The Algarve-like holiday park on a UK beach with a £1million upgrade
A UK HOLIDAY park that’s been compared to Portugal has reopened for the season – along with a £1million upgrade.
Ladram Bay Holiday Park in Budleigh Salterton, Devon is now open with some big new changes.
Onsite are now 13 new modern holiday homes, which will all have three bedrooms.
Dubbed the Lobster Lodges, they are the most spacious lodges onsite and feature luxury interiors with a double bedroom, a bedroom with two single beds and also a sofa bed.
The best part though is that each lodge has a hot tub on the decking with amazing views of the coastline.
The children’s outdoor play area, which features a pirate ship dubbed ‘NaNa of Ladram’ has been rebuilt and the indoor soft play has been updated as well.
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The Beach Shack is being upgraded too, with a typical seaside feel inside including an ice cream counter and is set to open by the summer.
Those who like to boogie will be happy to hear the park has also launched silent discos.
And as the summer approaches, there will be new outdoor furniture and speakers at the Pebbles restaurant for events and the splash park will reopen.
The family-run holiday park sits on the top of a cliff and is home to around 140 caravans as well as three apartments, safari tents and glamping pods and a renovated former fisherman’s cottage.
The Sun’s Executive Daily News Editor, Emma Glanfield, recently visited Ladram Bay Holiday Park.
She said: “With a glass of wine in hand, watching the sun set over the sea as clear waters lap the shore, I could have been in the Algarve.
“But no, rather than basking in Portugal, I was holidaying with the family at a caravan park on east Devon’s Jurassic Coast.”
Emma added: “Ladram overlooks a gorgeous section of the coast and even has its own private beach — accessible only to guests, via a slipway at the bottom of the park.”
“As well as an on-site gym, huge outdoor adventure playground, indoor soft-play centre and enormous amusement arcade, the park also boasts pottery and art classes in its new studio.
“The indoor pool is magnificent — one of the cleanest I’ve ever known — and offers free family playtimes as well as exercise classes.
“The adjoining outdoor splash park is brilliant, too, for cooling off on a hot day, while the indoor fun slide kept us all entertained — even the grandparents.
“That’s before you even start on the evening entertainment in Waves Bar — with bingo, a pool table, darts, kids’ disco, singers and the Ladram Stars Showtime.
“And when we visited Portugal just a few weeks later, I looked out at the coastline, from our accommodation, and realised it didn’t look too different at all from that special view back at Ladram.”
Currently, you can get 20 per cent off stays at the park by using the code ‘DEVON20’.
In the local area, there are a number of attractions guests can visit.
For example, the holiday park sits on the South West Coast Path which featured in the recent Salt Path film and is ideal for breezy walks with views of the coast.
Then just down the road is Crealy Theme Park, which is great for kids who aren’t ready for big rollercoasters – like those found at Thorpe Park or Alton Towers – quite yet.
There are over 60 attractions to explore at the park, including the Maximus train rollercoaster and the Tidal Wave log flume.
Travel reporter Cyann Fielding visited the park many times growing up.
She said: “Crealy Theme Park is great no matter the weather as it has an even amount of indoor and outdoor attractions.
“Outside, the Maximus rollercoaster is a great introduction to rides for children – it is slick and smooth, but not too jolty or fast.
“The Tidal Wave log flume is a bit more of a thrill – but definitely leave it until last as you will get soaked (though the park has drying machines you stand in that you can pay for).”
If you want to explore more of the Devonshire coastline, then a short drive away from Ladram Bay is also the seaside town of Sidmouth, which has a large pebble beach.
Another beach to head to in Sidmouth that is the more secluded Jacob’s Ladder Beach which has red sand, rock pools and dramatic cliffs.
And nine miles down the road at the park’s sister site – Castle Brake, near Woodbury – there are also £300,000 improvements.
The park now has a new static caravan area with two holiday lodges.
The park also has new roads and hard-standing bases making it suitable for a mix of two-bed and three-bed static caravans.
In other holiday park news, these are the nine most popular Hols From £9.50 holiday parks of last year – as booking opens for 2026.
Plus, one of the UK’s most popular holiday parks reveals mega £50million expansion.