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Which Is Better – Haven or Butlins? 2025 Guide
Butlins and Haven both offer a decent family holiday for a reasonable price. But which is better?
Here's the waffle free summary:
Here's the waffle free summary:
Haven gets slightly better reviews overall and is generally cheaper than Butlins. Haven offers shorter drives, nice beaches nearby, in-house entertainment, and a few days out in the local area. Some Haven resorts have big swimming pool, loads of facilities and a dozen places to eat (Haven Devon Cliffs, Craig Tara in Scotland, Hafan y Mor in Wales). Others have a small swimming pool and only one or two places to eat. We think that Butlins is better than Haven if you want to mostly stay onsite for big shows from TV stars, a busy funfair and the option of having meals provided.
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, lodges, 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 |
Range from 77% - 82% (about 4/5) |
Range from 76% - 90% (about 4/5 or 4.5/5) |
Swimming pools |
Large indoor waterparks |
Varies - some large waterparks, some smaller pools |
Number of guests |
About 7000 people when full |
About 100 - 1600 caravans (about 400 - 6000 people) |
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) |
Which? Score* |
67% (based on a Which? survey from 2024) |
69% |
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 significantly. Some can accommodate thousands of guests and had previous lives as Butlins. Tthers are just 100 or so caravans.
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.
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.
Butlins in Bognor Regis is a large site where you can easily spend a whole week...
Here's a summary of the five biggest Haven resorts:
- Haven Devon Cliffs has 1641 caravans and lodges, which would be about 6000+ people if four people were in each caravan. It's got a sandy beach as well as indoor and outdoor swimming pools. Devon Cliffs has an average review score of 84%.
- Haven Craig Tara in Scotland was known as Butlins Ayr until about 20 years ago. It's another large site with a big swimming pool and large capacity. We counted 1583 caravans and lodges. Craig Tara's average review score is 76%, which is a little lower than most Haven resorts.
- Haven Primrose Valley Holiday Park in Yorkshire has 1470 caravans and lodges, by my count (well, Mrs Guru counted them). The park leads to a wide open sandy beach. Primrose Valley gets an average review score of 78%.
- Haven Hafan y Môr in Wales is a former Butlins site with 1290 caravans and other accommodation units, plus 75 pitches for tourers. Hafan y Môr's swimming pool alone can accommodate 650 people. The average review score for Hafan y Môr is similar to Devon Cliffs at 84%.
- Haven Greenacres Holiday Park in Wales has 999 caravans and lodges. Yes, it would be a lot neater if they added one more and made it a thousands... Greenacres gets a review score of 84%, which is similar to Hafan y Môr and Devon Cliffs.
Big Haven resorts such as Hafan y Môr have swimming pools with space for hundreds of visitors
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Devon Cliffs is Haven's largest holiday park with more than 1600 caravans and lodges
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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. Haven Penally Court in Wales only has about 100 caravans, but you can use facilities are nearby Haven Kiln Park.
If each caravan at Haven Penally Court has four guests, that would mean there were about 400 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.
If each caravan at Haven Penally Court has four guests, that would mean there were about 400 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.
Haven resorts such as Doniford Bay Holiday Park are on a much smaller scale than Butlins
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 with 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 for hours 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 with 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 for hours 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?
Overall, Haven gets slightly better review scores than Butlins - but it depends on which site you stay at. Overall , Butlins scores 77% - 82% from customers, depending on which site you choose. Haven has a lot more sites and its review scores range from 76% - 90%.
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!
Here's a little more detail about how Haven and Butlins compare on review scores:
And here's the full rundown of how every Haven resort rates with customers, with Butlins' three resorts shown in red:
These scores are calculated by adding together reviews on TripAdvisor and Google Reviews and are correct as of September 2024. Yes, it took me ages to work it out.
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!
Here's a little more detail about how Haven and Butlins compare on review scores:
- Reviews for the UK’s three Butlins holiday parks are pretty consistent. All of them score 4.2/5 or 4.3/5 on Google Reviews. Meanwhile, Butlins Bognor Regis scores 4/5 on TripAdvisor whilst Butlins Minehead and Butlins Skegness score 3.5/5. TripAdvisor only gives scores in half points, so the difference may be smaller than it looks.
- The highest rated Haven resorts score 4.5/5 on TripAdvisor and Google Reviews (Haven Wild Duck in Norfolk and Haven Lydstep Beach in Wales). On the other hand, some Haven holiday parks only manage review scores of 3.5/5 on TripAdvisor and 4.1/5 on Google Reviews (e.g. Orchards in Essex and Haggerston Castle in Northumberland)
And here's the full rundown of how every Haven resort rates with customers, with Butlins' three resorts shown in red:
- Lydstep Beach, South Wales: 90%
- Wild Duck, Norfolk: 90%
- Thornwick Bay, Yorkshire: 85%
- Hopton, Norfolk: 85%
- Caister-on-sea, Norfolk: 85%
- Berwick, Northumberland: 85%
- Quay West, South Wales: 84%
- Penally Court, South Wales: 84%
- Hafan y Môr, North Wales: 84%
- Greenacres, North Wales: 84%
- Seashore, Norfolk: 84%
- Devon Cliffs, Devon: 84%
- Riviere Sands, Cornwall: 84%
- Doniford Bay, Somerset: 84%
- Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset: 83%
- Reighton Sands, Yorkshire: 83%
- Church Farm, Sussex: 83%
- Seton Sands, Scotland: 83%
- Weymouth Bay, Dorset: 83%
- Littlesea , Dorset: 83%
- Cala Gran, Blackpool, Lancashire: 82%
- Seaview, Dorset: 82%
- Butlins Bognor, Sussex: 82%
- Golden Sands, Lincolnshire: 78%
- Perran Sands, Cornwall: 78%
- Kiln Park, South Wales: 78%
- Primrose Valley, Yorkshire: 78%
- Butlins Skegness, Lincolnshire: 78%
- Lakeland, Lake District: 77%
- Presthaven, North Wales: 77%
- Rockley Park, Dorset: 77%
- Cleethorpes Beach, Lincolnshire: 77% (previously called Haven Thorpe Park)
- Combe Haven, Sussex: 77%
- Blue Dolphin, Yorkshire: 77%
- Kent Coast, Kent: 77% (previously called Haven Allhallows)
- Butlins Minehead, Somerset:77%
- Craig Tara, Scotland: 76%
- Haggerston Castle, Northumberland: 76%
- The Orchards, Essex: 76%
These scores are calculated by adding together reviews on TripAdvisor and Google Reviews and are correct as of September 2024. Yes, it took me ages to work it out.
Haven's Wild Duck is one of its most popular holiday parks with customers
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Customer give Haven Lydstep Beach a score of 90% - which is far higher than any Butlins resort
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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 2025 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 2025 prices and didn't include optional upgrades.
- Haven Doniford Bay – Somerset - £669
- Haven Thornwick Bay – Yorkshire - £685
- Haven Rockley Park – Dorset - £895
- Haven Lakeland Leisure Park – The Lake District, Cumbria - £835
- Haven Hopton Holiday Village – Norfolk - £809
- Haven Seton Sands – Scotland - £869
- Haven Lydstep Beach Holiday Park - South Wales - £915
- Butlins Minehead - Somerset - £966
- Haven Hafan y Môr Holiday Park – North Wales - £1075
- Haven Perran Sands - Cornwall - £1235
- Haven Devon Cliffs – Devon - £1135
- Butlins Skegness - Lincolnshire - £1200
- Butlins Bognor Regis - Sussex - £1322
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 standard 'Haven holiday' option rather than 'Haven Hideaway'). Read more about what is included if you go for this option.
- 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 that 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
Which is most convenient to visit? Butlins or Haven?
Funnily enough, this varies depending on where you live (Ed: you don't say...).
However, it's fair to say that for the majority of people, it is much more convenient to visit a Haven holiday park than a Butlins resort.
The three Butlins resorts are all in the southern half of the UK, whereas the 38 Haven resorts are well spread out around the UK's coastline.
As a general rule, Butlins is convenient if you live in the East Midlands, South East England or the Westcountry.
However, it's fair to say that for the majority of people, it is much more convenient to visit a Haven holiday park than a Butlins resort.
The three Butlins resorts are all in the southern half of the UK, whereas the 38 Haven resorts are well spread out around the UK's coastline.
As a general rule, Butlins is convenient if you live in the East Midlands, South East England or the Westcountry.
- From Glasgow, you would need to drive 75 minutes to Haven Seton Sands. You'd have to drive almost six hours to your nearest Butlins resort in Skegness.
- From central London, your nearest Haven is called Kent Coast, which is about 1 hour 30 minutes drive away. Butlins Bognor Regis is about 2 hours 30 minutes away, so an extra hour's drive.
- From Manchester, it is about one hour to Haven Marton Mere in Blackpool. Butlins Skegness is about three hours away.
- From Birmingham, there are several Haven resorts that are all about two hours away including Cala Gran and Marton Mere near Blackpool as well as Greenacres and Presthaven in Wales. From Birmingham, all three Butlins are about three hours drive.
- From Cardiff, you can get to Haven Lydstep Beach in about 1 hour 45 minutes or Butlins Minehead in about 2 hours 15 minutes.
Haven's Seton Sands is much closer than the Butlins resorts if you live in Scotland
Images are from Butlins and Haven.
