Family holiday recommendations, North of England

[Justswell]

Still recovering from the shock Centre Parcs being almost 2k for a week in April. Can anyone recommend somewhere similar in the North of England / Southern Scotland. Ideally a lodge holiday with evening family entertainment. Two dc aged 12 and 6. Eldest with ASD. I don’t know the area well at all so any ideas would be very helpful

I have a few friends who go to Haggeston Castle and seem to like it. There's a lot for kids to do apparently.
Kielder has lodges but it is literally in the middle of nowhere (nearest cash points 20 miles). It is nice for a getaway if you are organised though

Haggerston is a bit rough!
I have been myself once and never again. i think if you are used to centre parcs it might be a bit of a shock.

Perhaps not for this time as it's short notice, but my dad has HPB membership, so we use that - it's sort of like a time share, but you have so many points every year and you can book any of the properties (UK and abroad). They have a gorgeous one in grange over sands in the Lake District* and there's other kids there as well as family entertainment. Could be worth a google for you, as it would work out cheaper than centre parcs or similar every year (you can always sell your shares again if you don't like it or when the kids grow up).

• as well as the gloriously named Bell End Farm in Yorkshire, fnar fnar

Ribby Hall. Smaller than Centre Parcs and cheaper but great facilities and accommodation, bonus of Blackpool Zoo 10 minutes away which is well worth a visit. We’re on our fifth hol there next wk so it’s doing something right.

I havn’t been, and Derbyshire may not be far enough north for you, but friends of ours just came back from Darwin Forest and loved it. They had a 6 year old and 2 x 10 year olds in their group.

Surprised at pp who said Haggeston was rough. I have never been myself, but the friends who rave about it I would not consider to be rough at all. As I say, I have never been, so was just going on recommendations.

Ribby hall looks fab but I can only see cottages on the availability section of the website no lodges for some reason.

Thank you all for your recommendations

I went to Haggerston Castle last year and loved it. Perfect for my DD aged 7. Lots of activities both indoor and out on-site. Day trip to Holy Island and Bamburgh Castle, which are both worth visiting. I'd recommend it.

I honestly didn't find it rough at all, I felt safe at all times and it was clean.
However, a colleague went not long after me and thought it was chavvy. She'd previously been to a Haven site in Scotland which attracts less chavvers apparently. It didn't bother me, can't say I noticed.

Dalby forest?

Forest Holidays are cheaper than Center Parcs but not as holiday camp like as Haggerston and Haven. You get your own hot tub as well.

I second darwin forest.

How far North is North? Rural Roosts just outside Lincoln is lovely. We stayed a few times when dc were younger. Three of them with ASCs.

We enjoyed flamingo land in a caravan. They have evening entertainment but didn't go as dc wouldn't cope

Another one for HPB, my parents give us points to use for little breaks, could be an option.

I have visited Blue Dolphin in Filey and not to my taste (have visited CP a lot) a lot of the parents were drinking all day, and we didn’t like the bingo/disco/competitions - however others do, so just my opinion.

The company is the most important part, spending time together, we loved just playing board games/walks etc because we were away from work/phones etc!

Haswell is lovely but I don't think it has evening entertainment.

We found lodges to be very expensive (even on a site with no pool, entertainment or other attractions) in comparison to a straightforward holiday house/cottage.

It depends what you like about centre Parcs, but it might be worth thinking about, if you end up looking at lodges on 'boring' sites.

Landal is lovely but not much cheaper than Centre Parks.

Scarborough has a waterpark if thats one of the things you like about CP. Also not so far from Dalby forest if you want woods too. Dalby might even have lodges.