Revealed: Windsor Great Park Crowned The Best for Social Distancing
As more Brits plan on taking a staycation than ever before*, the consumer spending experts at money.co.uk have created the 2020 Safecation Report, which identifies the best locations in the UK for a socially distanced holiday.
With open spaces being such a priority at the moment, the report takes a list of the UK locations that are home to the largest public parks (according to Ordnance Survey) and compares them against the UK’s most-visited staycations destinations to reveal the safest staycations in the whole of the UK, based on the following criteria:
The safecation criteria included: Space (km2), Contactless payment availability, Free activities, Dog friendliness, Number of beaches within a 50km radius, Number of caravan parks/camping sites within a 50km radius, Crime rate for April 2020, Visitors per year to the county, Park entry fee and Car parking charges.
Forget crushing into overcrowded beauty spots and head to hidden gems dotted around the UK that are perfect for social distancing.
Source: money.co.uk
Avoid the traditional honeypots and head to the best parks in the UK that are perfect for social distancing. Fortunately, there are plenty of alternatives to the obvious tourist destinations with countless numbers of large open spaces to explore on our shores so that more people can enjoy the great outdoors.
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Windsor Great Park in Windsor topped the list of best parks for social distancing with a whopping 28.53Km² of space for visitors to explore and relax in. The large park can accommodate an incredible 8,200,207 visitors with all maintaining a one metre distance.
In second place was forestry Cannock Chase Country Park in the town of Milford. The large park encompasses 19.56Km² and lies within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Even with the government’s social distancing guidelines, the woodland park can easily allow for up to 5,622,013 visitors.
Rutland Water, in Rutland and Whinlatter Forest Park, in Keswick came in third and fourth positions respectively, with the parks boasting an impressive 16.95Km² and 13.49Km² of open space. Whether you are looking for some adrenaline-fuelled fun or a relaxing break from the daily hustle and bustle, Rutland Water can occupy up to 4,871,837 social distanced visitors. Whereas, Whinlatter Forest Park can occupy 3,877,350 visitors with a one metre distance.
In comparison the traditional parks are much smaller in size such as, The Japanese Garden in Newquay, Cornwall covers an area of 0.004Km², resulting in a maximum number of 1,150 social distanced visitors.
Shanklin Chine on the Isle of Wight and Bourton House Garden in The Cotswolds, can both accommodate up to 3,449 socially distanced visitors in their 0.012Km² park areas.
The top 10 best parks for social distancing can occupy millions of visitors with a one metre distance between each other, whereas the more traditional hotpots can only occupy just thousands at one time.
With the government urging us to take our 2020 summer holiday here in the UK, excited Brits have been rushing to book their getaways. But, as money.co.uk’s consumer spending expert Salman Haqqi explains, this could lead to overcrowding and difficulty adhering to social distancing rules.
“Campsites, holiday parks and hotels all over the nation are ready and waiting to welcome guests back, but even with strict social distancing guidelines in place, overcrowding can still be a problem in tourist honeypots.
“Our report shows that a destination like Glasgow can only host around 8% of the usual annual visitors to the area taking one metre social distancing into account, whereas there is plenty of space for everyone in Gower.
“It’s not just wide-open spaces that need to be considered when booking, the report found that 52% of the new destinations had contactless payment options available for parking, food and drinks, shopping and leisure activities.”
