Doc Holiday: How much should we budget for 3 weeks in the UK and Ireland?

A road trip around the British and Irish countryside belongs on every bucket-list, but how much will it cost?

Escape's Doc Holiday, Dilvin Yasa, answers your travel-related questions.

My husband and I hope to travel around the UK and Ireland in April but we want to keep our three-week trip under $30,000. Is this possible, and is it still easy to book B&Bs as we go?

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to spend a quality afternoon looking at some truly lovely B&B options around the English countryside. You’re in for quite a treat, and you won’t have any trouble finding suitably scenic spots for the £50-a-night mark (around $100), meaning your trip could be priced closer to the $3000 mark than the $30,000 one. Some B&Bs – which are charming – cost as little as £30 a night. Ultimately it depends how extravagant you want your stays to be.

I understand the need for flexibility, particularly in the shoulder season of April, but I’m yet to be convinced that the benefits of flying by the seat of your pants on a driving holiday outweigh the benefits of locking in accommodation. Leave things too late and you run the risk of having to settle for accommodation well outside your budget, a significant distance from the location of your choice, or one that has an unusual room configuration where you may have to sleep separately. You’ll also risk spending valuable holiday time traipsing around unfamiliar places trying to find somewhere to stay.

Guidebooks on British B&Bs certainly exist (you’ll find some, such as Great British Bed and Breakfast Guide, online at Waterstone, but they can cost more than $50 a pop and many were written pre-Covid, so would be largely out-of-date). Fortunately, much of the information you require is free on sites like Bed and Breakfast, Bed and Breakfasts Guide, Bed and Breakfasts and Bed and Breakfast Ireland. Yes, they all sound similar, but you can find thousands of quaint country properties to stay in through these sites.

I’m yet to be convinced that the benefits of flying by the seat of your pants on a driving holiday outweigh the benefits of locking in accommodation.

You can further reduce costs by booking your car through Turo. I recently hired a car through this peer-to-peer car sharing service, and paid less than half what I was quoted by traditional companies. Interestingly, it had protection plans comparable to said companies.

That just leaves the cost of attractions and dining, but I’m sure no matter how decadent your tastes, you’ll have plenty of money left in the kitty to book another holiday.

I wouldn’t book any holiday which requires a large, non-refundable deposit if you’re unable to get cover.

Many holidays for late 2026 are being advertised, but travel insurance seems to be bookable only up to 12 months in advance. How do you protect your deposit if you book a holiday that far in advance?

What a pain buying travel insurance is these days. You’re right in that most travel insurance providers typically allow travellers to buy coverage only up to 12 months before departure (and you’re correct that NIB is the outlier, allowing travellers to buy a policy up to 18 months in advance), so where does that leave those keen to nab a great holiday deal almost 24 months out?

I wouldn’t book any holiday which requires a large, non-refundable deposit if you’re unable to get cover, so the first thing I’d recommend is to call the tour operator and explain your concerns. In some cases, holidays become non-refundable only a few months out (when I checked with Princess Cruises regarding this very same problem some time ago, they told me their deposits became non-refundable 180 days (six months) before departure, although that did come with a couple of caveats). Remember, tour operators want your money so they’ll be willing to work with you on this. As always, be sure to get that promise in writing.

Some providers will let you extend your policy as soon as you take it out, sometimes for periods of up to two years in total.

If you discover that the deposit is indeed non-refundable, another option is to call insurance providers such as NIB or Fast Cover – the latter of which has been known to offer up to 24 months insurance (again, caveats!), and see what they can do for you in this situation.

Although they don’t readily advertise it, some providers will let you extend your policy as soon as you take it out, sometimes for periods of up to two years in total. You’ll just need to make sure that you’re covered until you’re comfortably back in Australia, so give yourself a little extra time on your policy, in case of unexpected delays on your travels. Good luck!

Originally published as Doc Holiday: How much should we budget for 3 weeks in the UK and Ireland?