we went to Elveden last xmas and had a great time. They set up a santas grotto and had real reindeer on site. The guest bought decos for outside their villas and there were xmas trees decorated around the park. The xmas dinner was excellent value for money and service v. good. Was not rushed at all. We would go every year if we could, however ear ache from my parents about not seeing the kids etc stops us. We are going for a short break just before xmas this year and next year plan to visit at xmas again. Have been at new year which was also very good. One thing we noticed is xmas is never overly busy, and if you look at the site there is alot of availability. They even gave us a free upgrade last year to an exec villa, which was a nice touch. Hope this helps.

Thanks for that, i think i am going to go ahead and book for xams at Sherwood. We plan on coming home on xmas day then return on the night. Just to keep the family happy.
We are booking a 2 bedroom, for me and my partner and out 7 month old son. One question i do have is.....
we have boioked for a room for 4 people (baby doesn not count towards total), that means we are not using 2 peoples allocation, so what we were planning was to have 2 family members come and stay with us for a couple of the nights. Is this okay?? or will they have to pay for the visitors passes?

PS hope we get an upgrade

I think you may have to pay for them if they are not on the original booking. I would phone CP and see what they suggest. Hope you have a good time.

I know you say you can`t go abroad because of your son, we took our son when he was 9 month and found it to be alot easier than we thought. We took nappies, milk and baby food and we had a great time. We went to Benidorm at easter, when it was not too hot, we loved it that much that we`ve kept returning and our favorite time is Christmas, in fact this Christmas will be his 4th (he`s 6 now). We love the lights and festive feeling everywhere,weather wise its like our early summer days.

I`m sure for the same cost you`d be able to get somewhere in Benidorm.

Christine W

maseandleanne.
i'm not sure whether you do have to pay extra as long as you don't "over occupy" the villa. when i book i always book a two bed villa. i don't quote who is coming at the time of booking. its only when you get your regisration documents which come about 3-4 weeks before the start of your holiday they ask for details of who,s coming etc. we then always take my daughters friend with us.

i'm sure you only pay for guests coming for a day......but do ring just to confirm this. great choice of holiday. medot.xx

Cheers for that,
I am going to book it up, hopefully it will be worth the money. Fingers crossed we get upgraded, saying that we like the villas right on the edge of the village, away from everyone, think we stayed in 122 (comfort) last time, and it was like we were all alone. Im not that bothered about saunas and dvd players, kind of spoils the wilderness action.
And the log flume is now open. Going to try some different activities this time, maybe driving range and widerness walk.....we love the place !!!

Have a great time and let us know how you get on. Rachael

Try one of the Centrer Parcs in Netherlands - we're going for Xmas & New Year (10 days), paying for the channel tunnel & hotels en route (you don't need to do that, though) and still paying less than for a week at Longleat. Xmas is nicer - not so commercial (Sint Nicklaus comes on 5th December in NL!), and more wintery. Better parcs, and had vacancies a month ago when I booked.

I feel like an expert on Center Parcs in the Netherlands - over the last 9 years we've been to each of the 'Original' parcs at least once, some several times.

I have to make the outstanding amount on Friday for our Xmas / New Year CP holiday.

It started when we wanted to get away the year after the birth & death of our 1st daughter, and that happened over the Xmas / New Year period - so what better place to go than a site full of children? Well - the kids were not english speaking & Xmas is slightly lower key there - it worked well for us, and as an added bonus, there was a really cold spell. The lake at de Huttenheugte froze over - not just skating on it but I was jumping up and down on it (and I'm quite heavy). New year is a very big celebration there. Lots of fireworks

We've since been back with our 2 children (now 7 & 6) and to Longleat (much closer to us, but we've not been for 5 years or so).

Living in the west country (Glos), with my mother in Surrey, we tend to go now via the Channel Tunnel, stopping off en-route. To break the journey, this time we're booked into a hotel near Brugge on the way out & Calais on the way back. We have done the journey in one day quite easily, but thsi way you get most of the first day there, get chance to stop at a supermarket (Albert Hijn) en route, and on the last day have a leisurely pack up while the children are in the kids club, rather than having to be away at a silly time.

Back to basics. Center Parcs (CP) in the UK is now run by a separate company from EU, but they do still have a working relationship. Prices in the European parcs are a lot cheaper than UK - at least 33% - however, even then different nationalities pay different prices (supposedly to cover the cost of extra language translation, etc). 3 years or so ago, CP bought up 5 other parcs - 3 in NL, 2 in Germany - these are marketed as CP Free Spirit or Sea Spirit, and are cheaper than the Original parcs. They have less facilities, I believe.

As well as the 5 'Original' parcs in Netherlands, there's 2 in Belgium (very close to the dutch border, south of Eindhoven), a couple in France & one in Germany. As in England, each parc has different features. If you can get hold of a dutch language brouchure, there's a handy * system for quality of facilities at each parc (I have one if anyone wants to know). For kids, there is a show called Pe Pe Te Ve - with 4 characters; whilst the show is in dutch (with little bits of german in some parcs), there's a little English especially if they know theres English children in, and are very easy to follow the plot - my children love the characters (all of whom can speak english outside the show). They run the childrens disco, and pop up around the site from time to time. The same actors are also involved in the adult evening shows - basically pop songs with a linking theme - the last show I saw there was entirely in English. While the shows are late, many children stay up to watch. Can be naff, but mildly entertaining - or at least, different! Most also have small 'kinderboerderij' - childrens farms - with toy tractors, goats, sheep, calves, chickens, rabbits.

De Eemhof is not very far from Amsterdam - close enough to drive to the Ajax stadium & get the park & ride in for a day trip. Many of the shops are 'outside' - off a courtyard by the pool. The sports center is not too far away. We were on our way there when the Essex parc burnt down - bizarre, as de Eemhof had just reopened after a fire, and we ended up in the company of many English people. Special feature - sailing is available just outside the parc. Surroundings: flat. In fact, most are flat, though there are some slight hills at Het Heijderbos - well, bumps - enough to make a one gear bike annoying. Stars for kids: 0-4 3*, 4-12 4*, 12-17 5*.

Het Heijderbos - to east of the country, just below Nijmegen (but in season, take a trip to the Arnhem Open Air Museum - would have kept the children occupied for 2 days - just avoid driving past the zoo first, with its huge play area). Special feature - Jungle Dome - a separate dome with hugh adventure playground & tropical vegetation, small cafe. Next door is sports hall, although that is now mainly kiddies play area - quite good, though (and a bar for a quick coffee). I think this one also has a red & black/white squirrel sanctuary! Stars for kids - (same ages as above - 3*, 4*, 4*)

De Kempervennen - just below Eindhoven & probably the closest to UK, so quite a few UK visitors. This was one of the first Center Parcs. Special Feature - Indoor Ski Slope (real snow) - so available all year round. There's also a padi diving school. Open Air Ice rink in nearby Valkenswaard over Xmas. Also use Valkenswaard for shopping, rather than Eindhoven - smaller, but good selection, including an Albert Hijn supermarket (lovely selection of ready prepeared ingredients, rather than so many ready meals). We've been at least 3 times to this one, including Millennium New Year (brilliant fireworks at midnight). Children: 3*, 3*, 4*.

De Huttenheughte - North East of NL- haven't been there for 9 years, so may have changed. 25m pool as well as traditional CP pool. Chinese restaurant. Observatory, play ship on lake, close to german border (cycling distance). The lake is very large & takes some time to walk round, & I think this is the most spread out of the parcs. Children 4*, 4*, 4*.

Het Meerdal - Just to east of Eindhoven. in-line Skating in summer, ice skating in winter. Nothing really unusual about this parc. 4*, 4*, 3*.

We're off to Erperheide in Belguim (between Eindhoven & Hasselt) for Xmas / New Year - A big indoor play area will be occupying us, I think. Not too far from the Belgium National Gin Museum in Hasselt (closed in January), so we should just make it! 5*, 5*, 3*

Restaurants. There's the 'S' restaurant - Sapinnier / Sabine.... which is the ' top notch' one - however, note that they are more laid back that the Longleat one - waiters are not in DJ's, although the food is as good. H - Harolds / Henry's - is the family restaurant - Tex mex.There's also a buffet restaurant with a different theme each night (and great breakfast buffets). There's always a Pannekoek Huisje for pancakes & poffertjes (small puffy pancakes) and a burger kiosk - frites met mayo/fritsaus.

Also available at some are pizzas delivered to your door. You can also book a fondue or hot-stone for your cottage, supplied with all the meats (yuck). Some cottages (VIP) come with a free delivery of rolls to the door each day for breakfast, and this can be arranged for others.

Sports. People go on holiday to relax, so there's less emphasis on sports. There's say 8 tennis courts when the UK would have 16. But it is still there if you need to work up an appetite. I'm told that when the first one opened in the UK they were stunned that all the facilities got booked up so early & they had to build more.

Hints for Xmas/New Year - get bookings in for restaurants before you go (you should be sent a pack a couple of weeks before hand detailing the opening times) - especially if you have special diet needs. We're veggie, which is no problem in Netherlands at all, but the message didn't get through for our millennium dinner - so a very panicked head chef rustled something unconventional but interesting up! Also book up baby sittters if you need one - English speakers can be found - very reasonable prices for an evening out.

Down side: Once we had a cottage that stank of pet urine. We had to abandon one bedroom (luckily we'd booked a room each for the children), but the park was full, so we could not be moved. However, they did their best and we got a free meal & toys for the children, amongst other things - that's our only bad experience.

So hope that's useful.

Mark Rogers

Loads of interesting info there, Mark.

But just in case this one veers off topic with further similar suggestions from others, can I just remind users that this is the UK & Eire forum.

David