Finally, Brits will be able to enjoy a holiday closer to home as the Prime Minister officially announced the return of staycations from July 4th, 2020.
With many people still nervous about the coronavirus and risks it carries, we’ve put together a list of tips to help you enjoy some time away while still staying safe during your staycation.
Limit the number of people you travel with
The new guidance has announced that two households can now stay together. However, this doesn’t mean that you have to go on holiday with another family. Why not stick to the people you’ve been isolating with? This will give you peace of mind as you’ll have a better idea of who your household has been interacting with.
Book self-contained accommodation to stay in
Although hotels will have strict cleaning protocols, self-contained accommodations such as log cabins and Airbnb’s will offer to a lot more personal space and reduce the amount of contact you have with other people.
Limit your use of public transport
If possible, try and drive to your holiday destination. This will reduce the number of people you come into contact with and limit the risk of catching the virus.
If you can’t drive to your destination and must rely on public transport, try and avoid travelling at peak times and remember to wear a face covering and sanitised your hands as much as possible.
Take a supply of cleaning products
If you’re travelling with someone who is nervous (or maybe you’re worried yourself), and you’re staying in self-contained accommodation, you could always take your own supply of cleaning products and give the apartment a quick cleanse when you arrive.
However, it’s worth remembering that some disinfectants are not appropriate for pets, so to prevent any eventualities for your own animals (or the animals who arrive after you) only use pet-friendly products.
Bring your own ‘things’
Most accommodation providers will require you to bring your own toiletries going forward, but it’s worth reminding yourself of exactly what this includes: shampoo, conditioner, shower gel soap, toothbrush, and toothpaste.
It’s also wise to bring your own protective gear and not rely on the accommodation to supply you with this (otherwise they may charge you or they may not have any stock to hand!). By this, we mean face protection, such as masks, hand sanitiser or protective gloves.
Lastly, if you’re staying somewhere that will require you to use the accommodation’s utensils for cooking etc, it’s advisable to wash the equipment thoroughly before use. You could even bring your own, just to be on the safe side.
Keep to the 1m or more rule
The government announced that from 4 July, a ‘one metre plus’ rule will be introduced where it is not possible to stay 2 metres away from one another.
However, for those worried about coming into close contact with others, we would recommend that you try and keep to the original 2 metre distance rule for an extra level of safety, especially when you’re visiting popular tourist spots.
We understand that it may be difficult to keep your distance in tourist areas, but remain patient and know that while it may be frustrating queuing, it’s not worth the risk.
Prepare in advance
This leads us onto our next tip. In order to limit the amount of queuing it’s wise to prepare in advance.
Whether that’s booking your attraction tickets before you go to avoid long queues, or even bringing food shopping from home to your accommodation to reduce the number of times you need to pop to the shops.
By preparing in advance you can reduce the amount of contact you have with other people – you may even save a few pennies by being more aware of what your spending!
Avoid using cash where possible
Whether it’s paying the to use the toll road, or treating yourself to an ice-cream at the beach, try to avoid using cash where possible and instead make use of contactless cards or contactless payments on your phone.
If you must use cash or coins, always remember to thoroughly wash your hands afterwards.
Protect your trip
We always recommend that if you are staying away from home, you have the right protection to protect your trip. Staycation policies are available for breaks where you have pre-booked accommodation such as a hotel, log cabins, and caravans.
Some policies will only cover UK breaks that are for more than two nights. However, there are policies available with no minimum duration. So, it’s always worth checking the policy wordings to find out exactly what your policy covers.
For more information on what cover staycation policies include, click here.
