Rediscovering the UK and Ireland in 2026

There’s something quietly shifting in the way people are thinking about travel this year. Nothing dramatic, just a gradual, considered change in what people are looking for, and increasingly the answer is turning out to be a lot closer to home.

Nobody has lost their sense of adventure or wanderlust, but it’s because they’ve realised you don’t have to go further to travel better.

A Loganair flight landing on Barra Airport.

The Case for Closer to Home

Most people haven’t really explored the UK, Ireland and the Channel Islands, not properly at least. There’s maybe been a visit to Edinburgh for Hogmanay, a few summer nights in the Cotswolds, a stretch of the Wild Atlantic Way that barely scratched the surface. But there’s a difference between travelling through somewhere and setting time aside to explore it.

Have you thought about waking up on Mull with no itinerary fixed for the day, apart from jumping in the car and seeing where the road takes you? Spending the day tracing the edges of the Hebrides? Or stepping off a boat onto the car-free Sark, and finding the freshest seafood you’ve ever eaten? Well, the good news is that these experiences do exist, and they’re not far out of reach. And the numbers are starting to reflect that. Eight in ten Brits took a UK break in 2025, with 61% saying they’re now more likely to choose a staycation than before¹, and further research shows that more than 60% would consider a getaway to the coast as their ideal UK holiday. ²

But that didn’t really surprise us; what did was how long it’s taken for Brits to realise there is so much on their doorstep to explore, which could accumulate to years’ worth of holidays!

Tobermory, Isle of Mull. Credit - Visit Scotland

Slower, more immersive: a different kind of trip entirely

The holidays that we’re putting together the most often these days aren’t about a jam-packed itinerary and seeing how much you can fit into the least amount of days, it’s actually quite the opposite. They’re built around staying longer, going slower and leaving a little bit of room to breathe, follow a recommendation from someone local or stop somewhere that wasn’t on the plan.

A road through the Highlands doesn’t just look beautiful out the window, it becomes part of the adventure when you’re free to pull over whenever something catches your eye. A distillery you spotted on a hillside. A harbour village that looked interesting from the road. A cafe that someone in your accommodation mentioned the night before. These are all the moments that end up in the stories you tell once you get home. Every trip we put together includes personal recommendations curated by our team to enable you to get under the skin of the destinations you’re visiting.

This isn’t a compromise, it’s a different kind of trip

Travelling closer to home is not settling, or the second option to a week all-inclusive on the Canary Islands. For a lot of people, it’s the first choice because of the variety, the rich experiences, the culture and the history. You just have to give it the time it deserves.

Kinsale brightly coloured houses, Co Cork, Ireland

What this looks like in practice, and where we come in

This is the kind of travel we believe in. For over 20 years, we’ve been crafting journeys across the UK and Ireland, not just from research, but from real experience. From time spent exploring, conversations with locals, and those small, meaningful details you only notice when you truly know a place.

From the adventure of a Scottish Island crossing to a quiet evening in an Irish pub that’s been there for two hundred years. From the wide skies of the Yorkshire Dales to a hidden cove in Cornwall you stumbled upon by accident. These are places with proper history and character, and they reward exactly the kind of slow, curious travel that a packed long-haul itinerary rarely leaves room for.

And this is where we come in to help you build that ideal adventure. We’ve been planning trips across the UK, Ireland and the Channel Islands for over 20 years, not from a brochure, but from actually being there and experiencing destinations first-hand. The details we include in our trips aren’t things you’d find on a quick Google search, they come from genuinely getting to know each place and loving every inch of them.

Whether it’s a self-drive through the Channel Islands, a rail journey through Scotland, or a meandering route through Ireland, we love putting these trips together. And while you’re travelling, we’re always there in the background. Our 24/7 support means that if anything goes sideways, it becomes our problem, not yours.

If you’ve been thinking about exploring closer to home – we’d love to help you plan something worth remembering, reach out to us today.

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