I know this might sound dramatic… but I genuinely think some of the best holidays available to British families are sitting right on our doorstep and we’re massively overlooking them.
Before anyone starts… no, I’m not saying Spain, Turkey, or Greece are bad holidays. I’ve been to all of them and had a nice time. But personally? Italy and the South of France just hit differently for me.
There’s a type of magic there that I can’t fully explain unless you’ve experienced it the way we did.
And maybe the maddest part of all this is the cost.
I was recently researching average prices for trips around the Amalfi Coast and Tuscany from the UK. Flights, accommodation, car hire, food… the lot. Mid-range estimates for couples were coming in around £4k–£6k. Luxury? Easily £8k+.
Meanwhile, my husband and I are about to create our own little romantic Italian dream in peak August, somehow for under £2k total.
Flights. Accommodation. Car hire. Everything.
Honestly… a train from Birmingham to London costs more than some Ryanair flights to Italy these days.
We need to get OUT THERE people. Some of the best holidays I’ve ever experienced have been in Italy and the South of France.
Truthfully, I think sometimes we Brits forget how lucky we are geographically.
Americans spend years dreaming about Tuscany, the Amalfi Coast and the South of France. They save thousands to experience these places once in a lifetime.
Meanwhile we can sometimes get there for less than the cost of a weekly Tesco shop if we catch a Ryanair sale 😂
That genuinely blows my mind.
These places that people across the world romanticise are literally sitting a couple of hours away from us.
We even managed to do our family Tuscany Eurocamp trip for under £3k back in 2019.
I think what I’ve realised while writing this Eurocamp series is that I don’t just love Italy and France because they’re beautiful. I love the way they make me feel.
The second I land somewhere in Europe, there’s always this weird moment where my body exhales before my brain does. We even spoke about it the other day, me and my husband. It’s like the minute the bags are dropped there’s an instant shoulder drop. A release.
Like Europe itself wraps you up and goes: “Listen lady… just go live a little magic for a bit.” And honestly? I do.
But when I travel, I don’t really want the UK with sun. Is that unfair to say? Maybe. But it’s true.
I don’t want English pubs on every corner or menus built entirely around British comfort food. I don’t want somewhere that feels overly familiar.
I want culture. I want local bakeries where I haven’t got a clue what I’m ordering but it looks absolutely incredible so I buy it anyway!
I want to hear another language around me. I want to sit amongst local people. I want to feel immersed in another way of living…and for me personally, France and Italy seem to offer that in a way that really resonates with me. Especially doing it through Eurocamp. Because you’re not sealed inside a resort bubble for two weeks. You’re actually living amongst people. Shopping locally. Driving through little towns. Picking up fresh food from markets. Sitting outside your caravan with a glass of wine while the evening air cools down around you.
You stop simply being abroad…and start actually experiencing somewhere.
Weirdly, the moments I remember most aren’t the big glamorous moments at all.
They’re the coffee moments.
Those tiny little cafés with the rickety tables all squashed together outside. The sun warming your face while you sip an espresso and just people watch for an hour with absolutely nowhere to be.
An older couple buying fruit from the market.
A young lad heading to work on his scooter.
A family sitting together eating lunch slowly.
And for a little while, you just quietly exist in their world.
That’s the feeling I chase.
Not luxury in the traditional sense. Not marble hotel bathrooms. Not all-inclusive wristbands.
Just presence. Slowness. Connection.
Maybe that’s why these trips stay with me more than some “fancier” holidays ever have, because they reconnect us as a family too.
Fewer screens, less rushing, less noise.
Just good food, good wine, beautiful scenery and our little caravan that somehow starts feeling like home after a few days.
The kids are more present. We’re more present. Life feels softer somehow.
We work ourselves into the ground all year long and then sometimes book holidays that still keep us trapped in noise, rushing, familiarity and overstimulation.
But sitting outside a caravan in Tuscany at 10pm while your kids laugh somewhere nearby and the smell of pizza drifts through warm evening air?
That feels like real luxury to me. Seriously, I think that’s why these affordable European holidays hold a special place in my heart far longer than any all-inclusive European holiday ever has!
But let’s get real about something…
You might be sitting here reading these stories wondering why this black girl from Brum keeps banging on about Tuscany, the South of France and caravan holidays like they’re a second home 😂
But when a friend asked me recently whether these places actually felt welcoming, it genuinely made me stop and reflect a little deeper.
I realised this conversation isn’t just about travel. It’s also about belonging.
I don’t think this is solely about race. I think it can be a class thing too.
Listen… not only am I a black woman, but I’m also not someone who winds down listening to classical music with my feet up on a bear rug sipping on whatever the other half drink 😂
I’m a black girl from Brum who grew up on a council estate where life is loud, brash, and has its own special level of humour and brutal honesty.
So yes… I completely understand why some people look at places like Tuscany or the South of France and wonder:
“Is that really my world?”
“Will I feel comfortable there?”
“Am I gonna feel awkward sitting in restaurants where nobody looks or talks like me?”
Honest? I had those thoughts too before I went.
If you know me personally, you’ll know if I don’t feel comfortable or content in a space, I avoid it like the plague 😂 Probably why I’ve got such a small friendship group now I think about it.
But here’s the thing…
if I’d let that hesitation stop me, I never would’ve gone in the first place. And I definitely wouldn’t have kept returning.
But as always.. I’m gonna be real with y’all… Tuscany and the South of France each gave me a completely different vibe.
France felt more relaxed and diverse to me. More city energy. More hustle and bustle. Easier to melt into as a black working-class woman from the UK.
Tuscany though? Different vibe entirely.
It’s slower. Quieter. More local. Tiny villages. Older crowds. It definitely feels less diverse and a bit more… upper class.
I think that’s partly why places like Spain or parts of Greece feel different to somewhere like Tuscany or the South of France too.
A lot of those places cater heavily to Brits. That isn’t a bad thing by the way. Sometimes people want easy. Familiar. Home with sunshine.
But France and Italy feel different to me because they don’t fully bend themselves around tourism. Their culture still leads.
It’s more like:
“Come over here… let us show you how we live.”
And? That’s the bit I fell in love with.
The slower pace… and the fact life doesn’t feel rushed every second of the day.
Tuscany especially… well, it’s the countryside. REAL countryside. And countryside anywhere in the world is usually slower, quieter and less diverse than major cities. I wouldn’t go to a tiny village in the English countryside expecting London-level diversity either.
My thoughts on why Americans seem to romanticise these places whilst a lot of us Brits overlook them a bit?
Listen… we’re very matter-of-fact people 😂 we say it as we see it and like what feels familiar and comfortable.
So Spain is probably an easier transition for a lot of us.
Buttt? I think we’re sleeping on places like this unfortunately.
Because once you settle into them… they give you something completely different.
Not once did anybody make me feel like I shouldn’t be there.
My family weren’t gawked at. We were treated with kindness and respect, just like every other tourist there enjoying a beautiful part of the world.
And honestly… after a few days, I stopped thinking about it altogether.
I just existed there.
Which probably explains why me and my husband are literally going back to the exact same place this summer after Amalfi 😂
I think that says everything, really, because listen… we deserve to take up space too.
If I let fear or overthinking stop me from travelling to certain places, there’d be so much of the world I’d never experience.
And I’m sorry… but my travelling heart just won’t allow me to live like that.
And the maddest part is…it’s far more possible than people think.
Loves,
Zo x
Travel That Adds Something
I write about travel that adds something to you, not just takes you away.
If you’d like early access to honest cost breakdowns, thoughtful travel guides, and the softer side of building a different kind of life…
You can join my email list here. No noise. Just stories
Leave a Reply