 This chap is going to be busy visiting five Parkdean Resorts at the same time Most holiday parks tend to close over winter, or at least wind down a lot of their activities. However, a handful of Parkdean Resorts are opening over Christmas and New Year for 'Winter Wonderland' breaks. You might not be stripping down to your trunks and jumping into the sea, but you can do things like ice skating, meeting Father Christmas or watching someone belting out a Mariah Carey song. Here's our guide to what to expect and a summary of the five Parkdean sites offering Christmassy themed breaks. What happens at a 'Winter Wonderland' break?The general idea is that the holiday parks are decorated and that the activities are given Christmas themes. The highlights are probably breakfast with Santa, meeting reindeers, ice skating and The Big Christmas Party (some things cost extra). This may be a good moment to confess that I didn't realise reindeer were real animals until I was about 23. At Parkdean's Warmwell Holiday Park, they make the most of their ski slope with skiing, snowboarding and donut shaped things called Ringos. There are also lots of crafty things, such as 'festive' sand art, pottery painting, bauble making and Christmas card making. The entertainment has a strong Christmas vibe, with carol concerts, the Starland Krew doing 'Christmas in Concert' and generally lots of people wearing red Santa hats or elf ears. You can also do lots of the activities that are available during the warmer months. It's worth noting that there are more activities if you visit before Christmas than if you visit afterwards. This is presumably because there isn't a huge demand for making Christmas cards or decorating a bauble on Boxing Day.  You can meet Rudolph or one of his stand-ins at Parkdean's Winter Wonderland  You can expect a few classics in the entertainment venues Which is the cheapest Parkdean Resorts Winter Wonderland?We looked at the price of a three night break starting from Friday December 20th 2024 and ranked them in order. Of course, you might decide to upgrade your accommodation. We just looked for the cheapest option we could find to give a general idea:
Which is the best location for Parkdean Resorts' Winter Wonderland?The Winter Wonderland events are only held at five out of 60+ Parkdean Resorts*. They are all big resorts and are well spread out so you may just decide to go for the one that it is closest to you to avoid long drives in winter. Alternatively, you might be deciding between two locations or fancy visiting a resort you've not been to before. Here's our summary of the five Winter Wonderland venues, ranked by customer reviews** 1. Parkdean Resorts Warmwell Holiday Park, Dorset - 89%Warmwell will be the most convenient Winter Wonderland for you if you live in Cornwall, Devon, Dorset or Hampshire. It has the major advantage of having its own ski slope, which is rather unusual for a holiday park in the UK. That means you can have ski and snowboarding lessons, or just hurtle down a hill on an inflatable donut. Warmwell is also one of Parkdean's more attractive holiday parks, with woodland and lakes rather than just rows of accommodation. The main downside is that Warmwell is the most expensive of the five resorts by far. The reason for this is that Warmwell's accommodation is lodges, rather than narrower caravans. Once you take this into account, it's actually quite decent value. For example, Warmwell's cheapest lodge for three nights from December 20th is actually cheaper than Ty Mawr's cheapest lodge for the same dates (£379 compared to £459). It's 10 minutes by car from Warmwell Holiday Park to the nearest beach. That's probably not a big issue in winter, whereas in summer it is rather nice to be walking distance to a decent beach. However, it is a disadvantage over some of the other Parkdean Resorts in this guide.  Feel free to tell the neighbours that you are going on a skiing holiday over Christmas (just don't mention it's in Dorset) 2. Parkdean Resorts Cayton Bay Holiday Park, Yorkshire - 83%Cayton Bay is best placed if you are looking for a Parkdean Resorts Winter Wonderland and you live in North East England, Yorkshire and the East Midlands. The resort isn't right on the beach, but it's only a walk of about 15-20 minutes so it's not too far. Just make sure you put on long johns, two coats, a scarf and a woolly hat. Scarborough is about 10 minutes away in the car. Cayton Bay has a decent indoor swimming pool with a flume and seven-lane slide. This would have made it an ideal location for the original S Club 7 line-up to film a music video where they all hold hands and slide into the pool. The range of onsite activities is impressive and includes include mini golf, high ropes, table tennis and a decent playground. It's also got one of Parkdean Resorts Woof Parks. These are dog agility courses and are generally a sign that the park is particularly dog friendly.  Cayton Bay has an indoor swimming pool that you can use during the Winter Wonderland break 3. Parkdean Resorts Cherry Tree Holiday Park, Norfolk - 83%Cherry Tree in Norfolk gets similar review scores to Cayton Bay, with a rating of 4/5 on TripAdvisor or 4.3/5 on Google reviews. Its rating has improved in the last couple of years, as it was on 78% when we last did our comparison of every Parkdean Resorts. It is a little smaller than Cayton Bay but still has plenty to keep you occupied. The indoor swimming pool at Cherry Tree is a fairly basic one. It's fine for a splash but it doesn't have the slides and flume that you get at Cayton Bay or Trecco Bay. There is an outdoor swimming pool at Cherry Tree but you won't be using that in December! One notable downside is that you can't walk to the nearest beach at Great Yarmouth. As mentioned earlier, this will be less of a big deal in winter than it would be in summer where you might fancy an evening stroll without getting in the car. If you want to visit the beach at Great Yarmouth then you'll need to drive for about 10 minutes. For the uninitiated, Great Yarmouth is one of those classic English seaside resorts with amusements and brightly coloured signs offering candy floss. It's similar to somewhere like Blackpool, Skegness or Weston Super Mare. Cherry Tree is a convenient holiday park if you live in East Anglia, or parts of the East Midlands. It's a couple of hours from Peterborough and Cambridge or about three hours from North London and Leicester.  This chap is making the most of the indoor swimming pool at Cherry Tree Holiday Park 4. Parkdean Resorts Ty Mawr Holiday Park, North Wales - 81%Our final two holiday parks that offer Winter Wonderland are both in Wales. Ty Mawr is in North Wales, so it's a good to visit from the North West of England. Liverpool is about an hour away. Manchester is about 1 hour 20 minutes by car. You can walk down to a stony beach in five minutes or get in the car and drive for 10 minutes to Rhyl, which is a much busier resort. The choice of things to do onsite is excellent and includes high ropes, an indoor swimming pool, football and adventure golf. Ty Mawr is another Parkdean site with a Woof Park, so your dog can leap around and get some exercise whilst on holiday.  Parkdean Resorts Ty Mawr Holiday Park is convenient if you live in Liverpool or Manchester 5. Parkdean Resorts Trecco Bay Holiday Park, South Wales - 78%Trecco Bay is a little behind the others on reviews scores, but it is notable as being the largest Parkdean Resorts in the UK. This means that the facilities onsite are on a larger scale than most holiday parks. For example, the swimming pool at Trecco Bay is one of Parkdean's bigger and better ones. You also get things climbing walls, a big choice of places to eat out, a decent amusement arcade and high ropes. The beach is on the doorstep of the park. However, bear in mind that it's a large site so if you end up at the far end of Trecco Bay Holiday Park then you will have a walk of about 10 minutes to the beach.  Trecco Bay's swimming pool is probably the best of the five locations offering Winter Wonderland breaks *There are also a couple of other Parkdean Resorts holiday parks that offer Christmas and New Year breaks (Fallbarrow and White Cross Bay in the Lake District). These don't have the full range of 'Winter Wonderland' activities but they are two of the Parkdean Resorts with the best review scores and would make a good base if you want some winter walks.
**We calculated this by adding together the Google Reviews and TripAdvisor scores and turning it into a percentage.
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At the time of writing, only two Haven holiday parks have hot tubs - Perran Sands in Cornwall and Golden Sands in Lincolnshire (or Mablethorpe to be more precise). I would start your search with Golden Sands, as the hot tubs are available with the Emerald and Diamond lodges. They certainly aren't cheap as chips, but you can get some off peak deals (more on that later). The hot tub option at Perran Sands is only available in the Beach Houses. They're one of the poshest types of accommodation offered by Haven, so they aren't as cheap as caravans, chalets or lodges. Also worth noting is that Perran Sands is usually one of the more expensive Haven holiday parks in our price comparisons. Haven also has lodges, caravans, chalets and glamping around the UK but none of these are currently available with private hot tubs or jacuzzis (as of 2024).  Haven's accommodation with hot tubs are available at Perran Sands in Cornwall...  ...and they have lodges with hot tubs at Haven Golden Sands in Lincolnshire How much does a Haven holiday with a hot tub cost?As with all holiday parks, the Haven accommodation with hot tubs varies in price depending on when you visit. However, to give you a rough idea we searched for a week's holiday in August 2025 for a family of four. At Haven Golden Sands in Lincolnshire, a week in a Diamond Lodge with a hot tub was £2589, whilst the cheapest Saver caravan was £845. Of course, the hot tub isn't the only upgrade. A Saver caravan is half the width of a Diamond Lodge. Overall, the lodge is about three times as big as the smallest caravan at Haven. We couldn't find prices for the same dates at Haven Perran Sands in Cornwall, so we looked at September 2025 instead. This is obviously a cheaper time to visit than August (well, that's the theory!). A week in a beach house with a hot tub at Perran Sands in September 2025 was £4315. For comparison, the cheapest caravan for the same week was £439. That means that the beach houses are about ten times the price of the cheapest caravans! On the plus side, the beach houses are big enough for six people whilst the caravans are big enough for four people. So, the Beach House with Hot Tub would cost you £154 per person, per night whilst the caravan is £15 per person, per night (based on four people sharing). Those prices are for the standard Haven holiday option, which means you can use all the facilities. Haven also offer a slightly cheaper option called Haven Hideaway where you just get accommodation and access to the restaurants (for a while they were called Haven Stay/Haven Stay + Play).  The hot tub lodges/beach houses are significantly wider than a standard 10ft wide Haven caravan Are the Haven beach houses with hot tubs worth the money?For the (not insignificant) increase in price, you do get a few upgrades with the Haven Beach Houses with Hot Tubs.
Firstly, a beach house with a hot tub is much more spacious. A standard caravan at Haven is 10ft wide. For those of us who struggle with old fashioned measurements, that's about 3m. It's less than two average-height men lying down. That's pretty narrow when compared to the image above of the Beach House with hot tub. You get a decent amount of private outdoor space, which has a swing seat and an outside dining table under a pagoda. The Beach Houses are located with good sea views, which isn't available with all the accommodation at Perran Sands. There's a master bedroom with an en suite, a second bedroom with two single beds and a kids room with cabin-style bunk beds. A standard Haven caravan has a much more compact (i.e. smaller) kitchen and lounge area. You also only get one bathroom with most caravans, whereas the Beach House with hot tub has two bathrooms. Some caravans which are described as being for six people actually have two bedrooms, with the other two people sleeping on a fold out bed in the lounge. With the Haven accommodation with hot tubs you get separate rooms, so there is less faffing around at bedtime. So, is it worth the extra £4000+ to upgrade? I'll leave that up to you... You can watch a video about the Haven beach houses with hot tubs here. Which? Recently revealed its ranking of UK holiday park brands and UK resorts from best to worst, based on a survey of its members. This was obviously of great interest to us, and prompted Mrs Guru to interrupt Netflix and tell me that I needed to look at it immediately. I obliged and spent the next 10 minutes making noises and saying things like "ooooh, that's interesting", "well, that doesn't surprise me" and "why have they included that one?". The ranking is a bit of an odd mixture as it compares family caravan parks such as Haven, Parkdean Resorts and Away Resorts with some adults only resorts such as Warner Leisure. There are also some notable emissions, including Darwin Escapes. Of course, they also couldn't include all the excellent independent holiday parks that are included in our guides. The headline - from my point of view - was how the big family holiday park companies compared. Here's a selection of the ones that we tend to choose between when planning a holiday:
Anyway, the full results are worth a bit of disecting so here's Which's ranking, plus our advice on each one: 1. Potters Resorts - 87% (two resorts, mostly adults only, expensive)The overall winner was Potters Resorts, which is a brand we've not written anything about - as it's a bit of an anomaly. It is also a very small company compared to the likes of Haven. Potters has just two resorts, one of which is entirely for adults (Five Lakes in Essex) and one of which is adults-only most of the year but allows children during school holidays (Hopton in Norfolk). As well as being mostly for adults, Potters isn't really a holiday park, in my opinion. You could argue it's a bit strange to include it in a survey along with Haven, Parkdean and Away Resorts but let's not worry about that. The accommodation is a mix of hotel rooms and village accommodation, much like adults-only Warner Leisure Hotels. Potters Resorts are also not exactly convenient for a holiday unless you live in London, the South East or East Anglia. Potters Resorts are quite expensive, in our price comparison. We looked for a three night stay in August 2024 for a family of four and were quoted £2336. That includes full board and entertainment, but it's four or five times what I would expect to pay for a Haven or Parkdean Resorts for a short break in summer. Anyway, congratulations to Potters Resorts on the outstanding rating, it's nice to see a smaller business doing so well! 2. Forest Holidays - 80% (13 locations, woodland lodges with hot tubs but limited entertainment)Forest Holidays came second overall with Which? readers. They feature in a few of our guides, including holiday parks near Nottingham and Derby and Holiday Parks With Treehouses. They also get a mention in our guide to cheap alternatives to Center Parcs because they offer posh lodges in woodland with hot tubs. Forest Holidays is relatively expensive, but usually slightly cheaper per head than Center Parcs. However, the very notable difference from Center Parcs is that Forest Holidays don't offer a big range of activities onsite. You can hire bikes and do a bit of archery, but most activities (kayaking, Go-Ape etc.) require a drive off site, which you may not fancy once you've sat in the hot tub with a glass of Cava and a packet of Haribo Starmix (Ed: sorry, what?). Forest Holidays sites don't have swimming pools, which is what draws a lot of people to Center Parcs. I would see Forest Holidays as more of a self catering holiday than a resort holiday where everything is laid on for you. You can do lots of activities, but it requires a bit of a DIY attitude rather than having everything within walking distance.  Forest Holidays has lodges with hot tubs at 13 locations in England, Wales and Scotland 3. Bluestone National Park Resort -77% (one large resort, alternative to Center Parcs)We think of Bluestone as the Welsh equivalent of Center Parcs. It operates on a similar scale, with about 300 lodges over 500 acres. In fact, we've written a looooong comparison of Center Parcs and Bluestone. It features in our guide to cheap alternatives to Center Parcs, but honestly I don't think it is significantly cheaper. Much like Center Parcs, you get nice lodges and access to a great swimming pool - called the Blue Lagoon - which has slides and flumes to mess around in. You then pay-as-you-go for lots of activities. These are very nicely done, but the cost stacks up over a week if you don't reign in the children. My advice is to book some activities early and budget before you go - otherwise it can be an expensive week!  Bluestone's swimming pool is a big part of the appeal 4. John Fowler Holiday Parks - 77% (13 caravan holiday parks)Well, well well...! We always knew John Fowler was a popular holiday park brand, but it has beaten all the other big name caravan parks by some distance. Yes, I know it is in fourth place in the Which? guide but it's the highest rated family holiday park with caravans. The top three in this list are great, but John Fowler is much more affordable and is a direct competitor to Haven, Parkdean Resorts, Away Resorts and Park Holidays. With John Fowler, you usually get a swimming pool, a beach nearby and some family friendly activities. John Fowler is certainly a great choice if you want a cheap caravan holiday in Cornwall, Devon, Somerset or Wales. However, that's about as far as they spread. You won't find any of their resorts in the rest of England or Scotland. Consistency across their holiday parks is quite good, but some are certainly better and more well equipped than others. The best ones include Cardigan Bay Holiday Park in Wales, Killigarth Manor Holiday Park in Cornwall and South Bay Holiday Park in Devon. We've got a couple of thrilling guides to John Fowler, including a comparison of all their holiday parks as well as our top five John Fowler holiday parks.  John Fowler is the highest rated caravan holiday park in the UK for 2024 (according to Which) 5. Hoburne Holidays - 75% (nine holiday parks in the Westcountry)Hoburne Holidays is quite similar to John Fowler Holiday Parks in terms of scale. There are nine Hoburne holiday parks and they are mostly around the Westcountry (Cornwall, Devon and Dorset), as well having a few in Hampshire and Gloucestershire. Hoburne Park in Dorset is one of their better ones, and gets a mention in our guide to Dorset's best holiday parks. Hoburne has tended to be slightly more expensive than other big name holiday parks in most of our price comparisons over the years. 6. Hoseasons - 74% (booking agent, but not really a holiday park provider)Eh? Hoseasons is a strange one to include in Which's guide to the best holiday parks. Honestly, I've been scratching my head for the last 10 minutes. Hoseasons has a great website and provides a useful service of pulling together prices from lots of different holiday parks...but they don't own the holiday parks (feel free to correct me if I've got this wrong, but I've been obsessed with holiday parks for many years now!). There's a small clue on the Hoseasons website where it says "Hoseasons does not own the holiday accommodation". They are a booking agent where you can book breaks at various holiday parks including Parkdean Resorts and loads of independent caravan parks. A lot of people might think they are booking a Hoseasons holiday park, but they aren't. There are some holiday park companies - such as Darwin Escapes - which will send you through to Hoseasons for booking but the site is still owned by Darwin Escapes. Anyway, I'll stop scratching my head and move along.  Hoseasons manage bookings for Darwin Escapes but they don't own the holiday park (this one is Woodside Coastal on the Isle of Wight) 7. Waterside Holiday Group - 74% (four parks, Dorset and Cornwall only)Waterside is a small holiday park company. They've got four holiday parks, including three in close proximity to each in Dorset, plus another in Cornwall. They've all got a swimming pool of some sort, though they are more of standard pool rather than a waterpark that you get at big resorts like Haven's Hafan y Môr Holiday Park in Wales or Haven Craig Tara in Scotland. All four resorts get good reviews and they are mid-priced, so they are all good options if you are looking in Dorset or Cornwall (see our full guides to holiday parks in Dorset and Cornwall). 8. Warner Leisure Hotels and Villages - 71% (adults only, 15 locations)Warner Leisure is a big name and has the same owners as Haven. Their resorts are well spread throughout England and they've also got one in Wales (Bodelwyddan Castle). However, they are just for adults and tend to be particularly popular with older adults. You are unlikely to find many stag dos or families on a Warner Leisure break. It is mostly couples, coach trips and single visitors. Warner offers a completely different holiday to Haven or Parkdean Resorts, so I can't help feeling that bundling them into the same ranking is like comparing apples and oranges or Nirvana and Mozart (for the record, I prefer oranges and Nirvana). We've got a full guide that compares all the Warner Leisure Hotels and Coastal Villages but the best ones include Sinah Warren Hotel in Hampshire and Studley Castle in Warwickshire. There are also two Warner Leisure resorts on my beloved Isle of Wight (Bembridge Coast and Norton Grange). Warner Leisure do a really good deal where you get the Isle of Wight ferry at a bargain price if you book a holiday with them. As you may be aware, the Isle of Wight ferry can be expensive but this makes it a much cheaper way to visit.  Warner Leisure's hotels and villages are popular - but they are for adults only (this one is Bembridge) Joint 9th: Haven - 69% (about 40 holiday parks around the UK, great for families)Now we're getting to a solid run of the big name caravan holiday parks that feature throughout this website. We are big fans of Haven and aren't surprised that it has snuck in above most of its rivals. Yes, it's ninth overall in Which's comparison, but most of the resorts above offer a very different type of holiday. If you want a family-friendly caravan park with swimming pools, activities, restaurants and lots of entertainment then Haven should be on your shortlist. You can come and go easily at Haven resorts, so it's a good base for exploring a county rather than feeling obliged to stay within the perimeter (which is the case with Center Parcs). We have written various Haven comparisons over the years, including Haven v Butlins and Haven v Parkdean Resorts - as well as picking our top 10 Haven holiday parks and the best beaches near Haven resorts. The vast majority of Haven's accommodation is caravans, although there are some lodges as well. They don't do hot tubs, apart from at Haven Golden Sands in Lincolnshire. Each caravan is graded, and the price difference between the cheapest Saver caravans and the Signature caravans can be massive at peak times (see our guide to Haven's grades). Are all Haven resorts the same?Haven is quite consistent in terms of the quality of its resorts. Most of them score 4/5 on Trip Advisor, with a small number either at 3.5/5 or 4.5/5. However, it's worth explaining that Haven is certainly not consistent in terms of the scale and facilities at its holiday parks. Some of the smaller Haven resorts have 200-300 caravans, whilst there are a handful with more than 1000 caravans. There isn't a good or bad choice based on size, and some of the highest rated ones are amongst the smallest (e.g. Haven Lydstep Beach Holiday Park in Wales). Go for a large resort if you prefer to spend a lot of time onsite. Go for a smaller resort if you want affordable accommodation in a good location near a beach. The largest and best equipped Haven resorts include:
See our full ranking of the five largest Haven resorts. We've also got some advice on how to save money with Haven and a guide to which Haven resorts offer camping and touring.  Hafan y Môr in Wales has one of the best swimming pools at any holiday park in the UK  Of course, you might just prefer a sea view and a beach nearby (this is Haven Lydstep Beach) Joint 9th: Center Parcs - 69% (five resorts, quite pricey)I've got a lot to say about Center Parcs, so buckle up (Ed: or you could just cut out the waffle?..). The first thing to say is that Center Parcs in the UK should be praised for its consistency. All of its resorts were built as Center Parcs, whereas most other holiday park brands have bought up various sites and refurbished them (with varying rates of success...). Whichever Center Parcs resort you choose in the UK, you will pay about the same price and have a similar experience. They've all got great swimming pools - called the Subtropical Paradise - and they've all got a big range of (quite expensive) activities. You can read our detailed comparison of all five Center Parcs in the UK, but the short summary is that you are probably best to visit whichever is closest to you. The second point I'd like to make is that Center Parcs is much more expensive than Haven, Parkdean Resorts, Away Resorts, John Fowler, Butlins and Park Holidays. In fairness, Center Parcs accommodation is lodges whilst the standard accommodation with other big name holiday parks is caravans or chalets. Stay onsite or get out and explore?Center Parcs is also a different kind of holiday as your car is confiscated and parked some distance from your accommodation. The surrounding woodland is nice, but I am a beach addict so I prefer holidays where we can get out and swim in the sea. Because you don't have your car nearby, you end up eating at Center Parcs' restaurants and paying for their activities rather than exploring the free stuff in the local area. The swimming pool at Center Parcs is free, but almost everything else will cost you money - and prices are usually higher than other holiday parks. Here are three examples:
Let's say two children and a dad decide to do those three activities, whilst mum 'watches the bags' (this is how it usually works in our house). You would spend £81 at Haven or £168-£207 at Center Parcs. (Those prices are from last year, so it's just a rough guide).  Center Parcs accommodation is more spacious than your average caravan A cheaper alternative to Center Parcs UK?Before we move on to the next holiday park in Which's comparison, let's mention a couple of cheap alternatives to Center Parcs. The first is Center Parcs in Europe. Despite the shared name, Center Parcs Europe is owned by a different company to Center Parcs UK. They use different pricing structures, so discounts and deals are common at Center Parcs Europe, whereas discounts on Center Parcs UK are rarer than a Conservative MP reading The Guardian. As an example, I found a week for four people in Center Parcs Het Meerdal in the Netherlands in August 2024 for £1141. The same dates at Center Parcs in the UK started from £2098. My word of caution here is that some Center Parcs Europe are - quite honestly - not very good. They lack the consistency of Center Parcs UK. Some of them are on a par with the UK resorts, but others had previous lives as a different holiday park brand, so they aren't up to the same standard. Some of the best Center Parcs in Europe include:
Your best bet is to drive to Folkestone in Kent, where you can take the car on the Eurotunnel/Le Shuttle and reach Calais in 40 minutes. You will need to add on about £200-£300 for this part of the journey. Top tip: book these Center Parcs via the French version of the Center Parcs Europe website. It is usually cheaper than centerparcs.eu and you are booking the same holiday. Your browser will translate the site for you, so you don't need to dust off your GCSE French textbooks. You might also like to read our detailed guides to Center Parcs in France, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. "Now with 10% more waffle!"  Some Center Parcs in Europe have excellent 'Aqua Mundo' swimming pools (this is Het Meerdal) 10th: Parkdean Resorts - 68% (66 caravan parks, great for families)Parkdean Resorts is the biggest holiday park company in the UK, based on its number of locations. It increased in size significantly a few years ago when it merged with Park Resorts. Haven and Parkdean Resorts are close rivals, and you'll note that there was only 1% between them in Which's survey. I would imagine they are currently punching the air in the Haven office, whilst Parkdean Resorts demand a second referendum (Ed: I don't think that's how it works). Parkdean Resorts typically offer you a swimming pool, entertainment and onsite activities. However, there is quite a range in how large and well-equipped their caravan sites are. The largest one is probably Parkdean Resorts Trecco Bay Holiday Park in Wales but you will find a good range of things to do at the ones described as Action Packed Parks. My opinion is that Parkdean Resorts is also not quite as consistent on quality as Haven and Center Parcs UK. Lots of Parkdean Resorts are excellent and get outstanding reviews from customers. However, there are some which are some way behind. Luckily, some loser with an obsessive interest in holiday parks has put together a ranking of every single Parkdean Resorts based on review scores and another ranking based on price. So, you can start from the top and work your way down until you find one you like the look of. Some of the best Parkdean Resorts include:
 Parkdean Resorts has lots of excellent holiday parks, including Crantock Beach Holiday Park in Cornwall 11th: Butlins - 67% (three resorts, great for families)Butlins is perhaps the UK's most famous holiday park brand, but they aren't quite the same as Haven, Parkdean Resorts, Park Holidays or Away Resorts. For a start, there are now only three Butlins in the UK - Skegness in Lincolnshire, Bognor in Sussex and Minehead in Somerset. Some of the old ones have turned into Haven resorts. Butlins is a good option if you want a more inclusive holiday as you can pay extra for half board or full board. There's also a funfair included in the standard price and quite a few shows. Some activities are charged extra, but prices are similar to Haven or Parkdean Resorts rather than Center Parcs so you shouldn't end the week penniless. You can leave the resort if you are staying at Butlins, but you are less likely to get out and explore as much as you would with Parkdean Resorts or Haven. Butlins is also on a bigger scale, so the entertainment is often provided by someone who came fourth on The Voice or someone dressed up as Peppa Pig, rather than some random guy in a shiny jacket. The accommodation is very varied at Butlins. Some of it is relatively plush and modern, whilst some is a bit more basic. See our Butlins accommodation guide. There are some differences between the three Butlins sites, which you can read about in our comparison of Minehead, Skegness and Bognor. However, my general advice is to go for whichever is closest as a long car journey may tip you over the edge after a week of funfair rides and Justin Fletcher singalongs.  Butlins puts on bigger shows than your average holiday park 12th: Park Holidays UK - 66% (more than 30 holiday parks, great for families)You might not be so familiar with Park Holidays UK, which is a close rival of Haven, Parkdean Resorts and Away Resorts. However, it's a big chain with more than 30 caravan parks in the UK. The difference with Haven and Parkdean Resorts is that Park Holidays has a big concentration around the South West, South East and East Anglia. They do have a few parks further north, but most of their sites are in southern England so they are a good choice if you live in or around London. I wouldn't be too put off by their relatively low ranking in Which's comparison. They are only 3% away from Center Parcs and Haven. Several of Park Holidays UK's resorts are featured in our guides to holiday parks in Essex, Kent and Suffolk. Some of the best Park Holidays UK resorts include Broadland Sands Holiday Park in Suffolk, Dovercourt Holiday Park in Essex and Seaview Holiday Park in Whitstable. In our price comparisons, Park Holidays UK is often slightly more expensive than the cheapest accommodation at Haven and Parkdean Resorts - but it does vary. Don't exclude it from your shortlist if you want a cheap family holiday by the seaside in the UK.  Park Holidays UK can be found in some great locations, including this resort in Whitstable Joint 13th: Away Resorts - 64% (more than 20 resorts, great for families)I was a little surprised to see Away Resorts down in 13th place in the league table. They were given two stars out of five in a few categories, including 'Value for money' and 'Food and drink'. They got higher scores for 'Quality of Accommodation', 'Cleanliness' and 'Communication'. As with some other brands, there is certainly quite a variety in the holiday parks owned by Away Resorts. Some were bought up when the company merged with Aria Resorts whilst others were independent parks that they have refurbished. I certainly wouldn't write off Away Resorts. We've stayed at a couple of Away Resorts' parks and have had good experiences. Several score very well with customers. They also have other good points about them, such as letting you arrive on any day of the week and having some new accommodation with quirky décor. Away Resorts also get you a good discount on the Isle of Wight ferry, if you visit one of their four Isle of Wight holiday parks. Our guide to Away Resorts includes a ranking of their holiday parks based on review scores and gives you an idea of price. My experience is that there are some real bargains to be had at Away Resorts, but also some relatively high prices at peak times. Away Resorts has a regularly updated last minute deals page. Some of the best Away Resorts include Away Resorts Barmouth Bay Holiday Park in Wales, Away Resorts Mersea Island Holiday Park in Essex and Away Resorts St Ives Bay in Cornwall.  Barmouth Bay is one of Away Resorts' highest-rated holiday parks Joint 13th: Largo Leisure - 64% (six parks in Scotland)Largo Leisure is quite a small holiday park brand. They've got six resorts, all of which are in Scotland. There's quite a range of accommodation, with some sites having caravans whilst others are camping, touring and glamping. 14th: Pontins - 56% (two adults only parks)To be honest, I wasn't very surprised to see Pontins at the bottom of this ranking. Over the last few years, some of their resorts have closed including Pontins Prestatyn and Pontins Camber Sands. The two remaining Pontins holiday parks have been receiving comparatively low scores from customers on TripAdvisor and Google reviews for some time. They are now focusing on the adults only market, and their breaks are some of the cheapest around. Pontins Pakefield Holiday Park in Suffolk and Pontins Sand Bay Holiday Park both score 3/5 on TripAdvisor.  A typical apartment at Pontins Pakefield Holiday Park Good news! Parkdean Resorts has given us an exclusive discount code for holidays in Cornwall, Devon, Dorset and on the Isle of Wight. You need to book via this page and use the exclusive code PZHPG10 (it is case sensitive). The code is valid for holidays in Cornwall, Devon, Dorset and the Isle of Wight until 31st December 2024. However, you need to book by 15th August 2024. The other terms and conditions can be found at the bottom of the page. If you aren't sure which holiday park to go for, our favourites in those counties are:
 Sea Acres in Cornwall is a good one!
 Terms and conditions:
1.10% off applies to all Cornwall, Dorset, Devon and Isle of Wight arrivals in 2024 2.Offer applies to holidays costing no less than £99 (for short breaks) and £179 (for 7+ night breaks) after the offer discount has been applied. 3.Offer excludes hotels, touring, camping and glamping. 4.Discounts cannot be used in conjunction with any other third party promotion or voucher. 5.Any extras such as pets, dining options, cots, bed guards and highchairs will be chargeable in line with standard Parkdean Resorts' standard booking Terms and Conditions. Our standard booking Terms and Conditions can be found at the Parkdean Resorts website. 6.Offers apply to new, direct bookings made online, and are subject to the full booking Terms and Conditions as stated in the current Parkdean Resorts website. 7.Discount is only available at the time of the initial booking and must be used at the time of booking. The discount cannot be applied to a booking retrospectively. 8.Holiday bookings made under the Offer must be taken by 31.12.24. 9.All details are correct at the time of publishing and are subject to promotional rate availability and can be withdrawn or reduced at any time without notice and may close before the Offer end date. We had some success recently with our first ever Brown Flag Awards. The aim was to highlight the best and worst places to swim in the sea when you are on holiday in England, by using Environment Agency data. We picked out the 13 beaches with the dirtiest water and offered them Brown Flags, as well as praising areas with excellent quality water. Areas that rated particularly well for clean swimming water in summer included Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Suffolk and the Isle of Wight. See the full results on the Brown Flag page. Dozens of local newspaper websites and bloggers reported on the campaign, as well as a handful of national outlets including The Mirror, Time Out and The Daily Star. The BBC also gave a (very) brief mention to the brown flag awards. Weston Super Mare deserves a special mention. We were contacted by local campaigner Debbie, who took their brown flag award to a Paddle Out Protest. Thanks to everyone who has supported the campaign so far! We plan to study the numbers in 2025 - hopefully we will be giving out fewer Brown Flags next year!  Our Brown Flag Award at the Paddle Out protest in Weston Super Mare Eurocamp is a popular option for UK families planning a holiday in Europe. The company has sites in several countries including France, Spain, Croatia, Italy, the Netherlands, Germany, Portugal, Luxembourg, Austria and Switzerland Eurocamp has made some major changes for the 2024 season including:
Here's a closer look at five outstanding resorts that are either new to Eurocamp or have made big changes for 2024. 1. Eurocamp Atlantic Club Montalivet, France - new resort for 2024Atlantic Club Montalivet is a whopping great Eurocamp holiday park on France's West Coast. It's a new resort to Eurocamp for 2024 (although it has been going for a number of years under a different name). Accommodation with hot tubs can be found in the some of the 'Ultimate' grade properties. You may want to check out our guide to Eurocamp's new grading system, which explains the difference between Classic, Comfort, Premium and Ultimate. The resort ticks a lot of boxes for me, which may explain why it scores a very decent 4/5 from customers on TripAdvisor. You get quick and easy access to the beach as well as a sizeable waterpark in the park itself. There are large outdoor and indoor swimming pools, as well as a splash area and several waterslides (six by my count, plus a couple of small ones for young children). The highlight is a U-shaped waterslide, where you ride in a boat and go up and down whilst screeching. Sports onsite include tennis, volleyball, football and boules (as always at French resorts). You can fly to Bordeaux from the UK in about 1 hour 40 minutes and then it's a drive of about 1 hour 20 minutes to Eurocamp Atlantic Club Montalivet. Alternatively, you can get the 40 minute Eurotunnel/Le Shuttle from Folkestone and then drive from Calais in about nine hours. Temperatures in this part of France tend to peak around 25-27 Celsius in June, July and August.  The aqua park at Eurocamp Atlantic Club Montalivet has several waterslides...  ...or you can play tennis or head to the beach 2. Eurocamp Domaine de Massereau - new hot tubs for 2024Domaine de Massereau isn't new to Eurocamp, but it has recently added hot tubs as an accommodation option for the first time for 2024. We're giving it a mention as it's one of the most popular Eurocamp resorts in France. Customers give it a glowing review score of 4.6/5 on Google reviews of 4.5/5 on TripAdvisor. It is considerably smaller than Eurocamp Atlantic Club Montalivet with about a quarter of the number of holiday homes. However, it's got everything you are likely to need for a summer holiday in France, including an outdoor swimming pool, a couple of waterslides, a small indoor pool and sauna. Sports include minigolf, bike hire, trampolines, tennis, basketball, volleyball and an optional canoeing excursion. For eating out there's a restaurant and pizzeria. The nearest beach is about half an hour away by car. Eurocamp Domaine de Massereau is in Southern France, so you can either drive from Calais in about 10 hours or fly to the nearest airport in about two hours and then drive for half an hour.  Eurocamp Domaine de Massereau is a smaller resort with outstanding reviews...  ...and an appealing leafy location in Southern France 3. Eurocamp Verdon Parc - new resort for 2024Verdon Parc in Provence is another new resort to Eurocamp for 2024. It is well established and scores 4/5 from hundreds of customers, but is now under the Eurocamp brand. The resort sits alongside a river in Provence, so you can expect peak temperatures of around 27-30 Celsius during June, July and August. It's an inland holiday park, so you would need to drive for about 90 minutes to reach the beaches of Southern France. In terms of scale, it sits halfway between the very large Atlantic Club Montalivet and the much smaller Eurocamp Domaine de Massereau. You can swim in good-sized outdoor and covered swimming pools. There are also three waterslides - not quite on the same scale at Atlantic Club Montalivet but still good fun. Sports and activities include tennis, basketball, aqua aerobics and volleyball. Rather unusually, the resort also has a small farm with animals. It's another resorts which offers hot tubs with some of its posher accommodation. Driving from Calais will take you about 11 hours, so you may prefer the two hour flight to Marseille followed by an hour's drive from the airport.  Eurocamp Verdon Parc is a mid-sized resort on a river in Provence...  ...with waterslides and a hilly location 4. Eurocamp Mayotte Vacances - new resort for 2024Mayotte Vacances is another large and well-equipped holiday park coming under the Eurocamp name for 2024. It's in a great location alongside a lake, or you can drive 20 minutes to France's South Western Coast. By my count, there are five outdoor swimming pools as well as a covered outdoor pool and four waterslides. Sports include table tennis, volleyball and the ubiquitous pétanque. Some of the posher properties come with hot tubs and there's also an onsite restaurant. This part of France is slightly cooler than southern France. You can expect highs of about 23-25 Celsius during the summer months. May is cooler with a high of about 19 Celsius. Driving from Calais takes about nine hours. Bordeaux airport is an hour's drive away. You can fly from the UK in about 1 hour 40 minutes.  Mayotte Vacances is a new resort under the Eurocamp name for 2024  It isn't right by the coast but it's next to a lake and has lots of activities 5. Eurocamp Domaine de Soleil Plage - new resort for 2024Our final pick is in the Dordogne region, which can be found inland a little way towards the South West of France. Eurocamp Domaine de Soleil Plage is on the smaller side and it scores 4.5/5 on TripAdvisor. The location isn't coastal but the nearby river provides entertainment in the form of canoeing and swimming. Less adventurous sorts will use the onsite swimming pools and waterslides. There's also a playground, sports court, volleyball, tennis, minigolf, table tennis and a restaurant. The good news for those wanting to avoid flying is that this one is a slightly shorter drive. It'll take you about 8 1/2 hours from Calais (admittedly, that's still a long drive with a car full of children!). It's a rural area so there isn't a large airport particularly nearby. Bordeaux has regular connections with the UK and is about 2 1/2 hours away.  Eurocamp Domaine de Soleil Plage is in an attractive part of the Dordogne...  ...with some good activities not too far away What's The Difference Between Butlins Accommodation Grades? Which Is Butlins Best Accommodation?9/12/2023 Our comparison of the apartments, chalets, rooms and hotels at Butlins Bognor, Skegness and Minehead in 2024Choosing accommodation at Butlins is a bit mind-blowing at first. There are a whopping 19 different types of accommodation. Thankfully, it’s not as complicated as it sounds. For a start, some accommodation types are only available at one of the three Butlins resorts. Here’s our guide to choosing the best accommodation for your money at Butlins in Bognor, Skegness and Minehead. We’ve included some advice on which upgrades we think are worth the money and which are not so important. The basic summary of different types of accommodation at ButlinsThe first decision you need to make is whether or not you want a kitchen with your Butlins accommodation. If you don’t want a kitchen they you can get the absolute cheapest accommodation available, or you can upgrade to posher rooms with lounges attached ('suites'). However, you’ll either have to eat Pot Noodles all week or buy a dining package where all meals are included. If you want a kitchen then you’ve got a big choice of apartments, lodges and chalets. The basic ones will probably work out cheaper than the most basic room + meals package. The most expensive apartments, lodges and chalets can be twice the price of the most basic ‘room’. When we checked, a dining package for a four day holiday with two adults and two children at Bognor Regis in mid July 2024 was £215 for the 'food court' or £278 for the 'premium dining plan'. The cheaper option works out at about £13.50 per person, per day for breakfast and an evening meal. Personally, I think that's pretty good value. What’s the difference between the different grades of rooms and suites at Butlins?If you decide that you just want a room without kitchen facilities then you need to decide what level of luxury you want. The choice looks like this, roughly in order of price:
To give a rough idea of price, we searched for a four night break for a family of four in mid September 2024. The cheapest standard room was £110 whilst the most expensive room was £200. So what’s the difference between the seven different options above? Options 1 and 2 are the cheapest. You get a bed, a shower and a TV but you don’t get any living space at all. You get a kettle, but you don’t get any tea bags, coffee or a fridge. You get bedding, but you don’t get towels. Thankfully, you get Wi-Fi (phew). The difference between standard rooms and silver rooms tends to be that silver rooms are a little bit more modern. Honestly, I wouldn’t go for a room only option unless you also plan to buy a fully inclusive meals package. You won’t have a fridge so even doing a basic breakfast is a challenge. If you buy the meals package and get out and about constantly then this option will do the job nicely.  The cheapest rooms at Butlins are 'standard rooms' Upgrade to a Suite, sir?The next upgrade option is to a ‘Suite’ which means you get a lounge as well as a bedroom. You can only get these are Minehead and Bognor. Besides the extra space, you also get a mini fridge which is useful for making cups of tea. The main difference between a ‘deluxe suite’ and a ‘silver suite’ is that the deluxe option comes with towels and housekeeping. The other differences are minor things, such as whether or not you get a hairdryer (for my wife’s benefit, I’m not saying that a hairdryer is a minor thing, just that you could bring your own). In our price comparison, it cost £55 extra to upgrade from a silver room to a deluxe suite with a lounge and towels provided at Butlins Minehead for a four day break in mid September 2024. Of course, the increase is more if you’re staying for a week during school holidays. The final upgrade option is to stay at one of the three onsite hotels at Butlins in Bognor (Wave Hotel, Shoreline Hotel and Ocean Hotel). These are a big step up in price, but they are much plusher and more modern than the basic rooms. The bedroom facilities that you get at each hotel are very similar. You get a mini fridge, towels and housekeeping, a few free toiletries, TVs and Wi-Fi. In our price comparisons, they all cost about the same (there was £12 difference between them on the dates we checked in September 2024). However, the Ocean Hotel tends to be a bit more expensive than the other two on most dates. The main difference is that each hotel is aimed at different age groups.
One other upgrade worth mentioning is that you can get a ‘Shoreline Hotel State Room’. It’s similar to the other hotel rooms, but you get an extra bit of living space.  Bognor has three hotels with more modern bedrooms (at a much higher price than the standard rooms) What’s the difference between the different grades of apartments at Butlins?If you decide you want a kitchen, there’s a big choice of apartments, lodges, chalets and bungalows. We’ve counted a total of 12 different ones, but some are only available at one or two of the Butlins resorts. To keep things simple, we’ve split them into three categories of cheap, mid-priced and expensive (Butlins refers to them as ‘value’ ‘moderate’ and ‘premium'). I’m referring to them as ‘self catering’ but you can add on a meal plan so that you won’t need to cook for yourself. What’s the difference between the cheap apartments and bungalows at Butlins?The four cheap options for self catering at Butlins are (roughly in price order):
So what’s the difference between these four cheap options? The actual facilities with Standard Apartments, Silver Apartments and New Style Silver Apartments are not very different at all. Each one comes with a TV, lounge area, bedding, a kettle and free Wi-Fi. None of them come with towels or housekeeping. You also don’t get a hairdryer. The Silver Bungalows are only at Minehead but they are good if you want to be on the ground floor. The difference in price between these options is a bit confusing. On a couple of price comparisons we did, the Newer Style Silver Apartments were actually cheaper than the ‘Silver Apartments’. I personally wouldn’t pay a huge amount extra to upgrade between these four options.  A standard apartment at Butlins includes a lounge...  ...and a basic kitchen-dining area What’s the difference between the mid-priced apartments and lodges at Butlins?The four mid-priced self catering options at Butlins are:
If you upgrade to one of the mid-priced self catering options at Butlins then the most notable upgrade you get is towels and daily housekeeping. You also get a hairdryer, but I wouldn’t upgrade just for that reason… The mid-priced accommodation is also a bit more colourful and interesting. For example, the Seaside Apartments have a multicoloured seaside theme whilst the Fairground apartments have wobbly mirrors and star shaped lights. With the deluxe lodges you get your own dedicated parking space, which you don’t get with the others. Of course, you also get all the other facilities and extras that come with the cheaper accommodation such as free Wi-Fi. (Top tip...don't take teenager on holiday without Wi-Fi. It will end badly.)  The Seaside Apartments at Butlins are more expensive than standard apartments...  ...but they've got a bit more colour and character than standard apartments What’s the difference between the expensive self catering options at Butlins?If you want to push the Butlins boat out, then there are four ‘premium’ apartments, lodges and chalets at the Butlins resorts:
These upgrades can be pretty pricey or they can be quite reasonable, depending on the time of year. For example, in our price comparison you’d pay £473 for four nights in a Wave Hotel Apartment in mid September compared to £184 for a Standard Apartment for the same dates. That’s about £290 difference. However, in early-August 2024, the difference was more than £700. So what are you getting for nearly doubling the price (in some cases)? At each of the ‘premium’ options you get parking near to your accommodation. At standard apartments you park in a large car park at the edge of the site and walk to your apartment with the help of a trolley. In the posher accommodation you get a few little upgrades, such as a TV in the children’s bedroom, a safe and a few free toiletries (it varies a bit – for example, you don’t get the extra TV in the Seaside Lodge or the West Lakes Chalet). You also tend to get a bit of outdoor space or a balcony with the more expensive accommodation. For example, the Bayside Apartments at Minehead come with a sea view and balcony, which is a worthwhile upgrade in my opinion. The West Lakes Chalets don’t have a sea view but they have a modern style. The Wave Hotel Apartments are pricey but they will appeal to families with junior school aged children. You get a modern hotel décor as well as space to cook and a balcony. The hotel also has a games room so the children can make new friends who they can’t bear to leave despite having only known them for three days...  The West Lakes Chalets at Minehead have a modern look compared to the cheaper accommodation  The most expensive accommodation we found was the apartments at the Wave Hotel at Bognor Regis ConclusionIf you’re looking for a cheap holiday, I would either go a standard room/silver room if you plan to sign up for the buffet or see which is the cheapest apartment when you want to visit. Check if the new silver apartments are cheaper than the older style apartments, which was the case when we searched.
If you plan to spend your evenings watching TV rather than exploring the resort, then you will probably want a lounge. That means upgrading to a suite (without a kitchen) or an apartment. If you plan to self-cater or you want the option of cooking the occasional meal then you’ll need an apartment or a hotel room with an apartment. Personally, I would make my upgrade decisions based on a) the time of year and b) how much time I plan to spend at the accommodation. Off peak, the difference in price between the cheaper and more luxurious accommodation was quite modest. During school holidays, you’re paying a lot more. Happy holidays!  Big Bus London gets the best reviews and it's good value if you also want a river cruise Short on time? Here's the summary: Big Bus Tour gets the best reviews. It's also the best value if you want a one day hop-on hop-off bus and river cruise bundle. However, Golden Tours is cheaper if you just want a simple two hour bus tour. Read on for the full guide. There are four main companies competing to offer the best London Bus Tour. They offer open top tours of all the big tourist attractions including Buckingham Palace, the Tower of London, the Houses of Parliament, St Paul's Cathedral, Westminster Abbey and the British Museum. Some London Bus Tours also include a free river cruise as part of the deal. Some are hop-on-hop-off whilst others just offer a straightforward tour for a couple of hours. But which is the best London Bus Tour? We've compared all four based on customer reviews and cost. It's worth noting that you can often beat the 'official' prices by booking via a third party such as Wowcher, Groupon or Living Social. Which London Bus Tour gets the best reviews?We looked for the review score on TripAdvisor for the main London Bus Tour operators. As of November 2023, the ranking looks like this.
Please note: there are other specialist tours, which offer things like Harry Potter tours. We've just included London Bus Tours which cover a general route of the whole city. Of course, there are also buses operated by Transport for London which go past a lot of attractions - the number 11 bus is a good one for visiting several popular spots. Which is the cheapest London Bus Tour?This is where it gets a little bit complicated, as there are endless offers and packages which all provide slightly different things. We did three price comparisons to get a general idea of which London Bus Tour is best value for a family ticket. Price Comparison #1: a simple two hour tour of London by busFor a very rough price comparison, we looked for a two-hour (ish) tour of London with the five bus companies above, on a Tuesday, booked a week in advance. We searched for the price on their official website for two adults and two children and found these results:
Golden Tours is the winner here, and it is second in our review comparison. The advantage of a non-stop tour is that you can settle in rather than risk losing your seat every time you get off the bus. However, two hours on a bus is a long time, particularly with children. The downside is that you can't get off to spend time at the attractions which interest you most. Also worth mentioning (again) is that you can do a DIY London bus tour by using the official Transport for London buses. By my calculations, it will cost a family of four £15.60 for unlimited bus travel for a day. You'll still get a good view but the buses aren't open top. You don't get a commentary and the buses won't follow the ideal route. Start with the number 11 bus. Price Comparison #2: a 24 hour hop-on-hop-off tour of LondonNext, we looked for a one day ticket where you can hop-on and hop-off at your leisure. The downside of this option is that you might end up stood in the rain waiting for a bus to come along (several reviewers suffered such an ordeal). The plus side is that you can pop into an attraction, jump off to see the Changing of the Guards at Buckingham Palace or stop for lunch. Again, we searched for a family ticket for two adults and two children. From cheapest to most expensive at the time of searching.
So, Golden Tours and Toot Bus appear to be the cheapest for a 24 hour ticket. The Big Bus Tour also includes a River Cruise. A typical river cruise for a family costs about £30-£40 so it depends on the discounts on the day as to whether this ticket is good value. Price Comparison #3: a 48 hour hop-on-hop-off ticket with a river cruiseFinally, we searched for the cost of a two day hop-on and hop-off London bus tour with a river cruise. This is a commonly offered bundle and it can work out good value if you don't to cram everything into one day. We searched for the price for a family of four:
Again, Golden Tours was the cheapest by £16. Conclusion - which is the best London Bus Tour?
But wait! Booking direct isn't always the cheapest way to get a London Bus TourWe found that the cheapest option for a London Bus Tour isn't always booking direct. Deals come and go, but we searched on Wowcher during Black Friday and found these deals for a family of four:
We also searched on Groupon and Expedia but didn't find they were cheaper than going direct. Of course, they might be cheaper when you do your searches. Good luck and happy travelling!  March 2022 update: We've removed the 'Megabus Megasightseeing London Bus Tour' from this guide as it's no longer operating.
 Parkdean Resorts' Crantock Beach Holiday Park is a popular choice thanks to its location This seems like a good moment to look at Parkdean Resort's Cornwall holiday parks. Parkdean is doing a couple of decent Black Friday offers including '1000s of holidays from £69' as well as 'up to 30% off 7 night holidays'. Black Friday can be an excellent time to book a holiday for 2024. Most people are distracted by the search for a Christmas present for Aunt Maude, so holiday companies offer some good deals. There's also loads of availability so you can usually get your pick of the accommodation. We've already got a guide to Cornwall that covers all the different holiday park companies, but this one will just focus on the eight Parkdean Resorts. There isn't an outright winner but here's our summary:
Anyway, here are the full details! Which Parkdean Resorts in Cornwall gets the best reviews?Last year, we did a mammoth rundown of every Parkdean Resorts and ranked them from 1st to 66th, based on their review score on TripAdvisor and Google Reviews (there wasn't much on telly that week). Here's how they rank out of every Parkdean Resorts in the UK:
(The equals sign means that they had the same score as another Parkdean Resorts holiday park). We also did a quick search to check if any of those scores had changed since we did our original comparison, about 18 months ago. There had been a couple of changes, so the ranking for Cornwall now looks like this
So, there have been a couple of changes. Crantock Beach has lost half a point on TripAdvisor whilst Lizard Point Holiday Park has gained half a point. Honestly, I wouldn't obsess over this too much. TripAdvisor ratings are only given in halves, so it is quite common for a resort to jump between ratings. The general conclusion is that there are three Cornish Parkdean Resorts that are leading the way with their review scores: Crantock Beach Holiday Park, Sea Acres Holiday Park and St Minver Holiday Park.  Sea Acres is one of the highest ranked Parkdean Resorts with customers Which Parkdean Resorts in Cornwall has the best facilities?There is a significant range in the size of Parkdean Resorts around the UK. Some are massive resorts with enough to occupy you for a week or more - others offer accommodation in a nice location but not much else. A small and simple resort isn't necessarily a bad thing - you may be the sort of family that prefers to explore the local area rather than spending all your time onsite. Parkdean Resorts has a useful system where it labels its larger and busier resorts as 'Action Packed Parks'. There are currently 10 of these in the UK including two in Cornwall - Lizard Point Holiday Park and Newquay Holiday Park. At these parks, you can expect to find loads to do including a mix of free activities and things you pay extra for. At Lizard Point, there is an indoor swimming pool, two outdoor swimming pools, an adventure playground, soft play, nature trails, kids' clubs, a sports court, outdoor table tennis and a 'woof park', which is a dog agility course. There are also paid extras such as high ropes, bungee trampolines, battle blaster (a bit like NERF), archery, kayaking, laser tag, Adventure Bugz and mini golf. Meanwhile, Parkdean Resorts Newquay Holiday Park doesn't have an indoor swimming pool but it has three outdoors pools - one of which has a massive great waterslide. There are also four playgrounds, soft play and paid activities such as minigolf, archery, high ropes, hoverboards, arts and craft and so on. You can find more details on which activities cost extra here.  Lizard Point is an 'Action Packed' resort with things like this Adventure Bugz course There are also some Parkdean Resorts in Cornwall that promote themselves as being 'relaxed'. This generally means that there aren't lots of activities onsite but they are often in good locations. These 'relaxed' parks include:
 St Minver Holiday Park is a quieter and 'relaxing' resort but you still an indoor swimming pool Finally, there are three Parkdean Resorts in Cornwall that fall somewhere in the middle. They aren't quite as jam-packed with entertainment as Lizard Point Holiday Park or Newquay Holiday park but they have a bit more to do than Crantock Beach Holiday Park, Sea Acres Holiday Park and St Minver Holiday Park. These three resorts are Holywell Bay Holiday Park, Looe Bay Holiday Park and White Acres Holiday Park.  Parkdean's White Acres Holiday Park is somewhere in the middle in terms of its range of activities Which Parkdean Resorts holiday park in Cornwall is cheapest?Here's the juicy part! Next up, we carried out a price comparison for one set of dates for a peak-season 2024 holiday. You may find different results for your holiday, but it's an interesting exercise if nothing else. We looked for a family for four people in early August 2024. We just looked for the cheapest accommodation available at the time of searching. You might find that prices creep up nearer the time because the lower grades of accommodation get booked up quicker. See our guide to Parkdean Resorts grading of caravans for more advice. (As an aside, we usually advise people to book early if they can rather than hoping for a last minute discount. The best prices are usually available to the early birds). From cheapest to most expensive
So, there's a difference of £350 between the cheapest - Looe Bay Holiday Park and the most expensive - Newquay Holiday Park. It's interesting to note that Sea Acres and St Minver are two of the cheapest despite getting some of the best reviews (or perhaps the low prices help encourage high review scores!)  Looe Bay Holiday Park was the winner in our price comparison of Parkdean Resorts in Cornwall Which Parkdean Resorts in Cornwall is easiest to reach by car?Convenience is a big factor for me. Let's look at driving distance from London. I'm aware that not everyone lives in London, but the difference in travel time is likely to be about the same for most visitors.
So, you will spend more than two and half hours extra in the car for a return journey to Sea Acres Holiday Park or Lizard Point Holiday Park compared to Looe Bay Holiday Park or White Acres Holiday Park. That's a notable factor for me as one of my children isn't a great car traveller! Another thing to consider is that Cornwall is a large county. If you want to cover the whole of Cornwall in a week then you are better to stay somewhere around the middle such as Newquay Holiday Park. It's an hour's drive from Lizard Point Holiday Park to Tintagel on the North Cornish coast. You may not fancy two hours in the car after driving all the way to Cornwall!  Looe Bay Holiday Park is the closest Cornish holiday park for most people Which Parkdean Resorts Holiday Park in Cornwall is near to a beach?Easy access to a beach is another big factor for us. Walking distance is preferable so that a beach trip doesn't require loading everyone and everything into the car. Plus, you don't have to find and pay for parking if it's not far away. Here's how the Cornish Parkdean Resorts rank, based on how close they are to the nearest beach
(Note that these times will vary a bit depending on where you are on the site and whether you go for the closest beach or a nicer one with more sand!) So, we have three winners in this category. Sea Acres Holiday Park, Crantock Beach Holiday Park and Holywell Bay Holiday Park are all close enough to walk to the beach without too much complaining from the rest of your family. Conclusion - pros and cons of each Parkdean Resorts in CornwallLet's round up with a summary of each Parkdean Resorts in Cornwall. There isn't a clear winner in every category, so a pros and cons list is in order!
Is Cleaning And Housekeeping Included With Eurocamp? Or Do You Clean Your Own Holiday Home?10/10/2023  Some Eurocamp holiday homes in France require you to clean when you leave This is just a short blog to clear up a question that a lot of people have about Eurocamp - do you have to clean your holiday home when you leave? The short answer is...sometimes. Read on for the four things that you need to know - plus our advice on how you can avoid cleaning your holiday home. 1. There are some jobs that everyone needs to do when they leave a Eurocamp holiday homeEurocamp ask you to do what they call 'Basic Housekeeping' before you leave. This is regardless of what property you are staying in. The tasks are:
These are listed on the Eurocamp website here. My experience is that most UK holiday parks ask you to do these things when you leave. It varies a bit, but I don't think it's an unreasonable list of requests. 2. You don't need to do any cleaning if you are staying with Eurocamp in Germany, Spain, Italy, Croatia, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Austria or SwitzerlandWhat about cleaning rather than just taking the bins out and stripping the beds? Well, in the vast majority of countries that Eurocamp covers, you don't need to do cleaning before you leave. In fact, the only country that requires some guests to clean is France. I don't know why this is the case but if you are visiting a Eurocamp in Germany, Netherlands, Spain etc. then you won't be cleaning the oven whilst trying to leave.  Popular French resorts like La Croix du Vieux Pont require some guests to clean before they leave 3. You do need clean your own property when you leave in most Eurocamp properties in France.If you go for one of the cheaper grades at Eurocamp in France, including Classic, Classic XL, Comfort, Comfort XL or Premium then you need to do the following before you leave:
Again, you can find this list on the Eurocamp website here. So, are cleaning materials provided by Eurocamp, or will you need to pack a bottle of Cif? According to the Eurocamp website, the following is provided:
If you go for one of the top grades of accommodation at Eurocamp in France then cleaning is included. These grades are called Premium Exclusive, Ultimate and Ultimate Plus.  Top grades include Premium Exclusive, Ultimate and Ultimate Plus (pictured) never require you to clean when you leave 4. If you don't do housekeeping and cleaning then you will be charged up to £150There are a couple of 'penalty charges' if you don't complete your duties. If you don't do the 'housekeeping tasks' (e.g. taking out the bins, stripping the beds) then Eurocamp will take 'up to £70' from the bank card that you used when you paid for your holiday. If you don't do either the housekeeping or cleaning of a property where you should have done it then Eurocamp will charge you 'up to £150'. So, how can I avoid cleaning my holiday home before I leave?You may feel that you don't want to clean your holiday home. I know that Mrs Guru would certainly feel that it wasn't really a holiday if she was scrubbing the toilet. She would also be concerned about trying to clean whilst the children made more mess and I made a pigs' ear of packing the car. There are several ways to avoid cleaning your Eurocamp holiday home:
 Center Parcs in France, Netherlands, Germany and Belgium is a popular alternative to Eurocamp holiday parks |
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