€50 on bed linen wasn’t exactly how I imagined starting our Center Parcs holiday.

We’ve been to Center Parcs a few times over the years, so I really should have remembered this. But somehow, when I booked this trip, I completely forgot about the bed linen.

For our cottage, we needed linen for three beds plus the baby cot, which came to around €50. And then we still had to make all the beds ourselves.

It wasn’t a huge deal, but when you’ve just arrived with an 8-year-old, a seven-week-old baby and what feels like half your house packed into the car, making four beds isn’t exactly the first holiday activity you have in mind.

It also reminded me that the price you see when you book Center Parcs isn’t necessarily what you’ll end up spending.

This summer we decided to skip international travel because our youngest daughter was only seven weeks old. I wasn’t quite ready for airports, flights and all the extra logistics that come with travelling abroad with such a tiny baby, but I still really wanted our older daughter to feel like she’d had a proper summer holiday.

So we stayed closer to home and booked Center Parcs Het Meerdal in Limburg.

We’re not new to Center Parcs. We’ve stayed at several parks over the years across the Netherlands, Belgium and France, but this was our first time doing it with such a young baby.

And it definitely made me look at the whole Center Parcs experience a little differently.

So rather than giving you a glossy review of everything there is to do, here’s what I’d actually tell a friend who was thinking about booking.

This time we stayed at Het Meerdal

Het Meerdal is one of the older Center Parcs parks in Limburg and, having stayed at some of the newer resorts, you can notice the difference.

It doesn’t have the same newer feel as somewhere like Villages Nature Paris, for example, and I probably wouldn’t choose Het Meerdal if I was looking for something that felt particularly modern or luxurious.

But for what we needed this summer, it worked.

We had our own cottage, the swimming pool was nearby, there was plenty for our older daughter to do and we didn’t need to plan day trips every day.

That last part was probably the biggest thing for me.

With a seven-week-old, I didn’t want a holiday where we had to be out of the door at a certain time every morning or feel like we were wasting the day if we went back to our accommodation for a few hours.

If the baby needed feeding, sleeping or we’d simply had enough, we could head back to the cottage and start again later.

It made the whole trip feel much easier.

Our 8-year-old loved choosing her own activities

One thing I really liked was the Center Parcs app.

It’s genuinely handy for seeing what’s happening, checking times and looking through the different activities available.

Our daughter loved scrolling through everything and deciding what she wanted to do. She chose about 2/3 activities a day – such as safari car riding, climbing, hair braiding and a water activity course, as well as spending plenty of time swimming.

At eight, she’s at a really nice age for Center Parcs because she could actually have a say in what we did rather than us planning the whole holiday for her.

Watching how much she enjoyed choosing her activities also made me understand the appeal of Center Parcs with older kids much more.

There is something you need to factor into your budget though.

Most of the organised activities are paid extras.

From what we saw, they generally ranged from around €5 to €30 per activity, depending on what you choose.

One €10 activity doesn’t feel like much, but then they choose another for €20 and spot something else they want to do the next day. If you have more than one child, I can see how quickly those extras could add up.

I wouldn’t necessarily book fewer activities next time because they were a big part of what our daughter enjoyed. I’d just go into the holiday knowing we were going to spend extra on them.

I actually think next time I might give her an activity budget and let her decide which things she really wants to spend it on.

The cottage price is really just the starting point

This is probably one of the biggest things I’d keep in mind when comparing Center Parcs with another family holiday.

There’s the price you pay for your cottage, but then there can be quite a few extras on top.

For us, the bed linen was one of the first.

Despite having been to Center Parcs before, I somehow completely forgot about it when I booked. Linen for three beds plus the baby cot cost us around €50, and then we made all the beds ourselves when we arrived.

Depending on your booking, bringing your own linen may be an option, so it’s definitely something I’d check beforehand.

Then there are the activities, eating out, groceries, bike hire if you want it and all the other little things you end up adding along the way.

None of these things individually need to make the holiday expensive, but they’re worth thinking about when you’re deciding whether Center Parcs fits your budget.

I’d look at the cottage price as the starting price rather than the final price.

Is Center Parcs worth it with a baby?

This is where I’m a little more divided.

Taking our seven-week-old was actually easier than I expected in some ways.

Having our own cottage was brilliant. We had space for all the baby stuff, we could work around feeds and naps and we didn’t have to worry about disturbing anyone in the room next door if she had a bad night.

But realistically, a seven-week-old isn’t getting much out of everything Center Parcs has to offer.

Her holiday mainly consisted of milk, naps, cuddles, walks and being transported around while her big sister had a great time.

She seemed perfectly happy with this arrangement.

But if I were travelling with only a baby, I’m not sure Center Parcs would be my first choice.

You’re paying to stay somewhere with a huge amount of entertainment and activities around you and at that age your baby simply isn’t going to use most of it.

I’d probably compare the price with a lovely family-friendly hotel or holiday cottage and see what gave us better value.

For us, Center Parcs made sense because we also had an 8-year-old.

With an 8-year-old, I completely get the appeal

This trip made me realise just how much the age of your children changes whether Center Parcs feels worth it.

Our daughter could properly enjoy everything this time.

She could choose activities, spend ages swimming, explore the park and get excited about what she wanted to do the next day.

We also didn’t have to wake up every morning and start searching for somewhere to take her. There was already plenty happening around us.

That convenience is a big part of what you’re paying for.

Having such a big age gap between our daughters actually worked surprisingly well too.

One of us could take our older daughter to an activity while the other stayed with the baby, and then we’d meet back at the cottage afterwards.

It meant our older daughter still got to have a fun summer holiday without us dragging a seven-week-old around on day trips every day.

That was probably the biggest reason Center Parcs worked for us this time.

I wouldn’t necessarily call it a relaxing holiday

Center Parcs always looks incredibly peaceful in the photos.

Trees, lakes, bikes and little cottages in the forest.

And there definitely are peaceful moments.

But with kids, you’re still busy parenting and there aren’t many relaxing activities planned for the adults…. an onsite massage center would be amazing 🙂

You’re getting everyone ready for swimming, looking for the goggles someone definitely had five minutes ago, feeding the baby just as you’re about to leave, heading back to the cottage, getting everyone ready again, going to an activity and then discovering someone wants to swim again.

So I wouldn’t necessarily describe our Center Parcs holiday with an 8-year-old and a newborn as relaxing.

It was more easy family fun, and I think there’s a difference.

At this stage of our lives, that was actually what we needed.

I’d bring more food next time

There are restaurants at Center Parcs and having everything onsite is obviously really convenient, particularly when everyone is tired and nobody wants to cook.

But personally, I wouldn’t choose Center Parcs for the food.

Eating out also adds another expense on top of your accommodation and activities.

If we went again, I’d bring more from home and plan a little better. I’d have easy breakfasts, things for lunch, a couple of simple dinners and plenty of snacks ready to go.

The onsite supermarket is really useful when you’ve forgotten something, but you’re paying for that convenience.

I’d especially bring the snacks you already know your children like.

A family holiday is not the ideal time to discover that the snack your child has happily eaten for the last year is suddenly unacceptable.

Bring the boring stuff too

This is probably the least exciting Center Parcs advice I can give you, but it’s genuinely useful.

Bring things like dishwasher tablets, toilet paper, hand soap, cooking oil, coffee, tea and whatever basic kitchen things you know you’ll use.

I’d also bring easy breakfast food, plenty of snacks and extra swimming towels.

And after this trip, check the bed linen situation before you leave home is very firmly on my list.

You can buy most things onsite if you forget them, but I’d much rather spend that money on something fun than realise I’m using part of the holiday budget to buy dishwasher tablets.

We’ve stayed at a few Center Parcs and they’re definitely not all the same

We’ve been to Center Parcs in the Netherlands, Belgium and France, and I think choosing the right park makes a huge difference to your experience.

Het Meerdal worked for what we needed this time, but it isn’t my favourite Center Parcs we’ve visited.

My two favourites so far are actually outside the Netherlands.

Villages Nature Paris

We really enjoyed Villages Nature Paris, which is close to Disneyland Paris.

It feels relatively new compared with some of the more traditional Center Parcs parks we’ve stayed at, and I’d definitely consider going back.

It’s also a great option if you want to combine Center Parcs with Disneyland Paris. You can have your busy Disney days and then come back to somewhere where you can slow things down a little.

Terhills Resort in Belgium

I also really loved Terhills Resort in Belgium.

And if you ever stay there, one of my biggest recommendations isn’t actually part of Center Parcs.

Right next door is Elaisa Energetic Wellness, a huge wellness centre.

When we stayed at Terhills, we were lucky enough to have grandparents with us. They babysat our daughter one evening and we went to Elaisa for a few hours.

It was such a treat.

After days where everything naturally revolves around your child, having a few hours where we could properly switch off and relax made such a difference.

If you’re staying at Terhills with grandparents who are willing to babysit, I’d definitely consider it.

Just check the schedule before you book because Elaisa has different swimwear and non-swimwear days.

Would we go back to Center Parcs?

Yes, I think we would, but this trip has made me much more aware of choosing the right park for the ages of our children and looking at the total cost rather than just the price of the cottage.

Next time, I’d check exactly what’s included before we arrive, especially the bed linen. I’d bring more food and basic supplies from home and I’d set aside a separate budget for activities so that our daughter could choose the ones she really wanted to do without all those little extras feeling unexpected.

I also think the age of your children makes a huge difference to whether Center Parcs feels worth the money.

If we only had our seven-week-old baby, I probably wouldn’t have chosen Center Parcs. At that age, she obviously wasn’t going to make use of most of the facilities and activities we were paying to have around us.

Having our 8-year-old changed that completely. She loved the swimming, enjoyed looking through the app and choosing her activities and genuinely felt like she was having a proper summer holiday.

That was important to me this year.

We’d just had another baby and I didn’t want our older daughter’s summer to suddenly become all about what we couldn’t do because we had a newborn. At the same time, I wasn’t ready to take our seven-week-old through airports and onto an international trip.

Center Parcs gave us a really good middle ground. We could stay relatively close to home and take everything at a slower pace with the baby while our older daughter still had plenty of things to get excited about.

It wasn’t the most relaxing holiday we’ve ever had and Het Meerdal isn’t my favourite Center Parcs we’ve visited, but for what our family needed this summer, it worked really well.

And perhaps that’s the biggest thing I’d say if you’re considering booking. Don’t just ask whether Center Parcs is worth it. Think about whether it’s worth it for your family, with your children at the ages they are right now.

For us, this time, it was.