Eurocamp is a popular option for UK families planning a holiday in Europe. The company has sites in several countries including France, Spain, Croatia, Italy, the Netherlands, Germany, Portugal, Luxembourg, Austria and Switzerland Eurocamp has made some major changes for the 2024 season including:
Here's a closer look at five outstanding resorts that are either new to Eurocamp or have made big changes for 2024. 1. Eurocamp Atlantic Club Montalivet, France - new resort for 2024Atlantic Club Montalivet is a whopping great Eurocamp holiday park on France's West Coast. It's a new resort to Eurocamp for 2024 (although it has been going for a number of years under a different name). Accommodation with hot tubs can be found in the some of the 'Ultimate' grade properties. You may want to check out our guide to Eurocamp's new grading system, which explains the difference between Classic, Comfort, Premium and Ultimate. The resort ticks a lot of boxes for me, which may explain why it scores a very decent 4/5 from customers on TripAdvisor. You get quick and easy access to the beach as well as a sizeable waterpark in the park itself. There are large outdoor and indoor swimming pools, as well as a splash area and several waterslides (six by my count, plus a couple of small ones for young children). The highlight is a U-shaped waterslide, where you ride in a boat and go up and down whilst screeching. Sports onsite include tennis, volleyball, football and boules (as always at French resorts). You can fly to Bordeaux from the UK in about 1 hour 40 minutes and then it's a drive of about 1 hour 20 minutes to Eurocamp Atlantic Club Montalivet. Alternatively, you can get the 40 minute Eurotunnel/Le Shuttle from Folkestone and then drive from Calais in about nine hours. Temperatures in this part of France tend to peak around 25-27 Celsius in June, July and August. 2. Eurocamp Domaine de Massereau - new hot tubs for 2024Domaine de Massereau isn't new to Eurocamp, but it has recently added hot tubs as an accommodation option for the first time for 2024. We're giving it a mention as it's one of the most popular Eurocamp resorts in France. Customers give it a glowing review score of 4.6/5 on Google reviews of 4.5/5 on TripAdvisor. It is considerably smaller than Eurocamp Atlantic Club Montalivet with about a quarter of the number of holiday homes. However, it's got everything you are likely to need for a summer holiday in France, including an outdoor swimming pool, a couple of waterslides, a small indoor pool and sauna. Sports include minigolf, bike hire, trampolines, tennis, basketball, volleyball and an optional canoeing excursion. For eating out there's a restaurant and pizzeria. The nearest beach is about half an hour away by car. Eurocamp Domaine de Massereau is in Southern France, so you can either drive from Calais in about 10 hours or fly to the nearest airport in about two hours and then drive for half an hour. 3. Eurocamp Verdon Parc - new resort for 2024Verdon Parc in Provence is another new resort to Eurocamp for 2024. It is well established and scores 4/5 from hundreds of customers, but is now under the Eurocamp brand. The resort sits alongside a river in Provence, so you can expect peak temperatures of around 27-30 Celsius during June, July and August. It's an inland holiday park, so you would need to drive for about 90 minutes to reach the beaches of Southern France. In terms of scale, it sits halfway between the very large Atlantic Club Montalivet and the much smaller Eurocamp Domaine de Massereau. You can swim in good-sized outdoor and covered swimming pools. There are also three waterslides - not quite on the same scale at Atlantic Club Montalivet but still good fun. Sports and activities include tennis, basketball, aqua aerobics and volleyball. Rather unusually, the resort also has a small farm with animals. It's another resorts which offers hot tubs with some of its posher accommodation. Driving from Calais will take you about 11 hours, so you may prefer the two hour flight to Marseille followed by an hour's drive from the airport. 4. Eurocamp Mayotte Vacances - new resort for 2024Mayotte Vacances is another large and well-equipped holiday park coming under the Eurocamp name for 2024. It's in a great location alongside a lake, or you can drive 20 minutes to France's South Western Coast. By my count, there are five outdoor swimming pools as well as a covered outdoor pool and four waterslides. Sports include table tennis, volleyball and the ubiquitous pétanque. Some of the posher properties come with hot tubs and there's also an onsite restaurant. This part of France is slightly cooler than southern France. You can expect highs of about 23-25 Celsius during the summer months. May is cooler with a high of about 19 Celsius. Driving from Calais takes about nine hours. Bordeaux airport is an hour's drive away. You can fly from the UK in about 1 hour 40 minutes. 5. Eurocamp Domaine de Soleil Plage - new resort for 2024Our final pick is in the Dordogne region, which can be found inland a little way towards the South West of France. Eurocamp Domaine de Soleil Plage is on the smaller side and it scores 4.5/5 on TripAdvisor.
The location isn't coastal but the nearby river provides entertainment in the form of canoeing and swimming. Less adventurous sorts will use the onsite swimming pools and waterslides. There's also a playground, sports court, volleyball, tennis, minigolf, table tennis and a restaurant. The good news for those wanting to avoid flying is that this one is a slightly shorter drive. It'll take you about 8 1/2 hours from Calais (admittedly, that's still a long drive with a car full of children!). It's a rural area so there isn't a large airport particularly nearby. Bordeaux has regular connections with the UK and is about 2 1/2 hours away.
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What's The Difference Between Butlins Accommodation Grades? Which Is Butlins Best Accommodation?9/12/2023 Our comparison of the apartments, chalets, rooms and hotels at Butlins Bognor, Skegness and Minehead in 2024Exclusive £20 off Butlins discount code! Just sign up for our weekly holiday deals
Choosing accommodation at Butlins is a bit mind-blowing at first.
There are a whopping 19 different types of accommodation. Thankfully, it’s not as complicated as it sounds. For a start, some accommodation types are only available at one of the three Butlins resorts. Here’s our guide to choosing the best accommodation for your money at Butlins in Bognor, Skegness and Minehead. We’ve included some advice on which upgrades we think are worth the money and which are not so important. The basic summary of different types of accommodation at Butlins
The first decision you need to make is whether or not you want a kitchen with your Butlins accommodation.
If you don’t want a kitchen they you can get the absolute cheapest accommodation available, or you can upgrade to posher rooms with lounges attached ('suites'). However, you’ll either have to eat Pot Noodles all week or buy a dining package where all meals are included. If you want a kitchen then you’ve got a big choice of apartments, lodges and chalets. The basic ones will probably work out cheaper than the most basic room + meals package. The most expensive apartments, lodges and chalets can be twice the price of the most basic ‘room’. When we checked, a dining package for a four day holiday with two adults and two children at Bognor Regis in mid July 2024 was £215 for the 'food court' or £278 for the 'premium dining plan'. The cheaper option works out at about £13.50 per person, per day for breakfast and an evening meal. Personally, I think that's pretty good value. What’s the difference between the different grades of rooms and suites at Butlins?
If you decide that you just want a room without kitchen facilities then you need to decide what level of luxury you want.
The choice looks like this, roughly in order of price:
To give a rough idea of price, we searched for a four night break for a family of four in mid September 2024. The cheapest standard room was £110 whilst the most expensive room was £200. So what’s the difference between the seven different options above? Options 1 and 2 are the cheapest. You get a bed, a shower and a TV but you don’t get any living space at all. You get a kettle, but you don’t get any tea bags, coffee or a fridge. You get bedding, but you don’t get towels. Thankfully, you get Wi-Fi (phew). The difference between standard rooms and silver rooms tends to be that silver rooms are a little bit more modern. Honestly, I wouldn’t go for a room only option unless you also plan to buy a fully inclusive meals package. You won’t have a fridge so even doing a basic breakfast is a challenge. If you buy the meals package and get out and about constantly then this option will do the job nicely. Upgrade to a Suite, sir?
The next upgrade option is to a ‘Suite’ which means you get a lounge as well as a bedroom. You can only get these are Minehead and Bognor.
Besides the extra space, you also get a mini fridge which is useful for making cups of tea. The main difference between a ‘deluxe suite’ and a ‘silver suite’ is that the deluxe option comes with towels and housekeeping. The other differences are minor things, such as whether or not you get a hairdryer (for my wife’s benefit, I’m not saying that a hairdryer is a minor thing, just that you could bring your own). In our price comparison, it cost £55 extra to upgrade from a silver room to a deluxe suite with a lounge and towels provided at Butlins Minehead for a four day break in mid September 2024. Of course, the increase is more if you’re staying for a week during school holidays. The final upgrade option is to stay at one of the three onsite hotels at Butlins in Bognor (Wave Hotel, Shoreline Hotel and Ocean Hotel). These are a big step up in price, but they are much plusher and more modern than the basic rooms. The bedroom facilities that you get at each hotel are very similar. You get a mini fridge, towels and housekeeping, a few free toiletries, TVs and Wi-Fi. In our price comparisons, they all cost about the same (there was £12 difference between them on the dates we checked in September 2024). However, the Ocean Hotel tends to be a bit more expensive than the other two on most dates. The main difference is that each hotel is aimed at different age groups.
One other upgrade worth mentioning is that you can get a ‘Shoreline Hotel State Room’. It’s similar to the other hotel rooms, but you get an extra bit of living space. What’s the difference between the different grades of apartments at Butlins?
If you decide you want a kitchen, there’s a big choice of apartments, lodges, chalets and bungalows. We’ve counted a total of 12 different ones, but some are only available at one or two of the Butlins resorts.
To keep things simple, we’ve split them into three categories of cheap, mid-priced and expensive (Butlins refers to them as ‘value’ ‘moderate’ and ‘premium'). I’m referring to them as ‘self catering’ but you can add on a meal plan so that you won’t need to cook for yourself. What’s the difference between the cheap apartments and bungalows at Butlins?
The four cheap options for self catering at Butlins are (roughly in price order):
So what’s the difference between these four cheap options? The actual facilities with Standard Apartments, Silver Apartments and New Style Silver Apartments are not very different at all. Each one comes with a TV, lounge area, bedding, a kettle and free Wi-Fi. None of them come with towels or housekeeping. You also don’t get a hairdryer. The Silver Bungalows are only at Minehead but they are good if you want to be on the ground floor. The difference in price between these options is a bit confusing. On a couple of price comparisons we did, the Newer Style Silver Apartments were actually cheaper than the ‘Silver Apartments’. I personally wouldn’t pay a huge amount extra to upgrade between these four options. What’s the difference between the mid-priced apartments and lodges at Butlins?
The four mid-priced self catering options at Butlins are:
If you upgrade to one of the mid-priced self catering options at Butlins then the most notable upgrade you get is towels and daily housekeeping. You also get a hairdryer, but I wouldn’t upgrade just for that reason… The mid-priced accommodation is also a bit more colourful and interesting. For example, the Seaside Apartments have a multicoloured seaside theme whilst the Fairground apartments have wobbly mirrors and star shaped lights. With the deluxe lodges you get your own dedicated parking space, which you don’t get with the others. Of course, you also get all the other facilities and extras that come with the cheaper accommodation such as free Wi-Fi. (Top tip...don't take teenager on holiday without Wi-Fi. It will end badly.) What’s the difference between the expensive self catering options at Butlins?
If you want to push the Butlins boat out, then there are four ‘premium’ apartments, lodges and chalets at the Butlins resorts:
These upgrades can be pretty pricey or they can be quite reasonable, depending on the time of year. For example, in our price comparison you’d pay £473 for four nights in a Wave Hotel Apartment in mid September compared to £184 for a Standard Apartment for the same dates. That’s about £290 difference. However, in early-August 2024, the difference was more than £700. So what are you getting for nearly doubling the price (in some cases)? At each of the ‘premium’ options you get parking near to your accommodation. At standard apartments you park in a large car park at the edge of the site and walk to your apartment with the help of a trolley. In the posher accommodation you get a few little upgrades, such as a TV in the children’s bedroom, a safe and a few free toiletries (it varies a bit – for example, you don’t get the extra TV in the Seaside Lodge or the West Lakes Chalet). You also tend to get a bit of outdoor space or a balcony with the more expensive accommodation. For example, the Bayside Apartments at Minehead come with a sea view and balcony, which is a worthwhile upgrade in my opinion. The West Lakes Chalets don’t have a sea view but they have a modern style. The Wave Hotel Apartments are pricey but they will appeal to families with junior school aged children. You get a modern hotel décor as well as space to cook and a balcony. The hotel also has a games room so the children can make new friends who they can’t bear to leave despite having only known them for three days... Conclusion
If you’re looking for a cheap holiday, I would either go a standard room/silver room if you plan to sign up for the buffet or see which is the cheapest apartment when you want to visit. Check if the new silver apartments are cheaper than the older style apartments, which was the case when we searched.
If you plan to spend your evenings watching TV rather than exploring the resort, then you will probably want a lounge. That means upgrading to a suite (without a kitchen) or an apartment. If you plan to self-cater or you want the option of cooking the occasional meal then you’ll need an apartment or a hotel room with an apartment. Personally, I would make my upgrade decisions based on a) the time of year and b) how much time I plan to spend at the accommodation. Off peak, the difference in price between the cheaper and more luxurious accommodation was quite modest. During school holidays, you’re paying a lot more. Happy holidays! Eurocamp has recently made big changes to its accommodation grading. It's part of a major expansion for the company, which has holiday parks across France, Spain, the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Croatia, Austria and Luxembourg. But what's the difference between Eurocamp holiday home grades? Which accommodation upgrades are worth the money and which can you do without? And how much will it cost you to upgrade? Here's our quick summary for those who just want to know the basics: The four main Eurocamp accommodation grades are Classic (£), Comfort (££), Premium (£££) and Ultimate (££££). Within each grade, there are two and three bedroom options and optional upgrades such as more space and posher facilities. These upgrades are usually called XL or Plus. Higher grades of accommodation get you things like more outdoor space, a dishwasher, bedding and towels, a barbecue, larger beds, an extra shower and posher coffee machines! Upgrading off-peak is much cheaper than during school holidays - but there are several discounts and offers to keep the price down. Read on for the full guide! What grades of accommodation does Eurocamp offer?There are four main grades of accommodation at Eurocamp. There are subcategories, upgrades and other bells and whistles but we will start with a simple explanation so you won't feel like you're in an exam. Here they are from the budget option through the poshest grade: (We've added the pound signs and will use these throughout to make it clearer!) There are then upgrades within these four categories. If you see 'XL' or 'Plus' or 'Exclusive' it means that it is a posher or more spacious version. For example, Classic XL is a larger version of a Classic holiday home (Ed: I think we might have figured that out for ourselves...). It's also worth saying that you can't stay in every model in every Eurocamp resort. The larger resorts have a bigger choice but in some resorts you might only have a couple of grades to choose from. What about the old Eurocamp grades?These new Eurocamp accommodation grades have replaced the old grading, which had names like Aspect Plus, Aspect, Azure and Comfort Vista. Some of the old names remain, others have been replaced altogether. For return visitors, it may be useful to know how the old names compare to the new names:
Further explanation of this can be found on this page of the Eurocamp website. What about lodges, bungalows and tents?You will notice that there are also Lodges and Bungalows at some Eurocamp resorts. These tend to be unique to a particular resort, so it's a bit harder to offer comparisons. Some Eurocamps also have Safari Tents for glamping and Classic Tents. Again, we won't focus on those in this guide as we are more interested in the grades of holiday home that are available at most Eurocamp resorts in Europe. Side by side comparison table of Eurocamp accommodationWe've done our best to make this Eurocamp accommodation comparison chart accurate. However, it seems wise to throw in a caveat that there may be things we've missed or exceptions. We have looked at properties on lots of Eurocamp resorts but we haven't examined all 300+ sites. Please see this as more of guide to get you started. Make sure you read the details of your particular holiday home carefully before booking.
Which upgrades are worth paying for?There are a few factors to consider here, so I wouldn't say there's a definite answer that will suit everyone. However, my thoughts are:
How much does upgrading accommodation with Eurocamp cost?The amount you pay to upgrade holiday home accommodation with Eurocamp varies a lot depending on the time of year. For that reason, you might decide that it's worth paying for an upgrade off-peak rather than on-peak. As an example - we looked at the price of a week's holiday for a family of four at La Croix du Vieux Pont in France in early August 2024 and early October 2024.
So, we can see that upgrading from a Classic 3 Bed (£) to a more spacious Classic 3 Bed XL (£) costs £266 in August or just £28 in early October. Similarly, upgrading from a Classic 3 Bed (£) to an Ultimate 3 Bed (££££) will cost us £2289 in August 2024 or just £210 in early October. The Ultimate 3 Bed (££££) includes bedding and towels, whereas the Classic 3 Bed (£) costs an extra £75 unless you bring your own. So, the actual cost of upgrading from the lowest to the highest model is just £135. A final conclusionMy conclusion is that if you are visiting Eurocamp off-peak then I would be tempted to go for an upgrade to Premium or Ultimate (unless you have a pet or require wheelchair access).
If you are visiting during a peak time, such as the UK school summer holidays, then you'll need to weigh up which upgrades are worth the money for you. You may decide to spend less on the accommodation but budget more for eating out and activities. Eurocamp is a big name for European holidays with hundreds of resorts and campsites. The company has just launched its Ultimate Plus Holiday Homes for customers who want holiday park features alongside more luxurious accommodation. You get a bigger living space, air conditioning, extras in the kitchen including a Nespresso machine, two showers and a bigger bed. Outdoors, you get an extra large decking area with an outdoor sofa, egg chair and barbecue. At the time of writing, the Ultimate Plus Holiday Homes are available at 13 of Eurocamp's resorts around Europe, including some in France, the Netherlands, Spain and Italy. Here's how the 13 resorts rate with customers, along with our summary of five of the best. How do Eurocamp's resorts with Ultimate Plus Holiday Homes rate with customers?We started by adding together three review scores for each holiday park, including Google Reviews, TripAdvisor and Feefo (the one that shows on Eurocamp's own website). We then turned the score into a percentage and ranked them from highest to lowest score. You'll notice that a few of them only have a couple of scores because we couldn't find ratings. For this reason, I wouldn't obsess over a couple of percentage points:
So, it's fair to say that all of the Eurocamp resorts with Ultimate Plus accommodation are getting pretty good review scores. However, there's a notable range so we will focus on the five highest scorers. 1. Eurocamp Domaine de Massereau in Southern France - 91% from customersOur top scorer (by a whisker) is Domaine de Massereau, which is one of Eurocamp's smaller holiday parks. It's in a really lovely leafy setting in the South of France with vineyards nearby. The range of activities isn't as massive as some Eurocamp's in France but there's plenty to keep you busy. It's got three outdoor swimming pools, including one that is covered. There's also a jacuzzi and three waterslides. Besides swimming, they've got minigolf, pony rides, a playground, bike hire, trampolines, tennis and a sports court with football and basketball. The resort also works with a local company to put on canoeing trips at a nearby river. Domaine de Massereau has a restaurant with outdoor dining as well as a couple of takeaways. There are kids' clubs at the resorts, although they aren't run by Eurocamp themselves (this is quite a common arrangement). If you want to drive to Domaine de Massereau it will take you about 10 hours from Calais. Folkestone connects to Calais via the 40 minute Eurotunnel/Le Shuttle. Otherwise, you can fly to the airports at Montpellier or Nimes in just under two hours. Price: for our price comparison, we looked for a week's holiday in August 2024 for a family of up to eight people. The Ultimate Plus was only available towards the end of the month and cost £1586. It sleeps up to eight people, so if you fill it up then it's a great price per person (£28 per person, per night). 2. Le Pin Parasol in Western France - 90% from customersSecond place goes to Le Pin Parasol, near to France's west coast. It's a bit easier to reach by car than Domaine de Massereau - you'll need to drive for about 6 1/2 hours from Calais, or you can get a ferry from Portsmouth or Plymouth to St Malo and then drive for three hours. It's a much larger resort than Domaine de Massereau with twice as many accommodation units and pitches. The swimming pools are modern and impressive, with a hybrid indoor/outdoor pool as well as a shallower outdoor pool for younger ones. There are also four waterslides. The beach is about 20 minutes' away by car. Le Pin Parasol has its own kids' club as well as various entertainments such as bingo and karaoke (not obligatory thankfully....). The range of sports and activities is better than Domaine de Massereau. There are four playgrounds (rather than one) and there are also things like skateboarding, minigolf, tennis, a gym, boules, volleyball as well as canoeing and pedalos during peak season. Price: £3004 for a week in an Ultimate Plus for a family of up to eight people in August 2024. 3. Le Port de Plaisance in Brittany, France - 89% from customersLe Port de Plaisance is a popular Eurocamp resort in Brittany that offers their plushest grade of accommodation. It is slightly further west than Le Pin Parasol, so it's a drive of 7 hours 30 minutes from Calais. Alternatively, it's a ferry to St Malo and a three hour drive. In terms of scale, it sits somewhere between Le Pin Parasol and Domaine de Massereau. The choice of swimming pools is really good, with a large indoor pool with slides as well as smaller outdoor pools. There are kids' clubs for the over fives and various bits of evening entertainment for grown-ups. Other outdoorsy stuff includes an adventure playground, table tennis and boules. I would say that the range of sporty things is a little less than that at Le Pin Parasol. However, the swimming pool complex at Le Port de Plaisance is particularly good so that makes up for it. Price: £1985 for a week in an Ultimate Plus holiday home in August 2024 for up to eight people. 4. TerSpegelt in the Netherlands - 87% from customersTerSpegelt is a good choice if you like action-packed holidays on a large scale. It's a whopping great Eurocamp holiday resort in an inland spot in the Netherlands, not far from the border with Belgium. It sit alongside a lake with its own 'beach' where you can try out various watersports such as paddleboarding without worrying about being carried out to sea. The indoor swimming pools are part of a complex with slides and other features whilst the range of sports on offer is pretty good. Guests can choose from options including minigolf, fishing, cycling, tennis, football and rowing boats. Getting to TerSpegelt is actually quite a lot quicker than the French Eurocamps in our top five. It should take you a little under four hours to drive from Calais. Price: £1921 for a week in an Ultimate Plus Holiday Home in early August 2024. As with the other Ultimate Plus accommodation, there is enough space for up to eight people. 5. Del Garda Village and Camping in Italy - 86% from customersOur final pick - based on customer reviews - is Del Garda Village and Camping in Italy. You can find it in Northern Italy, close to Lake Garda.
It's a mid-sized Eurocamp holiday resort with a similar number of pitches and holiday homes as Le Port de Plaisance in France. Driving from the UK is a colossal effort so flying may be more appealing. You can expect the drive to take about 12 hours, so you may well want to split the journey with a night in Eastern France or Switzerland. Alternatively, you can fly from the UK to Verona airport in about two hours. The resort is only 25 minutes' away by car once you reach the airport. As with the other Eurocamp resorts on this list, there are kids' clubs. In this case, they are available for 4-12 year olds. They also have discos for children and other entertainment including a gaming room, two playgrounds, bike hire, fishing, tennis, football and volleyball. Price: we couldn't find availability for the new Ultimate Plus grade of accommodation, but we did find some Premium holiday homes that sleep eight people and cost £2571 for a week in August 2024. Yes folks, it's our 2024 comparison of Saver v Bronze v Silver v Gold v Signature models of Haven caravan
**Since we wrote this guide, Haven has created its own detailed PDF accommodation comparison table.
You can download it from this page on Haven's website**
There’s a significant difference in price between the different types of Haven accommodation –particularly during peak season. So, what are you getting for upgrading?
​ The grading for Haven caravans changed in 2021. The old system of standard, deluxe, prestige, platinum and platinum plus has been replaced with a new grading system. Personally, I think the new system is easier to understand. The current system looks like this. From cheapest to most expensive:
For anyone who has been to Haven before, the new 'Saver' caravans are similar to the 'Standard - older model' caravans whilst the 'Bronze' caravans are similar to the 'Standard - newer model' caravans. Gold is similar to the old 'Platinum plus' models. If you haven't been to a Haven before, check out our guides to the 10 best Haven holiday parks and our guide to saving money on a Haven holiday. You'll find that some Haven parks don't have every grade of caravan, and some have extra options such as lodges, chalets, apartments, glamping or beach houses. This guide will start by focusing on caravans but there's a bit about lodges further down. Here's our table showing some key differences, along with further explanation below. Details are correct at the time of writing - it may well change over time.
Summary of what you do and don't get in each grade of Haven caravanSaver Haven caravans
The Saver Haven caravans are the cheapest. They are the narrowest and they don't have a freezer or a dishwasher. You don't get outside decking and you don't have a pull out bed in the lounge. However, you get an oven, microwave, hobs and one modestly sized TV. You don't get towels as standard but you do get bedding.
You don't get central heating or double glazing but you do get heating in the lounge. They are similar to the older 'standard' models of caravan, for the benefit of anyone who was familiar with Haven's old grading system. Some of these caravans are dog friendly at most Haven parks. Bronze Haven caravansSilver Haven caravans
The Silver Haven caravans are quite a big step up in facilities from the Bronze models.
They are the same width as a Bronze caravan, but you get a fridge/freezer rather than just a fridge which you get in the Saver and Bronze caravans. You get a larger TV in the lounge and an extra TV in a bedroom. You also get towels provided, unlike Saver and Bronze. ​The only downgrade is that you don't get a spare pull out bed in the lounge. For me, the most significant upgrade is that you get a bit of decking or a balcony. I love sitting outside in a summer's evening whilst sipping on a can of Lilt. If you have young children, it's much nicer than just sitting in the lounge with the TV turned down low. If you're bringing a dog, then this is the highest grade of accommodation that you will be able to book. Gold Haven caravans
The Gold Haven caravans have just a couple of key upgrades compared to a Silver caravan.
The main upgrade is that they are a couple of feet wider. That makes them feel a lot more spacious if you've got a caravan full of children. You also get a slightly bigger freezer and a dishwasher which are both useful additions for a big group. I probably wouldn't bother upgrading from Silver to Gold if you're a couple who plan to eat out all week. ​None of the Gold accommodation at Haven is dog friendly. Signature Haven caravans
The Signature Haven caravans are pretty much the same as the Gold caravans.
The major difference is that they offer better views. However, they are actually a couple of feet narrower (about 60cm) than the Gold models. You get everything else that you get on cheaper models including outside decking/veranda and two TVs. Curiously, you don't seem to get a dishwasher - presumably because they are not quite as wide. Again, you don't get a spare pull out bed in the lounge. If you are bringing a dog, then you won't be able to book a Signature caravan. So, which grade of caravan should I choose?
That's a good question.
​For me, a Silver caravan or a higher grade is ideal, but it really depends on what's important to you. For me, the most important differences between the cheaper caravans and the more expensive Haven caravans are a) the fridge/freezer b) the dishwasher and c) the outside decking/veranda. However, that's because we like to self-cater on a caravan holiday or a lodge holiday and it is very limiting if you don't have a decent freezer. We find that it's less of a holiday if you have to wash up all the time. I also love sitting outside on a summer's evening, so a bit of decking is worth it for me. A sea view is something I'll pay for as long as it's not extortionate, but I don't want a lakeside view as I prefer to keep the children away from lakes! I'm less bothered about towels, hair dryers and bluetooth speakers because I can bring my own. I'm also not bothered about how big the TV is. I would certainly want central heating and double glazing during the colder months but Haven close their parks in winter, so I could probably live without that if I had to. A slightly wider caravan is certainly more spacious, but we tend to get out and explore a lot anyway so it's not essential. Of course, the amount that you are paying extra is a big consideration. As an example, we searched for a week's holiday for a family of four in early October 2024 (off peak) at Haven Kent Coast in Kent (previously called Haven Allhallows). Prices looked like this:
So, in this instance it would only cost £36 to upgrade from Saver to Bronze. I'd certainly pay that for a wider caravan with central heating in October. In fact, I'd probably pay £90 to jump from the lowest grade to the Silver grade. I probably wouldn't pay for the top grade as I'm not likely to spend much time sat outside looking at the view in October. The difference between the highest and lowest grade is around £400 for this week. We then looked for a week's holiday at Haven Perran Sands in Cornwall in early August 2024 (peak season). Prices were:
​So, in this instance there is a difference of about £1800 between the cheapest and most expensive grade of caravan. Upgrading from Saver to Bronze is about £140, which I don't think is worth paying as you won't use the heating in summer. It will be a little cramped, but we would spend most of our time out and about in summer. In this instance, I'd be much less keen to upgrade from Saver to Gold. I'd rather save myself about £1200 and make do without a dishwasher and a freezer. With the money I'd saved I could take the family out for dinner every night. What about Haven's lodges? Should I go for Emerald, Diamond or Signature?
Let's move on to lodges, since Haven now offers quite a lot of these as an upgrade to a caravan.
The most appealing thing about a lodge over a caravan is its width. Haven lodges range from 16-20 foot wide whilst caravans range from 10-14 foot wide. To put it another way - the largest lodges are twice as wide as Haven's smallest caravans. Lodges are currently an upgrade option at 11 Haven resorts, which is about a third of their parks. The Haven parks with lodges include:
The grading system for Haven's lodges
Haven's lodges have three main grades including
The Signature grades have a name like 'Signature Sea View' or 'Signature Lake View' depending on what you can see out the window.
As with the caravans, Haven has produced an excellent comparison document, which you can download on this page.
We started to produce our own massive comparison chart until we realised that the differences between the lodge grades are actually very simple. Here's the summary: ​
Here's a simple table explaining the differences:
Everything else is the same. In all three grades of Haven lodge you get:
So, is it worth upgrading from a Haven caravan to a Haven lodge?
It depends! The 'upgrade' isn't necessarily better, it really depends on what's important to you and what time of year you are visiting.
How much will it cost me to upgrade from a caravan to a lodge with Haven?
As with our caravan price comparison, it really depends when you visit. We looked at an off-peak holiday at Haven Devon Cliffs, which is one of their biggest holiday parks (or perhaps the biggest, depending on what you read). Here are the prices we found for a family of four staying in early October 2024 for a week:
(Note: they didn't have any Emerald Lodges for our comparison). So, upgrading for an off peak week would cost us:
So, upgrading for an off peak week would cost us:
Get the Guru's weekly deals from Haven + exclusive £20 off Butlins discount codeWe first wrote this blogpost in 2021 when there was a flurry of excitable news reports about the demand for UK staycations. A lot of the cheapest grade of caravans and lodges were getting booked up quicker, meaning prices went higher than in previous years. We hoped it would help people who had written off getting a good deal at a UK caravan holiday park or UK lodge park. We've updated it for 2024 holiday as there are plenty of tips, tricks and loopholes to save yourself hundreds of pounds on a holiday park. 1. Book a holiday park in the last week in AugustMost people avoid holidays during the last week of the school summer holidays because they want to buy a new pencil case and sew names into their jumpers. That means that there’s a big drop off in demand for the last week in August/first few days of September - and much better prices. We looked at Haven's Perran Sands in Cornwall and found a difference of about £600 between the first and last week in August for a family holiday. The downside is darker evenings and a slightly reduced chance of good weather. 2. Head North for the cheapest holiday parksIn our price comparisons, Yorkshire, Northumberland and Scotland’s holiday parks are generally cheaper for something similar in Cornwall and Dorset. The saving during the peak season can be pretty significant – in some cases similar parks run by the same company cost nearly twice as much in Cornwall as they do in Scotland. For example, the three cheapest Haven holiday parks in our top 10 guide were all in the north of England or in Scotland. Highly rated Haven holiday parks in the north of England and Scotland include:
It's a similar story with Parkdean Resorts. We did a price comparison of a week's holiday at all 66 Parkdean Resorts and found that five of the ten cheapest Parkdean Resorts are in Scotland. Overall, prices for a holiday in August ranged from £599 to £1689 (based on the cheapest accommodation available when we searched). Resorts in Northumberland, Yorkshire and Lancashire were also good value. There were no Westcountry holiday parks in the top 20 cheapest Parkdean Resorts. The cheapest Parkdean Resorts include:
If you live in southern England and want a cheap Parkdean Resorts then take a look at:
3. Fill up a caravanYou could save yourself hundreds of pounds by sharing an eight-person caravan with friends or relatives. In some cases, we’ve found it is more than £1000 cheaper than hiring two caravans for four people. It’s certainly cosy in a caravan’s kitchen but you’ll be able to afford to eat out more often. 4. Arrive on a Friday or MondayLots of holiday parks let you choose which day you arrive and bump up prices for Saturday to Saturday holidays. A Monday to Monday or Friday to Friday holiday during the summer holidays is often about £100 cheaper with the big name holiday park companies. Policies vary - Away Resorts let you arrive on any day of the week whilst Haven and Park Holidays both offer arrivals on Monday, Friday and Saturday. 5. Try Center Parcs EuropeIf you've got your heart set on Center Parcs then you can expect to pay a serious whack during the school summer holidays. However, you might like to look at Center Parcs in France, Germany and the Netherlands. They are run as a separate company but have a lot in common with the UK resorts, such as excellent swimming pools/waterparks and lots of onsite activities. There's also a neat trick where you can save an extra few pounds by booking via the French version of the Center Parcs website rather than 'CenterParcs.eu'. For some reason, the prices vary depending on which site you use, even though the holiday is the same. The quality of Center Parcs in Europe is inconsistent, so do some research such as reading our guides to the best Centers Parcs in France, Germany, Netherlands and Belgium. To get you started, check out these four Center Parcs in Europe which score well with customers:
6. Check the holiday park offers pages and last minute deals pagesMost big holiday park chains have an offers page where they have some last minute bargains and other discount codes to entice you in. Check out the offers pages for:
7. Discover hidden holiday homesSo, you've decided which holiday park you want to stay at and your dates are fixed thanks to the August school holidays and other inconveniences. Unfortunately, the cheapest caravan left is showing as £2000, even though it's just a 'standard' caravan rather than anything fancy. Before weeping in a corner or selling the children's toys, try this trick. First, go onto Airbnb and search for the nearest town to the holiday park. You can't search for the exact holiday park, but if I was searching for Haven's very popular and highly rated Devon Cliffs holiday park I would search for Exmouth which is the nearest town. Second, choose the 'map' option on Airbnb and move it over the area of Devon Cliffs. You might need to do a bit of detective work to find smaller resorts but big holiday parks are quite obvious from above. You'll find that there are several caravans and lodges available for hire which aren't listed on the official websites (click here to see what I mean, or see the screenshot below) These are caravans and lodges which have been sold off to private owners who then rent them out. At a big holiday park there will be several to choose from and owners set their own prices so it’s often much cheaper than going through the official website. You can also see the exact location of the caravan you are booking as well as photos and reviews. In some cases, I've seen privately owned caravans available for hundreds of pounds less than those on the 'official' website. Of course, you are booking with an individual rather than a big company so read the smallprint carefully. 8. Don’t pay for facilities you won’t useSome holiday parks are jam packed with facilities such as swimming pools, sports courts, fishing lakes and even ski slopes. But others just offer cheap accommodation and a small shop for buying your cornflakes. If you just want a base for exploring or won’t use shared facilities (which will probably have restricted numbers this summer) then look for the more basic resorts and head down the beach. Meanwhile, Haven give you the choose of a simple 'Haven Hideaway' holiday if you just want accommodation or a 'Haven' holiday if you want to use all the facilities. Check out our guide to the cheapest caravan holiday parks in the UK for starters. 9. Read your cancellation rightsFinally, I feel I should include something about cancellation policies as it's hardly a bargain if you end losing your money. You might assume that every holiday park works to the same rules and cancellations. Unfortunately that's not the case, so read the small print to find out what happens if can't make your holiday. To give you an idea of what some of the bigger holiday parks are offering, have a look at Haven's Holiday Protection and Park Holidays' Cancellation Protection Plan. Images are from Haven, Away Resorts and Center Parcs Europe
Short on time? Here's the summary: Big Bus Tour gets the best reviews. It's also the best value if you want a one day hop-on hop-off bus and river cruise bundle. However, Golden Tours is cheaper if you just want a simple two hour bus tour. Read on for the full guide. There are four main companies competing to offer the best London Bus Tour. They offer open top tours of all the big tourist attractions including Buckingham Palace, the Tower of London, the Houses of Parliament, St Paul's Cathedral, Westminster Abbey and the British Museum. Some London Bus Tours also include a free river cruise as part of the deal. Some are hop-on-hop-off whilst others just offer a straightforward tour for a couple of hours. But which is the best London Bus Tour? We've compared all four based on customer reviews and cost. It's worth noting that you can often beat the 'official' prices by booking via a third party such as Wowcher, Groupon or Living Social. Which London Bus Tour gets the best reviews?We looked for the review score on TripAdvisor for the main London Bus Tour operators. As of November 2023, the ranking looks like this.
Please note: there are other specialist tours, which offer things like Harry Potter tours. We've just included London Bus Tours which cover a general route of the whole city. Of course, there are also buses operated by Transport for London which go past a lot of attractions - the number 11 bus is a good one for visiting several popular spots. Which is the cheapest London Bus Tour?This is where it gets a little bit complicated, as there are endless offers and packages which all provide slightly different things. We did three price comparisons to get a general idea of which London Bus Tour is best value for a family ticket. Price Comparison #1: a simple two hour tour of London by busFor a very rough price comparison, we looked for a two-hour (ish) tour of London with the five bus companies above, on a Tuesday, booked a week in advance. We searched for the price on their official website for two adults and two children and found these results:
Golden Tours is the winner here, and it is second in our review comparison. The advantage of a non-stop tour is that you can settle in rather than risk losing your seat every time you get off the bus. However, two hours on a bus is a long time, particularly with children. The downside is that you can't get off to spend time at the attractions which interest you most. Also worth mentioning (again) is that you can do a DIY London bus tour by using the official Transport for London buses. By my calculations, it will cost a family of four £15.60 for unlimited bus travel for a day. You'll still get a good view but the buses aren't open top. You don't get a commentary and the buses won't follow the ideal route. Start with the number 11 bus. Price Comparison #2: a 24 hour hop-on-hop-off tour of LondonNext, we looked for a one day ticket where you can hop-on and hop-off at your leisure. The downside of this option is that you might end up stood in the rain waiting for a bus to come along (several reviewers suffered such an ordeal). The plus side is that you can pop into an attraction, jump off to see the Changing of the Guards at Buckingham Palace or stop for lunch. Again, we searched for a family ticket for two adults and two children. From cheapest to most expensive at the time of searching.
So, Golden Tours and Toot Bus appear to be the cheapest for a 24 hour ticket. The Big Bus Tour also includes a River Cruise. A typical river cruise for a family costs about £30-£40 so it depends on the discounts on the day as to whether this ticket is good value. Price Comparison #3: a 48 hour hop-on-hop-off ticket with a river cruiseFinally, we searched for the cost of a two day hop-on and hop-off London bus tour with a river cruise. This is a commonly offered bundle and it can work out good value if you don't to cram everything into one day. We searched for the price for a family of four:
Again, Golden Tours was the cheapest by £16. Conclusion - which is the best London Bus Tour?
But wait! Booking direct isn't always the cheapest way to get a London Bus TourWe found that the cheapest option for a London Bus Tour isn't always booking direct. Deals come and go, but we searched on Wowcher during Black Friday and found these deals for a family of four:
We also searched on Groupon and Expedia but didn't find they were cheaper than going direct. Of course, they might be cheaper when you do your searches. Good luck and happy travelling! March 2022 update: We've removed the 'Megabus Megasightseeing London Bus Tour' from this guide as it's no longer operating.
**Parkdean Resorts Black Friday: 1000s of holidays from £69 + up to 30% off 7 night holidays** This seems like a good moment to look at Parkdean Resort's Cornwall holiday parks. Parkdean is doing a couple of decent Black Friday offers including '1000s of holidays from £69' as well as 'up to 30% off 7 night holidays'. Black Friday can be an excellent time to book a holiday for 2024. Most people are distracted by the search for a Christmas present for Aunt Maude, so holiday companies offer some good deals. There's also loads of availability so you can usually get your pick of the accommodation. We've already got a guide to Cornwall that covers all the different holiday park companies, but this one will just focus on the eight Parkdean Resorts. There isn't an outright winner but here's our summary:
Anyway, here are the full details! Which Parkdean Resorts in Cornwall gets the best reviews?Last year, we did a mammoth rundown of every Parkdean Resorts and ranked them from 1st to 66th, based on their review score on TripAdvisor and Google Reviews (there wasn't much on telly that week). Here's how they rank out of every Parkdean Resorts in the UK:
(The equals sign means that they had the same score as another Parkdean Resorts holiday park). We also did a quick search to check if any of those scores had changed since we did our original comparison, about 18 months ago. There had been a couple of changes, so the ranking for Cornwall now looks like this
So, there have been a couple of changes. Crantock Beach has lost half a point on TripAdvisor whilst Lizard Point Holiday Park has gained half a point. Honestly, I wouldn't obsess over this too much. TripAdvisor ratings are only given in halves, so it is quite common for a resort to jump between ratings. The general conclusion is that there are three Cornish Parkdean Resorts that are leading the way with their review scores: Crantock Beach Holiday Park, Sea Acres Holiday Park and St Minver Holiday Park. Which Parkdean Resorts in Cornwall has the best facilities?There is a significant range in the size of Parkdean Resorts around the UK. Some are massive resorts with enough to occupy you for a week or more - others offer accommodation in a nice location but not much else. A small and simple resort isn't necessarily a bad thing - you may be the sort of family that prefers to explore the local area rather than spending all your time onsite. Parkdean Resorts has a useful system where it labels its larger and busier resorts as 'Action Packed Parks'. There are currently 10 of these in the UK including two in Cornwall - Lizard Point Holiday Park and Newquay Holiday Park. At these parks, you can expect to find loads to do including a mix of free activities and things you pay extra for. At Lizard Point, there is an indoor swimming pool, two outdoor swimming pools, an adventure playground, soft play, nature trails, kids' clubs, a sports court, outdoor table tennis and a 'woof park', which is a dog agility course. There are also paid extras such as high ropes, bungee trampolines, battle blaster (a bit like NERF), archery, kayaking, laser tag, Adventure Bugz and mini golf. Meanwhile, Parkdean Resorts Newquay Holiday Park doesn't have an indoor swimming pool but it has three outdoors pools - one of which has a massive great waterslide. There are also four playgrounds, soft play and paid activities such as minigolf, archery, high ropes, hoverboards, arts and craft and so on. You can find more details on which activities cost extra here. There are also some Parkdean Resorts in Cornwall that promote themselves as being 'relaxed'. This generally means that there aren't lots of activities onsite but they are often in good locations. These 'relaxed' parks include:
Finally, there are three Parkdean Resorts in Cornwall that fall somewhere in the middle. They aren't quite as jam-packed with entertainment as Lizard Point Holiday Park or Newquay Holiday park but they have a bit more to do than Crantock Beach Holiday Park, Sea Acres Holiday Park and St Minver Holiday Park. These three resorts are Holywell Bay Holiday Park, Looe Bay Holiday Park and White Acres Holiday Park. Which Parkdean Resorts holiday park in Cornwall is cheapest?Here's the juicy part! Next up, we carried out a price comparison for one set of dates for a peak-season 2024 holiday. You may find different results for your holiday, but it's an interesting exercise if nothing else. We looked for a family for four people in early August 2024. We just looked for the cheapest accommodation available at the time of searching. You might find that prices creep up nearer the time because the lower grades of accommodation get booked up quicker. See our guide to Parkdean Resorts grading of caravans for more advice. (As an aside, we usually advise people to book early if they can rather than hoping for a last minute discount. The best prices are usually available to the early birds). From cheapest to most expensive
So, there's a difference of £350 between the cheapest - Looe Bay Holiday Park and the most expensive - Newquay Holiday Park. It's interesting to note that Sea Acres and St Minver are two of the cheapest despite getting some of the best reviews (or perhaps the low prices help encourage high review scores!) Which Parkdean Resorts in Cornwall is easiest to reach by car?Convenience is a big factor for me. Let's look at driving distance from London. I'm aware that not everyone lives in London, but the difference in travel time is likely to be about the same for most visitors.
So, you will spend more than two and half hours extra in the car for a return journey to Sea Acres Holiday Park or Lizard Point Holiday Park compared to Looe Bay Holiday Park or White Acres Holiday Park. That's a notable factor for me as one of my children isn't a great car traveller! Another thing to consider is that Cornwall is a large county. If you want to cover the whole of Cornwall in a week then you are better to stay somewhere around the middle such as Newquay Holiday Park. It's an hour's drive from Lizard Point Holiday Park to Tintagel on the North Cornish coast. You may not fancy two hours in the car after driving all the way to Cornwall! Which Parkdean Resorts Holiday Park in Cornwall is near to a beach?Easy access to a beach is another big factor for us. Walking distance is preferable so that a beach trip doesn't require loading everyone and everything into the car. Plus, you don't have to find and pay for parking if it's not far away. Here's how the Cornish Parkdean Resorts rank, based on how close they are to the nearest beach
(Note that these times will vary a bit depending on where you are on the site and whether you go for the closest beach or a nicer one with more sand!) So, we have three winners in this category. Sea Acres Holiday Park, Crantock Beach Holiday Park and Holywell Bay Holiday Park are all close enough to walk to the beach without too much complaining from the rest of your family. Conclusion - pros and cons of each Parkdean Resorts in CornwallLet's round up with a summary of each Parkdean Resorts in Cornwall. There isn't a clear winner in every category, so a pros and cons list is in order!
**Haven Latest Offers: May Half Term from £235 + Summer 2024 under £300** Haven is probably the best-known name in the UK caravan holiday park market. Their 40 parks are ideal for families looking for a busy holiday with indoor swimming pools, places to eat onsite and easy access to beaches. Many of their parks get better reviews than their rivals, but they can also be a bit more expensive (based on the price comparisons we've done). Here are 6 ways to save money on Haven holiday parks (plus an extra one we added later!) 1. Don’t arrive on a SaturdayUnsurprisingly, most of us want to arrive on Saturday for a week’s holiday. However, if you can avoid their busiest changeover day then you can make a decent saving. For example, a week staying at Haven’s Seaview Holiday Park in Dorset in August 2024 in a Saver caravan was £899 when we checked, if you arrived on a Saturday. However, if you arrived on the Friday before it was only £769, a saving of £130. You’ll still get a seven-day holiday, it’s just not as convenient for people working Monday to Friday. 2. Travel to a Haven holiday park up northIn our (limited) price comparison, we found that Haven’s best holiday parks in the north of England and in Scotland are generally cheaper than their best holiday parks in the South of England. Location seems to be more of a factor than facilities and reviews. There are exceptions of course, but we picked out 10 of the best Haven holiday parks for our guide and found that two of the three cheapest were Thornwick Bay in Yorkshire and Lakeland Leisure Park in the Lake District. Meanwhile, Devon Cliffs in Devon and Perran Sands in Cornwall were both amongst the more expensive Haven resorts. During August the difference between the cheapest and most expensive was almost £700 for a family of four. That's just the minimum saving - if you start looking at more luxurious accommodation then the price difference is even greater. 3. Cosy up and fill up a caravanThis one is not for everyone, but a family of four will make a significant saving if they share an eight berth caravan rather than booking two caravans for four people. For example, you’ll pay £1538 for two Saver caravans for four people at Haven’s Seaview Holiday Park in Dorset in August 2024. An eight-berth Bronze caravan meanwhile will cost you £1158 for the same week (searches carried out in November 2023). Bronze is one grade higher than Saver in the Haven accommodation grading system. That means each family will pay £579 for a week rather than £769, a saving of £190. But is it practical? Well, in the example above, a four-person caravan has two bedrooms whilst a four-berth caravan has three bedrooms meaning that a couple of people will end up sleeping in the lounge. I guess you’d need to know people pretty well to avoid a week of awkward situations. Also bear in mind that an eight-berth caravan only has one shower, so you might not get everyone ready until about lunchtime. One slightly more practical option is to invite a couple of grandparents, as the difference between a two-bedroom and three-bedroom caravan is generally only a couple of hundred pounds. 4. Book Haven early for the best choice and priceGenerally, you’ll find the best deals are available if you book long in advance, rather than if you wait for a ‘last minute bargain’. The cheaper accommodation at popular Haven parks is sometimes sold-out months in advance. For example, when we searched Lydstep Beach Holiday Park in November 2023 for holidays in August 2024, we found that the cheapest ‘Saver’ caravans were already sold out for some weeks. As a result, you’re left with the ‘gold’ and ‘signature’ options which are more expensive. Presumably quite a lot of people are booking their holidays before they’ve even got home and unpacked. Haven also doing a price promise, which is along the lines of: 'When you book your 2024 holiday early, we’ll beat any prices cheaper after that. If you stumble across your break at lower price after you’ve booked...we’ll give you the difference back (full details here). 5. Check Haven's offers page regularlyAlways take a quick look at Haven's offers pages before you book. These aren't generally discount codes and promo codes, but are discounted rates around certain dates. You'll find they offer things like 25% or 50% off standard prices, or fixed price deals for midweek breaks. Most of the deals are aimed at getting people to book outside of the school holidays but it's always worth a look, even if you are fixed to certain dates. There is also a last-minute offers page which has some really good prices for people who are flexible enough (yoga teachers, for example). 6. Try camping and touring at a Haven holiday parkOK, I know what you're thinking...but bear with me. About half of Haven's holiday parks offer touring and camping, which means you can bring a tent or your own caravan. The advantage is that you still get to use all the onsite facilities, including swimming pools, kids' clubs and so on. When we checked, a week at Littlesea Holiday Park in Dorset in August 2024 was £1010 for 2 adults and 2 children in the cheapest caravan available. Meanwhile, a week in a tent at Littlesea for four people was £504, a saving of £506. It's one to consider during peak summer season when the weather is better and the difference in price is most significant. See our guide to Haven's touring and camping sites. 7: Choose a Haven Hideaway holiday instead of a standard Haven holidayIn 2022, Haven introduced a new option on the booking form called Haven Hideaway (it was called Haven Stay/Haven Stay + Play for a while). The idea is that you can pick whether or not you want to pay to use the onsite facilities. We've written a whole blog post on this but the gist of it is that if you are visiting on peak and are just looking for a seaside base for exploring the local area then I would go for a Haven Hideaway holiday. If you are likely to use the swimming pool, kids' clubs or entertainment then you'll need to pay for a standard Haven holiday (previously called Haven Stay + Play). The saving varies significantly depending on the time of year. When we searched for week long holidays in August 2024, we found that a family of four saved between £100 and £210 by going for Haven Hideaway (previously called Haven Stay). We looked at prices at five of the best Haven resorts (Hafan y Môr Holiday Park, Hopton Holiday Village, Devon Cliffs Holiday Park, Lydstep Beach Holiday Park and Perran Sands Holiday Park). However, for a week long holiday in early October the saving was only £40-£90 for a family of four at those five resorts. So, you're only really saving about £1.50-£3 per person, per day. It's worth realising that a standard Haven holiday doesn't mean you get to use everything for free. You still have to pay extra for some activities. Center Parcs Europe Top tip: CenterParcs.fr is nearly always cheaper than CenterParcs.eu for exactly the same holiday. The saving can be more than €100 for a week's summer holiday. Your browser will translate CenterParcs.fr to English if you don't speak French! **Center Parcs Europe 2024 Offer: 25% off your first stay + free activities** Center Parcs Europe can cost half the price of a similar break at a Center Parcs in the UK* - but how far will you have to drive? Is it worth the extra effort and travel costs? Here are the five Center Parcs in Europe which are quickest to reach from the UK by car via the Eurotunnel at Folkestone: 1. Center Parcs Park de Haan, Belgium - 1 hour 24 minutes from Calais (3/5 on TripAdvisor)You might assume that the closest European Center Parcs to the UK is in France, but it's actually in Belgium. Take your car on the 35 minute Eurotunnel and a couple of hours later you could be arriving at Center Parcs Park de Haan (assuming you don't get stuck behind a Belgian tractor). In our price comparisons, we found a week's holiday in August 2024 at Center Parcs Park de Haan for £1712. That was based on the cheapest accommodation for a family of four and doesn't include travel costs. You usually get the best prices by booking through the French version of the Center Parcs Europe website (we concluded this after a lot of price checking!). There are more than 60 activities listed on the Center Parcs Europe website at Park de Haan, including 27 free activities. That is mid-table compared to other similar sites around Europe. It's got the sort of large swimming pool which you associate with a Center Parcs holiday. Unusually for Center Parcs, Park de Haan is also close to a beach. The bad news is that Center Parcs Park de Haan isn't the best Center Parcs in Belgium according to customers. It used to be a Sun Parks resort but it was rebranded in 2020. The resort only scores 3/5 on TripAdvisor. Reviews on Google reviews are a little better at 3.8/5. The main languages in Belgium are Flemish (similar to Dutch) and French. However, you can get a long way speaking English in Belgium. See our guide to the best Center Parcs resorts in Belgium for the full comparisons. 2. Center Parcs Lac d'Ailette, France - 2 hours 35 minutes drive from Calais (3/5 on TripAdvisor)Center Parcs Lac d'Ailette is the second closest Center Parcs to the UK, assuming you are arriving in Calais by car. It's in a nice lakeside location and it performs well in price comparisons (see our full guide to Center Parcs in France). Again though, it isn't the highest-rated French Center Parcs with customers. That honour belongs to Le Bois Aux Daims which is a much more testing drive of about six hours from Calais. Center Parcs Lac d'Ailette gets scores similar review scores to Center Parcs Park de Haan (see above) - 3/5 on TripAdvisor and 3.8/5 on Google reviews. That is some way behind the 4/5 and 4.1/5 awarded to Le Bois Aux Daims. In our price comparisons, Center Parcs Lac d'Ailette was the cheapest (or thereabouts) of all the French Center Parcs. We found that a week in August 2024 starts at £1404, which is £300 less than Center Parcs Park de Haan. The good news is Center Parcs Lac d'Ailette has 92 facilities and activities, which is about 30 more than Center Parcs Park de Haan. It is worth mentioning the caveat here that Center Parcs lists similar activities as separate things on their website. For example, each feature within the swimming pool counts as a different activity. Another bit of good news is that Center Parcs Lac d'Ailette is relatively new, having opened in 2007. Center Parcs Park de Haan is much older, having originally opened in 1987 before its revamp and rebrand as Center Parcs in 2020. Personally, I would feel a little more comfortable at a French Center Parcs than a Dutch or Belgian one as I can stumble along with my GCSE French. I got an A but I'm very humble so I don't like to mention it or make a big thing of it (Ed: er, I think you just did). 3. Center Parcs Vossemeren, Belgium - 3 hours 18 minutes from Calais (4/5 on TripAdvisor)Center Parcs Vossemeren in Belgium is an excellent choice for a European Center Parcs which is near to the UK. It achieves the best review scores of the five featured in this guide - currently 4/5 on TripAdvisor or 4.3/5 on Google Reviews. The swimming pool ('Aqua Mundo') is reviewed separately and is given an admirable score of 4.4/5. Prices are competitive. We found a week in August 2024 for £1306 for a family of four, which puts it roughly on a par with Center Parcs Lac d'Ailette. The cheapest price for a similar holiday at Center Parcs in the UK was £2128, although you would likely save on travel costs. The range of activities is excellent, with 115 different things listed on the Center Parcs website including 32 free things to do. Center Parcs Vossemeren is a relatively old resort having opened in the 1980s. However, it has been updated a fair bit since then. 4. Center Parcs De Kempervennen, Netherlands - 3 hours 21 minutes drive from Calais (3.5/5 on TripAdvisor)The fourth closest European Center Parks resort for UK visitors is actually in the Netherlands. This confuses my understanding of European geography, but I'll get over. Center Parcs De Kempervennen gets the second best reviews of the five Center Parcs we've featured in this guide - 3.5/5 on TripAdvisor or 4/5 on Google reviews. It has a good number of activities (88, including 30 free ones) and it has been renovated in recent years. Reviews for its swimming pool can be found separately - it achieves 4.2/5 which is very good. Week-long holidays in August 2024 for a family of four started at £1208 when we searched. That is cheaper than Park de Haan and Lac d'Ailette. Here's the thing though. If you are already driving 3 hours 21 minutes to get to Center Parcs De Kempervennen then I would be tempted to drive an extra 18 minutes to reach Center Parcs Het Meerdal. It gets better reviews, it is usually cheaper and it has a few more activities. Het Meerdal also has better dog-friendly and baby-friendly accommodation. See our full guide to the best Center Parcs in the Netherlands to see how we reached that conclusion. 5. Center Parcs Villages Nature Paris, France - 3 hours 23 minutes from Calais (3/5 on TripAdvisor)The fifth closest Center Parcs to Calais is a curiosity. Center Parcs Villages Nature Paris is a joint venture with Disneyland Paris. The idea is that you spend two or three days at Disneyland Paris, which is 10 minutes down the road. You spend the rest of your time at Center Parcs. The only snag with this idyllic hybrid holiday is that customer reviews have been disappointing since Centre Parcs Villages Nature Paris opened in 2017. It currently scores 3/5 on TripAdvisor and 3.5/5 on Google reviews. According to the summary of reviews offered by Google reviews, guests said that 'cleanliness & maintenance could be improved'. Lots of guests also mention the lack of air conditioning as a negative in summer. The good news is that the swimming pool ('Aqua Mundo/Aqualagon') gets very good reviews. Center Parcs Villages Nature Paris is also one of the more expensive CenterParcs in Europe. In our comparison, it was consistently the most expensive of the seven Center Parcs in France. We found that a week in August for four people starts at £2081, is about £800 more than Center Parcs De Kempervennen. (Top tip - Book your accommodation through Center Parcs' French website and then book your own Disneyland Paris tickets. We found this was cheaper than getting a bundle of accommodation and tickets from Disneyland Paris). Read our full guide to Center Parcs Villages Nature Paris which includes advice on saving money. Please note that the predicted travel time varies a bit depending on when you check on Google maps. Review scores correct at the time of writing. Our 'less than half price' claim is based on our price comparisons for August 2024. We found the cheapest week's holiday at Center Parcs UK for a family of four was £2128 for the cheapest accommodation available. A similar search at CenterParcs.fr found a week at Center Parcs Les Ardennes in Belgium from £1072. There are a few caveats to this. Firstly, you need to add on travel costs - don't drive across Europe if it will only save you a tenner. Secondly, take a look at our comparison of Center Parcs Europe, as some resorts are better than others. Thirdly, you need to book through CenterParcs.fr for this price - it usually costs more to book through CenterParcs.eu. Fourthly, exchange rates mean that the price of Center Parcs in Europe vary throughout the year. We searched in November 2023.
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Holiday Park Guru BlogOccasional thoughts on holidays in England, Wales, Scotland and further afield, including the latest deals, discounts and last minute offers. |
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© COPYRIGHT 2024. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.