We all know the jokes about the Center PARC. If you want to check when schools are splitting, check the Center Parcs website when prices double.
But despite having to refund homes or sell kidneys to afford a visit on school holidays, that's definitely really great for a young family.
The UK has options. I visited Sherwood Castle Holiday Forest last year – I gave it a solid 6/10 (it had some very strange features), but it was a long way from the centre park itself.
However, here's how you can get a Center PARC experience without the Center PARCS price: It was started by the same people as the UK (Dutch entrepreneur Piet Darksen), and now boasts 26 resorts in the Netherlands, Germany, France, Belgium and Denmark. There are many similarities in Centre Park in the UK, but one of the things that dramatically differs is the price.
It's cheap. It's much cheaper. As a result, it is becoming more and more popular with Brits who don't mind driving on the wrong side of the road.
My family, including my in-laws and cousins, visited De Hahn Park near Ostend in Belgium during Easter, where we spent a week at the accommodation for 12 people.
It costs under £3,000 for 7 days. As a comparison, I'll pay £4,800 for the halves this May to spend 7 nights at Centre Park in Sherwood Forest. It may be much easier and cheaper to travel to Sherwood Forest than to go to Belgium (but not necessarily if you're in the southeast of England), but you certainly haven't saved two grounds.
The important question is that it is worth the extra effort? In short, yes. The journey itself is easy. From Curry, unlike British roads, it is an 80-minute drive along a very simple road that appears to have been maintained since the end of World War II.
The park itself resembles the British Centre Parcs. Perhaps not that refined, DeHaan has a great water park with torrents, two slides, wave machines, lazy rivers and two spa pools.
Our accommodation was excellent. There was no oven, but there was a foam mattress, a sauna and two large fridges. There are plenty of activities, great restaurants that are painful and not expensive, and convenient supermarkets.
And you're in the summer, taking a 15-minute walk away from the gorgeous, amazing beaches (via forest park with giant slides). It is also a short walk from the tram stop. This takes you quickly and cheaply to Ostend, a beautiful little town with great restaurants, shops and places to visit.
As many Eurocamp-style holiday veterans, Centre Parks is a real step up and comes with many small bonuses, including the Ardi on the front door. It was so impressive that I decided to tag it for three days for summer vacation at another centre park in the Netherlands.
For those who don't get hooked on drives, I can tell you this: it's the easiest I've ever done in mainland Europe. For those who are concerned about the language barrier, everyone speaks English better than me.
I always love the sense of adventure that comes with visiting different places, and this kind of holiday gives you everything. Have you ever said it's cheap?
