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5 of the best Essex caravan holiday parks - 2020

There's a pretty good choice of caravan holiday parks in Essex, which is conveniently located for a trip away from London, Suffolk or Kent. You'll find that most of the big names in the UK caravan park market are represented in Essex, including Haven, Parkdean Resorts, Park Holidays and Away Resorts. 

Essex has a few traditional seaside resorts for a day out, including Southend on Sea (home to the world's longest pleasure pier, in case that impresses you) and Clacton on Sea. Big attractions in Essex include Colchester Zoo, Clacton Pier and Colchester Castle.

We've picked out five of the best caravan holiday parks in Essex by looking at facilities, location, customer reviews and value for money. For a rough price comparison we looked for a family holiday for a week in August 2020.

1. Mersea Island Holiday Park, near Colchester (beachside, indoor swimming pool)

Mersea Island Holiday Park discount code: *10% off with code IOWGURU10 until 31/12/20*

**Winner: best value holiday park**

Mersea Island Holiday Park is run by Away Resorts, which has half a dozen caravan parks around the UK. It's a medium sized holiday park and customer reviews are very positive (average of 4.5/5 on TripAdvisor when we checked). It's also in a decent location with direct access to a nice stretch of beach.

Onsite facilities are a bit limited, but there is an indoor swimming pool, a restaurant and a playground. There is also a clubhouse which puts on entertainment at peak times.

It's a dog-friendly site and has a mix of different accommodation options including cheap caravans and luxurious lodges with hot tubs called 'Indulgent TriBeCa'.

If you happen to own a boat or a jetski, you can launch it from the private beach. Would you also mind lending me a tenner?

If you fancy a wander, Country Grove Country Park is nearby.

Price: £717 for a week in a caravan for a family of four in early August 2020, staying in a 'standard' caravan.
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Top tip: arriving on a Friday at Mersea Island Holiday Park is usually cheaper than arriving on a Saturday.

2. Dovercourt Holiday Park, Harwich (outdoor swimming pool, clubhouse, soft play)

Park Holidays has got five holiday parks in Essex, but Dovercourt Holiday Park tends to get the best reviews.

It doesn't have an indoor swimming pool but it was scoring a very impressive 4.5/5 from reviewers on TripAdvisor when we checked. If you want a Park Holidays site with a swimming pool in Essex you can choose from Park Holiday's Martello Beach Holiday Park, Seawick Holiday Park and St Osyth Beach Holiday Park) 

The beach is a couple of miles away, but onsite facilities include an outdoor swimming pool (during the warmer months), playgrounds, a sports court, minigolf, a clubhouse with entertainment, a good sized soft play area and a restaurant. 

If you want a day trip, Frinton on Sea or Clacton on Sea are both half an hour away in the car. 

Dovercourt is another dog friendly holiday park in Essex.

Price: £769 for a week in a Dovercourt Silver Plus 2 caravan in August 2020. The caravan has two bedrooms and sleeps four people.

 3. Coopers Beach Holiday Park, Mersea Island (indoor and outdoor swimming pools, coastal location)

**Winner: cheapest holiday park**

Parkdean Resorts is one of the biggest names in the UK caravan park market. They've got more than 60 caravan parks after a merger a few years ago with Park Resorts. Most of them are in coastal locations and have a decent range of facilities.

There are five Parkdean Resorts holiday parks to pick from in Essex. I would start by looking at either Weeley Bridge Holiday Park or Coopers Beach Holiday Park depending on what's important to you.

Coopers Beach is a large holiday park which is near to a beach at Mersea Island and has indoor and outdoor swimming pools. Weeley Bridge is a much smaller holiday park which is 15 minutes drive from Clacton on Sea and is alongside fishing lakes. It has an outdoor swimming pool, but it's got much simpler facilities than Coopers Beach.

Weeley Bridge was scoring slightly higher on TripAdvisor when we checked (4/5 compared to 3.5/5 at Coopers Beach) but other review sites put them the other way round. 

Personally, I'd pick Coopers Beach as two of my top criteria for a holiday park are a beachside location and an indoor swimming pool.

Price: £609 for a family of four for a week in a Wagtail caravan at Coopers Beach Holiday Park in August 2020. It's actually a caravan for eight people, so you could bring a few relatives and get a bargain. Weeley Bridge was actually even cheaper at £499 for the same week, so might be worth considering if you're looking for a cheap caravan holiday in Essex.

 4. Haven's The Orchards Holiday Park, Brightlingsea (beachside, indoor and outdoor swimming pools)

Haven is arguably the most famous name in the UK caravan park market and they've got one site in Essex - The Orchards, which is close to Brightlingsea and Clacton-on-Sea.

It doesn't score quite as highly from reviewers as some Haven holidays parks (about 3.5/5 on most review sites) but there's still a lot going for it if you want a holiday with a familiar name in Essex.

Onsite, you'll find plenty of entertainment including indoor and outdoor swimming pools, a nine hole golf course, a sports court and playground. There are also a number of activities you can sign up for including archery, nature discovery sessions and football training sessions (you pay extra for some activities). 

Lots of the accommodation overlooks water and the site is right alongside the beach.

If you want to head out to pick up a stick of rock or a kiss-me-quick hat, it is 20 minutes in the car to Clacton Pier.

Price: £741 for a caravan for a family of four for a week in August 2020.

5. Elm Farm Country Park, near Frinton-on-Sea (lodges with hot tubs, simple facilities)

If all this talk of busy indoor swimming pools and evening entertainment doesn't appeal, then you might prefer the simpler holiday park experience offered at Elm Farm Country Park.

The accommodation is spacious lodges rather than caravans and many of them have hot tubs, so you can laze around and break wind without anyone noticing. In terms of price, it isn't actually all that much more expensive than many caravan parks for the dates we looked at.

Elm Farm Country Park gets very positive reviews of either 4/5 or 4.5/5 depending on which review site you look at.

It isn't by the sea but it will only take you 10-15 minutes in the car to get to Clacton-on-Sea, Frinton-on-Sea or Walton-on-the-Naze.

​Price: £995 for a family of four staying in a lodge for week in August 2020.

Price comparison of 5 of the best caravan holiday parks in Essex

To give a rough idea of price, we looked for the cheapest holiday we could find for a family of four in August 2020. We looked for the cheapest accommodation available for a week and didn't include optional extras such as activities which cost extra. We carried out our searches in February 2020, about six months before the holiday date. You will generally find that booking a holiday park early is the best way to get a good deal as the cheaper accommodation gets booked up, but occasionally there are last minute deals too.

Here's our top 5 holiday parks in Essex in order of price:
  1. Coopers Beach Holiday Park ​- £609
  2. Mersea Island Holiday Park - £717
  3. Haven's The Orchards Holiday Park - £741
  4. Dovercourt Holiday Park - £769
  5. ​Elm Farm Country Park - £995

Other guides from the Holiday Park Guru

Holiday-Park-Guru-Don't-Blame-Us-Disclaimer: All the information on this page is accurate, as far as we know. However, facilities at holiday parks change so please check with the park before booking.