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5 of the best Essex caravan holiday parks - 2021
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.
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 Discount Code: Save up to 10% with promo code HPGOFFER10 via this link. Valid until 31/12/21**
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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, Cudmore Grove Country Park is nearby. Price: £936 for a week in a caravan for a family of four in early August 2021, staying in a 'standard' caravan. Top tip: arriving on a Friday at Mersea Island Holiday Park is usually cheaper than arriving on a Saturday. |
Mersea Island Holiday Park is near a beach and it gets very good reviews
It's also got an indoor swimming pool for less sunny days
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2. Dovercourt Holiday Park, Harwich (outdoor swimming pool, clubhouse, soft play)
**Winner: best value Essex holiday park**
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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: £749 for a week in a Bronze Plus caravan in August 2021. The caravan has two bedrooms and sleeps four people, although a caravan with an extra bedroom was only about £75 extra for the week. |
Dovercourt Holiday Park doesn't have an indoor pool, but it has playgrounds...
...and an outdoor swimming pool
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3. Haven's The Orchards Holiday Park, Brightlingsea (beachside, indoor and outdoor swimming pools)
**Haven 2021 Offers: Last minute bargains from £120 + Summer from £369, Autumn from £79**
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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: £735 for a standard caravan for a family of four for a week in August 2021. |
Haven's only Essex caravan park has two swimming pools...
...and a playground, as well as golf, archery and football
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4. Coopers Beach Holiday Park, Mersea Island (indoor and outdoor swimming pools, coastal location)
**Winner: cheapest holiday park**
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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: £629 for a family of four for a week in a Mallard caravan at Coopers Beach Holiday Park in August 2021. It's actually a caravan for six people, so you could bring a few relatives and get a bargain. Weeley Bridge was £639 for the same week for a caravan which sleeps eight people, so might be worth considering if you're looking for a cheap caravan holiday in Essex. |
Coopers Beach Holiday Park is run by Parkdean Resorts...
...and it has indoor and outdoor swimming pools
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5. Elm Farm Country Park, near Frinton-on-Sea (lodges with hot tubs, simple facilities)
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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: 2021 was unavailable when we checked but it was £995 for a family of four staying in a lodge for week in August 2020. |
If you want a quieter Essex holiday park to use as a base...
...then take a look at Elm Farm Country Park
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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 2021. 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 November 2020. 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:
Images are from Hoseasons, Away Resorts, Park Holidays and Haven.
Here's our top 5 holiday parks in Essex in order of price:
- Parkdean Resorts Coopers Beach Holiday Park - £629
- Haven's The Orchards Holiday Park - £735
- Park Holidays Dovercourt Holiday Park - £749
- Away Resorts Mersea Island Holiday Park - £936
- Elm Farm Country Park - £995 (2020 price)
Images are from Hoseasons, Away Resorts, Park Holidays and Haven.
