Bluestone- do you get ripped off for activities like Center Parcs??

[BumgrapesofWrath]

Just booked a Center Parcs holiday, got through to the activity booking page and realised how expensive the activities are (£6.25 for messy play???!!!) We are going to cancel as you have a 24 hour cooling off period, and are considering going to Bluestone instead. Can't find the info on their website, just wondered if they charged an extortionate amount for activities as well?

Is it this place?

Never heard of it so am interested to have a look myself as I'm not convinced I want to go abroad next year.

Bluestone is fabulous. They do charge extra for activities but not sure how much.

Prices via link don't look much different to CP tbh.

We managed CP without having to keep forking out for extras.

BGOW - re Centre Parcs.... activities are expensive... but you don't need to book any / many. We are going soon. dc are 8 and 5. We have booked one activity for each of them. We plan to spend half of each day at the pool and the other half doing playparks / cycling / ten pin bowling / crazy golf.

we've been to bluestone twice now, both times just before xmas. We abso-flaming-lutely love it there! As our kids are quite young (4 and 2) we've not had to pay for activities such as steep ravine or archery etc, but the adventure centre has plenty going on for them and it's free to access over the time they have the kingdom of the elves going on, as it's a scaled down version of what they usually have in order to make room for the elf stuff - which by the way is wonderful! Not sure how much they charge when the elves aren't happening, but whatever it is, i think you'd find it good value for money. I will never go back to center parcs again after discovering bluestone. It's magic there!

We went to Center Parcs, absolutely loved it and paid for nothing extra. So much you can do without paying. So why don't you pick 1 or 2 things that you want to do special and rest enjoy the free stuff!

Don t bother with the paying stuff. Swimming, walks, soft play in the bar/ cafe, out door playgrounds are all free. We love it there!

Don t bother with the paying stuff. Swimming, walks, soft play in the bar/ cafe, out door playgrounds are all free. We love it there!

Forgot to say that I ve been to Bluestone too which was fab. But it's center parcs we return to each year x

well I wouldn't call it cheap

I remember finding it expensive. You can hire golf buggies, because you can't take your car on site, but they're £25 a day, iirc.

But yy, the pool there is great.

I've been a few times. My children are under 6 so I've never paid for activities and we were given free passes I think to the activity place and pool. I didn't bother with a golf buggy as the site isn't that big and walking is good for tiring out children.

There is loads to do around Bluestone, and they definitely encourage people to leave the site and explore the local area which is a Good Thing. It is a beautiful part of the world and I highly recommend it. I'd definitely return there again soon.

Just a note though - you need to be used to hills. It is hilly.

Hi there, I've stayed quite a few times at Center Parcs and Bluestone just the once. My advice would definitely be take your time selecting the children's activities at CP. At face value they do seem quite expensive but if you pick the right one, I do think they represent good value for money. Messy Play is probably something you could easily recreate at home/nursery/school so you need to pick something that the kids wouldn't normally do, which adds to the excitement. Depending on how you feel about it/how old the kids are, the activities where you leave them for a couple of hours have always been a great success. If they've had a brilliant time then its usually worth the money (then the rest of the break you just do the free things on offer as everyone else has said). Having said that, we had a great time at Bluestone and the activities are definitely cheaper, but they are "no frills" - but also quite rustic, back to basics, back to nature type stuff. I think once you book you are then directed through to a page on the website that shows the activity costs. There's definitely more on offer at CP in my opinion.

I haven't been to Bluestone but we go to CP in Whinfell ev ery year. We all love it. It can be expensive - only if you make it. We book bowling, trip to see Santa & the panto. Girls love rollerblading & will go twice a day there but they take their own money from their piggy bank which they save through the year so its they spend that (saves me a few ££!).