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Which Is Better – Haven or Butlins? 2024 Guide
Butlins and Haven both offer a decent family holiday for a reasonable price. But which is better?
We think that Butlins is better than Haven if you like big shows from TV stars, big swimming pools, busy funfairs and the option of having meals provided. However, Haven is better if you want a smaller site with some good facilities, nice beaches nearby and a few days out in the local area.
Here’s our summary comparison of Haven v Butlins before we move on to the main guide:
We think that Butlins is better than Haven if you like big shows from TV stars, big swimming pools, busy funfairs and the option of having meals provided. However, Haven is better if you want a smaller site with some good facilities, nice beaches nearby and a few days out in the local area.
Here’s our summary comparison of Haven v Butlins before we move on to the main guide:
Things to consider |
Butlins |
Haven |
Type of accommodation |
Apartments, hotels, chalets and rooms |
Caravans, camping and touring |
Choice of locations |
3 |
38 |
Evening and kids entertainment |
Big name celebs and kids' TV stars |
In house shows, bingo, quizzes etc. |
Dining options |
Self catering or inclusive buffets |
Self catering with onsite restaurants |
Reviews |
Usually 4/5 on TripAdvisor |
Range from 3.5/5 to 4.5/5 on TripAdvisor |
Swimming pools |
Large indoor waterparks |
Varies - some large waterparks, some smaller pools |
Number of guests |
About 7000 people when full |
About 250 - 1400 caravans |
Funfairs |
Yes, included in price |
No |
Local beaches |
Traditional seaside resorts (Skegness, Minehead, Bognor Regis) |
Big range, including quiet bays, sandy beaches and some marshy beaches |
Facilities and activities |
Soft play, football, minigolf, go karts, pool, bowling, archery, aerial adventures, pottery |
Depends on the site. Big ones have a similar range to Butlins, small ones have less. |
Opening months |
Open all year |
Mostly closed in winter |
Parking |
Walk from a big shared car park |
Usually next to your caravan |
Fishing lakes |
No |
Yes, at some sites |
Cost |
Generally more expensive than Haven (see price comparison) |
Generally a bit cheaper than Butlins (see price comparison) |
Read on for our full comparison of review scores, facilities, prices and other factors.
Which is bigger? Haven or Butlins?
There are just three Butlins in the UK and more than 30 Haven resorts. Butlins resorts are much bigger than the average Haven resort, but Haven sites vary in size somewhat.
The Butlins resorts in Skegness, Bognor and Minehead are on a similar scale to each other. Butlins Minehead, Butlins Skegness and Butlins Bognor can accommodate about 6500-7500 overnight guests.
With Haven, it’s much more inconsistent. Some of the larger Haven resorts are a similar size to Butlins.
On the other hand, some Haven holiday parks are very small. Seaview Holiday Park in Weymouth and Lydstep Beach in Wales are two of the smallest Haven holiday parks. By my count there are only about 260 caravans at Haven Seaview Holiday Park, plus space for about 60 tents and touring caravans.
If each caravan has four guests, that would mean there were about 1000 people onsite at a time – far less than the 7000 people at a typical Butlins.
Of course, the size of a holiday park isn’t just about the number of guests it can accommodate. The bigger parks tend to have much bigger and better facilities and entertainment.
The Butlins resorts in Skegness, Bognor and Minehead are on a similar scale to each other. Butlins Minehead, Butlins Skegness and Butlins Bognor can accommodate about 6500-7500 overnight guests.
With Haven, it’s much more inconsistent. Some of the larger Haven resorts are a similar size to Butlins.
- Haven Devon Cliffs has about 1250 caravans which would be about 5000 people if four people were in each caravan. Some guides online tell you it's 1800 or more caravans, but we counted 1277 on the official map.
- Haven Hafan y Mor in Wales is a former Butlins site which has more than 1400 caravans and other accommodation units. We counted 1377 holiday homes plus 75 pitches for tourers. That means it can accommodate about 5800 people if there were four people per caravan. Hafan y Mor's swimming pool alone can accommodate 650 people.
- Haven Hafan y Mor isn’t the only former Butlins holiday park. Haven Craig Tara was known as Butlins Ayr until about 20 years ago. It's another large site with a big swimming pool and large capacity.
On the other hand, some Haven holiday parks are very small. Seaview Holiday Park in Weymouth and Lydstep Beach in Wales are two of the smallest Haven holiday parks. By my count there are only about 260 caravans at Haven Seaview Holiday Park, plus space for about 60 tents and touring caravans.
If each caravan has four guests, that would mean there were about 1000 people onsite at a time – far less than the 7000 people at a typical Butlins.
Of course, the size of a holiday park isn’t just about the number of guests it can accommodate. The bigger parks tend to have much bigger and better facilities and entertainment.
Butlins in Bognor Regis is a large site where you can easily spend a whole week...
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....whereas a Haven resort, such as Doniford Bay Holiday Park is on a much smaller scale
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Which has the best entertainment? Haven or Butlins?
Butlins is the winner here, in my opinion.
At Butlins, you can expect to see an act you've heard of performing in front of a big crowd. You'll often find Britain's Got Talent and X Factor performers, or children's TV presenters putting on shows. The onsite Redcoats also provide daily shows and pantomimes.
This is a big part of the appeal of a Butlins holiday and it's what bring a lot of people back year after year.
Click here to see the lineup of celebrity performers and shows at Butlins this year.
At Haven, the entertainment is on a smaller scale and it will be led by the in-house team. You can expect things like quizzes, kids' bingo, perhaps a pantomime, singalongs for children and so on.
Of course, your children may actually prefer a smaller, interactive show to a big venue with a noisy crowd.
Click here to see the current entertainment lineup at Haven.
At Butlins, you can expect to see an act you've heard of performing in front of a big crowd. You'll often find Britain's Got Talent and X Factor performers, or children's TV presenters putting on shows. The onsite Redcoats also provide daily shows and pantomimes.
This is a big part of the appeal of a Butlins holiday and it's what bring a lot of people back year after year.
Click here to see the lineup of celebrity performers and shows at Butlins this year.
At Haven, the entertainment is on a smaller scale and it will be led by the in-house team. You can expect things like quizzes, kids' bingo, perhaps a pantomime, singalongs for children and so on.
Of course, your children may actually prefer a smaller, interactive show to a big venue with a noisy crowd.
Click here to see the current entertainment lineup at Haven.
Butlins calls itself the home of entertainment, thanks to things like big top circus shows
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Haven entertainment venues are more on this sort of this scale (this is Hopton Holiday Park in Norfolk)
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Which has the best facilities and activities? Haven or Butlins?
Generally, Butlins Resorts have more attractions and facilities on-site than a Haven holiday park.
You could quite easily spend your whole holiday onsite with Butlins thanks to the large swimming pool/waterparks, a funfair with about 10 rides and the big top entertainment. You can also pay extra for things like minigolf, go karts, bowling, pool, pottery painting, archery, laser tag and target shooting.
With Haven, the range of activities and facilities depends on the size of the park. It's certainly not the case that you'll be twiddling your thumbs but you need to pick your park carefully if you want endless entertainment.
Several Haven resorts have invested a lot of money in recent years in large activity areas. For example, Haven Golden Sands in Lincolnshire opened an Adventure Village in 2021 which includes trampolines and aerial adventures.
A big Haven holiday park, such as Haven Devon Cliffs has about 12 different restaurants and other places to eat onsite. Haven Seaview in Dorset just has two places to eat, although it is next door to another Haven resort which has more choice.
Some Haven parks have large swimming pools, such as Haven Seashore Holiday Park, Haven Hafan y Mor and Haven Craig Tara. These swimming pools are more like waterparks which will provide plenty of entertainment. They aren't far off the Butlins scale, though I'd still put Butlins as the winner here. See our guide to the best holiday park swimming pools if this is a priority for you.
Some Haven holiday park swimming pools are much more straightforward and smaller, such as Lydstep Beach in Wales. They'll do the job for a quick trip to the pool but you aren't likely to visit every day.
You could quite easily spend your whole holiday onsite with Butlins thanks to the large swimming pool/waterparks, a funfair with about 10 rides and the big top entertainment. You can also pay extra for things like minigolf, go karts, bowling, pool, pottery painting, archery, laser tag and target shooting.
With Haven, the range of activities and facilities depends on the size of the park. It's certainly not the case that you'll be twiddling your thumbs but you need to pick your park carefully if you want endless entertainment.
Several Haven resorts have invested a lot of money in recent years in large activity areas. For example, Haven Golden Sands in Lincolnshire opened an Adventure Village in 2021 which includes trampolines and aerial adventures.
A big Haven holiday park, such as Haven Devon Cliffs has about 12 different restaurants and other places to eat onsite. Haven Seaview in Dorset just has two places to eat, although it is next door to another Haven resort which has more choice.
Some Haven parks have large swimming pools, such as Haven Seashore Holiday Park, Haven Hafan y Mor and Haven Craig Tara. These swimming pools are more like waterparks which will provide plenty of entertainment. They aren't far off the Butlins scale, though I'd still put Butlins as the winner here. See our guide to the best holiday park swimming pools if this is a priority for you.
Some Haven holiday park swimming pools are much more straightforward and smaller, such as Lydstep Beach in Wales. They'll do the job for a quick trip to the pool but you aren't likely to visit every day.
Butlins spent £40m on their swimming pool at Bognor Regis...
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...whilst Haven has revamped some of its pool, such as this one at Craig Tara
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Which get the best reviews? Haven or Butlins?
Reviews for the UK’s three Butlins holiday parks are pretty consistent. All of them score 4.3/5 on Google Reviews.
Meanwhile, Butlins Skegness and Butlins Bognor Regis both score 4/5 on TripAdvisor whilst Butlins Minehead scores 3.5/5. TripAdvisor only gives scores in half points, so the difference may be smaller than it looks.
The majority of Haven holiday parks get similar review scores to Butlins resorts (around 4/5 on most review sites).
However, there are some exceptions if you do a bit of digging around.
For example, Haven Wild Duck in Norfolk and Haven Lydstep Beach in Wales both score a rather impressive 4.5/5 on TripAdvisor. That’s better than the three Butlins resorts.
On the other hand, some Haven holiday parks only manage review scores of 3.5/5 on TripAdvisor (e.g. Haven Marton Mere in Blackpool and Haven Kent Coast (previously called Allhallows) in Kent.
I wouldn’t say that there are any Haven or Butlins resorts which get consistently bad reviews – which isn’t the case with some holiday park companies!
Meanwhile, Butlins Skegness and Butlins Bognor Regis both score 4/5 on TripAdvisor whilst Butlins Minehead scores 3.5/5. TripAdvisor only gives scores in half points, so the difference may be smaller than it looks.
The majority of Haven holiday parks get similar review scores to Butlins resorts (around 4/5 on most review sites).
However, there are some exceptions if you do a bit of digging around.
For example, Haven Wild Duck in Norfolk and Haven Lydstep Beach in Wales both score a rather impressive 4.5/5 on TripAdvisor. That’s better than the three Butlins resorts.
On the other hand, some Haven holiday parks only manage review scores of 3.5/5 on TripAdvisor (e.g. Haven Marton Mere in Blackpool and Haven Kent Coast (previously called Allhallows) in Kent.
I wouldn’t say that there are any Haven or Butlins resorts which get consistently bad reviews – which isn’t the case with some holiday park companies!
Which is cheapest? Haven or Butlins
Comparisons on price between Butlins and Haven are a bit tricky, as some Butlins holidays include food.
However, we looked at the price of the cheapest self catering accommodation for a week for a family of four at the three Butlins resorts and at 10 of the best Haven resorts. We searched for early August 2024 prices and didn't include optional upgrades.
We've put the Butlins resorts in italics.
In our limited price comparison, Haven appears to be cheaper than Butlins for a similar sort of holiday.
However, there are other factors to consider:
However, we looked at the price of the cheapest self catering accommodation for a week for a family of four at the three Butlins resorts and at 10 of the best Haven resorts. We searched for early August 2024 prices and didn't include optional upgrades.
- Haven Thornwick Bay – Yorkshire - £658
- Haven Doniford Bay – Somerset - £710
- Haven Rockley Park – Dorset - £758
- Haven Lakeland Leisure Park – The Lake District, Cumbria - £773
- Haven Hopton Holiday Village – Norfolk - £890
- Haven Seton Sands – Scotland - £952
- Butlins Minehead - Somerset - £971
- Haven Hafan y Môr Holiday Park – North Wales - £1068
- Haven Perran Sands - Cornwall - £1083
- Haven Devon Cliffs – Devon - £1228
- Haven Lydstep Beach Holiday Park - South Wales - £1268
- Butlins Bognor Regis - Sussex - £1324
- Butlins Skegness - Lincolnshire - £1480
We've put the Butlins resorts in italics.
In our limited price comparison, Haven appears to be cheaper than Butlins for a similar sort of holiday.
However, there are other factors to consider:
- Haven gives you the option to only have accommodation, which takes about £100 - £200 off the prices above (it's called the 'Haven Stay' option rather than 'Haven Stay + Play').
- Butlins includes more facilities and attractions, such as a funfair and big scale entertainment. As a result, you might end up spending more money off-site with Haven.
- Butlins has options to add on dining packages which are better value than eating out in an onsite restaurant at Haven every night.
- This is only one set of dates and it doesn't include the various accommodation upgrades which are available.
Haven's Thornwick Bay is a good value holiday park...
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...whilst Butlins Bognor Regis offers a lot for the price
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Which has the best accommodation? Butlins or Haven
Accommodation at Haven is mostly two and three bedroom caravans, with a bit of space for camping and touring at most resorts. The cheaper caravans are called Saver caravans, whilst the upgraded options are called Bronze, Silver, Gold and Signature.
Upgrades get you a wider caravan, central heating, dishwashers, towels included, outside space such as a balcony, a freezer and so on (see our Haven grades comparison blog). The advantage of a caravan is that you get your own detached space but they aren't quite as solid as a proper building. You can usually park your car next to your caravan at a Haven holiday park.
The choice of accommodation at Butlins is even bigger. We counted 19 different options when we wrote our guide to Butlins accommodation options.
There are two main options. Option one is a 'room' which has a bedroom or two, plus a bathroom. Option two is an apartment which also gives you a kitted out kitchen plus a lounge.
If you can afford to upgrade then you can upgrade to things like posher hotel-style rooms (at Butlins Bognor Regis), modern lakeside chalets (at Butlins Minehead) or fairground themed apartments (at Butlins Skegness).
You generally park in a big car park at a Butlins resort and then use a trolley to transport your bags.
Upgrades get you a wider caravan, central heating, dishwashers, towels included, outside space such as a balcony, a freezer and so on (see our Haven grades comparison blog). The advantage of a caravan is that you get your own detached space but they aren't quite as solid as a proper building. You can usually park your car next to your caravan at a Haven holiday park.
The choice of accommodation at Butlins is even bigger. We counted 19 different options when we wrote our guide to Butlins accommodation options.
There are two main options. Option one is a 'room' which has a bedroom or two, plus a bathroom. Option two is an apartment which also gives you a kitted out kitchen plus a lounge.
If you can afford to upgrade then you can upgrade to things like posher hotel-style rooms (at Butlins Bognor Regis), modern lakeside chalets (at Butlins Minehead) or fairground themed apartments (at Butlins Skegness).
You generally park in a big car park at a Butlins resort and then use a trolley to transport your bags.
Haven's accommodation is mostly caravans, such as this Saver model
Butlins accommodation is mostly self catering apartments and 'rooms' - but they also have hotels and lodges
Images are from Butlins and Haven.
