Many thanks again for all your insightful postings about Center Parcs UK. For those interested we have a new thread in the Discuss > Rest of Europe > section for Center Parcs Europe comments. (http://www.takethefamily.com/discuss/000151/) Happy Holidays! - Take the Family Team

We've been to three of the European ones now, La Bois when my son was three months old, the food there was superb as was the French attitude to small children. De Vossmeren was about four years ago and we had a fantastic time. The boys went in for everything from dragon boat racing to ariel slides.My youngest son was even able to get a hired pushchair that he was willing to go in. Last Year we went o Holland and had a really wonderful experience.

I did not enjoy Center Parcs at all. I find it very prescriptive. Too many queues for booking activities, not very suitable for one parent families and everything too expensive.

Consider similar "bungalow parks" in Belgium and/or Holland. We have visited at Easter in the past and they have been the same price as the British Centre Parcs but INCLUDING the price of the ferry. There is Sunparks in Belgium and Landal Parks in Holland. Our favourite park was Vielsalm in the beautiful Ardennes. Food is wonderful in Belgium, eat out in the local town rather than at the parks where, like here, it is fast food rather than quality food. Another high quality park was one of the Landal Parks Landal T'Loo about an hour from Amsterdam. Super quality. You can usually get in over the school holiday periods because there are lots of bungalow parks in Europe.

i have been to Elveden Forest twice already this year and i am going back in september. i really enjoyed the laid back atmosphere you get at night and the excitment in the pool in the day. I found that you need a lot of spending money if you were eating out and doing activities, about ?75 a day for 3 people at least. when i go back in september we will take food with us and cook in the villa. overall a very enjoyable exsperience i strongly advise

WE have recently returned from Center Parcs in Zandvoort in Holland. Maybe we were unlucky and this is not typical but it was nothing like center parcs in UK - site and villas very run down. Don't get me wrong we had a really good time but we assumed that the standards and the ethos would be the same as in this country. Having raised our concerns with Center Parcs here when we got back we have simply been told that they are two separate companies. So if you're going abroad do some really good homework - don't trust the brand name as we did

We have now had two Center Parks holidays - the Aqua Mundo is great for our two very active boys (7 & 5). Longleat: cycling back to your villa can be exciting, especially in the dark, as it's so hilly. There are raised boardwalk sections and hairpin bends. Although the Italian restaurant wasn't cheap, the pizzas were great, it was pretty child-friendly and good value for a successful evening meal out (still a rare experience!) We also had a take-away from the Indian Restaurant. Our summer holiday has been spent at De Eemhof in Holland. This was also a success and the Aqua Mundo was similar to the one at Longleat. There was also a good shop and bakery. However, the restaurants were not so good as at Longleat, with very mediocre food. I guess they were child-friendly, but we had better meals by eating in! Most of our visits involved a drive of 40 mins to an hour, but were memorable, if a little expensive. The kids particularly enjoyed the monkeys and apes at Apenheuil, the Dolphinarium at Harderwijk and cycling round the Holge Veluwe park on white bicycles! On the negative side, our boys didn't really play with other children in England or in Holland as they find 'kids clubs' boring and you have to be over 8 to try most of the exciting activities. From that point of view, Belle Dune (Pierre et Vacances) was superb. There also seemed to be quite a lot of vehicles circulating in Holland, so we were always a bit anxious about them going off on their bikes. As an aside, we found the ferry (P&O Hull-Europoort) desperate food-wise. ?7.50 for each of our kids in the buffet restaurant and having to wait over an hour wasn't any fun.

Hello all, I am thinking of travelling to Whinfell in September, just a couple of questions. 1) neither of us drive but we can get there by train, there is a food problem are there any food places near by i.e tesco/asda, if so are they easy to get to? 2) How much do the activies cost, there are 2 of us but what I can make out, it can be quite costly.

1] Center Parcs provide the following information for travel without a car to Whinfell forest: "Acclaim Taxis 01768 866 842 Ace Taxis 01768 890 731 Blackline Taxis 01768 865 070 Beacon Taxis 01768 895 969 Dockray Taxis 01768 892 222 Moorside Taxis 01768 899 066 If arriving after 3pm the Taxi will take you direct to your accommodation. If leaving before 10.30am on the day of your departure, it will also collect you direct from your accommodation. Outside these hours we offer a left luggage facility at the Security Lodge. Local Bus Information Buses run on a regular basis from Carlisle to Whinfell Forest via Penrith. For further information, please contact Stagecoach on 0870 608 2608. Alternatively, timetables are available for collection from the Security Lodge or the Information Centre." There is an onsite mini supermarket, where we bought logs for the fire; A pack of 3 was ?8.29 and each log burned for approx 2-3 hours. The nearest offsite supermarket, (larger than center parcs mini market) is Morrisons, (Brunswick Road) , in Penrith just 10 minutes away where we bought barbecue ingredients and the sunday roast! (Note that tea towels and oven gloves were not provided for our trip). There is also a Somerfield in King St, Penrith, a Co-Op in Brunswick, Penrith or a bit further a Tescos at Workington. 2] In terms of activity cost, prices vary depending on which activity you want to do but sports like tennis cost ?17 for an hour which is quite expensive but I felt this was made up for with the free swimming....I had trouble getting my family out of the pool to do anything else! Other activities included windsurfing for an hour cost ?10.00, kayaking for 3 at ?6.50 for 30mins, 9 holes of golf (0ff site) for ?7.20 for an Adult and ?6.20 for a child. Hiring pedaloes from the Boathouse by the lake which seat up to 4 adults cost ?5 per pedalo for 30 minutes and 3 hours at The World of Spa cost ?22 per person - dont miss the World of Sauna! 3] **TOP TIP. Pre registering your vehicle online before you go at www.centerparcs.co.uk/prereg saves lots of queueing time at check in. I hope this help with your trip. We all certainly enjoyed our holiday at Whinfell Forest!

Thank you very very much, Millie M! gerryb