philspursuk
Sean Davis
Anyone been before - tips for booking / cutting costs / booking activities. Seems a very middle class holiday - North Face Coat Merrell Trainers/shoes etc
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Centre Parcs
- Thread starter philspursuk
- Start date
Dont go if you dont like the middle classes
Book activities as soon as you can after you get there.
Use the pools and slides very early or very late - if you dont have young kids the outdoor slides are great in the dark.
Take all your food with you to save money - the supermarket on site is bloody expensive.
stinkfoot
Kasey Keller
I fudging love Centerparcs. It's perfect if you've got kids and you come back more knackered than you went but really feel like you've had a productive time rather than just lying around in the sun (which I'm not a fan of anyway).
I agree about taking food with you (including BBQ stuff as all the cabins have an outdoor one).
Book as much as you can before you go, bikes, evening meal or two, activities for the kids - of which I would recommend;
Badminton, ten pin, rock climbing, archery, pottery painting, tree climbing (like an assault course high up in the trees), lake based stuff like pedalos/canoes.
It IS expensive but we actually spend a lot of time swimming and biking which is free once you've hired the bikes.
If you want a game of golf away from the kids they've got a good course at Elveden (which I presume is the one you're looking at being in Suffolk?) and there's a spa and brick like that for the wife. We've done the Lake District one as well but Elveden is our favourite.
The accommodation varies greatly but even bottom of the range is pretty good. We kind of go middle of the range.
It's good because once you empty the car everyone has to park outside of the site so from Fri/Mon evening onwards you really can just bike anywhere without fear of vehicles (with the kids).
I agree also with going later for the swimming. It can be a lot quieter plus it's nice to get in the water after a day of doing active stuff. My daughter often wanted to go twice a day which is a bonus being one of the free things.
I dunno, I like holidaying in this country and as the whole family have fun it's perfect for us.
I agree about taking food with you (including BBQ stuff as all the cabins have an outdoor one).
Book as much as you can before you go, bikes, evening meal or two, activities for the kids - of which I would recommend;
Badminton, ten pin, rock climbing, archery, pottery painting, tree climbing (like an assault course high up in the trees), lake based stuff like pedalos/canoes.
It IS expensive but we actually spend a lot of time swimming and biking which is free once you've hired the bikes.
If you want a game of golf away from the kids they've got a good course at Elveden (which I presume is the one you're looking at being in Suffolk?) and there's a spa and brick like that for the wife. We've done the Lake District one as well but Elveden is our favourite.
The accommodation varies greatly but even bottom of the range is pretty good. We kind of go middle of the range.
It's good because once you empty the car everyone has to park outside of the site so from Fri/Mon evening onwards you really can just bike anywhere without fear of vehicles (with the kids).
I agree also with going later for the swimming. It can be a lot quieter plus it's nice to get in the water after a day of doing active stuff. My daughter often wanted to go twice a day which is a bonus being one of the free things.
I dunno, I like holidaying in this country and as the whole family have fun it's perfect for us.
Last edited:
philspursuk
Sean Davis
Nice one thanks. Yes, you are right it will be Elveden looking to go in late Novemeber as my 40th celebration, we'll be family of 5 with another 3 families of 4 1 of 3 and 1 couple.
Cheers for the tips.
Cheers for the tips.
philspursuk
Sean Davis
do you know how much (roughly) the activities are - It won't give me any prices online until I submit a booking reference ?
Disco Benny
Wayne Routledge
It depends what you do, when I went last Christmas, it was about £25 for most, but some craft stuff for the kids started at about £5. we had an awesome time, but like ghod said, take all your food with you. We found the most expensive things were the on-site pubs/restaurants.
AuroRaman
Chris Armstrong
Was going to mention the food like everyone else! Having said that, there is a savoury pancake eatery in Elveden which is divine!
From what I remember, activities generally start from 10-50 pounds. We had dinner one night in their main expensive restaurant, was pretty decent. Can't beat biking around the site though, really lovely experience.
From what I remember, activities generally start from 10-50 pounds. We had dinner one night in their main expensive restaurant, was pretty decent. Can't beat biking around the site though, really lovely experience.
philspursuk
Sean Davis
Another question What length of stay do you think is best would 5 days be too much ? Probably looking at Friday to Monday due to everyone elses' work commitments.
What length of stay do you think is best would 5 days be too much ? Probably looking at Friday to Monday due to everyone elses' work commitments.Klinsmania
Bobby Zamora
I didn't actually think the on-site supermarket at Elveden Forest was that bad, it is a little more expensive than Sainsbury's for example, but not massively so. That said, I would still recommend that you take staples with you, thinks like olive oil and stuff that like, as you won't want to have to buy a whole bottle for just a few days. What we usually do is plan a few meals to make dinners/lunches and then take those ingredients with us in a large shopping bag, including things like breakfast cereals, milk, tea bags, olive oil, and essentials like that, and then you can always buy other bits there if you need them.
Activities vary in price, but most of the interesting/exciting stuff is expensive, like £25 plus for a short 'experience'. The Tree Trekking thing for example is pretty pricey if you complete it in five minutes, which I did, but one of our party took over an hour to get round so got good value for money.
To be honest, I like just being able to cycle round at leisure, play tennis, use the pool etc, all of which are free. I think it's a really good break, and don't think that 5 days is too long. There's plenty to do there to stop you from getting bored, and it does have a lovely relaxed atmosphere.
Activities vary in price, but most of the interesting/exciting stuff is expensive, like £25 plus for a short 'experience'. The Tree Trekking thing for example is pretty pricey if you complete it in five minutes, which I did, but one of our party took over an hour to get round so got good value for money.
To be honest, I like just being able to cycle round at leisure, play tennis, use the pool etc, all of which are free. I think it's a really good break, and don't think that 5 days is too long. There's plenty to do there to stop you from getting bored, and it does have a lovely relaxed atmosphere.
GlennGoddle
Andy Sinton
Those tree houses look fudging epic: http://www.centerparcs.co.uk/accommodation/By_Type/treehouse.jsp
http://differentview.centerparcs.co.uk/treehouse.php
£3500 for 3 nights is ridiculous though.
http://differentview.centerparcs.co.uk/treehouse.php
£3500 for 3 nights is ridiculous though.
Jurgen the German
David Ginola
I got robbed at Centre Parcs once, inside job. We got our stuff back though
AuroRaman
Chris Armstrong
I got robbed at Centre Parcs once, inside job. We got our stuff back though
I'd like to hear more about this story!
Crawley
Board Legend
Elveden is nice because it is pretty flat, so easy to get round on the bikes for the kids. Unlike Longleat which has parts steeper than Everest. Although I think Longleat has more to offer than Elveden.
Late November can be hit and misss weather wise, obviously.........but we went in Novemeber and struck lucky with a dry spell. There is a route you can cycle right round the outside of the complex. Takes a while but it takes in a view of one of the USAF bases and you will often see some spectacular fighter moves (if of course that's your thing).
Look for late evening deals in the sports complex.....we got some multi-activity bargains by going later, and by swopping around we made use of everything without booking each family in to each activity (we were 4 families of 4, so 16 people).
Late November can be hit and misss weather wise, obviously.........but we went in Novemeber and struck lucky with a dry spell. There is a route you can cycle right round the outside of the complex. Takes a while but it takes in a view of one of the USAF bases and you will often see some spectacular fighter moves (if of course that's your thing).
Look for late evening deals in the sports complex.....we got some multi-activity bargains by going later, and by swopping around we made use of everything without booking each family in to each activity (we were 4 families of 4, so 16 people).