century US caravans (sleeping 2-6); from £385 for three nights (07876 631456; retrostaycations.co.uk)

Veer Victorian

Yorkshire

Experience a 19th-century childhood summer at Ryedale Folk Museum (£9.50/£8 adult/child; ryedalefolkmuseum.co.uk). This open-air hub of social history within the North York Moors National Park has authentic buildings to take you back to every era from the Iron Age to the 1950s. But in July and August children can try being Victorian: special activities include classroom calligraphy and washday sessions. Parents might prefer the new exhibition, Pub!, celebrating local boozers through the ages.

Where to stay: Nearby Pickering, start-point of the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, has several period cottage rentals, such as 12 Castlegate (sleeping 4); from £809pw (01244 617832; sykescottages.co.uk)

Celebrate the fête

North Wales

There is lots going on at Hawarden. This Flintshire estate has a farm shop and cafe, plus a pick-your-own patch. There is a woodland Explorer Trail and a summer Sunday Explorer Club, with added nature activities. Then there is the Walled Garden School, teaching everything from doodling to deer butchery. But also, for the first time since 1894, there will be a Hawarden Great Fête, a recreation of the estate’s historic shindig, including vintage rides, barn dancing and oversize vegetables (August 19; £15/£10 adult/child; hawardenestate.co.uk).

Where to stay: Hawarden Estate offers various accommodation options; tent pitches from £44pn, shepherd’s hut £350 for two nights (01244 533442; hawardenestate.co.uk)

Get summer licked

Dumfries & Galloway

Nothing says summer quite like ice cream. So make for Cream O’Galloway, near the pretty harbour of Gatehouse of Fleet (free; creamogalloway.co.uk). The parlour serves 20-odd indulgent flavours, plus sundaes such as the Highland Fling, a mix of sticky toffee and whisky, honey and oatmeal ice creams. Take an ice cream-making workshop to create your own (£25 per making station, for up to three people) and join the ethical dairy farm tour (£25pp) to learn about the site’s cow-friendly farming methods.

Where to stay: The Snugs at Laggan (sleeping 2-4) offer big sea views; from £260 for two nights (01557 840206; lagganlife.co.uk)

Catch a classic

Bristol

Escape the sun in a dark cinema – with a nostalgic twist. Bristol, a Unesco city of film, will be hosting a Summer Film Takeover in 2023. This includes Cinema Rediscovered (July 26-30; watershed.co.uk), the UK’s leading festival of classic flicks, featuring a range of rarities, rediscoveries, UK premieres and movie talks and walks. Screenings are city-wide and beyond, including a brand new restoration of Sidney Lumet’s 50-year-old Serpico at the gorgeous Curzon cinema in Clevedon, which first opened as a picturehouse in 1912.

Where to stay: The cool Clayton occupies the old Everard’s Printworks in Bristol; room-only doubles from £94pn (0117 345 9401; claytonhotelbristolcity.com).

Pick a posey

Herefordshire

Wake up and smell the roses. Well, actually, the sunflowers, zinnias, marigolds, malopes, mallows and more. On July 27 and every Thursday-Sunday through August, Lower House Farm, near Ledbury, opens its flower fields to petal pickers – a bit like daisy-chaining for grown-ups (price dependent on flowers; lowerhousefarm.com). Mock Tudor Eastnor Castle is less than 10 miles away; there you will find more seasonal retro events, from messing about in the mud kitchen to an interactive medieval camp (£14/£8 adult/child; eastnorcastle.com).

Where to stay: Lower Farm’s basic pop-up campsite opens July 29-August 27; pitches from £19.20pn (01531 670730; lowerhousefarm.com)

Get active – and offbeat

Mid Wales

Llanwrtyd Wells takes the notion of outdoor larks and runs wildly offbeat with it. This tiny market town is the world capital of madcap sports, including not only bog snorkelling (the World Championship is on August 27; green-events.co.uk) but also a Summer Cider Cycle “race” (August 12), with cider and perry provided at checkpoints. And – new for 2023 – the Bogathlon (August 26), a triathlon Llanwrtyd-style: 60-yard bog snorkel, two-mile bike ride, one-mile run, with mud and water all the way.

Where to stay: The Neuadd Arms in Llanwrtyd is a characterful and eccentric Victorian pub; B&B doubles from £100pn (01591 610236; neuaddarmshotel.co.uk)

Chocks away

Kent

Head to historic RAF Manston, one of the few surviving Battle of Britain airfields, to visit the Spitfire Museum (free). As well as unique wartime artefacts, including planes, it has a Spitfire Simulator (£30pp): feel what it was like to pilot this iconic machine. From there it is only three miles to Margate. Find vintage funfair rides – including the Hurricane Jets and the Chair-o-plane – at Dreamland Margate (pay per ride; dreamland.co.uk).

Where to stay: Twentieth Century B&B, a pristine art deco house near Minnis Bay, has retro rooms, including an aviation-themed Amy Johnson suite; B&B doubles from £90pn (01843 848632; twentiethcenturybandb.com)