Center Parcs Erperheide

Wonderful holiday at Erperheide, we booked and paid for everything in advance all activities ( low climbing, pony experience, scuba diving lesson, little ones swimming lesson, a couple of nights at the buffet restaurant and two free activities a nature work shop and shelter building in the forest), which I would advise, as the activities get booked up quickly. We had a premium cottage, perfectly clean and well equipped, take dishwasher salt and rinse aid and dishwasher tablets ( we do every time to all Center parcs, as the dishwasher always needs them). Our cottage was n°437 very near to the market dome, with a play park just in front, the park is very flat so easy to ride your bike all over. The staff are all very friendly and helpful, in English or French for us. There are loads of play parks all over with swings and slides, and Baluba indoor soft playground with two massive areas, a big ball pit, trampolines etc. One of the best we had been to.

We're currently staying at Erperheide as a family of four (two adults and two four year olds). Erperheide was recommended to us by the Facebook group Center Parcs Europe Just for Brits as the best European Center Parcs to come to with young children. Overall I don't think I'd recommend it myself and wouldn't revisit. The cons: - our VIP cottage was small, dirty (generally floors were unclean, kids room was covered in small beads from a previous guest, shower room smelled damp, kids room smells damp, rusty radiators, lots of mosquitos squashed on the walls and ceilings) - lodges are in need of major renovation, e.g. our door didn't lock properly and we'd come back to the door randomly having opened. - VIP 'extras' are not worth the money e.g. a single washing up sponge and no washing up liquid, two dishwasher tablets, a few bread rolls. - there is little to no storage in the lodges for your luggage so much of the trip we loved chaotically as there was nowhere to put things away - swimming pools are freezing - the roof was open on all but one visit and the air temperature was very cold and the water temperature wasn't much higher. We cut one visit to 30 minutes as we were all too cold and on another occasion my daughter's lips were turning blue. It was one of the big draws to the site but we couldn't use it as much as we'd have liked due to the temperature - the changing rooms of the pool are dirty and we found a showerhead with faeces on it. Nobody seems to clean the area. - there are a LOT of mosquitos, even in October and my husband was bitten 20+ times - the site is very small so you don't get much of a forest feel and there's therefore not much nature to explore - you also don't get much of a relaxing 'car free' experience as the roads are quite busy with cars, vans and electric vehicles as well as bikes, scooters, rickshaws, golf buggies, electric bikes, hoverboards etc. As the site is small there's a lot of traffic. You have to keep your eyes peeled so your children don't get run over as you have to share these roads as pedestrians. - smoking shelters are everywhere and in prominent positions where you're forced to walk past them. - the site seems to be under a flight path and on several nights military aircraft were circling the site from 9pm onwards. On another night there were tractors harvesting all night long. Pros - activities are (mostly) reasonably priced - the Baluba soft play was loved by my children. - the children's farm is good, but parts are quite restrictive e.g. small animal handling only happens maybe three days a week for 1.5 hours at a time (and I'm not sure it's that kind to the animals as it's pretty much unsupervised). - the market dome has been done nicely and has three shops, the pool and some restaurants. There are fish, birds, flamingos and terrapins to look at. - My kids enjoyed some of the evening entertainment (like a disco) but it was very cheesy for me. - There are some good playgrounds for younger

We had a great time at Center Parcs. The location is easy to find and is not too far from the local shops/supermarkets like Lidl where we did our big shop for the four days. The bedrooms in the cottage are a bit smaller than expected but the cottage has everything you need, functional rather than luxury. We enjoyed the Sauna in the VIP cottage, as well as the daily bread rolls. The starter pack is a little small - so it's a good idea to bring additional toiletries and washing liquid etc. Onsite activities were great - the swimming pool is brilliant, as well as the soft play, play areas and petting zoo. We also hired bikes, did a kids safari, pony ride, bowling and hired a pedalo - all activities were great and reasonably priced - everything is booked via the app/website and then logged via your wrist band. We didn't use the on-site restaurants much but there was plenty of choice. All in all, a really memorable family holiday and I'm sure we will be back.

If you have (young) kids who love water, this is the place to be. Book your cottage in advance and get a discount. You can always book extra options to your stay after. I would advise to take the dinner option if you don’t like cooking on vacation. The swimming place is fantastic, the giant indoor playground is great for colder, rainy days.