Which European Center Parcs?

[jazzcat25]

We are a family of 4, DC will be 11 and 7 when we travel. Ideally not more than 3hrs drive from Calais. Probably going Monday-Friday but would consider 7 days if there was enough to do.

If you’ve been, which would you recommend from the following short list (or would
you suggest others?)

De Kempervennen
De Haan

De Kempervennen definitely - though when are you planning to go? De Haan is a nice town with a great beach and not built up like a lot of the Belgian coast, so if going in summer, I might change my view. Otherwise De Kempervennen has loads going on, and the ski dome too of course. The downside is it's not very near the "good" Dutch towns to visit. Also have a look at Landal.com and Roompot.com. We stayed a couple of years ago at the Water Village which is next door to the main Roompot resort (shared facilities) and is right by the beach. Zeeland is beautiful. Neeltje Jans deltapark, seal spotting boat trips, tree climbing etc. Lots pretty towns and villages to visit and nice seafood.

Oh, and of course there is Duinrell 😎

I meant to add - there is lots do outside the park at DeHaan rather than on it - it's handy for Bruges and there is a coastal tram. Sealife centre, Boudewijn park, Atlantic Wall museum, mini-golf etc

https://www.belgiancoast.co.uk/

Thanks @MissAmbrosia , I must admit the short drive to De Haan, proximity to Bruges and the beach/coastline were appealing to me! Have you been there? Would you say 5 days or 7 days?

Forgot to add we are thinking of going in the summer holidays

we've done De Kempervennan a couple of times when DC were younger. Highly recommend it and I'd also suggest a stop in Bruges which is beautiful - we literally stayed for one night - dinner, a wonder around the town and ridiculous waffles for the DC

It's a great site plenty to do - last time we did a full week but we did a day trip in Amsterdam and lots of skiing - 2 mornings on site and 1 full day at the big snow dome about an hour away. If the weather is good you could easily be happy on the beach, pool area and doing activities but not sure i'd want 7 days in the rain. I would avoid the most basic accommodation (it's OK but very basic and the next one up is a marked improvement) and also make sure they are upgraded versions although it was a few years ago we went so I assume they are all done by now. If you're going in summer I would look at the accommodation map and not have one of the chalets right on the lake as the mozzies were awful.

Not sure my DC will be that interested in the skiing actually. Is that the main reason to choose DK?

DK is lovely and I would recommend it - combine with a trip to Efteling which is a great theme park and has lovely onsite accommodation.

@Linens thanks, not heard of that theme park before. Would you say it’s suitable for 11 and 7 yr old?

We did Villages Nature last summer in France and really enjoyed it. You can combine it with a day or two in Disney and you can also easily get the train into Paris for a day trip. We did 1 week in centreparcs followed by 3 nights in one of the Disney hotels.

Following this with interest as we're considering another European centerparcs this year.

We did De Kempervennen when the children are around 11 and 7. Efteling is really good for that age. We stayed at Efetling and then moved to De Kempervennen. We also stayed at Ghent and Brugue on the way in and out.

You can also look at Duinrell. It's not Center Parcs but it's a great park and very central. It's close to The Hague, but you can also park and ride to Amsterdam.

I have booked Village Nature this year and combining with a stay at a Disney hotel.

Definitely consider Duinrell 😊

I'd go for 7 at De Haan - if the weather is good you can make the most of the beach, pedaloes on the seafront etc. If not so good there are lots of places to visit on top of the site activities/pools etc.

Having stayed at Duinrell, it's definitely a great location for younger kids - the perfect theme park for under 12s. It's not Center Parcs though - not much for adults to do and the caravans are pretty basic. And when I was there, someone did a massive poo in the water park and the giant log was halfway up the stairs to the slides for a good morning before it got cleared up! After witnessing that, I went off going in the pool!

@AnonymousBleep that’s awful! Good point re things for adults to do too

We did Duinrell last summer. We stayed in the Hague for a few days and then at Duinrell. We had one of the premium lodges which was nice. There were some restaurants 5 mins walk away where we sat outside in the evening, which was lovely. The Hague was very child friendly. There was a model village place with some added attractions that my kids absolutely loved.

The only downside to Duinrell was you get limited visits to the pool. We booked direct and got 2 visits for a 3 night stay. If you book through Eurocamp I think you have to pay. My kids are used to CenterParcs and were a bit disappointed. Also there is an indoor and outdoor pool but you can only use one each visit.

We loved Kempervennen and if you want to visit a fun town you can go to s'-Hertogenbosch. (Aka Den Bosch), which about a 30-40 minute drive.

Just wanted to add another recommendation for Efteling (in fact, it's where my username comes from 😂) Amazing place, ours are 9 and 7 and we enjoyed it more than Disneyland. Fantastic onsite accommodation too.

We haven't been to either of the parks you mention though had a short visit to Port Zeeland centreparcs and found it to be very run down unfortunately.

Thanks for the additional info/tips, I don’t like the sound of limited pool visits at Duinrell…

So I guess it’s beach and Bruges (De Haan) vs snowdome and possibly theme park trip (DK)

Having done literally both in the last three years I would vote DK and Efteling for kids that age. We did Het Meerdal and Bruges a couple of years later and I think they enjoyed Bruges more that bit older.