Centre parcs in Europe - any recommendations?

[ShizerMinelli]

Am currently pricing up a week in centre parcs and have seen a few comments on forums re CP Europe being far cheaper. Have had a look and seems you get a whole lot more for your money - but wanted some recommendations as never been to CP uk, let alone EU.

We are from Yorkshire and have DC age 2&4. Would ideally drive there for a week in June. But are flexible. Anyone been and got any great tips for location etc?

THANK YOU!

[pinkchampagne1]

We have been to both of the Belgian parks and had a great time. Looking at the ages of your children I would say Erperheide in Belgium would be ideal. It has a massive soft play that you can spend hours in with young children all included in the cost. It also has a little petting farm (again included in cost of holiday) as well as the swimming pool which has a little toddler area.
We went in February with my sister and two young nephews. The four year old loved the little safari Jeeps you can hire for them to drive around the forest!

We stayed in a VIP lodge (included beds made up, towels, WIFI, sauna, jacuzzi bath and fresh bread delivered daily) but friends of ours stayed in a comfort kids cottage and said it was fine. If you stay in a comfort lodge you either take bedding or hire it, same with towels. There is also no WIFI (not always a bad thing!) but other than that it was apparently clean and great for the children.
The European lodges don't have an oven but they have a microwave and hob. The VIP lodges also have a big barbecue. We went with this in mind and planned barbecues and meals like fajitas, chilli etc that can be cooked on the hob.

Also, you can stay in the European parks you can visit any of the other local Center Parcs for the day and use all their facilities. Just take your swim passes and they will give you tickets for day visits. We visited De Vossemeren while in Erperheide.

You and the children will love it!

[FairyPenguin]

We've been to De Kempervennen and it's great for young children. Only 3 hours drive from Calais.

Smaller than the UK ones we've been to but has everything the little ones like, i.e. Swimming pool, playgrounds, petting farm, trampolines. Easy to cycle and walk around. The swimming pool has a section with fish tanks underwater which the children loved. It also has a snow centre if you wanted to try ski lessons.

It is about 50 mins drive from Efteling theme park which you could do on a day trip or add on to either end of your trip. We loved that too.

[pinkchampagne1]

We thought about doing a day trip to De Kempervennen while we were at Erperheide but ran out of time. I have several friends who have been and enjoyed it.

The nearest European CP to drive to is Le Lac d'Ailette in France. It is near the Champagne region and just over a 2 hour drive from Calais. You could combine a visit there with a trip to Euro Disney as it is only about an hours drive away. I haven't been to any of the French ones myself though so can't give a review of that park.

Forgot to mention that you also get 3 free activity vouchers when you get there too. This saved us over €30 in activity costs.

[ShizerMinelli]

Thank you everyone for your replies - food for thought. Can't believe the value in Europe compared to here. Planning it all tonight, so thank you!

[Spadequeen]

Also been to a couple of the Dutch CP and highly recommend, however the food is terrible! Plan simple and quick meals to cook yourself

[pinkchampagne1]

I agree that the choice of restaurants CP have to offer is not that great. We actually pre booked a lovely restaurant in Bree (a little town a short drive away) while we were staying at Erperheide. We just googled to see the places to eat nearby and chose one that had good reviews. It is easy to self cater though.

[pinkchampagne1]

Have you booked booked your CP break?