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Use our Travel forum for recommendations on everything from day trips to the best family-friendly holiday destinations.

Original poster

Centre parcs netherlands/Europe

35 replies

curlywurl · 30/01/2023 17:55

Could anyone give some advice/experiences please. We are looking to book for summer 23 and have children who will be 12 & 15. We like Centre parcs UK but can only ever stretch to the cheapest weekends there (just been this weekend).

I've heard the Netherlands parcs mentioned here so looked at them. De Kempervennen looks better for our kids ages than Het Meerdal due to ski centre and water skiing being there. Both really enjoy pools and water sports. Any advice on this?

Also what is the deal with being able to visit other parks for the day for free? I've only seen it mentioned on here and can't find anything about it on the centre parcs Europe or France sites. How do you arrange it? Can you just turn up at another park? We're thinking 10 nights would be good so would definitely want to do some days out from the park we are staying at. Any suggestions for good days out near the parks would be helpful.

Another consideration is that we have 1 coeliac child (recent diagnosis) so may not do well with on site restaurants or shops. I would stuff the car with store cupboard stuff but having a decent supermarket in reach would be reassuring. We've enjoyed French camping holidays before but think the kids need more space to be away from each other than now. I was also hoping Netherlands may be better for negotiating food allergies than France but from what I've read so far maybe not?

We do tend to self cater mostly but the option for the odd meal out is nice to have.

Regarding travel we are in the Midlands UK so thinking euro tunnel to Calais then driving. The 2 parcs above look to be 3 to 3.5 hours from Calais which would be an easy distance for us. We've driven as far as the Dordogne before but had to add an extra hotel night as too far for us in one go.

Any advice on the above would be great or if there's a park that I've not considered that might suit us better.

OP posts:
Jijithecat · 31/01/2023 22:18

It's a good few years since we went to De Kempervennen so I'm essentially just bumping your post for you. Plus my children were much younger than yours. We didn't use the ski centre so can't answer that, sorry.
The swimming pool was fun as they have fish tanks under the water so that you can swim down and look into those.
It's great for cycling. If you can I would take your own bikes, or if you're hiring make sure you collect them when you arrive. There's not much left if you go to collect the morning after arrival.
Activities wise, we went to the Mumsnet favourite Efteling. Plenty of rides to appeal to teens there. The park is clean and well kept and the food is good.
Travel wise I'm fairly sure we opted for Dover to Dunkirk.

Original poster
curlywurl · 01/02/2023 06:12

Thanks for the information and bump! I think we could just about manage to take the bikes. Are there nice places to cycle from the Park? I will take a look at Efteling I'd seen it mentioned but didn't know what it was.

OP posts:
efeslight · 01/02/2023 06:19

Also look at Landal parks in Holland, been to a few, nice places

Original poster
curlywurl · 01/02/2023 07:33

Thanks are the pools as good at the Landal parks?

OP posts:
Fairysilver · 01/02/2023 14:13

We went to De Kempervennan and Het Hejderbos when DC were around 10/11. So a good few years ago.
We enjoyed both. Standards were not as high as UK CP, not quite the middle class enclaves.
Kids ate free in reataurants if adults were eating. All the usual activities.
Het hejderbos is a carbon copy of Sherwood forest. The pools at both were fantastic (the reason we always went to CP as no other place has rapids which DC loved).
Efteling ok but very over rated on MN IMO.
We had some good trips out from Het hejderbos to Liberty park war museum.

Original poster
curlywurl · 01/02/2023 17:07

Yes Efteling still quite expensive (though less than Alton towers) look like it would be 200euro for 4 people.

I've read some old threads and come across Duinrell too. Does anyone have recent experience of that? Is it noisy /awful or is accommodation far enough away from the rides etc? Some of the camping pitches look to be right next to the rides!

OP posts:
HiccupHorrendousHaddock · 01/02/2023 17:14

We’ve been twice, last time was 4 years ago. We had nice days out in Aachen and Eindhoven and otherwise stayed on site.

Teens were on the water slides all day and night, we barely saw them until they were hungry again.

The second time we had 4 days at De Kempervennen, and 3 days Air BnB in Brussels. It was a great mix of relaxing holiday and city break.

HiccupHorrendousHaddock · 01/02/2023 17:16

Incidentally, De Kempervennen is in Belgium, not the Netherlands, but it’s literally at the border of the two.

A few miles south is the bit where all three countries connect. I had a child in each of Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands at the same time, which was cute.

Starmer · 01/02/2023 18:24

@curlywurl we went to Duinrell last year (kids were 14,12,10 and 8) and had a great time. Would really recommend. We’re trying Efteling for a few days this year.

Original poster
curlywurl · 01/02/2023 19:59

Thanks everyone. Any comments on the best way to get there by car? I assumed euro tunnel then drive would be quickest. The ferries to Holland are quite long crossings.

OP posts:
feelingrubbish2023 · 01/02/2023 20:11

We did de kempervennen about ten years ago. It was ok. I'm not a big fan of Centre Parcs but everyone raved about how great they were abroad, to me it wasn't much different to the uk ones if I'm honest, just slightly cheaper. The ski centre was great however.

We also went to Efteling, stayed in the hotel there. We had a great couple of days there.

We did eurotunnel and drove.

MissAmbrosia · 01/02/2023 21:46

HiccupHorrendousHaddock · 01/02/2023 17:16

Incidentally, De Kempervennen is in Belgium, not the Netherlands, but it’s literally at the border of the two.

A few miles south is the bit where all three countries connect. I had a child in each of Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands at the same time, which was cute.

De Kempervennen is in NL not Belgium. It's a great site with lots going on and is probably the best one for teenagers in terms of activities. We've been for the weekend. It's not really near anything though. Eindhoven is not that exciting. The drielandenpunkt mentioned above is near Maastricht / Vaals about an hour or so South East. Most of the "nice" Dutch cities like Breda, Utrecht, Leiden, Delft are further north west. I'd also look at Duinrell - booking direct. And also Landal Het Vennenbos. And Roompot.com - the Roompot resort on Zeeland has a pool complex and beach etc.

MissAmbrosia · 01/02/2023 21:56

Eperheide and De Vossemeren in Belgium are also both nice. De Kempervennen has the skiing though of course. But I wouldn't do 10 days there unless you want to drive for hours to visit places. I would split to do 4 days there maybe and the other 6 nearer the dutch coast.

JJJSchmidt · 01/02/2023 22:01

We get the eurostar to brussells and hire cars there to drive to i
kempervennen. It's about a 90 minute drive. There is a lidl in the nearest town about 10 mins away.
W aalso stayed at der eemhof which is aprox 40 mins drive from the amsterdam eurostar Station. That might be better for younger children although the pool and water slides were amazing.

Jijithecat · 01/02/2023 22:22

We've also been to Duinrell, but that was even longer ago than De Kempervennen. The water park at Duinrell is a lot of fun. There is a lot of accommodation there. It would depend who you booked with as to which part you were situated in.
In terms of how busy it is, that depends on when you plan to go. I'm fairly sure we went in the first week of September and it was quiet. The schools there had gone back which obviously made it quieter.
Fairly sure this is the holiday that we combined with a few days in Bruges.

milski · 01/02/2023 22:29

We took the ferry from Harwich to the Netherlands last year to go to Duinrell. We had a great time but wish we'd stayed in a premium duingalow. We were so close to a fair that had rocked up on the other side of the road and the music went on til 1am. Other than that Duinrell was amazing. My kids are 5 and 7 and they loved it. We're taking the ferry to De Kempervennen this summer so can't comment on how good it is yet! Would definitely recommend Duinrell for the pools, the bikes, the amount of activities etc. We drove to Efteling to visit it for the day. It was great but we were OK with just doing a day. Didn't think there was much around locally to justify staying a few days.

Fairysilver · 02/02/2023 11:20

Teens were on the water slides all day and night, we barely saw them until they were hungry again.
This. I think Duinrell more suited to younger children.
DeK is definitely in the Netherlands!

Original poster
curlywurl · 02/02/2023 17:21

Thanks for the new comments. Duinrell seems to have a lot of water slides are most of them suited to younger kids then?

Also is Amsterdam a doable day trip from Duinrell on the train? We are not great at packing up and moving lots of times so would prefer being based in one place. Plus would worry about where we could leave a fully pack car with bikes on it.

OP posts:
padsi1975 · 02/02/2023 17:32

I was in Duinrell last year and very little in terms of water slides for my year old, not much more for my 8 year old. 10 year old could go on most but he's not a daredevil so found a lot too scary. Their Dad loved it! I'd say it's better for age 10 and up.

Clymene · 02/02/2023 17:44

De Kempervennen (NL) and De Vossemeren (B) are only 20 minutes apart by car. I'm not sure how different they are but if you fancy a change of scene it's pretty easy. They have an outdoor water assault course in DV and banana boats which I don't think they have at DK.

There's a Lidl just outside DV and the little town Lommel is quite sweet for a wander about. There's lots of cycling around the area outside the park too.

We drive from Calais and it takes about 4-5 hours. The motorway around Antwerp can be a bit slow at rush hour/Friday afternoons.

cestlavielife · 02/02/2023 22:25

www.cyeweb.eu/travelnet/netherlands/

Original poster
curlywurl · 03/02/2023 07:20

cestlavielife · 02/02/2023 22:25

Thanks for the coeliac link. It will our first trip abroad since diagnosis will a constantly hungry teen so it's a bit nerve racking!

OP posts:
Original poster
curlywurl · 03/02/2023 07:25

Clymene · 02/02/2023 17:44

De Kempervennen (NL) and De Vossemeren (B) are only 20 minutes apart by car. I'm not sure how different they are but if you fancy a change of scene it's pretty easy. They have an outdoor water assault course in DV and banana boats which I don't think they have at DK.

There's a Lidl just outside DV and the little town Lommel is quite sweet for a wander about. There's lots of cycling around the area outside the park too.

We drive from Calais and it takes about 4-5 hours. The motorway around Antwerp can be a bit slow at rush hour/Friday afternoons.

That useful the information I have seen says 3-3.5 hours so good to know and prepare for longer drive. So did you visit De Kempervennen (NL) from De Vossemeren (B) or other way round? Is it free to visit another park still and how do you arrange it? I can't find anything about this on centre parcs sites. Do you just turn up with wrist bands or booking reference?

OP posts:
Quantumphysicality · 03/02/2023 08:03

We were able to visit other parks last year, they just dont advertise it. You go to the reception of your park and they book it and give you a reference number. If you show that to the park you are visiting they give you a wrist band for the day

BitOutOfPractice · 03/02/2023 08:18

I have been to de Kempervennen and duinrell and I’d say deK (which is definitely in NL) is better for kids your age.

have a think about going from Harwich ti the Hook of Holland on the overnight ferry. Always the best part of the holiday got my kids! Then it’s only a short drive to deK

i don’t think you’ll have much trouble finding GF food. Albert Heijn is a lovely supermarket!