Centreparcs Germany - anyone been?

[I8toys]

We've done Holland, Belgium and France. Want to explore the German ones now - any good?

Not tried Germany I am afraid but was interested to see which Center Parcs you preferred. There are so many to choose and we eventually booked De Vossemeren in Belgium. We go on Monday! It is our first time trying out a European Center Parcs and if we enjoy it I would like to try a different one next time

I've been to the one in Eiffel. It was a few years ago, so might be better now, but at the time it was quite basic.

If you want to do stuff in the area, it's a fairly short trip to Cologne or Bonn, Rhein area. There is a nice wee town called Bad Munstereifel not too far away, and of course Nurburgring if you are into cars and racing.

WWOooohooo! Bad Munstereifel was twinned with my home town :D

Not been to a German Centerparcs (lurking - because I'm down in the mediterranean right now, but the kids want snow for Christmas and we're trying to figure out where)

De Vossermeren is brilliant - think that's the one with the pirate cove. The kids clubs are really good and water skiing. One of the best aqua domes according to husband because of multitude of slides - big tower slide in the middle.

Kempervennen is really good too with ski dome.

Forgot to add that if you want to visit Kempervennen is about 20 minutes away. We alternated between both one visit.

The reviews for the German ones look rubbish so a bit unsure. We are off to Port Zelande next week as wanted the beach sailing.

The pirate cove at De Vossemeren looks great. Thanks for the info about visiting De Kempervennen. A friend mentioned that she had heard you could visit other Parcs for the day but I couldn't find any info on their site so thought she may be mistaken. Would like to check out De Kempervennen as it was another one we were tempted to book. Think we have left it too late to check out the ski dome though as imagine you need to pre book quite a way in advance for that.

You just turn up at reception and say you are visiting for the day. They willgiveyou any passes you need to get in anywhere. With skiing think you need to book well in advance.

That's great. I imagine you need to take some proof that you're staying at Center Parcs with you, do you?

We've done Hochsauerland (Germany), De Vossemeren and Erperheide (Belgium) and Kempervennen (Holland). The German one was very different to the Belgium/Dutch ones in look and feel as I think it used to be owned by a different holiday company. To note: none of the staff at the German one we went to spoke English and they speak German very quickly at you! We like it, but I speak German fluently. My husband doesn't speak German and he struggles a lot to get by. We were the only British family there apart from one other British family who said they wouldn't be returning as it was too difficult due to the language barrier. If you don't speak German fluently, I'd recommend the other parks as it is much easier and staff more friendly.

Also ... Hochsauerland is VERY hilly so not great for people with buggies, mobility issues, or who want to do a lot of cycling.

Also ... Aqua Mundo in Hochsauerland doesn't have rapids.

Also ... most of the terraces in Hochsauerland face outwards onto the street (and not far off the street) with only a small degree of privacy.

There are some activities in Hochsauerland (bowling, golf), but there is much MUCH more to do in De Vossemeren, Erperheide and Kempervennen.

I ve been to Bostalsee. Was very good, with a little beach. Have always seen Park Eifel in the catalogue ...it is an older and much more basic sort of park, so was never tempted by that. Always wanted to try de Vossemeren too.

Not German but to the De Vossemeren fans. We just got back from our second trip today. 6yo DS wants to live there! I'm interested to see which other parks people rate as I'd like to explore but we like De Vossemeren so much it would be awful to go somewhere else and find it wasn't as good.

We've been to de Vossemeren three times now (last time was in Feb half term). We love it there, and would go back in a heartbeat.

However...... we have just come back from Bois aux Daims in France (opened 2015) , and it was far superior to de Vossemeren. It's a bit pricier and I don't think it would suit winter holidays as much. The living space in the cottages is a bit smaller than de Vossemeren, but that is the sacrifice of having more bathrooms. The Aqua Mundo was superb - way better than de Vossemeren in every way. Rapids, slides, seating, showers and changing rooms were all much better. There is a great big indoor play area as well.

Activities are slightly more expensive than Belgium but nowhere near UK prices.

It's much further to drive, but we did overnight stops in Alencon on the way down and Rouen on the way back (Newhaen-Dieppe ferry crossing).