Best European Centre Parcs

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Can anyone recommend any of the Centre Parcs in Europe please?

We’ve been a couple of times to Woburn, but fancied one on the continent in May.

We really enjoy Het Heijderbos, it's got a great inside climbing tropical forest which would keep up to at least 10 years old happy: lots of ropes to climb and parrots to see. Usual other things too. Easy to access from Hook of Holland.

Katewhinesalot - thank you, I'll try to navigate the site again. Much appreciated.

We’ve been to de Kempervennen and Allgäu (South Germany). Had great holidays in both but felt de Kempervennen was quite tired and needs renewing. Be very careful when choosing accommodation as some of the chalets looked quite grim. It had lots of activities though, although these were probably more suited to older children/teens. There was a limited amount for our three year old to do.

Allgäu was very new and the accommodation is fabulous. The water park is amazing with loads of slides. It had fewer activities than de Kempervennen, but did have a super soft play area for younger kids. It has a very small pond which meant the water sport offerings were limited - it really only had a few pedallos as opposed to waterskiing etc in de Kempervennen. That being said, we had a great time. If you go here and have kids under 12 (and a car) I’d recommend a trip to Ravensburger Spieleland- it’s not Efteling but our kids loved it (more so than Legoland which is also within driving distance).

@Bluewavescrashing Lego House is amazing but make sure to book your dates in advance (if you haven’t already) as they have limited time slots (we nearly missed out when we were there). Also (this will make sense when you get there) - make sure to keep your receipt when you check in as you will need a code on it to access your creations in the app afterwards (no one told us that and we lost it all )

Following

De kempervennen for the ski bit and the surrounding area

De vissemeren pool is ace though. We are going back there. Can cycle to de kempervennen from there

The pool at de kempervennen is nowhere near as good. Interestingly, the Sunparks at de Haan is coming back to the CP brand

• it's on the coast, I can't comment but it's an option for us as de Haan looks nice

We loved De Haan. It’s a lovely little town with gorgeous beaches. The pool was lovely too not been to a CP though so not sure how it compares.

We're thinking of Vossenmeren. I had heard the French sites were not as good- they all seem to have bad reviews! Is that the case? I'd rather go to France so we can do a sneaky Paris trip on the way home.

Memmingen airport is very close to Park Allgäu - I think Ryanair flies there.

Has anyone been to Les Trois Forets?

Vossenmeren is great, we visited for a day. There's a fab pirate themed indoor play area with high ropes. For all ages.

Great thread.

I just got some prices, family of 4 in single chalet.
1st week of August
De Kempervennen £1000
Woburn £2100

The activities will be cheaper as well. Not sure if children's club is still free , used to be when my DC used it

Another vote for Kemmpervenen. The ski slope is excellent and very reasonable. Agree the older cottages are a bit tired but always very clean and so much cheaper than UK sites. We went last Easter for a fraction of UK price

Worth looking at the meal deals if they still do that, pay for food in advance and get vouchers when you arrive for different restaurants.
Also you can get bbq or ratlette packs with all the food and equipment delivered to your door

@Missillusioned... Eindhoven airport is about 30 mins away from Dr Kemmpervenen. Roughly 25 Euros for a taxi. We have done that route several times and it's very easy

@ILikTheBred Les Trois Forets is my favourite by far. We were there in 2018 and are planning on another trip this year. The slides are brilliant - from memory there are 5 large ones, some of which you go down on inflatables, plus smaller slides. There's a climbing wall along the side of the pool, a large climbing area with water cannons etc and every afternoon, there is a free activity in one of the small pools (inflatables, water polo etc).

We stayed in premium accommodation with a Jacuzzi bath and sauna. We also liked De Kempevennen and De Vossemeron, Erperheide was ok but a bit small for older kids. The last 3 are all within 20 minutes of each other so you can stay at one and have a day out at one of the others.

Thanks @Tattiepants - great to have a good review! I think we’ll be heading there this year.

This is excellent thread - thanks. Anyone know easiest from North of England? Looking for shortest travelling time. Any tips on best way to book?

@newyearagain the only way to book as via the CP website & the earlier you book the cheaper it is. We usually book in Jan/feb for August and get 20% off, free choice of accommodation and €30 vouchers to spend on site.

Re the easiest way to travel, it depends on whether you’re driving or flying. We drive from the NE to Folkestone, take the tunnel to Calais then drive to CP but my DS won’t fly or go on a ferry. Depending on where you are, you can take the ferry from Hull to either Rotterdam or Zeebrugge and then it’s a couple of hours to De Vossemeron or De Kempervenon.

That's really helpful thanks

We get the overnight ferry to the Hook of Holland to duinrell or the Dutch and German cp's, and the day ferry back. You can use Tesco vouchers to the value of £210 so it's very reasonable. Or you can use them for the euro tunnel.

We used to use Hook of Holland when there was the fast ferry, but when that stopped we either went to Calais or Zeebruger.

We travel from northern England and do the channel tunnel - mainly because it is much much cheaper than the ferry.
The hull - zeebrugge crossing would be perfect for us, but it is extortionate

We usually drive to Folkestone leaving early morning, it's about 3.5 hours, lunchtime tunnel and then stay in a cheap hotel in Belgium, setting on for CP first thing the morning after.

You can do it in one day but it means arrival at CP at the very end of your first day. Depends how long you go for I suppose

Do any of the European Center Parcs have good food/restaurants?

We went to Vossemeren and had a great time, but the restaurants weren't nearly as good as the ones in the UK (and they aren't great). DH is pushing for an AI holiday so we don't have to cook, but I think I'd like CP in Europe again instead.