A British person online shared that they booked a family holiday to a Center Parcs location abroad rather than in the UK because it was significantly cheaper.
On Reddit the user, Gloomy_Stage, told others of their discovery in the British Problems subreddit. They revealed that the cheapest Center Parcs site they could find in the UK for the February half term was £2,900 for a family of four.
Put off by the price, they booked a Center Parcs in Europe instead for £740 and paid £255 for the Eurotunnel to get there and back. Center Parcs offers family holidays and short breaks in different ‘villages’ across the UK and Europe where guests can stay in lodges in the forest.
In their Reddit post, the user shared: “Cheapest Center Parcs in the UK I could find for half term is £2900 for a family of 4. Booked one in Europe for £740, £255 for Eurotunnel. Still saved nearly £2000.
“Honestly, European Center Parcs are usually 1/3 – 1/4 of the price to UK Center Parcs, well worth the huge cost saving and you get to go abroad!”
The post has garnered 1,100 upvotes and 154 comments and the top comment reads: “Can you share? Been looking for me and the family and so far everything seems about £3k or more…I have about half that budget.”
This comment got 254 upvotes, indicating that many others wanted to know how Gloomy_Stage found such a good deal. They replied: “centreparcs.eu – sometimes it’s slightly cheaper on the .fr or .be websites but these are not in English.
“The cheapest I can find for this February half term for 2 adults and 2 kids is £460 for 7 nights in the Netherlands. There are many CP within 4 hours of driving from Calais.
“Ferries are cheaper but we go Eurotunnel. If you have Tesco points you can double the points to pay for the tunnel.
“I can’t imagine I will touch UK Center Parcs again with their prices, particularly during half term.” A second user chimed in: “Just to add, Center Parcs also own Les Villages Nature Paris next to Disneyland Paris – you can likely stay there, travel and do a day or two at Disney for less than the price of the UK Center Parcs. Parc Asterix isn’t too far from there either.”
Another person who booked an affordable Center Parcs in Europe said: “We are going to Limburge Peel in the Netherlands. It’s a small Center Parcs but it was only £300 for half term, we are going on the ferry overnight.”
A different user shared the link to Center Parcs Europe and gave one possible downside to staying at a European village: “Decide where you want to go and go from there. I’ll second that it’s miles cheaper than the UK version.
“The only thing to consider is that there’s very few English families so if you’re hoping your kids will find some friends and entertain themselves you might be disappointed.” There are 27 Center Parcs in Europe across the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Germany.
The UK Center Parcs has five villages: Whinfell Forest in Cumbria, Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire, Longleat Forest in Wiltshire, Elveden Forest in Suffolk and Woburn Forest in Bedfordshire. Center Parcs UK has been approached for comment.