The in-game island will also feature a replica of the 70th anniversary sculpture inspired by Sleeping Beauty Castle as well as glimpses of the theme park’s familiar landmarks including the Incredicoaster and Pixar Pal-a-Round across the virtual skyline. Players who complete the island’s mini-games will collect keys that can be used to unlock Disneyland 70th-themed island-exclusive cosmetics so players will be able to show their Disney spirit.
“Fortnite” players can access the island by searching for Disneyland Game Rush or using island code 4617-4819-8826.
“Disneyland Game Rush” marks the latest Disney-affiliated “Fortnite” crossover since Walt Disney Co. acquired a stake in Epic Games in 2024. Earlier this year “Fortnite” launched “Galactic Battle,” which was billed as its biggest Star Wars-themed tie-in, as well as a “Simpsons”-themed battle royale mini-season that kicked off earlier this month.
Still to come is Disney and Epic Games’ interconnected “games and entertainment universe,” which will include brands such as Star Wars, Marvel, Pixar and Avatar. This “new persistent universe” was announced last year.
TWISTING the handles of his personal periscope around, my son Billy lets out an excited gasp.
Through the lens he’s able to catch a glimpse of the rollercoasters and colourful rides that await him at Chessington World of Adventures, right on the doorstep of our hotel.
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The Paw Patrol gang cut looseCredit: AlamyOne of the five Paw Patrol roomsCredit: Chris Read-Jones/Chessington World Of AdventuresThe Sun’s Lydia Major and son BillyCredit: Supplied
I’m staying in one of the theme park’s new Paw Patrol-themed rooms, offered up just in time for half term.
Part of Chessington’s Safari Resort hotel, the five new pup-tastic bedrooms offer a glimpse of what’s to come when a new Paw Patrol-themed land opens next spring.
Nothing has been spared on making these spaces as immersive as possible.
Funky bunk beds have been disguised as the famous Paw Patroller truck featured in the show, with a driver’s seat at the front and a steering wheel that little ones can play with.
A yellow periscope in the main room, that fans will recognise as a replica of that from the Paw Patrol Lookout Tower, is surrounded by coloured bean bags which kids can plonk themselves on when spying on the theme park.
And if the view from the periscope isn’t enough to impress them, the bedroom window one will be.
Rooms overlook the park’s Wanyama Reserve, and one afternoon we were treated to the sight of two giraffes munching away on their leafy dinner.
I was grateful for some tranquillity to balance out the “wow” of the all-singing, all-dancing bedroom.
The decor here is bold and bright, with huge murals of the pups showing their wacky adventures.
Rooms sleep up to two adults, in a plump double bed, and three children.
They also come with a special Paw Patrol parking outside.
Even when you’re dining at one of the two restaurants, you’re likely to bump into your little ones’ favourite character.
As Billy tucked into his junior Wanyama burger (£7) at dinner, he clocked Skye giving some of her fans a high-five and a cuddle across the room.
If you don’t get to meet your hero at the hotel, Paw Patrol guests can nab fast-track entry to daily meet-and-greets with Chase, Skye and Rubble in the park.
A night’s stay comes with a huge buffet breakfast – which has everything from a full English to pancakes and pastries and is available from 7am to 10am.
Access to the hotel’s Savannah Splash Pool means children can burn off any extra energy.
After an action-packed day here, adults will be just as grateful for the ultra-comfy beds as the kids are.
Paw Patrol stays start from £155 for a family of four, including bed and breakfast. Stays include early ride access, a Pup Pass (meet-and-greet fast track pass) and a Reserve & Ride one-shot pass.
Guests staying before the Paw Patrol-themed land opens will have a chance to be one of the first to ride the new rollercoaster in 2026.
A day out at a theme park isn’t just a summer activity. Many parks will be open for Christmas-themed fun, and you’ll find fun, festive activities to suit all ages
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Theme parks such as Drayton Manor will be decked out for Christmas(Image: Drayton Manor)
Looking for a festive day out for all the family? Many theme parks will be opening their doors for the Christmas season with a range of activities for all the family. In addition to themed days out, some parks will also be offering special short breaks, with extras such as Santa visits and evening entertainment and even the chance to enjoy a festive-themed sleepover at the on-park hotels. Here’s a round-up of some of the most popular theme parks in the UK and what they’ll be offering this November and December.
Alton Towers – Magical Days Out
From £18 per person
In the run up to Christmas and the New Year, Alton Towers offers Magical Days Out starting at just £18 per person. While it’s a cheaper way to visit the park, it’s worth noting that only CBeebies Land and Mutiny Bay are open, plus a couple of the bigger rides, so you don’t expect all the usual thrill rides to be available.
However, the park is set to be decked out in festive decorations, and visitors can enjoy Christmas-themed shows such as Hey Duggee Live: The Christmas Badge!, which is bound to be a hit with the younger members of the family.
Families can also book a Santa Sleepover at one of the park’s on-site hotels, starting at £91 per person. This includes a one-day theme park ticket, a visit to Santa’s grotto, a traditional pantomime, and a festive dinner and entertainment for the whole family. Booking the Santa Sleepover also gives you access to the on-site waterpark and crazy golf.
Three of Gulliver’s theme parks will be offering Christmas events: Rotherham, Milton Keynes, and Warrington, with a selection of Christmas rides and attractions open during this time. What’s available over the festive period varies by park, and some of the activities on offer include festive breakfasts, Santa’s grottos, Christmas shows, Elf workshops, and more, with a variety of packages available.
Each park will also have a Land of Lights attraction – a spectacular light trail that opens during the winter. Tickets for this attraction are sold separately and start at £13.75 per person.
Drayton Manor say they’ve unwrapped their “biggest and most magical Christmas plans ever”. The Midland-based park, which is best-known for being the home of Thomas Land, will open on selected dates from November 22 to December 31 with most of the park’s rides open.
There will also be a range of themed attractions for family days out. Fans of Elf on the Shelf can enjoy Elftoria, with the cheeky creatures taking over the park and adding a mischievous touch to your day. Children can even take part in pranking workshops and enjoy a live elf show.
Kids can visit the Castle Grotto, which will include a story-time experience with Mrs Claus and a visit to the man in red, while Thomas Land will be decked out in seasonal decorations and have festive family shows. In the evening, families can board the Twinkling Express, a gentle journey surrounded by Christmas light trails.
Paultons, perhaps most famous for being the home of Peppa Pig World, will be turning their park into a Christmas wonderland. On selected dates through December, visitors can visit Peppa and friends in their festive clothing, enjoy Santa’s Christmas Wish show, or enjoy festive-themed menus in the park’s cafes.
If you prefer thrill rides, the Tornado Springs are will be also be open as well as selected rides in Lost Kingdom and Critter Creek.
Chessington’s Christmas village ticket will include a selection of the park’s rides, as well as access to the zoo and SEA LIFE centre. Visitors will be able to enjoy a Christmassy silent disco, wander through a snowy trail, and see the elves making toys in their workshop. Of course, there’s also a visit to Santa to give him your Christmas list.
Visitors can stay for longer by booking the on-site Safari or Azteca Resort Hotel, and there’s even a range of VIP experiences that can be added onto your package to create unique Christmas memories. Book an elf wake up call, with a small pre-Christmas gift for the kids, or take part in a reindeer encounter and see Santa’s helpers up close.
But the fun doesn’t stop once January comes round. Chessington now offer a themed Christmas Room, which will be a permanent fixture in their hotel year-round. No matter when you visit, you’ll be able to enjoy a decorated tree, Christmas crackers, hot chocolate, and even a decorated Christmas parking space. It’s perfect for the Christmas obsessive in your life.
Ten nightmares – one night – Kelly Williams’ favourites in a gauntlet of unforgettable hell at Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights 2025 where she screamed herself hoarse
Kelly Williams Assistant News Editor (Live)
09:30, 31 Oct 2025
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The air in the park felt electric – thick with fog, echoing with screams and a primal promise that tonight, my nightmares would come alive.
Suddenly, I didn’t feel so brave as my heart jumped into my throat at the sound of chainsaws buzzing in the distance. Before I’d even reached the 10 haunted houses, I found myself in a hunting ground of bloodthirsty zombies as panicked victims urged me to run.
But there was no turning back…
Five Nights at Freddy’s
I started with a childhood-unravelled – the eerie animatronics of Freddy, Bonnie, Chica, and Foxy lurking at every turn of Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. Jim Henson’s Creature Shop creations looked terrifyingly real, and when Freddy reached forward with his blazing eyes, I jolted.
The flickering cameras, the dim corridors, it was like stepping into a haunted bedtime story that always ends badly. And just as I thought I was safe, a flicker of a poster caught my eye near the exit. The design didn’t quite fit—newer, sharper, like it was whispering about horrors still to come in a sequel I wasn’t ready for.
El Artista: A Spanish Haunting
19th-century Spain never looked so menacing at this original concept house. I wandered into a country manor alive with bloody paintings, possessed by tortured spirits, where artist Sergio Navarro’s vision turned against him and dragged me into madness.
Figures chanted in candlelight, and I was swallowed by pitch-black hallways so disorienting I had to grope along the walls, certain something was right behind me (it was). The Gothic atmosphere and haunting visuals were beautiful yet utterly terrifying.
WWE Presents: The Horrors of The Wyatt Sicks
If every other house had been pure terror, this one was theatrical dread, despite the fact that my WWE knowledge is limited, to say the least. Entering, I passed through a twisted lantern-lit stage into a tunnel filled with the distorted faces of 27 WWE icons, including Bray Wyatt tributes.
The surreal realm of Uncle Howdy, Mercy the Buzzard, Abby the Witch – it was like a haunted wrestling dreamscape laced with sorrow and nightmares. I felt both unnerved and strangely reverent. This house was surprisingly one of my favourites.
Hatchet and Chains: Demon Bounty Hunters
This was raw, fiery chaos – an Old West torn apart by lava demons melting everything in sight. I dodged demonic assaults and swampy lava flows as bounty hunters hunted the chaos, while heat and horror raged around me.
Try as I might, I couldn’t look away, even though behind every corner was a scare actor waiting to spring. My heart jumped into my throat, and I laughed nervously, realising this was just the beginning.
Dolls: Let’s Play Dead
Suddenly, I was doll-sized, trapped in a nightmarish toy world as burnt, stitched, malformed dolls limped from shadows. A twisted little girl named Lyla giggled as I ran, chased by cursed playthings. The scenes were harrowing, and strangely childlike – a grotesque playroom with a dark twist.
Dolls had been tortured in a way that made Sid from Toy Story look like Willy Wonka. Pure nightmare fuel.
Grave of Flesh
I barely had time to steady my breath before I was dropped into my own funeral. In tight, cavernous tunnels, flesh-eating creatures pursued me relentlessly. The narrative is that flesh-eating zombies feast on our corpses when we die and drag our souls into a relentless world of horror.
Panic, claustrophobia, the feeling of being buried alive – it was hell incarnate, and I crawled out trembling.
Gálkn: Monsters of the North
Finally, a Norse-myth horror – ice, fjords, and ancient beasts stirring deep beneath a northern village. I raced through fjord fiends and a monstrous resurrection that felt like stepping into a brutal saga where survival was never guaranteed.
My voice was hoarse from screaming and laughing hysterically at the same time. My group huddled tighter together, knowing the scares came harder when we split apart.
Fallout
Next, I plunged into a decaying Vault 33 that opened into the blasted wasteland of post-apocalyptic Los Angeles. Rad-roaches scuttled by while Lucy’s voice echoed in my head.
Raiders, The Ghoul, even Maximus in his T-60 power armour – every element pulled me deeper into survival terrain, like a living nightmare in the world of Fallout.
Jason Universe
Here’s where I felt my heart really start pounding. Walking through the haunted woods, past the creaking lodge and into the decaying cabins of Camp Crystal Lake – Jason stands silent, relentless, a gauntlet of killers from the Friday the 13th films from 1 to 8.
It pulled me through scenes that felt cinematic, each room ratcheting up the dread, with Jason’s mum even making an appearance.
It wasn’t just nostalgia; it was a matter of being hunted. I bolted out, breathless and, somehow, triumphant that I’d survived what felt like endless corridors of hell – even though I wasn’t sure I wanted to.
Terrifier
Terrifier pushed horror into the realm of the visceral with an intense sensory overload. Art the Clown’s gruesome funhouse assaulted my senses with blood-soaked corridors and a hacksaw kill recreated in sickening detail.
Nauseating smells – faeces, bleach, salted flesh – clung to everything. With 35 bodies and six gallons of “blood” this is Universal’s first “unrated” house. I wanted to look away, but the narrow corridors kept pushing me deeper.
Victims can choose to take the ‘dry path’ or the ‘blood bath’ at the end of the maze. I chose the latter so the finale drenched me in warm, iron-scented water as I staggered out, sticky, unsettled with adrenaline crackling in my veins.
By the time I stumbled out of the last maze, I thought I’d finally be able to breathe. But instead of relief, I was plunged into more horror.
Neon lights from food stalls flickered, barely cutting through the haze. That’s when the sound hit me first—wet dragging footsteps, a low snarl, and then the unmistakable rattle of chains. Zombies appeared from nowhere, their skin mottled, their eyes glazed with hunger.
One carried a dismembered leg on a plate as he shuffled toward me. Another creature, something less human – its body twisted and barnacle-covered like it had risen straight from the depths – lurched over my shoulder.
Everywhere I turned, more figures emerged: a beautifully terrifying woman with teeth sharpened to jagged points, a gruesome gargoyle, and frantic villages begging me to turn back.
I forced myself forward, weaving between the monsters, my pulse hammering as one leaned close enough for me to feel its breath down my neck. And then – just as suddenly as it began – the creatures melted back into the fog, swallowed whole by shadows.
I found myself shaking, my skin damp with sweat and mist, and I realised Halloween Horror Nights didn’t let you escape when you left a house. No, they followed me to my bed that evening, where I relived the horrors all over again.
But in that moment, standing there under the Florida sky, with the distant shrieks of other brave souls echoing around me, I realised I’d done it. Ten houses. Ten nightmares survived. My nerves were fried, my legs ached, but I couldn’t stop grinning.
Halloween Horror Nights wasn’t just about the scares – it was about being fully alive in the middle of the madness.
Book it
Virgin Atlantic Holidays offers seven nights on a room-only basis at the Loews Sapphire Falls Resort in Orlando, starting at £1,719pp, including Virgin Atlantic flights from Heathrow and a ticket to Halloween Horror Nights. Find out more and book at virginholidays.co.uk.
CENTER Parcs has revealed a multi-million pound Christmas experience at one of their parks this year.
The site in Suffolk has invested £2million to transform its Winter Wonderland, and its opening next month.
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Santa and the elves will be inside the workshop at Center ParcsCredit: Center ParcsThere will be a Tipi where guests can enjoy hot food and drinksCredit: Center Parcs
Elveden Forest has upgraded certain areas of the park for Christmas, and has added its Woodland Workshop.
From November 7, families will get the chance to meet Santa and his elves who are hard at work before the big day.
You can also get a glimpse of Santa while enjoying brunch at Huck’s, or join the team for a festive dance along to Christmas tunes at Santa’s Greetings.
The wooden chalet will have a snow-capped roof and be wrapped in pine decorations next to a huge Christmas tree.
There’s a new Christmas Shop too, filled with festive gifts, bespoke decorations, souvenirs and hand-painted baubles.
When the weather gets chilly, guests can warm up in the Tipi, enjoy a hot chocolate, mince pies, traditional sausage rolls, Bratwurst, and Christmas tree-shaped waffles.
Santa’s Woodland Village has been refreshed and visitors can enjoy the new seasonal displays.
It’s there where guests will find the new Snow Zone, a giant snow globe where families can step inside for a festive photo.
Other attractions include the Enchanted Light Garden which is essentially a festive light trail which is open from 4PM-9PM every day.
There are also activities like the Elf Pyjama Party, and festive craft workshops throughout the day.
Lots of activities are included in the price of a break over the festive period – and you can even pre-order decorations to dress up the lodge too.
Of course there aren’t just festive activites, at Elveden Forest you can also check out the Subtropical Swimming Paradise which is head to 29.5C.
Lodges can be dressed up with Christmas decorationsCredit: Center Parcs
So you won’t have to worry about being cold while swimming in a number of pools, heading down flumes or the a ‘Tropical Cyclone’ slide and checking out the water rapids.
The site recently announced that it will refurbish Venture Cove in The Subtropical Swimming Paradise, with the site expecting to reopen the attraction on December 19.
The Aqua Sana Spa on-site also underwent refurbishment in 2023, with a new £6.5million Forest Spa opening with steam rooms, saunas, a heated outdoor pool, an ice cave and a number of relaxation rooms.
Other activities include golf, archery, dance classes, inflatable football, glow-in-the-dark badminton and table tennis, to winter workshops.
Riders will have to take a leap of faith from a treehouse nestled in the woods, to then glide along a 180-metre track.
Along the route there will be twists and turns, as well as views of the Suffolk countryside and Elveden’s lake.
To go on the ride, guests must be between 1.1metres and 1.87metres tall and each rider will get two laps of the course, per booking.
The experience opened on September 2, 2025.
Set within the Breckland, an area of national importance, there are a number of othertreetop adventuresat Elveden Forest, including Aerial Adventure, where guests are secured to a harness and get to swing through the trees.
The aerial rope course gets gradually higher, before it finishes with azip wire experience.
These UK staycations could be an excellent choice for family get-togethers and getting into the Christmas spirit, offering everything from Santa visits to festive food
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UK holiday parks will be transformed into winter wonderlands this December(Image: Parkdean)
Trying to cram all your festive activities into December can be a challenge. From the big Santa visit to seeing a panto and Christmas markets, not to mention spending family time together, it sometimes feels like the month just isn’t long enough.
If you’re looking for an alternative that’s a little more relaxed, many holiday parks are now offering breaks in the run up to the big day. While you may associate caravan and lodge holidays with summer, these parks are opening in November and December for festive-themed breaks.
What’s on offer varies from park to park, but generally includes extras from Christmas-themed shows to Santa’s grottos, and even a Christmas tree in your accommodation. These breaks could be a great way to escape the pre-Christmas chaos, or to spend time with extended family without needing to host at home.
So, which holiday parks will be opening their doors for festive fun, and what’s on offer?
Haven – ‘sleigh-cations’
Four nights from £115
Haven will open the doors at nine of its locations in the run-up to Christmas: Craig Tara, Seton Sands, Devon Cliffs, Kent Coast, Cala Gran, Hafan y Môr, Primrose Valley, Seashore, and Rockley Park.
Staying at Haven means you can choose between accommodation from caravans to lodges, each with its own Christmas tree. The parks will also be adorned with decorations and lights, and Haven says there will be festive entertainment during the day and in the evening. Bookable activities will include pottery making, festive make-a-bear, and much more. Of course, there’s Santa’s Grotto, which will be an additional cost.
Haven will also be staging a Jack and the Beanstalk panto and promising “plenty of opportunities for a festive boogie.” Their on-site restaurants will serve festive food, including a three-course menu for Christmas day, while some Haven parks have their own Wetherspoons, which will offer the chain’s Christmas menu.
Parkdean Resorts will offer what it describes as the “full Winter Wonderland experience” at six parks in December: Camber Sands in Sussex, Warmwell in Dorset, Trecco Bay and Ty Mawr in Wales, Cayton Bay in North Yorkshire, and Cherry Tree in Norfolk. They’re also opening two parks in the Lake District with a “more relaxed festive atmosphere,” White Cross Bay and Fallbarrow.
Parkdean has a busy entertainment program for younger kids, promising Festive Milkshake! Mornings and Rocking Around the Christmas Tree with the PAW Patrol puppies. Families can enjoy breakfast with Santa or a trip to his grotto, watch a family pantomime, or even explore a festive market. Visit Warmwell and you can also enjoy their dry ski slope for skiing and snowboarding.
If you opt for a midweek break starting on a Monday, Parkdean also offers an all-inclusive option. This includes three meals a day, plus soft drinks and hot drinks, so you won’t need to worry about feeding the kids during your stay. Some parks will also have the option to book lunch on Christmas Day, so you can skip the washing up.
Center Parcs arguably already has a festive vibe, thanks to its wooden lodges with open fireplaces. But during the festive season, they’ll be going all out to create a Winter Wonderland. Guests will be able to explore Enchanted Light Garden trails, watch the Santa’s Greeting Parade, or take a family photo in the Snow Zone.
They’ll also have Christmas shops stocking decorations and festive food, plus Tipis serving hot chocolates, Bratwurst and waffles, perfect for a stop after a chilly winter walk. Plus, the restaurants in each park’s village will have their own Christmas-themed food offerings.
There are also loads of extras that can be booked at a cost, including an elf pyjama party, a visit to Santa’s Workshop, or Christmas crafts. For an extra fee, you can also book a freshly cut Christmas tree for your accommodation, with a range of bows and baubles that you can take home with you for the perfect festive atmosphere.
Butlin’s is offering a budget-friendly option for a Christmas break that’s all about family fun. Unlike most of the holiday parks on this list, the cost of meeting Santa is included for all families taking a festive break. Kids can enjoy Father Christmas’ Express Delivery, an immersive experience where they write their Christmas letter and deliver it to the man in red himself.
Also included in the cost of Butlin’s Christmas breaks is festive entertainment, including a panto, Snow White and her Magnificent Friends. Other themed shows include the Skyline Snowstorm party and Christmas Goes Pop, and there will be Christmas movie screenings for the family to enjoy together. The pools will be open, with Butlin’s offering a Festive Pool Party on each break. Visitors also get unlimited fairground rides and can enjoy activities such as making their own Christmas decorations.
The parks are set to be decorated for Christmas, with lights and decorations throughout, giving them a festive feel. There’s also Christmas-themed dining, so if you order a dining plan, you can tuck into popular dishes, from roasts to festive puddings, depending on the day.
The cheapest option at Butlin’s is to book one of their standard rooms, but they also have hotel rooms, apartments, and other upgraded accommodation if you want to splash out.
The town has been labelled “such a gem” and “so lovely” by visitors
Visitors have praised Leamington Spa and called it “underrated” (Image: Getty)
A town dubbed the “most underrated” in the UK has been praised by visitors online. Royal Leamington Spa, located in the heart of Warwickshire, has been labelled “such a gem” and “so lovely”, and is home to “stunning” architecture and award-winning parks.
The town has been renowned for its mineral springs since the Middle Ages, while its historic Jephson Gardens are well-loved. Royal Leamington Spa is surrounded by countryside, waterways and cross-country routes to villages, hamlets and traditional pubs.
Birmingham-based blogger @bababouttown shared a clip praising the town on TikTok, and suggested it could be “the most underrated town in the UK.” The clip racked up more than 27.4k views, hundreds of likes and many comments.
The post was captioned: “The Most Underrated Town in the UK? It honestly blows my mind how Leamington Spa still gets overlooked by the big travel platforms — especially when it rivals some of the UK’s most loved spots!
“Think grand Victorian buildings, dreamy cafés, gorgeous parks, buzzing coffee shops, flaky pastries, incredible independents and so many foodie finds. It’s the kind of place that feels like a mini escape, perfect for a chilled day out or a spontaneous weekend adventure.
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“Need to know: – Dog friendly – Easily accessible – Only 45 mins from Birmingham Moor Street.” The video showed clips of different things to do in Leamington Spa, including parks, restaurants and attractions.
Beneath the clip, people were quick to share their thoughts on the town. One person said: “Leamington is such a gem of a place!” and a second wrote: “Lem has my heart! Love this city so much.”
A third comment read: “Ooh I need your itinerary, looks fab,” while a fourth said: “My favourite town ever.” Another person commented: “Been to Leamington Spa last weekend and became one of my favourite places to visit in the UK. So so lovely.”
RoyalLeamingtonSpa.co.uk said: “Wide boulevards, stunning architecture and award-winning parks provide a sophisticated backdrop to this Regency town. Leamington town centre combines a treasure-trove of independent, specialist boutiques alongside high street brands and a huge variety of eating experiences.”
It added: “With a town centre of around a third of a mile square, getting around Royal Leamington Spa couldn’t be easier. All areas of the town centre are easily accessed on foot within a ten minute walk, which is a great way to appreciate the stunning Regency architecture.”
We’ve scoured the UK for the best festive holiday park deals on offer, with everything from Christmas entertainment and crafts to Santa’s grottos, for less than the price of a McDonald’s.
The three-night breaks work out as little as £9 per person and most cost under £15pp a night – at award-winning parks with waterparks, fairgrounds, as well as access to the UK’s best parks and beaches.
Christmas at Butlin’s offers loads for families, including a visit from Father ChristmasCredit: ButlinsHoliday camps offer Christmas crafts like bauble-making and stocking workshopsCredit: GettyHelen (pictured with daughter Isobel and Father Christmas) says these deals are fantastic valueCredit: Helen wright
As a travel blogger and influencer, I’m regularly being asked for things to do in the UK over Christmas.
And these cheap UK holiday parks offer some fantastic festive extras at Christmas, such as lights and decorations across the park, children’s craft workshops, visits from Santa and special shows and pantomimes.
Haven Craig Tara, Scotland
Nine of Haven’s holiday parks across the UK will be hosting special festive breaks this year.
These Christmas getaways start from mid-November and include access to entertainment throughout the day and evening, a Christmas tree in your accommodation, and yuletide food and drinks, including a turkey dinner on Christmas Day.
Christmas meals are priced separately, and it’s recommended that you book them in advance.
Caravans have a fully-equipped kitchen, so you also have the option to cook dinner in your caravan to save money.
The best value break we could find over the Christmas week, including Christmas Day, is at the beautiful Craig Tara Holiday Park on the Scottish coast in Ayrshire, with stunning views of Ailsa Craig and the Isle of Arran.
With chances of a white Christmas here pretty high, this is a magical place to spend the big day.
For a winter break, the resort has a choice of indoor activities, including a water park with slides and an indoor sports complex called Airspace, which has everything from roller discos to crazy golf, a multi-level soft play area and a climbing wall.
Festive offerings include make-a-bear workshops, sand bottle creations, pic ‘n’ paint, bauble-making, stocking workshops, reindeer food, and family activities with a Christmas twist.
Plus, children can meet Santa in his grotto, though there is likely an extra fee for this, and it should be booked in advance.
There is also an on-site pantomime of Jack and the Beanstalk, special festive shows from the Seaside Squad, lots of interactive fun with the elves and plenty of opportunities for a boogie.
If you’re staying for Christmas Day itself, you are able to book your dinner now, subject to availability.
Haven parks that have a J D Wetherspoon pub as their main venue (Primrose Valley, Kent Coast, Devon Cliffs) will also be open for Christmas Day table bookings, and you’ll choose from the menu on the day.
The other Haven parks hosting festive stays are: Seton Sands, Scotland, Blackpool, Devon Cliffs, North Wales, Kent Coast, Primrose Valley, Yorkshire, Dorset and Norfolk.
The price per night for Haven Craig Tara is £54.75 (based on four nights in a three-bed holiday caravan, which sleeps six), which works out at £9.12pp a night.
The holiday parks vary in price, and the next cheapest Haven parks to stay in over Christmas are Primrose Valley, Yorkshire, at £85 per night, and Rockley Park, Dorset, at £83 per night (based on four nights in a three-bed holiday caravan sleeping six).
The view across Loch Ryan is beautiful, especially in winter, on a coastal walk from the Craig Tara holiday parkCredit: AlamyThe Haven kids’ Christmas show is guaranteed to get families into the festive spiritCredit: Haven
Across its three holiday parks in Bognor Regis, Skegness and Minehead, Butlin’s offers festive breaks from November and specially-priced Christmas breaks, which run over Christmas Day and Boxing Day.
The huge parks get a magical makeover with fairy lights, decorations and indoor snow.
When you arrive, you’ll be rocking around the Christmas tree at the family welcome party.
Other special additions include a festive show, Christmas movies, a present drop, a firework display, children’s craft workshops and winter character meet-and-greets, all included in the price.
Better still, every family gets a visit to Santa’s Grotto for the Father Christmas’ Express Delivery, and each child gets a gift, fully included in the price.
Dining packages are available at Butlin’s and usually work out as excellent value. During the festive breaks, expect to see roasts with all the trimmings and mince pies, which aren’t available all year round.
Even if you decide to book without a dining package, the family can still sit down for a four-course Christmas dinner with all the trimmings for £58 per adult and £39 for kids. Choose from a set menu and finish up with coffee and mince pies.
The best value deal for Christmas week at Butlin’s is Skegness, which is £224 for four days (based on two adults and two children sharing). At only £14 per day per person, this is a superb seasonal staycation.
Skegness has a huge weather-proof waterpark called Splash, which will also play host to a Christmas pool party during the festive breaks.
There is also the award-winning Skypark, laser tag, bowling, a climbing wall, and go karts all on-site, as well as arcades and performances from the Redcoats.
Christmas Day breaks at Minehead and Bognor Regis come in a little bit more expensive, with Minehead starting at £15 per person and Bognor Regis at £22.50 per person.
Butlin’s has fantastic prices all year round, but at Christmas has extra festive events and activitiesCredit: ButlinsTrecco Bay is close to Porthcawl, South Wales, and is beautiful in both summer and winterCredit: AlamyYou might not fancy a sea swim in December, but a walk on the beach is the perfect way to work off Christmas dinnerCredit: Alamy
Parkdean Resorts at Trecco Park, Wales
Eight Parkdean Resorts are hosting Christmas Getaway breaks, with Trecco Park in Wales being the best value for money over Christmas Day.
Fun, festive activities include feeding Santa’s reindeer, a ‘pawsome’ Christmas party with the characters from Paw Patrol, breakfast with Santa, ice skating, a search for Santa game, a kids’ Christmas party and bauble-making workshops for the whole family.
Plus, children can meet Santa when he comes to visit the on-site grotto.
One of the largest holiday parks in Europe, Trecco Bay – on the stunning Wales Coastal Path, spanning approximately 10 miles from Ogmore to Sker Point – is a beautiful site that overlooks the water.
It’s probably too cold for a dip – unless you’re feeling particularly brave – but perfect for a Boxing Day walk.
Inside the large clubhouse, there is an amusement arcade and bowling, as well as the Aloha cocktail bar for adults and festive movie nights.
On Christmas Day, restaurants are closed for pre-booked Christmas lunch. Priced separately, the four-course dinner and nibbles are £49.99 for adults and £29.99 for kids 12 and under.
Over 21s get a welcome glass of prosecco too. Spaces are limited so booking in advance is essential.
The price for a four-night stay at Trecco Bay is £473, staying in a four-bed Bronze caravan that sleeps six people, which works out at £19.70 per person.
If you don’t want to go over Christmas Day, breaks for a family of four start from £169 (£42.25 per night) and include all the seasonal extras.
Dartmoor National Park in Devon is beautiful in the winter, and Hoseasons is just on the outskirts of the parkCredit: Alamy
Hoseasons Dartmoor View, Devon
Hoseasons holiday parks tend to be quieter and more chilled-out than some of the other major brands.
Over Christmas, there are no extras at the park itself, but they do make for brilliant budget places to stay for families who just want to get away for Christmas week.
You’re very much left to your own devices, meaning a turkey dinner in your cabin.
The best deal is at Hoseasons Dartmoor View in Devon. This pretty park is set close to Dartmoor National Park, with easy access to a wealth of picture-postcard villages bursting with quaint shops and cosy, traditional pubs.
Nearby boozer The Globe Inn in Chagford is a local institution. It’s closed on Christmas Day, but they still have availability on Boxing Day if you fancy some good pub grub and festive atmosphere.
The price for a four-night stay in a standard caravan (sleeping six) is £259 for four nights, which works out at £10.79pp per person, per night.
St Ives Bay Beach Resort looks extra pretty in the snowCredit: Facebook/ St Ives Bay Beach ResortWinterfest at Tattershall Lakes is also open to non-resort guests but adds to the festive atmosphere with themed bars and live entertainmentCredit: Away Resorts
Away Resorts, St Ives Bay, Cornwall
This friendly resort could not be in a more perfect location, surrounded by rolling hills and with its own private beach.
You may not be up for a seaside dip or cold water surf at St Ives Bay, but a Christmas Day walk on the beach is certainly one way to do Christmas a bit differently.
There’s also an indoor pool, a clubhouse with arcades and live entertainment.
For Christmas, kids can become an elf recruit and join the Sleigh Team, do Christmas crafts, experience the Elf Slime Factory, make snow globes and post a letter to Santa at the Christmas Post Office.
A three-night stay in a Comfort Caravan (sleeping six) over Christmas is £213 for three nights, working out only £11.84 per night, per person.
If you opt for Away Resorts’ Tattershall Lakes location in Lincolnshire, it’s slightly more expensive, but there is more on offer.
The price for three nights is £294 for a Comfort Caravan, sleeping eight, which is £98 per night (£12.25pp if there are eight of you!), but you also get access to the evening Christmas show and can book a Christmas Day dinner at the Tattershall Park Pub.
Three-course Christmas dinner is £79.95 for adults and £39.95 for kids (under-5s £4.95).
They also have their seasonal Winterfest event, which is free to enter and includes Christmas workshops, a North Pole-themed food courtyard, Santa’s silent disco and Father Christmas’ grotto. Some activities are priced extra.
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court agreed Friday to decide if licensed guns owners have a right to carry their weapons at public places, including parks, beaches and stores.
At issue are laws in California, Hawaii and three other states that generally prohibit carrying guns on private or public property.
Three years ago, Supreme Court ruled that law-abiding gun owners had a 2nd Amendment right to obtain a permit to carry a concealed weapon when they leave home.
But the justices left open the question of whether states and cities could prohibit the carrying of guns in “sensitive locations,” and if so, where.
In response, California enacted a strict law that forbids gun owners from carrying their firearm in most public or private places that are open to the public unless the owner posted a sign permitting such weapons.
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals struck down that provision last year as going too far, but it upheld most of a Hawaii law that restricted the carrying of guns at public places and most private businesses that are open to the public.
Gun-rights advocates appealed to the Supreme Court and urged the justices to rule that such restrictions on carrying concealed weapons violate the 2nd Amendment.
The court agreed to hear the case early next year.
Trump administration lawyers urged the justices to strike down the Hawaii law.
It “functions as a near-complete ban on public carry. A person carrying a handgun for self-defense commits a crime by entering a mall, a gas station, a convenience store, a supermarket, a restaurant, a coffee shop, or even a parking lot,” said Solicitor General D. John Sauer.
Gun-control advocates said Hawaii had enacted a “common sense law that prohibits carrying firearms on others’ private property open to the public.”
“The 9th Circuit was absolutely right to say it’s constitutional to prohibit guns on private property unless the owner says they want guns there,” said Janet Carter, managing director of Second Amendment Litigation, at Everytown Law. “This law respects people’s right to be safe on their own property, and we urge the Supreme Court to uphold it.”
Across the nation’s beloved national parks this summer, skeleton crews — whittled down by the Trump administration’s reduction of the federal workforce — have struggled to keep trash from piling up, latrines from spilling over and injured hikers from perishing in the backcountry.
They’ve mostly succeeded, but it has been a struggle.
Now, as bickering politicians in Washington, D.C., threaten to shut the government down and furlough federal employees as soon as next week if a budget deal isn’t reached, 40 former stewards of the nation’s most remote and romantic landscapes have sent an “urgent appeal” to the White House.
If the government shuts down, close the national parks to prevent a free-for-all inside the gates.
Pointing to the strain the parks are already enduring since the new administration fired or bought out roughly 24% of the workforce, the retired superintendents — including those from Yosemite, Joshua Tree, and Sequoia and Kings Canyon — warned of chaos.
If the parks stay open with no employees to manage them, “these nascent issues from the summer season are sure to erupt,” the former superintendents wrote to Doug Burgum, secretary of the Department of the Interior, on Thursday. “Leaving parks even partially open to the public during a shutdown with minimal — or no — park staffing is reckless and puts both visitors and park resources at risk.”
Unlike many federal agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and the National Institutes of Health, whose once obscure and mundane day-to-day operations have become flash points in the nation’s toxic and polarizing culture war, the national parks remain a beloved refuge: a place where Americans of all stripes can unplug, exhale and escape.
In 2024 the parks set an attendance record with over 331 million visitors; that’s nearly two and a half times the number of people (136 million) who attended professional football, baseball, basketball and hockey games combined.
It’s not hard to understand the appeal. Exhausted by the bickering on cable news and social media feeds? Go climb Half Dome in Yosemite, or stroll among the giant trees in Sequoia, or camp beneath the stars in Joshua Tree.
But if the parks stay open with nobody around to maintain them, that cleansing experience will turn nasty the moment a bathroom door opens, according to the retired superintendents.
In previous shutdowns stemming from budget disputes or the COVID-19 pandemic, facilities inside the parks deteriorated at an alarming rate.
Unauthorized visitors left human feces in rivers, painted graffiti on once pristine cliffs, harassed wild animals and left the toilets looking like “crime scenes,” according to a ranger who asked not to be identified for fear of retribution.
“It’s just scary how bad things can get when places are abandoned with nobody watching,” she said.
In an interview Thursday, Senate Majority Leader John Thune said a government shutdown was still “avoidable” despite sharp divisions ahead of Wednesday’s deadline to pass a funding bill.
“I’m a big believer that there’s always a way out,” the South Dakota Republican said. “And I think there are off-ramps here, but I don’t think that the negotiating position, at least at the moment, that the Democrats are trying to exert here is going to get you there.”
Thune said Democrats are going to have to “dial back” their demands, which include immediately extending health insurance subsidies and reversing the healthcare policies in the massive tax bill that Republicans passed over the summer. Absent that, Thune said, “we’re probably plunging forward toward the shutdown.”
After a shutdown in late 2018 and early 2019, park rangers in Death Valley returned to find mounds of feces and what they jokingly called “toilet paper flowers” scattered across the desert floor.
At Joshua Tree, officials found about 24 miles of unauthorized new trails carved across the desert by off-road vehicles, along with some of the park’s namesake trees toppled.
In the absence of park staff, local climbers volunteered to keep the bathrooms clean and stocked with toilet paper, and gently tried to persuade rowdy visitors to put out illegal fires and pick up their trash.
Some complied right away, climber Rand Abbott told The Times in 2019, but “70% of the people I’m running into are extremely rude,” he said. “I had my life threatened two times. It’s crazy in there right now.”
People weren’t the only unruly guests moving in and making themselves at home.
At Point Reyes National Seashore, along the Marin County coast, officials had to close the road to popular Drakes Beach during the shutdown. The absence of humans created an ideal opportunity for about 100 elephant seals to set up a colony, taking over the beach, a parking lot and a visitor center.
The seals didn’t just poop everywhere, they threw a full-scale bacchanal. As far as the eye could see, enormous, blubbery beasts — males can reach 16 feet long and weigh up to 7,000 pounds — were rolling in the sand and mating in broad daylight.
Females, which can weigh up to a ton themselves, wound up giving birth to something like 40 new pups. When the park reopened, flustered officials had little recourse but to open a public viewing area at a safe distance and send employees — primly referred to as “docents” — to explain what was happening on the once serene seashore.
In Los Angeles, for many people, the neighborhood park is their frontyard and backyard.
It’s where tables are staked out early and birthdays are celebrated.
It’s where kids learn how to swim and all ages play soccer, baseball and basketball.
It’s where neighbors gather to beat the heat, hike, catch a concert, slow down, escape the madness.
But as I said in my last column, L.A.’s roughly 500 parks and 100 rec centers, occupying 16,000 acres, are generally in bad shape and not easily accessible to many residents. In fact, in the latest annual ranking by the Trust for Public Land, they fell to 90th out of the 100 largest recreation and parks systems in the nation on the basis of access, acreage, amenities, investment and equity.
That’s shameful and inexcusable, especially for a city prepping to host World Cup soccer championships and the Olympics. But in every corner of Los Angeles, residents now have a chance to weigh in on what they like or don’t like about parks, what went wrong and what to do about it.
A months-long study, commissioned by the city and compiled by landscape design company OLIN with input from multiple urban planners, community groups and thousands of residents, was posted online Tuesday, explaining the long history of decline and laying out strategies for turning things around.
Residents have 45 days to weigh in online or at community meetings (details below). The final report will be delivered to the recreation and parks board of commissioners and then, in a perfect world, someone at City Hall will lead the way and restore pride in an essential but neglected community asset.
Among the key findings of the nearly 500-page needs-assessment study:
Fewer than half of survey respondents said there are enough parks and rec centers within walking distance of their homes.
Fewer than 40% said parks are in either excellent or good condition.
L.A. invests less per capita in parks ($92 annually) than many other large cities, including Chicago ($182), Dallas ($232), Washington, D.C. ($407) and San Francisco ($583).
The department’s maintenance and operations budget has been stagnant for years and its staff has been shrinking, with more trouble on the horizon as temporary funding sources dry up in the next few years.
Nearly two-thirds of survey respondents would support a bond, tax or levy for additional funding.
“I think it validated what we already knew,” Department of Recreation and Parks general manager Jimmy Kim said of the needs assessment study, adding that it provided a framework for making smarter use of existing resources while going after new sources of revenue. “My message to Los Angeles [is] please participate in this process.”
Kim told me last week that the current workforce is half what it once was, and basic park maintenance is like a “game of whack-a-mole.” The department’s budget has grown in the last 15 years, but lagged way behind growth of the citywide budget. In that time, it’s been hit by inflation, the citywide budget deficit and the rising cost of maintaining aging facilities (the deferred maintenance tab is greater than $2 billion).
The department is also hamstrung by a Charter-mandated, per-capita funding formula that hasn’t been tweaked since the 1930s. And because it’s a proprietary department, meaning that it raises some money through programs and concessions, it’s required to pay its own utility bills and reimburse the city for employee benefits, two expenses that swallow 40% of its budget.
“For the last century,” said Jessica Henson, of OLIN, “the same percentage of the city budget has been allocated to parks, but they’re doing a lot more today, and are on the front lines of so many critical public services like COVID response and fire response. They’re doing more with less over the last 15 years.”
In my last column, I laid out one of the easiest and quickest ways to add more park space — unlock the gates of L.A. Unified schoolyards. Ten have been opened so far, and a new agreement between the city and school district paves the way for more, although two major obstacles are funding and the need to replace blacktop with greenery.
To calculate how to make better use of existing resources, the study used an approach developed in part by UCLA’s Institute of the Environment and Sustainability. The PerSquareMile tool broke the city into tiny grids and identified two dozen park sites where improved facilities could impact the largest number of people, and three dozen sites where conversion of schools and other public spaces into parks would serve hundreds of thousands of people.
“It’s the greatest good for the greatest number of people in the most efficient way,” said Jon Christensen, of the UCLA institute.
But transforming the system will take more than that, said Guillermo Rodriguez, a member of the study’s steering committee and California state director of the Trust for Public Land, the nonprofit that ranked L.A. near the bottom of the 100 largest park systems.
“Cities have made investments across the board, and L.A. is lagging,” Rodriguez said.
The study cited several revenue-generating options, including a charter amendment to increase the percentage of funding that goes to parks, expanded nonprofit partnerships, extending Proposition K, the 1996 park improvement measure that is about to expire, and putting a new fundraising initiative on the ballot in the fall of 2026.
“In every administration since [Mayor] Tom Bradley, the park system was taken for granted,” Rodriguez said. “There’s no more tape, no more paint, no more magic tricks that they can use to fix the parks. It really requires leadership and a significant investment, and I think Angelenos are ready to step up.”
That leadership is going to have to come from Mayor Karen Bass and each member of the City Council. So if you’d like to get their attention, two public meetings are coming up:
Thursday from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Bellevue Recreation Center in Silver Lake, and Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon at the Westwood Recreation Center.
For a schedule of future virtual meetings, and to read an online copy of the needs assessment study, go to needs.parks.lacity.gov.
This summer the scales tipped. More than 97% of employees at Yosemite and Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks who cast ballots voted to unionize, with results certified last week. More than 600 staffers — including interpretive park rangers, biologists, firefighters and fee collectors — are now represented by the National Federation of Federal Employees.
Steven Gutierrez, national business representative with the National Federation of Federal Employees, said it took mass firings to “wake people up.”
(Christina House / Los Angeles Times)
“Culture is hard to change,” said Steven Gutierrez, a national business representative for the union. “It takes something like this administration firing people to wake people up, to say, ‘Hey, I’m vulnerable here and I need to invest in my career.’”
The unionized employees work at some of California’s most celebrated and highly visited national parks. Yosemite is famous for its awe-inspiring valley, while Sequoia and Kings Canyon are known for their giant sequoia trees.
Amid that beauty is a workforce that is frustrated and fearful. Two employees at Yosemite National Park described rock-bottom morale amid recent turmoil — and a sense that the union could provide an avenue for change. Both are union representatives and requested anonymity for fear of retaliation.
“With this administration, I think there’s a lot more people who are scared, and I think the union definitely helps towards protections that we really want,” said one employee.
National Park Service Ranger Anna Nicks walks through a grove of sequoia trees in Sequoia National Park in May 2024.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
Despite staff being depleted by buyouts and a hiring freeze, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum has ordered parks to remain “open and accessible.” As a result, the employee said visitors may not notice something is off.
“There’s a lot of folks doing multiple jobs and just trying to hold up the park,” she said, adding that she believes that the union will help ensure people get paid properly for the work they do and that their duties don’t shift.
The employees stressed that many workplace problems they want to see fixed — including low pay and squalid living conditions — predate Trump’s second stint in the White House. But recent developments have exacerbated the situation.
Because pay hasn’t kept pace with inflation, one employee said he’s unable to pay rent and lives out of his car for most of the year. Meanwhile, he said, those in park housing face safety threats such as hantavirus-carrying rodents that invade living spaces, caving-in roofs and unstable decks. Understaffing has plagued Yosemite for years.
“People that you see working here, they’re really at their wit’s end,” he said. “Personally speaking, it’s just a lot of work to handle. Years ago, we had twice as many people doing this work.”
Staffers are “worried about their futures,” he added.
The National Park Service did not respond to a request for comment. But in a statement to a Senate appropriations subcommittee in May, Burgum said the Trump administration remains committed to supporting the parks, while looking for ways to cut costs.
A waterfall is reflected in water in the meadow in the Yosemite Valley as the snowpack melts in April 2023.
(Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)
“Since becoming Interior Secretary, I’ve traveled to National Parks, historic sites, and wildlife refuges to learn and hear from leadership on the ground,” Burgum said. “We’re instituting changes to get more people actually working in the parks and are looking forward to what Yellowstone Superintendent Cam Sholly forecasted to be an ‘outstanding summer.’ ”
The unionization vote comes as the Trump administration seeks to strip federal employees of labor protections many have long enjoyed. On Thursday, Trump signed an executive order that directs certain federal agencies — including NASA, the National Weather Service and the Bureau of Reclamation — to end collective bargaining agreements with unions representing federal employees.
The Department of Veterans Affairs previously moved to terminate protections for more than 400,000 of its workers. The president’s overall effort on this front is being fought in court, although federal judges have so far sided with the administration.
As labor unrest mounts, Americans and foreign tourists are visiting national parks like never before. In 2024, there were a record 332 million visits to national parks, including 4 million to Yosemite. Crowds continued to stream into national parks over Labor Day weekend.
Groups that advocate for public lands say that short staffing is quietly adding to long-standing problems.
Preventative Search and Rescue Program Coordinator Anna Marini gives the Lutter family children junior guide books after they finished a hike in August 2024 in Joshua Tree National Park.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
“It’s clear staffing shortages are directly impacting park operations across the system,” the nonprofit National Parks Conservation Assn. said in a statement Wednesday.
“Parks like Joshua Tree and Yosemite are struggling with search and rescue, law enforcement and even basic medical services, while some parks have no maintenance staff at all. Seasonal roads, trails and campgrounds like those at Sequoia and Kings Canyon remain closed due to unaddressed damage.”
The union voting took place July 22 to Aug. 19, and included permanent and seasonal employees. The National Federation of Federal Employees represents workers at several other national parks, including Yellowstone and, in Ohio, Cuyahoga Valley, as well as those in the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management.
A union sign hailing federal workers is displayed at Sequoia National Park.
(Steven Gutierrez)
Federal employees don’t have the right to strike, Gutierrez said, meaning that much of employees’ advocacy has to happen in Washington, D.C. He said the union can bring workers face to face with congressional leaders to explain why their jobs matter — including the tourism dollars they help generate.
Next steps will include hammering out labor contracts for Yosemite and Sequoia and Kings Canyon, which can provide job protections.
Gutierrez said he’d like to see one drafted by December but acknowledged that it can be a long process.
“If Trump puts his fingers into it, it’s going to take longer,” he said.
Families have the chance to celebrate a ‘magical’ Christmas this year as popular caravan site Haven has announced two parks will open their doors for the festive season this year
(Image: Alasdair MacLeod/Ayrshire Post)
Two popular caravan sites are opening their doors over the festive period giving holidaymakers the chance to spend their Christmas in style with a ‘magical’ list of celebrations.
Popular family caravan sites Haven are normally closed during Christmas and New Year, but two parks have been announced in Scotland to allow people to celebrate with them.
The parks will be transformed into Winter Wonderlands and it comes as five were opened last year for festivities which saw around 30,000 people having a winter break at the caravan sites. The new two Scottish sites announced are at Craig Tara in Ayr and Seton Sands in Prestonpans and will be opening over Christmas and Hogmanay.
They will be decorated for Christmas and have lots for families to do during the stay, including access to the pools – and even the chance for children to meet Santa. There will also be a Hogmany show to bring in the New Year with the bells.
Simon Palethorpe, CEO of Haven said: “This August, we’re welcoming record numbers of visitors to our parks, and we’re delighted Father Christmas is amongst them – though we had to remind him to swap his sleigh for a sunhat and to slap on the sunscreen. Christmas and Hogmanay at Haven is truly magical.
“Whichever Park you choose, I’m confident you’ll experience an unforgettable festive feeling. Whether it’s waking up in your cosy caravan on Christmas morning, singing Auld Lang Syne in the show bar on Hogmanay, the live festive entertainment, eating lunch in one of our restaurants or simply spending quality time together in a wonderful coastal setting. I can’t think of anywhere better to be first-footing.”
Families can enjoy their festive celebrations in style at Haven this year(Image: SCU)
The park’s owners, Bourne Leisure Ltd, have lodged a planning application with Blackpool Council for the placement of 20 extra caravans for holiday use through a proposed Certificate of Lawfulness, meaning more sites could be added to the already extensive list.
It comes as Marton Mere Holiday Village, which operates under subsidiary group Haven Holidays, currently has 1474 permitted pitches, mainly filled with static caravans alongside a handful of touring pitches. By pursuing a Certificate of Lawfulness, the applicants contend there would be no need for planning permission to position the extra caravans on the park, situated off Mythop Road, Marton.
Planning consultants Laister, representing the applicants, stated in a planning document: “The addition of 20 caravans in the context of the overall permitted number of units across the park is so insignificant that it would not result in an onsite change to the definable character of the use of the land.
“The total number of permitted caravans across the site would rise to 1494, an increase of 1.4 per cent on the existing limits, which falls well within the percentage change parameters of a number of recent appeal decisions.”
El Capricho, on the outskirts of Madrid, is one of the city’s lesser-known parks. It was built in 1784 by the Duke and Duchess of Osuna, and visited by 18th-century artists such as Francisco de Goya. Its 17-hectare gardens were designed by Jean Baptiste Mulot, who also worked on the Petit Trianon gardens at the Palace of Versailles. They are in three sections: Italian, French and English landscape. The park also has a small lake, a labyrinth, a bandstand and a mansion. One fascinating feature is an underground bunker, built in 1937 during the Spanish civil war – there are free guided tours at weekends. Open weekends and public holidays, 9am-9pm, April to September, then 9am-6.30pm, October to March, esmadrid.com
Onion Garden, London
The Onion Garden is in Westminster, near St James’s Park. Photograph: Anthony Dawton
You’re never far from a garden in London: 20% of the city is public green space, including about 3,000 parks, and it became the world’s first National Park City in 2019. As well as eight royal parks and vast areas of greenery such as Hampstead Heath, the city has numerous hidden havens. One of them is the tiny Onion Garden near Victoria Station and St James’s Park. According to the tour guide Jack Chesher, it was a “derelict concrete corner” until late 2021, when it began to be transformed into the “hanging gardens of Westminster”. The pocket park now has more than 200 species of plants – including a fair few onions – and displays artworks such as mosaic wall art and sculptures. There is a cafe and events including singing, craft workshops and poetry recitals. Open weekdays 7.30am-5.30pm (until 10pm on Thursdays), weekends 8.30am-4.30pm, theoniongarden.org
Anne Frank Garden, Paris
Jardin Anne-Frank in the Marais area of Paris. Photograph: Samantha Ohlsen/Alamy
This little-known walled garden, found down a dead-end road in the Marais, once belonged to the Hotel de Saint-Agnan. The hotel is now the Musée d’Art et d’Histoire du Judaisme (mahJ), and the garden, dedicated to Anne Frank, is open to the public. The central plot dates to the 17th century, and there is a small orchard, vegetable garden, pergola and children’s play area. Most moving is the chestnut tree, planted in 2007 from a graft of the tree Anne looked at from her window in Amsterdam and wrote about in her diary. As well as the mahJ, the Pompidou Centre is a short walk away. Open 10am-9pm in summer, paris.fr
Brera Botanical Garden, Milan
Flowering peonies at Brera. Photograph: E Fesenko/Alamy
Hidden behind the south wall of the Palazzo Brera in the centre of Milan is an ancient medicinal garden. Humiliati priests grew plants and meditated here in the 14th century, followed by the Jesuits. In 1775, Empress Maria Theresa of Austria ordered it be turned into a botanical garden, and it has been managed by the University of Milan since 1935. The 5,000sq m garden still has its original layout: two oval ponds; an arboretum containing two centuries-old Ginkgo biloba trees and other exotic specimens; and themed flowerbeds (medicinal, Mediterranean, plants used for dyeing, textiles, paper …) Open 10am-6pm, Monday to Saturday, until 31 October, then 9.30am-4.30pm, until 31 March, ortibotanici.unimi.it
Centralbadets Garden, Stockholm
Centralbadets dates from 1904. Photograph: Konstantinos Angelopoulos
Right in the middle of Stockholm, off the main shopping street of Drottninggatan, is a hidden courtyard garden. In the 18th century, it was the garden of the farm where the architect Carl Hårleman lived – two of the pear trees are thought to date from this period. Another architect, Willhelm Klemming, bought the property in 1901, renovated the garden and built the Centralbadets in 1904 – still an affordable day spa today. The lush little garden has a pond with a water sculpture, flowerbeds, winding paths and shady places to sit. There are three adjacent restaurants, all with outdoor tables. Closed at night, parker.stockholm
The Garden of the Royal Library, Copenhagen
Royal Library Garden in Copenhagen. Photograph: Oliver Forstner/Alamy
Hidden between Christiansborg Palace and the Royal Library in a historic part of central Copenhagen is a tranquil public garden. The garden was built in 1920 on top of Tøjhushavnen, an old naval port. Reminders of this maritime past include a pond in the middle of the garden, with an eight-metre-high column that shoots a spout of water every hour on the hour, and an old mooring ring at one end. There is also a statue of the Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard, whose manuscripts are in the library’s collection and occasionally go on display. There are benches under the trees to sit quietly with your own book. Open 6am-10pm year-round, visitcopenhagen.com
Károlyi-kert, Budapest
Karolyi-kert is thought to be Budapest’s oldest garden. Photograph: Michael Brooks/Alamy
Tucked away in the palace district, the Károlyi-kert is thought to be Budapest’s oldest garden, and contains Hungary’s oldest mulberry tree. It was once the private garden of the Károlyi Palace, and has been a public park since 1932 (don’t be deterred by the forbidding-looking iron railings). It is a mix of styles: geometric central flowerbeds and fountain, and English-style paths and plant arrangements. There is a children’s playground and a statue of a beloved late resident: Károly, a Belgian giant rabbit. The wine bar and restaurant Csendes Társ is next to the park and has outdoor tables right outside the gate. Open 8am-9pm in summer, welovebudapest.com
University Library Roof Garden, Warsaw
The University of Warsaw’s library has one of hte largest roof gardens in Europe. Photograph: Olena Kachmar/Alamy
The landscaped garden on top of the University of Warsaw’s library is one of the biggest roof gardens in Europe, at more than a hectare (2.5 acres). It opened in 2002 and remains a little-known escape from the busy Powiśle district. A gentle slope leads to the lower garden, which has a duck pond and a series of granite sculptures. The upper garden is divided into four colourful sections: gold, silver, red and green. The areas are connected by paths, bridges and pergolas, and a cascading water feature joins the upper and lower parts. The garden has panoramic views of the Warsaw skyline. Upper garden open from April to October, lower garden open year-round, en.uw.edu.pl
Vrtba Garden, Prague
Vrtba has Italianate gardens on a hillside. Photograph: Lucie Debelkova/Alamy
Although it is close to sights such as Charles Bridge and Lesser Town Square, this terraced garden on Petřín hill is hard to find. Visitors who seek it out are rewarded with baroque beauty. The Italianate garden was created around 1720 on the site of Vrtbovský Palace’s former vineyards. Three terraced platforms, connected by steps, are full of hornbeams, yews, and tens of thousands of flowers and shrubs. The gardens are decorated with statues, vases and paintings, and a ceremonial lighting event is held twice a year. From the pavilion on the top terrace, there are views of the castle, cathedral and old and new towns. £5 adults/£4 children/£15 families, open 10am-7pm, April to October, prague.eu
Diomedes Botanical Gardens, Athens
Much of Diomedes has been left as a natural habitat . Photograph: Coin Up/Alamy
The National Garden in central Athens is a well-known attraction, but the city also has a lesser-known botanic garden, a 20-minute bus ride away. Most of this vast, 186-hectare (460-acre) green space is left as a natural habitat, but 11% (about 20 hectares) is cultivated and contains more than 2,500 plant species. Visitors can walk through the arboretum, with trees from most continents; the ornamental plants section, with 15 flowerbeds and 25 ponds; the historic plants sections, with species recorded by ancient Greeks; and many more – medicinal and aromatic plants, plants of economic importance, hothouse plants, rare plants … There is also a small cafe. Open weekdays 8am-2pm, weekends and holidays 10am-3pm, closed in August, diomedes-bg.uoa.gr
Millions of passengers will soon be whizzed over from long-stay car parks to their terminal in a sleek new fleet of futuristic vehicles following a £14 million sustainability investment
The airport has spent £14m on the upgrade(Image: Getty Images)
One of the busiest UK airports is ditching gas-guzzling buses as part of a huge £14 million investment. Last year, London Gatwick Airport – which is owned and managed by VINCI Airports and Global Infrastructure Partners – handled a whopping 43.2 million passengers.
Many of these travellers will have used the hub’s Park & Ride, which allows customers to park their vehicle at a designated car park outside of the airport and then take a shuttle bus to the terminal. It’s often much cheaper to use this option than using the roll-up parking, which can total up to a whopping £75 per day.
The new electric buses won’t be deployed until later this year(Image: Gatwick Airport)
But passengers using Park & Ride will soon be whizzed over to the airport in a futuristic tram powered solely by electricity. Gatwick has confirmed it has signed a contract with Irizar e-mobility to bring 14 new electric tram-style buses – all of which are 18 metres long – to transfer passengers from the long-stay car parks to the terminals.
The move is expected to save 17.7 tCO2e in carbon emissions per year, and is part of the airport’s sustainability efforts to decarbonise the aviation industry.
The Irizar ie trams, which are known for their futuristic and minimalistic design, will all be equipped with luggage racks inside for ‘greater comfort and functionality’. The vehicles use the latest generation Irizar batteries and are charged using an ultra-fast pantograph system, which can do a full charge in less than six minutes.
The new fleet with transport passengers over from long stay car parks – without using a drop of petrol(Image: Getty Images)
“In addition, with the goal of improving safety, the new buses will be equipped with digital vision cameras, which significantly improves the front, side and rear visibility,” Irizar said in a statement. “In this way, Irizar e-mobility is expanding their electromobility solutions in the United Kingdom, where more than 50 Irizar electric buses are already operating in several cities.”
The Mirror was told the electric buses won’t be deployed until around Christmas time this year.Steve Kelso, Head of Engineering at London Gatwick added: “We’re excited to have 14 new electric tram busses coming to London Gatwick. We are playing our part to decarbonise the aviation sector and as we grow, we must do it sustainably.
“The electric buses are part of our transition to a fully electric vehicle fleet and just one example of our Decade of Change sustainability strategy in action.”
Last week (July 9), Gatwick celebrated another landmark after its first-ever electric flight landed at the hub, as part of the VINCI Airports Network Elektro Tour. The 50-flight leg tour, an early-stage proof of concept, coincides with the delivery of 47 new electric vehicles at London Gatwick, including airside operations and engineering cars.
This is part of the airport’s mission to upgrade its 300-strong vehicle fleet to fully electric by 2023 to support its broader £250m decarbonisation programme to achieve net zero for its own emissions in the next five years. Mark Johnston, chief operating officer at London Gatwick said: “We’re pleased to welcome the VINCI Airport’s Elektro Tour team to the airport, this might just be the smallest aircraft to ever land at London Gatwick!
“We’re proud to be playing our part in supporting wider efforts to decarbonise the aviation sector. Our vision is to be the airport for everyone, whatever your journey, and as we grow, we must do it sustainably. Our transition to an electric vehicle fleet is just one example of our Decade of Change sustainability strategy in action.”
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Few initiatives of the Trump administration more seriously undermine our understanding of the nation’s past than Executive Order 14023 from March 27, which promises “to restore Federal sites dedicated to history, including parks and museums, to solemn and uplifting public monuments.”
The order directs the Interior secretary to cleanse all National Park Service sites of any signage that “inappropriately disparages Americans past or living” and instead “emphasize the beauty, grandeur, and abundance of landscapes and other natural features.” The Park Service staff was also instructed to purge gift shops of books that could be construed as critical of any American. In a similar vein, the Smithsonian Institution was ordered to remove “improper ideology” from its properties to assure they reflected “American greatness.”
Unwilling to depend on park personnel to enforce the patriotism mandate, the Trump administration is enlisting park visitors to report potentially offending displays and ranger talks that present an insufficiently sanitized account of American history. On June 9, acting National Park Service director Jessica Bowron instructed regional directors to “post signage that will encourage public feedback via QR code and other methods that are viable” concerning anything they encounter at a park site that they believe denigrates the nation’s history. (It is worth noting that when queried about the QR code directive, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum claimed to know nothing of the mandate, although he signed it on May 20.) How will the Trump administration respond if a visitor uses one of the mandatory QR codes to file a complaint?
And that is just the beginning. The Trump administration has also made clear it would like to eliminate entire sites that are not “National Parks, in the traditionally understood sense.” That means targeting those features that lack the grandeur of Yosemite and the Grand Tetons: smaller parks, sites and memorials, many of which honor women and minorities. Generally lacking soaring redwoods or massive gorges, these sites — many in urban areas where President Trump’s revisionist history has not caught on — would seem to describe places in California such as César Chavez National Monument outside Bakersfield, Manzanar National Historic Site and Rosie the Riveter WWII Home Front National Historical Park in Richmond.
Trump and his ahistorical myrmidons — he just mused that the Civil War ended in 1869 — regularly display an abysmal ignorance of basic American history. In their view, such federal (and presumably state) sites should present only a simplistic view of our complex 249-year history, one that virtually ignores the contributions and struggles of hundreds of millions of Americans.
Even before we see how many “tips” the Park Service’s invitation elicits from visitors eager to rat on rangers, the wording of the executive order itself is chilling. Any signage or lecture that “inappropriately disparages Americans past or living” — and who is to say what constitutes disparagement? — must be replaced with rhetoric that emphasizes “the greatness of the achievements and progress of the American people.” Needless to say, the many sites that tell the stories of civil rights and anti-slavery struggles, the Civil War, the role of immigrants, the battles for labor rights and the rights of women and LGBTQ+ people are going to have a challenging time ensuring they in no way offend those willing to acknowledge only uninterrupted “greatness” of the American story. Sometimes our greatness has been manifested by our progress toward a more perfect union — and that story cannot be told without mentioning imperfections.
One need not have a PhD in history to appreciate the dire threat presented by these efforts to replace historical scholarship with uncritical flag-waving. Historians have an obligation to challenge myth, to uncover obscured stories, to give voice to those who were unable to fully participate in earlier eras of the American story because of their race, ethnicity, gender or viewpoints. That is why our government has protected sites including Ellis Island (which President Lyndon B. Johnson added to Statue of Liberty National Monument), Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument and Stonewall National Monument (both recognized by President Obama). Trump’s Orwellian orders seek to undo a half-century of scholarship that revealed a far more complex and nuanced history than the simplified versions taught to generations of schoolchildren.
Fortunately, professional historians have not been cowed like many university leaders, law firms and others who have shamefully capitulated to Trump’s assault on free speech and intellectual integrity. A March statement from more than 40 historical societies condemned recent efforts to “purge words, phrases, and content that some officials deem suspect on ideological grounds [and] to distort, manipulate, and erase significant parts of the historical record.”
The national parks consistently rate as one of the most popular features of American government. Neither their rangers nor their exhibits should be intimidated into parroting a sanitized and distorted version of the nation’s past. As the historians declared, “We can neither deny what happened nor invent things that did not happen.” Americans should use those QR codes to send a clear message rejecting efforts to manipulate our history to suit an extremist ideological and political agenda.
John Lawrence is a visiting professor at the University of California’s Washington Center and a former staff director of the House Committee on Natural Resources.
A survey of 1,700 holidaymakers has revealed some of the best and worst of British holiday park breaks
04:00, 12 Jul 2025Updated 10:39, 12 Jul 2025
Pontins – who were bottom of the list – have closed locations including Camber Sands in East Sussex(Image: Adam Gerrard / Daily Mirror)
A survey by Which? has revealed some of the best and worst holiday parks in the UK for 2025, with well-known brands such as Haven and Center Parcs losing out to lesser-known providers.
The survey was completed by 1,700 Which? members who were asked to rate their experiences in UK holiday parks and resorts. Respondents were asked to rank details from the cleanliness of the park to the quality of their accommodation, variety of free activities on offer, and the overall value for money of their holiday.
Topping the chart for “customer score” was Potters Resorts, which offer all-inclusive holidays at two resorts based in Essex and Norfolk. While it’s an adults-only resort most of the year, children are allowed during the summer holidays in Norfolk. Potters scored an impressive 87%, with an impressive five-stars for quality of facilities and accommodation, and a perfect score for the variety of free activities on offer.
Potters Resorts have two locations including the beautiful Hopton-on-Sea in Norfolk(Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
Although Potters is the most expensive of the parks included in the Which? survey, the price includes all food and drink, activities that range from pickleball to archery and evening entertainment which is described as ‘West End’ quality, netting the parks a four-star rating for value for money.
Forest Holidays came in second, with an overall customer score of 80%. The brand has eight parks in England, three in Scotland, and two in Wales, with rural locations and accommodation such as log cabins and treehouses. Customers gave positive feedback for the quality of the accommodation and cleanliness, although they only got three-stars for value for money.
Another winner was Bluestone Wales, which is set in picturesque Pembrokeshire. Bluestone offers luxury lodges and cottages, also scoring highly for the quality of accommodation on offer. While they scored well for the variety of children’s activities on offer and the entertainment, they also scored three-stars for value for money, giving them an overall score of 77%.
Forest Holidays clinched second place(Image: Leicester Mercury)
Pontins are yet again at the bottom of the chart, having also come bottom in 2024. The brand only has one holiday park that’s currently open to guests, the adults-only Sand Bay Holiday Village in Weston-Super-Mare. Their other two parks in Burnham on Sea, Somerset and Pakefield, Suffolk are temporarily closed in order to house construction workers.
Scoring just 56% for customer satisfaction, Pontins scored just two-stars in most areas and, despite being the cheapest option, customers still felt they received poor value for money.
Sand Bay near Weston-Super-Mare is the only Pontins currently open to the public(Image: Rowan Griffiths)
In a Tripadvisor review of their Pakefield park, one customer said: “Worst place I have ever visited, chalet was old unkempt and dirty, holes in sheets, beds pushed together with terrible matress and pillows, to shower you had to keep pushing a button in, it leaked all over the floor”.
Another complained: “Rooms are shabby and quite dirty. Dirt on the baseboards, cobwebs in the corners and behind doors, our shower curtain had pink mold growing along the bottom seam, clearly not laundered between guests.”
However, there were positive reviews of the Pontins experience. One said: “We went beginning of October had a brilliant week! Food was great, swimming pool was really good and for the price you really can’t get any better!”
And many reviews praised the entertainment on offer, with one saying: “The Bluecoats show Vegas was amazing! They are all so talented and are always doing some activity or joining in on the dance floor and having a laugh or chatting with people.”
Away Resorts have 25 family-friendly resorts including one in Newquay(Image: William Dax / SWNS)
The bottom of the list also included Largo Leisure Parks, a chain of six parks in Scotland, who scored 64%. However, it’s worth noting they had a small sample size of just 30 respondents who had visited their parks.
A spokesperson for Largo Leisure said: “Whilst this is of course disappointing, this relates to only 30 people who were surveyed about Largo Leisure over 12 months ago. On both TripAdvisor and Google Reviews, where we have thousands of reviews for each of our six Scotland holiday parks, all of them are rated 4.3 or above out of 5.
“We regularly get 5 star reviews on both TripAdvisor and Google reviews and we would encourage people to take a look on both to see a true reflection of the guest experiences at our parks. We are very proud of our track record for providing exceptional holidays for our guests but we never stop trying to improve. We are enjoying a busy year across all our parks and if people read the online reviews they will see why.”
Away Resorts had the same score. They have 25 parks across the UK, including the popular south-west of England area and the Isle of Wight.
Away Resorts got just two stars for value for money, despite offering a wide range of accommodation from caravans and glamping to luxury lodges. They also scored poorly for customer service, but received three-stars for cleanliness and quality of accommodation.
The most popular holiday park provider in the survey was Center Parcs, which scored 69%, putting it neck and neck with Haven. While it scored well for the quality of its facilities and accommodation, it received low scores for the variety of free activities on offer and overall value for money. It was the third most expensive on the list, coming in after Potters and Warner Leisure Villages, who offer adults-only breaks.
Center Parcs in Elveden Forest – their parks received high scores for quality but were described as ‘expensive’(Image: Publicity Picture)
One Which? member wrote: “Very expensive for what it is. Accomodation excellent, apart from the oasis pool, everything was extra. Staff were very helpful and the children enjoyed their stay. I will not be going back.”
Haven, who have 38 parks across the UK, scored the same percentage as Center Parcs, although they did get three stars for value for money. Which? readers gave them two star scores for food and drink and the variety of free activities on offer.
Best and worst holiday parks in the UK ranked by customer score
Potters Resorts 87%
Forest Holidays 80%
Bluestone Wales 77%
John Fowler Holiday Parks 77%
Hoburne Holidays 75%
Hoseasons 74%
Waterside Holiday Group 74%
Warner Leisure Villages 71%
Center Parcs 69%
Haven Holiday Parks 69%
Parkdean Resorts 68%
Butlins 67%
Park Holidays UK 66%
Away Resorts 64%
Largo Leisure Parks 64%
Pontins 56%
Pontins, Away Resorts, Park Holidays, Butlins, Center Parcs, and Haven have been approached for comment.
Majorca Platja Tour has announced plans for protests targeting beaches in Spain, warning that some seaside areas have become like ‘theme parks’ due to the crowds
Protests are planned for Majorca’s beaches this summer(Image: Getty Images)
Brits heading for Majorca this summer face being “confined” to beaches as protesters call for resident-only spots.
Majorca Platja Tour has announced the first “symbolic occupation” of a beach in Spain this summer, in a bid to preserve the area’s most beautiful coastal destinations from being overrun by tourists. “Prepare your towels, umbrellas and banners, because we will be making a new symbolic occupation on a beach in Majorca,” announced the movement.
A date for the protest has not been announced.
The protests will echo those of last summer, carried out at Platja de Palma—one of the best beaches in the capital—and Caló des Moro, a stunning beach located in the southeast of Majorca, featuring 40 metres of fine-grained sand surrounded by cliffs.
The protesters say beaches in Majorca are so packed with tourists that locals avoid them in the summer. They want holidaymakers either banned from certain beaches or for areas to be designated for local residents only, not tourists.
The protesters want tourists banned from certain beaches(Image: Getty Images)
The movement demands that the citizens of the islands be able to enjoy the beaches in summer—a situation that, according to critics, is currently impossible because the beaches are overcrowded. “What used to be a corner of peace becomes a theme park,” they claim.
They say the beach at Platja de Palma is a prime example: “There is no area that better represents the overcrowded Majorca than this one.” The campaigners are calling for a census or registry to be introduced so that only certain people can access beaches at certain times.
Mallorca Platja Tour has called on neighbourhood, cultural, and environmental associations—as well as political parties “committed to Mallorca”—to join the initiative. “There is nothing more Majorcan than spending a day on the beaches,” they said in a statement.
The group highlighted the Municipality of Ameglia in North East Italy, where 60% of the beaches are kept for local residents.
Ameglia Emanuele Cadeddu, despite mayor of the Italian region, said in 2020: “We do not want to give up tourism, which is the basis of our economic fabric. Doing so would mean closing or putting in difficulty the countless activities present in our area, but we expect maximum respect for the rules both from our fellow citizens, to whom we will reserve and guarantee an adequate number of spaces in the amount of 60 percent of the beaches, and from the tourists who will arrive in the Ameglia area”.
Road routes to many beaches in Majorca are frequently clogged with traffic during the high season, with hundreds of cars parked on sandbanks.
Majorca is in the grip of mass tourism protests, with large crowds of placard-wearing campaigners taking to the streets earlier this month.
The Balearic Islands have received more than 4.3 million international passengers between January and May of this year, representing an increase of 4.8% compared to the same period last year, according to data published on Wednesday by Turespaña.
Bookings have slumped in parts of Majorca in recent months. The Alcudia and Can Picafort hoteliers association has sounded the alarm that bookings on the island are down on last year, especially among travellers from Germany, their principal markets. Bar and restaurant takings were down by between 15 and 20 percent compared to last year, which is a significant blow for an industry already struggling.
The president of the Association, Pablo Riera-Marsa, said: “We are seeing how the German market, traditionally our number one market, is the one that has slowed down the most. In addition, we are detecting that this season, last-minute bookings are once again becoming more popular, with tourists waiting for special offers and promotions before making their purchase decisions.”
In his ongoing war on “woke,” President Trump has instructed the National Park Service to scrub any language he would deem negative, unpatriotic or smacking of “improper partisan ideology” from signs and presentations visitors encounter at national parks and historic sites.
Instead, his administration has ordered the national parks and hundreds of other monuments and museums supervised by the Department of the Interior to ensure that all of their signage reminds Americans of our “extraordinary heritage, consistent progress toward becoming a more perfect Union, and unmatched record of advancing liberty, prosperity and human flourishing.”
Those marching orders, which went into effect late last week, have left Trump opponents and free speech advocates gasping in disbelief, wondering how park employees are supposed to put a sunny spin on monuments acknowledging slavery and Jim Crow laws. And how they’ll square the story of Japanese Americans shipped off to incarceration camps during World War II with an “unmatched record of advancing liberty.”
At Manzanar National Historic Site, a dusty encampment in the high desert of eastern California, one of 10 camps where more than 120,000 Japanese American civilians were imprisoned during the early 1940s, employees put up a required notice describing the changes last week.
Like all such notices across the country, it includes a QR code visitors can use to report any signs they see that are “negative about either past or living Americans or that fail to emphasize the beauty, grandeur, and abundance of landscapes”.
An identical sign is up at the Cesar E. Chavez National Monument in Kern County, a tribute to the struggle to ensure better wages and safer working conditions for immigrant farm laborers. Such signs are going up across the sprawling system, which includes Fort Sumter National Monument, where Confederates fired the first shots of the Civil War; Ford’s Theater National Historic Site in Washington, D.C., where Abraham Lincoln was assassinated; and the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Park.
So, nothing negative about John Wilkes Booth or James Earl Ray?
In response to an email requesting comment, a National Park Service spokesperson did not address questions about specific parks or monuments, saying only that changes would be made “where appropriate.”
The whole thing is “flabbergasting,” said Dennis Arguelles, Southern California director for the nonprofit National Parks Conservation Assn. “These stories may not be flattering to American heritage, but they’re an integral part of our history.
“If we lose these stories, then we’re in danger of repeating some of these mistakes,” Arguelles said.
Trump titled his March 27 executive order requiring federal sign writers to look on the bright side “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.” He specifically instructed the Interior Department to scrutinize any signs put up since January 2020 — the beginning of the Biden administration — for language that perpetuates “a false reconstruction” of American history.
Trump called out signs that “undermine the remarkable achievements of the United States by casting its founding principles and historical milestones in a negative light.”
He specifically cited the National Historical Park in Philadelphia and the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C., as bowing to what he described as the previous administration’s zeal to cast “our Nation’s unparalleled legacy of advancing liberty, individual rights, and human happiness” as “inherently racist, sexist, oppressive, or otherwise irredeemably flawed.”
His solution? Order federal employees and historians to rewrite the “revisionist” history with language that exudes patriotism.
“It all seems pretty Orwellian,” said Kimbrough Moore, a rock climber and Yosemite National Park guide book author. After news of the impending changes began circulating in park circles, he posted on Instagram a sign he saw in the toilet at the Porcupine Flat campground in the middle of the park.
Across from the ubiquitous sign in all park bathrooms that says, “Please DO NOT put trash in toilets, it is extremely difficult to remove,” someone added a placard that reads, “Please DO NOT put trash in the White House. It is extremely difficult to remove.”
Predictably, the post went viral, proving what would-be censors have known for centuries: Policing language is a messy business and can be hard to control in a free society.
“Even the pooper can be a venue for resistance,” Moore wrote.
