staying

WITH its subtropical waterpark, outdoorsy activities and handy restaurants, Center Parcs is a dead cert for a family friendly break. 

Yet sky-high prices, especially during school holidays, mean it’s out of reach for many.

There is a way to enjoy a virtually identical break in the same picturesque British region as one park without breaking the bank though.

I live less than ten minutes’ drive from Woburn Forest, the newest and most modern Center Parcs in the UK, set across 357 acres of woodland in Bedfordshire an hour from London.

But you don’t need to stay on site to enjoy woodland walks, sporty adventures and cosy self-catering accommodation, especially if you know the locals’ favourite spots. 

Upper Wood End Farm is a 15-minute drive from Center Parcs and is surrounded by fields full of sheep and horses, with rural rambles on the doorstep.

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TREE-MENDOUS

Center Parcs resort’s £87million expansion to include new treehouse lodges

I WOOD

I found the perfect woodland staycation for Center Parcs vibes without the price tag

The two one-bedroom holiday cottages sleep up to three people each, so more than enough space for small families, along with a fully-equipped kitchen and outdoor patio for morning coffee.

A four-night midweek break in the Easter holidays for a family of four costs £552 – a fraction compared to the £1,429 for the same dates up the road at Woburn Forest.

If you need a bit more space to yourself, families can rent The Acorn, a new two-bedroom detached house sleeping five in nearby Clophill.

Along with countryside views, there are two excellent pubs in walking distance and local free-range eggs in the fridge.

A three-night stay for a family of five over the Easter weekend costs £655 – you’d have to fork out £1,549 to scoff your Easter eggs at Woburn Forest instead. 

Of course, neither have a subtropical swimming dome or water slides, but you can still take the family swimming for less.

Flitwick Leisure Centre is a mile from Center Parcs and has a 25-metre pool where adults can swim for £6.15 while five to fifteen-year-olds cost just £3.30.

It also has squash and badminton courts for hire plus a full schedule of workout classes from yoga to aqua aerobics, starting at £4.90 for a 30-minute lesson.

For something more high adrenalin, Box End Park is a 20-minute drive and has two lakes for stand up paddleboarding and waterskiing.

There’s also a fantastically fun inflatable aqua park open between April and October for £17.50 for one hour or £60 for four people. 

If you’d rather stretch your legs on dry land, there are countless walking trails to choose from.

A three-mile public footpath runs through the forest around the entire outer perimeter of Center Parcs or head to Millennium Country Park and Forest Centre, which has scenic walking routes around a lake, a nature reserve and bikes for hire.

It’s free to access every day of the year but parking costs £2 for three hours.  

Extra activities don’t come cheap in Center Parcs itself, but you can find plenty of similar ones all within ten-minutes’ drive of Woburn Forest so you can have just as much fun staying off-site.

Arrowdox has weekend archery sessions for £25 for 90 minutes, there’s pottery painting from £10 an item at the friendly Crafty Little Things and horse riding at Flitwick’s Little Ranch Riding Centre costs around £20.

The nearby 160-acre Ampthill Park – once used for hunting by Henry VIII – has a large children’s play area with a zipwire, a lovely café and free-to-use outdoor tennis courts.

One of the best things about skipping Center Parcs to stay nearby is that you won’t be stuck eating in onsite chain restaurants such as Starbucks or Café Rouge.

The pretty Georgian market town of Ampthill is five-minutes’ drive away and is chockful of independent restaurants.

This includes the family-owned Fratelli for unbeatable pizza and pasta, American barbeque and burger joint Big 10 – Smoke & Grill and several gastro pubs including The Prince of Wales Ampthill, which serves food all day every day. 

For the best caffeine fix, follow locals to Wooden Hill – just round the corner from Woburn Forest – which roasts its own beans on site and has a small café selling coffee and homemade cakes.

You could even splash out on posh fine-dining at Eileen’s by Steve Barringer, a former runner-up on the BBC’s Masterchef: The Professionals.

After all, with the money you’ve saved on your budget break, you can definitely afford a few extra treats. 

OLIVIA ATTWOOD has shared a cryptic post about the ‘price of staying where you are’ after her shock split from her husband Bradley Dack.

It was revealed two weeks ago that the husband and wife had split following a “breach of trust” on his part.

She’s since moved out of their marital home and moved into her own apartment.

The Loose Women star took to her Instagram stories this evening to repost a cryptic message from a quotes account.

It read: “If you’re worried about the cost of going for it you should see the price of staying exactly where you are.”

She’s been sharing a lot of quotes recently as she deals with the breakdown of her marriage to the footballer.

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liv’s tears

Olivia Attwood in tears & says she wants to be ‘dead inside’ amid split

ISLE SAY

Olivia Attwood reveals surprising Love Islander she’d date after Bradley split

The Love Island icon was left devastated after discovering her other half had broken her trust.

She’d been on a high after a “blissful” trip to the City of Love in the first week of January and felt surer than ever the marriage was back on track.

A source close to Olivia said: “Olivia’s been so open about their marriage struggles and everything she said on This Morning this month, and on her podcast, is true.

“She thought things were genuinely back on track and that Paris was a perfect break, it was blissful.

“She and Brad had proper, quality time together and they laughed and enjoyed each other like before.

“So to get back and discover he had breached her trust was a bolt from the blue.”

Olivia posted about moving house in December, and fans have speculated the couple actually secretly split months ago.

They had in fact sold their home in Cheshire to relocate closer to footballer Bradley’s club Gillingham FC and Oliva’s work in London.

But now they’ll look to sell up again as Olivia prepares to tackle life alone.

The source added: “Olivia, as always, has an incredibly busy time ahead with work, with Getting Filthy Rich series four on air and the launch of her new ITV2 show The Heat coming soon.”

Olivia has unfollowed her husband on social media after news of their split was revealed by The Sun.

Olivia and Bradley weathered a rocky 2025 during which they faced constant divorce rumours.

“There are ups and downs, there are things on his side which haven’t been great, there’s a mix of things,” she said in an interview last year.

“I have f***ed up and done stuff, Brad has f***ed up.”

Olivia also recalled the past year on her podcast Olivia’s House.

She said: “At the end of the day marriage is really f***ing hard. The rumour mill was in full swing. We really weren’t getting on very well.”

The pair first met and dated prior to her Love Island stint and ended up reconnecting after her split with Chris Hughes.

They got engaged in 2019 and after having to cancel their wedding plans due to coronavirus, they finally tied the knot in a ceremony at the Bulgari Hotel in June 2023.

DEVELOPING STORYDEVELOPING STORY,

Top official vows shift in operations after killings of US citizens, but says Trump not ‘surrendering’ mission.

Tom Homan, United State President Donald Trump’s Border Czar, has vowed a shift in immigration enforcement operations in Minnesota, but maintained that Trump was not “surrendering” his mission.

Speaking during a news conference from the Midwestern state, where he was sent in the wake of two killings of US citizens by immigration enforcement officers this month, Homan vowed a lasting presence and more refined enforcement operations.

Still, he largely placed the blame of recent escalations on the administration offormer US President Joe Biden and the policies of local officials, saying that more cooperation would lead to less outrage.

“I’m staying until the problem’s gone,” Homan told reporters on Thursday, adding the Trump administration had promised and will continue to target individuals that constitute “public safety threats and national security threats”.

“We will conduct targeted enforcement operations. Targeted what we’ve done for decades,” Homan said. “When we hit the streets, we know exactly who we’re looking for.”

While Homan portrayed the approach as business as usual, immigration observers have said the administration has increasingly used dragnet strategies in an effort to meet sky-high detention quotas.

State and local law enforcement officials last week even detailed many of their off-duty officers had been randomly stopped and asked for their papers. They noted that all those stopped were people of colour.

On the campaign trail, Trump had vowed to target only “criminals”, but shortly after taking office, White House spokesperson said it considered anyone in the country without documentation to have committed a crime.

Homan vowed to continue meeting with local and state officials, hailing early “progress” even as differences remain. He highlighted a meeting with the State Attorney General Keith Ellison in which he “clarified for me that county jails may notify ICE of the release dates of criminal public safety risk so ICE can take custody”.

It remained unclear if the announcement represented a policy change. Minnesota has no explicit state laws preventing authorities from cooperating with ICE and the states prisons have a long track-record of coordinating with immigration officials on individuals convicted of crimes.

County jails typically coordinate based on their own discretion.

Homan was sent by Trump to replace Greg Bovino, the top border patrol official sent to the state as part of a massive enforcement operation that has sparked widespread protests.

On January 7, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent fatally shot Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis. Last week, border patrol agents fatally shot Alex Pretti.