CenterParks - Europe, or anywhere else really, or not Centerparks at all...

[SweetDCofMine]

We haven't had a holiday since DS1 (now 7) was born. We now also have DD (age 4) and are thinking of booking a holiday for the summer. None of use like the heat so we've ruled out Spain, Potugal, Italy, Florida, Greece and all such destinations. We were hoping for a super child friendly set up where adults don't get bored to death (nothing to do but being by the swimming pool/beach would bore us to death). A good safe kids club would be fantastic. Proximity to a village would be great. Some entertainment in the evenings also. I don't want to spend my holiday doing shopping, cleaning, cooking and laundry. Would love some suggestions as I don't know where to start. Thanks so much.

If you don't want hot then Kinder Hotels might suit. Full on child care, lovely accommodation and nice food. Lots of family activities and fresh air.

marking my place

Centerparcs europe cheaper than uk. Pck your park and you can have some culture mixed in. We stayed at a park in belgium, which we chose because it was ideal for toddlers, but different ones focus on sl different age ranges. We had swimming pool, kids activities etc, but also (we had the car, via eurotunnel) had days out toAntwerp (museums, casthedrals, restaurants), Maastricht and Rhineland. On a previoius holiday we stayed with Danparcs (Danish chain) and had a great time near Silkeborg. Close to a town, some culture, lots of historic sites, Denmark small so easy to travel around (again, we had the car). This summer, we're going for car free and taking the train to the alps. (dc 5 and 2).

Actually we are currently at Landal Hoog Vaals in Holland. We live in Belgium and have done various Sunparks and Centerparcs. This place is fab. We stayed a Landal site in Germany a couple of years ago but this place wins hands down for facilities, friendliness, food etc etc. Much cheaper than Centerparcs.

No child care though. But it is car free and full of families so I feel happy to let dd wander a little. You can position yourself on the terrace and see the go-kart track/playground or the trampoline. I have to admit that as Limburg was recorded as being the hottest place in Europe this weekend, I might be a bit a biased as to what a good time we are having. But they have bowling, and climbing and indoor playground that we haven't even looked at...

Portoeufino Thanks for the info on Landal Greenparks as have been looking at them for our summer holiday, have been to several European centre parcs and enjoyed them. But Landal seems to be quite a bit cheaper, glad to know that it is as good as it looks.

Thanks

I think the Dutch have particularly high standards! Everything was spotless. We had a Luxury chalet in Germany - Sonnenberg - which was fantastic - w machine/t dryer / sauna/ flat screen tv / dvd player / dishwasher etc. This time we just had a basic one - but it still had a senseo coffee maker/dishwasher etc. Vastly superior to Centerparcs accommodation imho. The staff were all very friendly and the food was nice too. We will be going back - though there are so many sites, I might be swayed to try another one first.

Thank you for your replies. Those camps sound perfect except for the fact that there's no kids clubs.

If you like the idea but a kids club is a must you could try Pierre Et vacances We've been to the one at St Tropez and my sister to the one at Belle Dune. A lots of their sites have kids clubs.

Thank you Portoeufino, I will look these up. What is the main language spoken?

In the South of France it was mostly French and Dutch buyt dsis reported a lot of English spoken at Belle Dune - so much closer i guess....

Of course there are all the traditional campsite companies as well. You could go to Holland or Northern France - I've been with Canvas and Siblu and the kids clubs are excellent. The mobile homes are generally nice and I certainly don't do lots of cooking - there are always restaurants and takeaways on site. I tend to alternate between BBQing, eating out and getting eg a pizza, or a roast chicken.

Keycamp also have campsites with Kids clubs in Northern France.

Esprit Summer Adventures - they run their chalets in 3 mountain resorts (2 in France, 1 in Switzerland) in the summer and their kids clubs are fantastic and cater for all ages. we're going with them for our second time this Aug, first time was to Austria, this time in France.

Kiwinyc, thank you for that. What's the main language spoken?

English - they are an British company! They normally do chalet based family ski holidays in the winter, but they repeat the formula by opening up some of their chalets in the summer as well. And theres no cooking to do as they do almost full board - breakfasts, packed lunches and dinner.

That sounds really good actually!!