Centre Parcs Vs Butlins 2025

I come from a background of Bultins holidays. 

I spent many weekends there seeing the likes of Steps and Daphne and Celeste. From those trips, I remember waiting for hours for Steps to come on stage (but now I know the impatience of children from the other side, so maybe it was more like 20 minutes, even so, too long.)

I remember eating an entire plateful of fried bread.

I remember cutting my foot on a loose tile in the swimming pool.

I remember being allowed to run free wearing my tinsel wig and flares at the evening disco.

Fond memories. 

Until 2024, I’d never been to Centre Parcs. All I knew about it was that people said it is cheaper to go abroad than to Centre Parcs in peak season. 

Which is true. 

Well, maybe not, since the cost of living. You also have to consider the amount of stress and volume of stuff flying with young children comes with. When weighed against extra wrinkles and a possible heart attack, those higher peak season Centre Parc prices start to look pretty appealing. 

More on that abroad trip another time. 

Before I dive into Centre Parcs Vs Bultins, here’s a quick history. 

Butlins history in brief 

The first Butlins was Skegness in 1937, founded by Billy Butlin. It was the UK’s first-ever holiday camp. Back before we were all jetting off abroad. Minehead Butlins has been going since 1967 – and in some places, I’m not sure much has changed. 

Butlins has been sold multiple times. Dropping sites like Clacton and Barry Island and investing in others like Bognor and Minehead. Today, it’s across three sites, each with the iconic Skyline Pavillion. The white dome thing you can see on the approach. 

Centre Parcs history in brief 

Centre Parcs was the brainchild of Piet Derksen, a Dutch business man. He opened a holiday village at De Lommerbergen in 1968. In 1987, the first Centre Parcs opened in the UK – Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire. 

Centre Parcs grew from tent accommodation to cabins to full villages, Centre Parcs has come a long way. 

Centre Parcs Vs Butlins 

 I visited Woburn Centre Parcs in January 2024 with three other adults and three children, 2, 3, and 4.

I went to Butlins Minehead in June 2023, with my husband and two children (then 1 and 3). We also went in 2024 to Bognor. My Butlins review is here.

From activities to parking and accommodation, here’s an overview of the holiday parks. 

Car parking and unloading 

Car parking is pretty high on my list when I go anywhere. It’s always something I check when I’m going to a new place. 

Centre Parcs:

Despite one person speeding down in a BMW, I didn’t see any other cars all week except Centre Parcs vans – who drive respectfully in electric cars and on bikes. 

You unload your car at the cabin, then drive it to the car park and leave it there all week. This means you can almost freely scoot, walk, run, and cycle. 

Butlins:

You have to park in the car park and walk to your chalet. There is no parking near your accommodation.

This wouldn’t be too much of an issue, however, signage was poor. And there was a limited number of trolleys to help with the unload. We managed to find one abandoned with a wobbly wheel. 

When you have two tired and hungry children refusing to walk while you’re carting a suitcase and hoards of oddly shaped bags for life, and trying to navigate a map, it’s a nightmare. 

The rooms

Centre Parcs:

At Centre Parcs, we had a 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom cabin. 

• Open plan living, dining and kitchen space. 
• Clean. 
• Lots of space to put things in the cupboards. 
• Looks out onto the forests, we saw lots of wildlife.
• BBQ area
• No noise from other cabins.
• Shower could be more powerful.
• Clean towels provided.
• Dishwasher. 
• Cot provided.

Butlins:

At Butlins, we had a 2 bed chalet in Minehead. Ground floor. It still smells exactly the same as it did when I went there 20+ years before. 

• Little kitchen. I didn’t spend any time in here except making coffee and pouring wine. 
• Empty can of cider under the bed (Not ours).
• Hair hanging from the shower head. At Butlins, I felt cleaner not showering. 
• Tiny windowless cabin bathroom. 
• Wouldn’t recommend walking around barefoot. 
• Lots of noise from passersby at all hours. 
• No towels provided.

However, updating this since being in Bognor and staying in the Wave hotel. This was a world away from the negative thoughts on the Minehead apartment

• Towels provided
• Cute kids bunkbed room
• Dark!
• Mini beer fridge – though it’s not cold enough for milk
• Clean
• Maid service
• Some had a balcony

Eating out 

Centre Parcs:

So I guess the biggest news for people who have kids, is there’s a soft play in every restaurant. Nothing massive, but it’s something. Slides, soft stuff. Perfect for burning energy post ice cream. 

On reflection, people who don’t have kids will be glad of this, too as the hyper little people won’t be gnawing at their tables and will be having fun elsewhere. 

If you don’t have kids playing in soft play, ask for a table away from the colourful wipe clean areas. It doesn’t matter where a soft play is, there’s always a slight feety sweaty kid smell that’s best avoided if possible. 

We ate out at Huck’s. This is an American-style diner. Very nice. The food was good and the staff very friendly. Kids menu here is £9.95 for a drink, main and desert. Expect the usual kid-friendly foods. Including chicken nuggets with a side of buttered pasta. They also brought my 4-year-old a plain brioche roll free of charge because that girl is 99% bread and butter.

We also ate at Almalfi and Las Iguanas. Almafi was great. Nice service and good food. Soft play is small there but the girls really enjoyed it. Las Iguanas was horrible – we had lunch there and it was so tasteless. Rubbish soft play too.

There’s also Cafe Rouge, Almafi, a pancake cafe and a sports bar too. Plenty of places to eat out. The food shop here delivers for free if you spend over £50. If you’re shopping on site, stuff is more expensive. It’s Coop products I think, but at a slightly higher price. 

Butlins:

At Butlins, we opted for the dining option. This gave us breakfast and dinner included. You can read my views on the dining plans at Butlin’s here.

Breakfast was a pretty good spread. Continental and fried. Loads of fruit. After listening to “It’s going down, I’m yelling timber” and watching my then 1-year-dancing while eating her eggs and seeing a potential choking hazard, I felt that it might be best to head to the more tame restaurant next door going forwards.

One thing you can say about Butlin’s is that they like to set you up first thing for overstimulation. 

The dinners were okay on the Premium dining plan. However, the budget one was really quite disappointing and chaotic. In the premium restaurant there’s always a pasta station, where you can order plain pasta. Win for anyone with a kid who think beige is life like mine do.

Some people stack their plates like they’re settling in for a man vs food challenge. There’s plenty there, so no need to stack up and risk wasting it. 

Pro tip. Don’t take food out of the restaurant. This isn’t because someone will make you pay for it or tell you off, but because you will quite literally get mauled by a seagull the size of a large dog. 

One of the two restaurants in premium dining is quieter for sure. We ate dinner in the louder one as there was the pasta station, but a peaceful breakfast was much appreciated in the morning. 

Other than the all-you-can-eat, there are restaurants on site. I had a really terrible cornish pasty and an okay pizza place. There’s also Burger King at Minehead. In Bognor, we ate at Firehouse which was like Nando’s.

Things to do 

Centre Parcs

There’s loads to do at Centre Parcs. The Drop, boat rides, trails, bowling, arcades (no 2p machines though), segway, swimming, spa, pottery, badminton, mini golf.

But, it all comes at an additional cost.

If you’re here for a cheap trip, you’ll best avoid the extra curricular. 

We didn’t spend much on extras this time. We scooted, went to the parks, explored the wildlife, swam, and walked (20k+ steps everyday!) So if you’re here on a budget, don’t be put off, there’s plenty to do that won’t cost a penny. We did the egg decorating which was 45 mins for £12.50 per egg. But we could have done without it.

Butlin’s:

Here’s where Butlin’s takes the crown for penny pinchers. The majority of activities are included in the price. Carousel, rides, shows, soft play, meet and greet characters – these are all free. 

We did end up spending a little money when we were at Butlins. We went bowling, but it was only £12 for three bowlers, ten pin. And, of course, we had a pint because Butlin’s. 

There are also loads of these little arcade rides that cost £2 for a 30 second ride. But there’s something about these brightly painted characters that my kids, and husband, can’t resist. Be prepared to tell your kids you don’t have the special coins for this or you’ll be taking out a loan by the end of the holiday. While I was pouring half our savings into the 2p machines waiting for the touchable bubbles to drop into the tray, my husband was thrusting pound coins into the miniature rides. 

Lots of the games win tokens. When you’ve cashed them in to the very satisfying ticket eater (watch your hair) you trade them for random plastic crap that you could have brought in the pound shop. But it’s fun to play the game, right? I imagine on the last day there’s a big queue here. 

Swimming

I mentioned swimming, but it needs its own section. Swimming is a real draw for both holiday parks. Here’s my take on swimming at Centre Parcs vs Butlins. 

Centre Parcs:

First thing, it’s warm. In fact, they boast that it’s 29.5 degrees all year round. The changing rooms are roasting hot. Which is great when your in swimmers. When you’re wearing a hat, puffer coat, and trainers and trying to dress two impatient kids, and blowing up rubber rings, it feels a little suffocating. 

The pool and changing areas felt really clean. There are restaurants and a Starbucks here so you can set up camp on one of the chairs and stay here for the entire day. 

There’s a wave pool, a lazy river, kids splash area and a kids pool with small slides. There’s also a small pool that leads to the rapids with an outdoor section. You can go to this bit with the kids, but they can’t go on the rapids, and if you do have a go, you’ll understand why a strong swimmer shouldn’t be plummeted down those things. 

For adults and kids over 1.2m there are slides. One curly single rider one that has about 100 ridges to go over. Then theres a 2-4 person inflatable ride and a 2 person inflatable ride. I’m not going to spoil the Cyclone for you. I’ll just say, I was left shaking, but I still went on it twice more. A serious adrenaline rush that will cure a hangover.

Butlin’s 

Butlin’s Minehead swimming also has rapids, a larger pool and a kid’s pool with a small slide. The rapids here are okay for kids, but you have to hold onto them. We had a kid each in a rubber ring. The rapids are quicker than the Centre Parcs lazy river, but no where near like their rapid rapids.

The pool was busy so we did lots of rubbing legs with strangers. Sort of like warm stranger soup. I remember as a kid the slides were fun, but I didn’t do any of them this time. 

It didn’t feel so clean here. It wasn’t cold, but it was a hot week in June. They don’t seem to cap numbers here, or if they do the cap is 2000. It was so busy. Don’t expect to swim laps anywhere!

Bognor Butlin’s pool is much more modern. They did a big referb a few years ago and it looks great. Still super busy. They don’t have river style rapids here now, it’s more like in Centre Parcs where they flow outside, but I hear from Matt they weren’t as fast. I couldn’t try them out because baby.

Dogs

Centre Parcs:

Dogs are welcome, but have to be on leads.  They’re not allowed in restaurants either so if you have a needy dog, best left at home. There are a few enclosures for dogs to run about off the lead. 

Butlins:

No dogs here. 

Centre Parcs Vs Bultlins Price 

Centre Parcs:

I went to Centre Parcs off season. We paid about £500 for 4 nights in a 4 bed cabin, not including food. Activities there are a little pricy if you’re trying to keep things cheap, but there are free activities, too. 

Butlins

We went in June 2023 and it cost £300 including a premium dining plan and a ‘nicer’ room with two bedrooms and a hair hanging off the shower. Many of the activities and shows are included. Take out a loan for the tiny arcade rides. 

Centre Parcs vs Butlins: Final thoughts

For me, it’s Centre Parcs all day long. 

However, if I was to ask the kids, I think it would be a close call.

I liked how clean CP was, the amount of people I saw getting active with their kids. The soft play in every restaurant is a huge selling point too. 

Butlin’s is probably bigger on free entertainment. Shows, productions, soft play, rides, and character meet and greets are all included in the price.

If you wanted to go to either site and not spend a penny while you’re there, Butlin’s is probably the better bet. Even though we didn’t spend much at Centre Parcs this time, next time we’d hire bikes, go bowling and try the craft room. These all come at an additional cost. 

Butlin’s is loud. Everywhere on site is loud. It’s bright and bold and brash. The rooms feel unclean, outdated and unloved. But the kids bloody love it, and for that reason, I’ll be going back. I’ll just be taking slippers for the room and some anti bac spray. Or maybe stay in one of the new lake view houses. – Or the hotel in Bognor. 

Centre Parcs was clean, set in nature (we saw deer right outside our door!), and at a reasonable volume. I loved the outdoorsy vibe of it, without feeling like you’re in the sticks. 

Is a holiday with kids a holiday?

I know the saying, “same shit, different location” rings true when you’re dealing with sweaty kids sticky with suncream as they have a mega sugar comedown tantrum at the side of the road in Spain (been there). But, when it comes to Butlin’s and Centre Parcs, I actually felt like it was a holiday. They had no meltdowns. They weren’t hot and bothered. There was no time difference to worry about.

I’m sure abroad holidays will come back, but right now, if I’m at Butlin’s and Centre Parcs for the next seven years, I’ll be fine with that.