Center Parcs in Europe

[sanityisamyth]

It’s DS’s 13th birthday in December. We usually do CP in the UK (have done Whinfell, Sherwood and Longleat) but tonight I’d take him abroad for this coming one as he’s becoming a teenager (although acting like one already!)

I’ve put the dates into CenterParcs.eu and it’s coming up with:

Park Zandvoort
De Eemhof
Het Heijderbos
De Vossemeren

as available.

They’re all around the same price, so just wondering:

Which one is best?
Does having major anxiety about speaking nothing but English pose a problem?
What are the catering options like? I have a weird and annoying allergy which rules out most food
What is the best/easiest way to get there?
Do we need to take much in the way of luggage (towels etc)
Anything to be aware of?!

I've not been to those ones, but I have been to European centre parcs, so I can answer some of these.

In the Dutch ones it is likely most staff will speak excellent English. In the Belgian one perhaps a little less so, though I would expect the customer facing staff would.

Towels are provided.

The one near Amsterdam Zandvoort, would be easy to get to. The most straightforward way would likely be a direct Eurostar to Amsterdam, train out to Zandvoort and a ten minute walk/short uber. Dutch trains are excellent IME. Alternatively you could fly to Schiphol get the train to Amsterdam and out to Zandvoort. Or you could get the overnight ferry from Newcastle to Amsterdam, depending on where you live. Or you could drive.

The other ones slightly more complicated, but nowhere in Belgium or the Netherlands is that far from anywhere else.

Catering, you would be best to check site by site.

Ohhhh that’s encouraging. Thank you :) Good news about English. I was hopeless at languages at school (although DS seems to have a flair for French). I tried ordered something in French in France once when I was 11 or so and got told off by my friend’s mother for saying it wrong that I’ve never been brave enough since.

We live in Cardiff but don’t mind a road trip or a train journey. I’ve not been abroad in years and just have really high anxiety about doing anything outside familiar territory!

I think DS would love to go further afield though so will do some research and be brave.

We have done some of the French ones loads of times and prefer them to the English ones (less commercialised we think). Not sure if it’s the same in the Dutch and Belgian ones but in France the villas do not have an Oven. A hob, fine, and a microwave with a grill which I have never been able to work! Some staff do speak English although we try in French, if we struggle a bit they usually kindly help us out!

I've been to De Eemhof, we loved it. The activities staff all spoke great English and the menus in the restaurants were available in English, German and French. We drove and crossed using Eurotunnel. We did a day trip to Amsterdam which was less than an hour's drive away, very easy park and ride into the city.

Excellent English has been spoken at each of the Dutch and Belgian sites we have stayed at, embarrassingly good!

Catering varies. There is usually a buffet restaurant, an Italian and a pub/bar style restaurant. Some have had a fast food type place too. It's very easy to leave site for food shopping, days out, meals out etc though.
We've always had a combi oven, hob, fridge with freezer drawer.

I haven't been to any of the ones you've listed but have heard good things about DV, especially for the older kids.

If you are on FB, join the Center Parcs Europe just for Brits group - heaps of reviews, photo's and advice on there.

We've been to Der Kempervennen a few times and had a great experience. No problem speaking English at all.

We got the ferry to Dunkirk and then it's a very easy drive. Others flew to Eindhoven and caught a bus. Would recommend taking or hiring bikes - the site is vast plus lots of easy cycle routes out of the park. All the activities were great and well run - but got booked up. The restaurant was fine - nothing fancy but the kids enjoyed it and ate well.

I found it very good value especially compared to UK center parcs. We did 5 nights for the same price as 2 nights in the UK including all our travel and food costs.

I've not been to any of those, but I have done several European CPs. Everyone spoke English.

At the Belgian ones in particular, most of the guests were British.
We've had great stays at all of the ones we've visited. They've been much better value than the UK ones, even taking into account travel and an additional overnight stay (we live in the North, so we travel down to Kent the day/evening before, stay overnight, and get an early crossing).

The restaurants, activities, shops, etc. are cheaper than the UK equivalents (not cheap mind, it's still cheaper to buy from supermarkets or eat off-site). Plus, being abroad just makes it feel more of an occasion and more like a holiday, although that might just be me!

We went to De Vossemeren last year. English and language wasn't an issue. Most staff spoke good English and menus/info had English options.

Food options were not great. A few very expensive restaurants which had very slow service - we left a couple of times as were waiting over an hour for fast food and restaurants were even longer. There is a small on-site shop- again expensive. But supermarkets nearby if you have a car.

The cabins had a small oven, hob and microwave. We were supposed to have BBQ too (only with premium cabins). But apparently it was to dry and high risk of fire so all BBQs removed (although it rained all week)

Premium cabins had towels and bedding but cheaper ones didn't

Ahhhh thanks all. I’ve joined the recommended Facebook group which has been really interesting. Good to know about the towels. I’ll do some research and hopefully get something booked soon for him!

It was a while back but we’ve been to CP in the Netherlands (Port Zeeland and the one near Eindhoven) and all the staff had spoke fluent English (as do most Dutch people!). From memory the Port Zeeland one felt a lot easier to “leave” than thr UK ones I have been to. By that I mean they have lots of car parks near the villas rather than one massive one which is miles away and impossible to find your car in. So we did lots of day trips out to the nearby beaches and could buy food in the local supermarkets rather than rely on CP catering or mini market.