Holiday preferences can change drastically from person to person. While some might long for a holiday in a hot destination where they can explore, relax and enjoy local cuisine, the perfect holiday for others might involve cooler temperatures and planned activities like theme park visits, safari trips and big nights out. What might be the best holiday ever for one person could be the worst for somebody else, and we at Cruise Nation find all this fascinating.
So, to learn more about the holiday preferences of Brits, we rolled up our sleeves and got to work on gathering data from holidaymakers across the UK to discover what the ‘perfect holiday’ looks like. We surveyed over 800 people in the UK and asked questions about their perfect holiday, in addition to asking for all the ins and outs of their most cherished holidays so far.
The results are in – let’s take a look…
Dream holiday destinations by continent & country
When we broke it down by continent, more than half of Brits (54%) surveyed said their preferred holiday destination would be in Europe. This was followed by North America (15%) and Asia (13%). The least popular continent for the dream holiday? That was Antarctica, with only 2% of Brits wanting to go there.
In terms of dream destinations abroad, Greece and Spain came out on top, both with 10%. This includes the Greek Islands like Zante, Kos and Mykonos, along with the Balearic Islands such as Majorca and Ibiza. This might be down to proximity since these destinations are some of the closest to the UK. The third most popular destination for a dream holiday was the USA with 9%, which suggests that quite a few Brits would be willing to travel further for an adventure around the states.
Interestingly, the highest-scoring country for Brits’ perfect holiday destination overall was the UK, with 14%! This just goes to show that a UK staycation can be a worthy rival for travelling abroad for your holidays. But with 86% still choosing an abroad destination, it seems that a holiday overseas is the winner for most Brits.
Who do Brits want to share their dream holiday with?
The majority of Brits (47%) would want to share their perfect holiday with their partner. This was followed by over 1 in 3 (37%) Brits wanting to go abroad with their family.
Under 8% chose to go solo, which might be because they don’t think anybody else would have the same idea of what a perfect holiday looks like.
When we asked about who our participants shared their best-ever holiday with previously, 45% of Brits also said it was with their other half. This was followed by 40% travelling with their family. We even found that more than a quarter of Brits (26%) said their best holiday ever was so good because of the company they were with, whether that was family, friends or their partner! This just goes to show how important it can be to choose the right holiday companion and make sure you can all enjoy the getaway.
Top daytime & nighttime activities on holiday
With so many different activities to choose from during the daytime and nighttime on your holidays, we wanted to know which ones are the fan favourites for Brits.
Wandering the local streets is the most sought-after daytime activity with 62% of Brits choosing this option. Simply ‘relaxing’ came second with 47% and going out for lunch was third with 30%. We clearly love a laid-back lifestyle whilst on our jollies! The least popular daytime activities were volleyball (0.2%), running (0.7%) and tennis (0.7%) – further confirming that we Brits don’t tend to like being active on our holidays.
When the sun goes down, Brits’ most popular favourite activity was ‘dinner and/or drinks in the local area’ with 71% of survey participants choosing this. ‘Walking along the beach’ and ‘wandering the local town/streets’ both followed with 48% of participants choosing these in their top 3 nighttime activities. The least popular nighttime activities were clubbing (6%), karaoke (7%) and cooking dinner at the accommodation (9%).
So, it seems that regardless of whether it’s day or night, we Brits love to relax and take a leisurely approach to our activities on holiday.
What does the UK’s dream holiday look like?
What does the UK’s dream holiday actually look like, then? From destination, style and board basis to cuisine, temperature and day timings, allow us to show you…
Most Brits appear to dream of an all-inclusive European holiday where they wake up between 7am and 8am, spend the day relaxing, exploring and eating local cuisine in balmy-but-bearable temperatures of around 25 or 26 degrees, and then hit the hay between 11pm and 12am to do it all again the next day until the holiday is over.
How to Book Your Best Holiday Ever
Cruise holidays tick all the boxes for British holidaymakers and even those living elsewhere. Not only can you sail away to popular destinations abroad, but you can also get up and go to bed whenever you like, eat your favourite cuisines, savour your top tipples and perfectly balance the ratio of relaxation to exploration. So regardless of what your dream holiday looks like, you can easily tailor your vacation to your preferences even when travelling with others who want to enjoy their holidays in slightly different ways.
Whether this sounds like your idea of holiday bliss or this would be your holiday hell, we hope you’ve enjoyed learning about the bits that Brits love most when they go on a trip away from home. Have we got you dreaming of your next holiday? Take a look at our tempting cruise deals.