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Center Parcs Europe or Center Parcs UK - which is best value?

There are 5 Center Parcs in England and more than 20 across mainland Europe, including parks in France, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands/Holland (sometimes wrongly called Centre Parcs).

At peak times, Center Parks UK can be pretty expensive, with a week for a family of four in August often costing £2000 or more once you’ve included onsite activities.

However, Center Parcs Europe is a separate business and so we wanted to know which is best and cheapest - Center Parcs UK or Center Parks Europe? Is it worth the emotional cost of a car journey across Europe with a car full of children?

If you don't want to read through all our waffle, the short answer is that Center Parcs Europe is sometimes about half the price of Center Parks UK.  However, you'll save much more during peak season and you need to pick carefully (try Center Parcs Het Meerdal in the Netherlands, Center Parcs De Vossemeren in Belgium, Center Parcs Park Bostalsee in Germany or Center Parcs Le Bois Aux Daims in France for starters).

Anyway, for those who want to see more detail, we’ve done a comparison based on facilities, price, convenience, cost of travel and customer reviews.

Which gets the best reviews? Center Parks UK or Center Parcs Europe

Center Parcs UK is remarkably consistent when it comes to customer reviews. When we checked, all five parks in England were scoring 4/5 on TripAdvisor or 4.5 or 4.6 on Google reviews.

CenterParcs Europe is much more inconsistent, with reviews ranging from 3/5 to 4/5 on TripAdvisor. 
​
Six Center Parcs Europe sites received comparable reviews to Center Parcs UK:
(Checked in May 2019)

Sure, there are many more but for the purposes of comparison I think it’s more useful to just look at these six - plus Les Villages Nature Paris which is a Center Parcs at Disneyland Paris (3.5/5 on TripAdvisor, 3.7/5 on Google, 8.0 on Booking.com)

It’s worth noting that some of the Center Parcs Europe sites were once Sunparks or Landal Greenparks and have been rebranded as Center Parcs. The UK Center Parcs were all built for the brand (as far as I’m aware) so that may explain the consistency.

Is CenterParcs Europe cheaper than Center Parcs UK?

Center Parcs Europe and Center Parcs UK are actually separate companies, so they have different approaches to pricing. You will rarely see significant discounts at Center Parcs UK (discount codes for Center Parcs UK are rarer than hen’s teeth) whereas Center Parcs Europe frequently have special offers and discounts.

​However, as we all know though, some companies use discounts to lure you in to feel you’re getting a deal so you need to look at what you’re actually getting rather than what you’re supposedly saving.

It’s worth noting that we looked for the cheapest accommodation available. We initially started trying to compare different types of accommodation but the whole thing turned into a great big confusing mess…

Anyway, we started by looking for the cheapest price for a family of four in early August 2019 (without any extras) and found the following prices:


So, the five cheapest Center Parcs on the list were all in Europe. The cheapest European Center Parcs was nearly £800 cheaper than the cheapest Center Parcs UK (or roughly half). The most expensive of all was Longleat, with the park at Disneyland slightly cheaper.

Next we looked for the cost of a weekend over the August Bank Holiday from Friday to Monday and found the following prices for a family of four:


This time, the six cheapest options were all Center Parcs Europe. The cheapest European Center Parcs (Center Parcs Het Meerdal) was less than half the price of the cheapest Center Parcs UK (Elveden Forest on this occasion) - or about £500 cheaper.

We then looked for a break later in the year - a mid-week break from Monday to Friday in October 2019 during half term. We found the following results:
​
Again, the six cheapest Center Parcs were all in Europe. Five were considerably cheaper whilst Center Parcs Le Bois Aux Daims was pretty close to most of the UK sites. Four of the European Center Parcs were about half the price of Center Parcs UK.  In some cases you could save yourself about £500 by travelling to a Center Parcs in Europe.

Which has the most activities? Center Parcs UK or Center Parcs Europe

There is some variation in how many activities are on offer at each site in the UK, but it’s not major. According to the official blurb on the Center Parcs UK website there are between 207 and 232 different activities at the 5 parks.

​If we just look at the six Center Parcs Europe sites with the best reviews, there are between 91 and 116 activities on offer, so about half as many.
However, these numbers might not tell the whole story. There aren’t actually 200+ unique activities at the UK Center Parcs, as there are several similar listings. For example, when we looked at Whinfell Forest activities, squash was listed four times in different formats whilst bowling was listed as two different activities depending on how long you play for.

Listings for the Center Parcs Europe activities don't seem to be done in quite the same way, so I don't think it's a very fair comparison. 

Honestly, I think Center Parcs UK or Center Parcs Europe will offer plenty of activities for a week's holiday. Bear in mind that you have to pay extra for most activities at Center Parcs.

How long does it take to travel to Center Parcs Europe?

Here’s an area where Center Parcs UK will come out on top, but by how much? The UK sites are well spaced out around the country so most people should be able to get to one of the five sites within a couple of hours.

  • If you live in Scotland or the North of England, Whinfell Forest in Cumbria is closest
  • If you live in West Midlands, East Midlands and Yorkshire then Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire is closest
  • If you live in the Westcountry, Longleat Forest in Wiltshire is closest 
  • If you live in East Anglia or London then Elveden Forest in Suffolk or Woburn Forest in Bedfordshire will be closest​
Getting to some the Center Parcs in Europe takes a bit longer but it's not actually all that tricky, particularly if you live towards the South of England.

If you’re in the South East of England, I would get the Eurotunnel from Folkestone which takes 35 minutes. When we checked, a return for a car and passengers on Eurotunnel cost from £200ish in August or from about £150 in October.

You can then drive from Calais to the highest rated Center Parcs in the following times:
Door to door from London, De Kempervennen takes about 6 hours from Central London (ish).

Obviously there are many other routes into Europe by ferry which leave from Portsmouth, Plymouth and other UK ports. There are also other Center Parcs which are a bit nearer, but I personally would go for the ones with the better reviews.

Conclusion - is Center Parcs Europe better and cheaper than Center Parcs UK?

In terms of reviews and activities, Center Parcs Europe seems to be compete well with Center Parcs UK as long as you do some research and choose the better parks. 

And yes, it would seem to be true that Center Parcs Europe is much cheaper than Center Parcs UK for accommodation.

However, it's important to look at the full cost including travel rather than just the cost of accommodation.

During August, we found that the difference in price was pretty significant. A family of four staying for a week could save themselves about £800-£1000. Unsurprisingly though, the difference for shorter trips or for off peak holidays was less significant (about £400-£500 in our price comparison).

As a very rough guide you can expect to pay at least £300+ in extra travel costs if you go to a Center Parcs in Europe once you've paid to get over the Channel and for fuel. That gobbles up quite a lot of your savings for an off-peak holiday or for a weekend away. And then of course there's the extra time you'll spend travelling rather than actually at the accommodation.

Personally, I'd consider Center Parcs Europe for a week or two in August but probably would go for Center Parcs UK off-peak or for a weekend.

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.