Swimming pools

While Center Parcs is a great family choice, it’s certainly not the cheapest. So, could a short journey to Europe actually save you money? We compared the price of a break in the school holidays at the two holiday parks

Center Parcs may be famous for its massive swimming pools, endless family activities, and beautiful lodges, but it’s also notorious for being a bit expensive, especially once you hit the school holidays.

Despite its prices, the five Center Parcs in the UK and one in Ireland has no trouble attracting families. But if you’re on a budget, you might be wondering if it’s possible to enjoy the Center Parcs experience without the premium prices.

One option that many families with school-aged kids will be looking at is staying in a European Center Parcs.

Although it is run by a different company, there are 28 Center Parcs holiday parks across Europe, and they can be found on the Belgian and Dutch coast, deep in Germany’s forests, and even close to Disneyland Paris, so there are lots of locations to choose from.

While accommodation prices are lower than those at Center Parcs in the UK, I was curious whether, once travel costs were included, it would still be a cheaper option.

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Which is cheaper?

Firstly, I looked at a short break in May half-term week, from Monday, May 25, for four nights. I priced this up as a family of four with two school-aged children and looked for the cheapest options.

In the UK, the cheapest park seemed to be Whinfell Forest, Cumbria, and the least expensive accommodation was a two-bedroom Woodland Lodge, which comes with a dishwasher, private patio, and pretty much everything you need for a family staycation.

This came in at £1,349 and the price includes entry to the famous subtropical swimming pool, adventure playgrounds, and cycle routes.

It does sting a little that the same break a week before is £599, showing just how dramatically the price differences can be for the school holidays.

Onto France, and for a short break, most parents would likely opt for somewhere without too long a journey. Center Parcs Les Bois-Francs is about two hours from Le Havre ferry port or three-and-a-half hours from Calais. For the same four nights in a Premium Cottage, the price is €440 (about £380), for about the same grade of accommodation as the UK.

Of course, you then also have your travel costs. A ferry from Dover to Calais can be found on those dates for four plus a car at £164, if you don’t mind driving in France. Fuel costs can vary a lot, especially with the current global situation, but a quick calculation shows the journey to and from Calais in my car would cost about £70 in fuel.

This puts the cost of a Center Parcs break in France for four at £614, including accommodation and travel, nearly half the cost of the UK. If you don’t live near the south coast, then your travel times could vary, but if you’re close to a ferry port and enjoy the adventure of exploring a new country, it could be a fun break.

Next, I looked at a longer break in the six-week holidays, which are notoriously expensive wherever you go. I wanted to see how a seven-night break would compare in Center Parcs UK versus Europe on these premium dates.

I chose breaks starting Friday, August 7, in the middle of the summer holidays, and again looked at prices for a family of four. A Woodland Lodge in Woburn Forest, Bedfordshire, is priced at £2,378 for a week.

But would the cost of a European break be any less painful on your pocket?

One of the cheaper European options for this week is Le Lac d’Ailette in the Picardy region of France. This pretty lakeside park is big on indoor and outdoor water activities, and being at the heart of the Champagne region means adults can enjoy stocking up on bottles to take home.

A Comfort Cottage is €1872 for the week (about £1,634) plus the cost of fuel to and from Calais, which is about a two-and-a-half-hour drive. A return ferry from Dover to Calais on these dates comes in at about £241 for four people in a standard car, so again, it’s cheaper than the UK option, but involves a longer journey.

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In conclusion

While my basic calculations show that a Center Parcs holiday in Europe could be cheaper, it’s worth also bearing in mind the additional costs of travel abroad such as passports. And for families short on time and annual leave, the UK parks are likely a better option simply because it’s a shorter drive.

Food in supermarkets also tends to be more expensive in France than the UK, apart from the wine, although you can often eat out more affordably thanks to prix fixe menus.

However, if you’re a Center Parcs fan and fancy a change, or don’t mind the extra time spent on a ferry and in the car, you might want to consider trying one of the parks on the continent for your next break.

Have a story you want to share? Email us at webtravel@reachplc.com

Serious food poisoning cases for UK tourists at popular travel hotspots revealed

All UK travellers and tourists planning a trip abroad have been issued a warning by health officials after a new study showed high levels of food poisoning hitting some popular resourts. A study from Cambridge University found 13 destinations in particular having higher odds of people contracting serious food poisoning such as Shigellosis, Salmonellosis, and Giardiasis.

The Foreign Office-backed Travel Health Pro website this week issued an alert warning people to take precautions, especially when travelling to popular destinations outside the EU – although some hotspots there were flagged up in the report too.

Travel Health Pro said: “All UK travellers and tourists planning a trip abroad are reminded to follow good food and water hygiene advice. This study shows that visiting countries outside of the EU, and to high-risk areas which had low water, sanitation and hygiene scores, increases the risk of infections that can cause stomach upset, like diarrhoea or vomiting.

Between 1 July and 15 October 2023, a rise in stomach bugs was reported in travellers returning to England from popular holiday destinations, including Egypt, Mexico, Tunisia and Turkey. Many of these travellers stayed in all-inclusive tourist resorts. The study also suggests the true number of infections is likely to be higher, as it only counted cases diagnosed in travellers after they returned home.”

Destinations where high levels of food poisoning were detected in UK tourists are:

• Egypt
• Mexico
• Tunisia
• Turkey
• Jamaica
• Dominican Republic
• Cape Verde
• Morocco
• India
• Pakistan
• Thailand,
• Greece
• Spain

The study said: ”Thirteen destinations were associated with higher odds of becoming a case, of which the highest odds were reported for Egypt, Mexico, Tunisia, and Turkey, with the odds of illness in travellers to Egypt 23 times higher than those visiting France.

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“For those travelling to low-risk destinations, eating undercooked meat or fish, eating meat or fish purchased from local restaurants and airports, drinking purified water, and swallowing water from environmental water sources (rivers, lakes, sea, and swimming pools) were all found to be associated with higher odds of illness. In high-risk destinations, eating foods consumed on trips or excursions, swallowing water from environmental sources, drinking fruit juice or smoothies, and eating foods from hotel buffets were all associated with higher odds of being a case.”

Travel health pro this week urged people to take these steps:

• Practice good food and water hygiene at all times, even in high-end, all-inclusive resorts.
• Wash your hands often, including before eating or preparing food, after using the toilet, after changing nappies and before and after sex.
• Eat recently prepared food that is fully cooked and served piping hot.
• Where there is no clean water supply, drink only bottled or boiled tap water (this includes brushing your teeth).
• Always avoid ice in your drinks.
• Avoid fresh fruit that you have not peeled yourself and salads not washed with bottled or boiled water.
• Avoid swallowing water from ponds, lakes and untreated swimming pools.

If you become ill abroad:

• Drink plenty of ‘safe’ fluids, such as bottled water, or tap water that has been boiled and cooled, and use oral rehydration solutions so that you do not become dehydrated.
• Get early medical advice if you are at greater risk of complications from gastrointestinal infections, this includes babies/young children, older adults, pregnant women and people who are immunosuppressed or have ongoing health conditions.
• Seek medical help if symptoms (such as diarrhoea and vomiting) last more than a few days or are not improving.
• Wash contaminated clothes or bedding on a hot wash and clean toilets, taps and door handles regularly.
• Avoid using swimming pools if you have a stomach bug. Take children on regular toilet breaks and check nappies often. If you have been told you have cryptosporidium do not use a swimming pool for 2 weeks after your diarrhoea has stopped.

Surrounded by countryside and quaint shops, spending the night in this historic crescent building felt like living out a life in a period drama manor

Pulling up to the hotel felt like I was stepping into the world of Bridgerton. It was impossible not to be immediately blown away by the sheer size of its Georgian masterpiece, which is the exact greeting I’d expect from a five-star hotel.

The Buxton Crescent Hotel sits at the very heart of the Derbyshire town. Really, it is the centrepiece of the place, and so it would be hard to imagine staying anywhere else when visiting for a weekend.

Buxton, as a spa town, rivals Bath and is famous for its natural and ancient spring waters that have been filtered through the Peak District’s limestone for 5,000 years. It’s these clean, drinkable, and consistently warm waters that provide mineral-rich and calming waters to the spa within the hotel.

These small but significant details are what make the Buxton Crescent hotel feel so swanky. To know I was staying within the walls of such a historic building certainly helped me live out my period drama dreams.

Room

After a very warm welcome and helpful valet service from the team, we were directed to our humble abode for the night, which was one of the Crescent Rooms with rear-facing views. The décor had a timeless feel to it that felt aged, but with class, generally the kind I’d expect for a hotel of this sort – but it was nothing mind-blowing.

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It was clean, the bed was incredibly comfortable, and it had everything we needed for a simple night’s stay. Normally, the package we enjoyed – which included a night’s stay, spa access, dinner, and breakfast – would cost around £510 for this time of year.

A particularly noteworthy feature of the room was the shower, which, to be honest, was potentially the best I’ve ever had, with a huge overhead waterfall and amazing water pressure. I guess you’d expect nothing less from a town quite literally famous for its water and cleansing methods, and it certainly beats the half-hearted drip of a flimsy budget hotel bathroom.

Spa facilities

Buxton Crescent is part of the Champneys Spa empire, but it definitely didn’t feel like a chain. Instead, it offered an authentic spa experience, and one of luxury at that.

I was impressed by just how big the place was and kept stumbling upon different rooms, areas, underground, and on the roof – like the rest of the hotel, it is a bit of a maze.

There are a number of unique features that make this spa a standout in my eyes, the first blindingly obvious one – the epic rooftop pool. It’s rare to find an outdoor pool anywhere in Derbyshire, let alone one on the roof of an 18th-century building, and yet it certainly adds a wow factor to the place.

Even amid the thick fog and cold of June, its thermal waters and bubbling pools create a cool environment for a relaxing swim. It’s a shame the views aren’t much to write home about, considering Buxton is surrounded by beauty.

Adding to this sense of magic is the colour-illuminated relaxation pool in a dimly lit room. The thermal pool sits peacefully beneath an impressive stained-glass canopy that reflects onto the water and the original 1920s tiles lining the pool. I think it’s these standout elements combined that lend the hotel its five-star status.

I was lucky enough to experience one of the unique water-based treatments, which the hotel claims is not available anywhere else in the UK. Opting for the Signature Wave Balance on the Water Couch, I was going into this rather blindly.

The masseuse was friendly and made me feel incredibly comfortable as she used the waterbed’s rhythms to create movement beneath me and gently helped relax my muscles. Personally, I don’t think this treatment was for me, and I would have enjoyed a more intense massage over a relaxation one, not to mention the atmosphere outside of the room was a slight mood killer.

With it being a Saturday, a bit of busyness at the spa is expected. However, outside of the room, I could hear doors shutting, floorboards creaking, and people chatting, and it was hard to stay in my ‘waterbed cocoon’ with all that going on – there’s only so much tranquil music can drown out.

Restaurant

I am everyone’s least favourite type of person to dine with (vegetarian), so if a menu isn’t stacked with options, which they rarely are, I can be a bit of an awkward one. However, the veggie options at the hotel were drool-worthy and felt just as fancy as any other meat-based dish. Not to mention, the setting and service were arguably the most five-star aspects of this place.

As we entered the restaurant for our reservation, we immediately felt underdressed, as guests were quite literally suited and booted for their evening meal. The dimly lit restaurant, wine stands, and well-dressed waiters made the experience feel very fancy, adding to my sense of a regal stay.

I couldn’t help but find the way the space transformed in the morning quite humorous. While the furniture remains the same, the lights are up, people are helping themselves to food, and all of the same guests’ blazers are swapped for hoodies.

In my opinion, there’s only so fancy a breakfast can get in a hotel, when really, everyone just wants a full English. I was pleased to see both vegetarian and vegan options of this, but more importantly, alongside a menu of dishes, you could tuck into smoothies, fruits, yoghurts, pastries, the lot.

Whilst it did sort of feel like the shine had worn off by morning with coffee-stained menus and mugs, as far as hotel breakfasts go, I thought it was still up there with the best.

In the area

There’s no questioning how perfectly placed the Buxton Crescent Hotel is in respect of all that the town has to offer; it is in the centre of it all. So much so that I thought it felt as though the town was built around this very building.

Attached to the building is the Cavendish Arcade, which offers a range of independent shops perfect to mooch around. In fact, this building is actually where the town’s original hot baths were first housed.

Just a stone’s throw away from the hotel entrance is the high street, bursting with cafes, restaurants and shops, as well as other little roads leading you to more hidden independent spots. I’d certainly suggest a wander, as some of the best-looking foodie spots are slightly more tucked away from the Greggs and Café Nero of it all – shock.

For deeper exploration, Buxton acts as the ideal hub for hikers and cyclists keen to explore the Peak District National Park. Lud’s Church is one of the closest and most popular routes, full of dramatic views and a sense of mystery with its moss-covered gorges.

Meanwhile, a more challenging hike would take you to Dragon’s Back, a ridge walk near Buxton that showcases the jagged, rugged limestone cliffs of the peaks. Previously, I parked up in the village of Hollinsclough and walked from there, but there are other alternative starting points.

The Buxton Crescent Hotel is the ultimate romantic spa getaway in the Peak District, and that was evident by the number of couples surrounding us at dinner, in the spa, and on our hike. Clearly, we missed the memo all this time that Buxton is, in fact, the place to be for an idyllic romantic getaway.

Book it

Rooms at Champneys Buxton Crescent Hotel & Wellness Spa start from £185 including bed and breakfast. For general hotel bookings, please visit: buxtoncrescent.com and contact Email: info@buxtoncrescent.com Tel: +44 1298 808 999