Center Parcs has a reputation for being expensive and while you can definitely spend a small fortune during your stay, it doesn’t have to be budget breaking. Other than the accommodation you don’t have to spend much money while there to have a great time. This guide shares the free and low cost activities for families at Center Parcs so you can choose ways to keep the costs down. 

These tips are based on our stay at Elveden Forest in 2024. Most of the facilities across the UK Center Parcs are the same, although the layout, style and costs differ slightly.

Tips For Saving Money While Staying At Center Parcs

Center Parcs is a brilliant family holiday destination and there are ways you can save money when there

Accommodation 

If you book early you can normally get a small discount (I’m talking around £40 which given a stay in school holidays is often over £1000 it would be barely noticeable). They have discounts on last minute bookings when available which can be around 20%, but obviously you get less choice and if booking really last minute activity and restaurant availability may be limited. You also get a small discount (£50) if you book another stay within a month of your previous visit. 

If you want to stay at Center Parcs at the weekend or during school holidays there is no denying it is going to be expensive when compared to other self catering holidays (it costs about twice the price of a Haven caravan holiday for instance).  Having said that, even the basic level lodges are pretty nice and you’ll still get the 'luxuries' like towels, soap, kitchen welcome pack that many other holiday places have got rid of as cost saving measures. 

If you book far enough ahead you can pay a deposit on booking and the balance closer to your stay. While this doesn't reduce the overall cost it can help you spread the cost more easily.

Some of the larger and premium lodges cost eye watering amounts. They have features like games rooms and saunas which I'm sure are lovely, but we didn't feel our lodge was missing anything. The Executive Lodges have ensuite bathrooms and TV's in all the rooms, but for most families the Woodland Lodges (with a family bathroom) are lovely. Some of the older lodges are in need of a face lift and redecoration but I thought they were nice enough and clean.

Check out this post for what I recommend packing for your Center Parcs stay.

Accommodation Add Ons

You get offered various add ons to your accommodation when booking and afterwards which may or may not feel of value to you. 

Early check in gives you access to your lodge 2 hours early so you can avoid the rush of everyone heading to their lodges, but this costs between £45 and £70 (price varies depending on booking date and location). Everyone is allowed to use the facilities from 10am on arrival day so it is just the early lodge access you gain.

Choose your lodge. You can choose a zone when booking or even a specific lodge if you have a strong preference about where you want to stay. If it really matters to you to be close to the centre it's worth paying for this. If you are happy to walk or cycle the quieter locations further out are lovely and on a nice day the journey can be beautiful so you could save money and leave your location to chance.

You find out your exact lodge location about a month before. Personally I feel the worst locations, regardless of distance, would be ones next to footpaths or where there will be a lot of passing noise. The lodges are designed so you have a good level if privacy, but you might want to bring ear plugs if noise bothers you and you like an early night.

Family Grocery Pack. I talk about this in more detail in my packing guide post. It isn't great value for money, but it does make things really easy if you plan to eat most of your meals out as you'll have all the basics you need for breakfast and snacks without having to bring them with you. 

Krispy Kremes. You can have a 12 pack of Krispy Kreme doughnuts waiting for you in your lodge. If you are trying to keep costs down and have massive doughnut lovers you would be better off letting children choose their own from the shop as then you'll only pay for one each.

There is a large playground at Elveden Forest with equipment for all ages

What Families Can Do For Free At Center Parcs

Swimming

The Subtropical Swimming Paradise pools vary between Center Parcs locations, but they are all great and a nice way to spend a few hours. I have written a whole post about the swimming pools at Center Parcs as there is a lot to share, but the key things to know are: you don’t pay extra to use it, you don’t book and you can stay as long as you like in opening hours.

Outdoor Playground

At Elveden Forest the playground is outside the back of the Sports cafe on one side of the central Village area. It is really big and has a great range of equipment for all ages. All Center Parcs have at least one playground which are a great way to entertain children for free.

The Beach

On the edge of the lake at Elveden Forest is a sandy beach area and I believe they have similar at all the other UK sites.  This is fun for young children who will happily play with a bucket and spade (you can buy these, but bring your own to save money). There are signs saying you can’t go in the water even to paddle. It was really hot when we went and we had to avoid the beach because of the lack of shade and because my children didn’t understand why they couldn’t go in the water. When we went to a Center Parcs in the Netherlands you could swim in the lake so it's shame there isn't the option here.

Indoor Play Areas

While there isn’t a big soft play several of the restaurants have indoor play areas which are essentially small soft plays. At Elveden Forest you can find indoor play areas in:  Hucks, Pancake House, Café Rouge, Bella Italia, Foresters Inn (they also have an outside area), Leisure Bowl and Sports Cafe. While most of these require reservations to eat you don’t need to book at the Sports Cafe or Leisure Bowl so you can just go for a drink and enjoy the play area. 

These play areas are small and most suitable for children 3 to 6 (this is my age guidance rather than Center Parcs). 

Kid's Disco

There is apparently a free kids disco in the evenings between 6pm and 8pm ish. This isn’t really advertised and at Elveden it is upstairs near the bowling so easy to miss. It’s not normally on arrival days (Monday or Friday), but if you have young children it is worth looking out for and planning meal times around.  

Wifi

There is free wifi in the lodges and public areas. My phone reception wasn’t great but I barely noticed as I nearly always had wifi. I used my normal social media without any speed issues and it was enough to keep my teen happy who I'm guessing was mostly on YouTube.

The main bedroom in our 3 bedroom New Style Woodland lodge

The main living area in our 3 bedroom lodge

Tips To Get The Most Out Of Your Center Parcs Stay

Bikes

We hired bikes because we don’t have a car bike rack to bring our own. Other than on Mondays and Fridays (handover days) there is very little traffic making it a brilliant environment to cycle around. 

Helmet and bike locks are included in the hire fee.

If you aren’t bringing your own bike or hiring it is worth taking some form of transport for little legs. My middle daughter struggled with the bike (she hasn’t quite learnt to ride) and she would have been much happier with a scooter for the long walks between the centre and the lodge. You will still need a lock if bringing a scooter as they have to be left in the bike parks.

Enjoy Your Lodge

We loved hanging out in the lodge. There was a lot of wildlife which came to visit including deer, squirrels and a whole family of geese. The open plan living area was nicely laid out, but the bedrooms are comfortable too if you want some space. If you bring games and your own food you can happily spend a cozy evening in your lodge rather than going out for food.

Lower Cost Activities

Other than swimming and the other areas mentioned above the activities are all chargeable. The cost can quickly add up if you paying for multiple people,  but there are some options which are better value than others. As a family I found the best options were where you pay one price for the activity rather than a price per person. 

The best value activities we found (and a guide price, which may change):

• Mini golf costs around £6 to £9 per person for 9 holes. 
• Pedalo hire was £18.50 for 30 minutes. Most were 4 person boats, but they had some 5 person ones too.
• Electric boat hire was £34 for 30 minutes and it can seat 6.
• Squash - Family Ball Wall was £21.50 for 45 minutes. The wall of the squash court is an interactive screen and you can choose a from a variety of computer games that you play by throwing balls at the wall. You are meant to have a maximum of 4 people on court at one time and wear non marking shoes. They give you a bag of balls of different sizes and it’s lots of fun. The people before us had a big group in there and weren't checked on, but you could have some of your group outside and take turns as it’s exhausting. You are meant to wear non marking trainers to play. 

You can hire boats including kayak, pedalo and electric boats

The games played on the interactive wall in the squash court were lots of fun

Eating For Less At Center Parcs 

For most families the biggest expense during the stay will be food. There is a great range of restaurants across all the sites, but the cost of feeding a family adds up. The best way to spend less while at Center Parcs is to bring and cook your own food.

Lodges have built in barbecue areas which you can use with instant disposable barbecue trays (they sell these in the shop or you can bring your own), but you will need to bring cooking tools as the ones they provide aren't ideal for a BBQ.

If you do want to buy meals there choose carefully as food quality was variable. We tried a range of food from the delivery service on one night (including noodles, sides and pizza) and these were disappointing . The meals out were all much better quality and obviously it’s easier to complain if there are problems. So if you want to splurge on a treat I would suggest eating out, but make sure you make a reservation in advance as many of the restaurants book up. Prebooking generally requires paying a deposit, but if you do this a few months before your stay it will help you spread the cost of the meal as the deposit will be taken off the bill.

If your family is likely to want to spend hours in the swimming pool make sure you bring snacks and drinks (at least water) with you to the pool. Thanks to the humidity and length of time people tend to stay there you will probably want something to eat or drink. There are places to buy food and drink in the pool area so bringing your own can help avoid the temptation.

If you have a baby make sure you take advantage of the free baby food. There is free Ella’s Kitchen baby food available in selected restaurants. 

General Advice For Those Visiting Center Parcs For The First Time

The sites are big and it's easy for children to get tired getting around. If you are visiting with more than one adult it is worth someone heading off without the children to work out the best routes to your lodge and explore what is where. This means you can save the children's energy for more fun activities.

Cars are not allowed into the main site for most of the week. There is a large car park where you leave your car during your stay, but you are allowed to take it your lodge on arrival day to unload before returning to the car park (and again for leaving). Shortly before 4pm there is a mad rush to the car park and an endless snake of cars weaves through the car park and the roads around the accommodation. This means it will take longer than you would expect to get to the lodge and unload the car so plan accordingly.

If you plan to leave Sunday night instead of Monday you can get permission to take your car in for a limited time.

On the day of departure you have to be out of the lodge by 10am. Make sure you leave plenty of time to get to the car park, pick up the car and get to your lodge. Once you are out of the lodge you need to return the car to the car park, but you can go back in on foot and stay on site until midnight. 

A lot of people get around the site on bike and the paths make cycling easy. Cycling is not allowed on all paths though or around restaurants so keep an eye out for signs and make sure to leave bikes in one of the many bike parks.

Stretch Out Your Holiday 

Although you only have access to your lodge from 4pm on arrival day (or early check in from 2pm) and you should leave your lodge by 10am on departure day, you can spend a full day on site on both of these days. If coming for the weekend spending the Friday and Monday onsite effectively doubles the length of time you get to use everything.  You can use the pool and book activities for both arrival and departure days, but if you hire bikes they need to be returned by 10am on the day you leave. If you plan to use the pool make sure you keep at least one of your wristbands so you can use the lockers.

*Information based on a June 2024 stay at Elveden Forest Center Parcs. It is provided as guidance in good faith, but it may not reflect your stay.*