Center Parcs Erperheide in Belgium

Update - we loved our holiday to Center Parcs, Erperheide so much that we have returned twice more! You can read my more recent posts about that trip here:

A second holiday to Center Parcs, Erperheide
VIP Accommodation at Center Parcs, Erperheide
Our third holiday to Center Parcs, Erperheide

Before Harry started school we had several happy family holidays at Center Parcs in Elveden and Longleat. We took advantage of term time reductions, and enjoyed a reasonably priced short break. But when we came to investigate the school holiday prices we found that the prices for a holiday at one of the UK parks were far too high. But to our surprise, we found that the prices for a break at one of the Center Parcs resorts on the continent were a good deal cheaper, and also seemed to offer a lot more for your money. So we took a chance, stretched our wings, and booked ourselves a week at Center Parcs Erperheide in Belgium, and we are so glad that we did.

Because we visited over the Easter bank holidays, the break was extended to an 8 night trip. We travelled to France through the Channel Tunnel (a cost that we were able to cover with our Tesco Clubcard vouchers) and then from Calais the park was about two and a half hours drive away through France and Belgium. In terms of petrol, it didn't cost us that much more than a trip to Elveden.

We paid a small amount extra to stay in a VIP cottage. It wasn't huge, but it had a few extras that made our stay a little easier. For example, all bedlinen and towels were included, as well as a kitchen and toiletries package, free WiFi and a big bag of fresh rolls which were delivered daily to the cottage. The two bedroom villa also had a sauna, and a small kitchen with a dishwasher (although no oven, just a hob and microwave). There was a lovely, private outdoor area with barbecue and sun loungers, although it was a bit cold for that when we visited!

Despite visiting during the Easter holidays, we found that the park was much quieter than we've experienced in the UK parks. And what really set Center Parcs Erperheide apart from the UK parks was the huge amount that there was for the children to do, all included in the price of our holiday.

Aqua Mundo is the swimming area, comparable to those that we've found in other Center Parcs resorts, possibly slightly larger. It has the usual central pool with an hourly wave machine, which is connected to a series of small, warmer pools linked together by shallow rocky waterfalls. There is a baby pool with small slides, and a toddler pool with slightly larger slides. There are longer water slides and an outdoor rapids slide, a large outdoor pool and a lazy river. There was also a pretty cool themed outdoor area where you could dive under the water to see fish in tanks swimming alongside you.

Then there was Baluba, where we spent a great deal of time, and it was awesome. It is a huge building, filled mainly with a large soft play slide area and an enclosed foam ball play area. 

There is another soft play area on the other side, and around the edges are a bouncy castle, trampolines, enormous Lego play area filled with different sized bricks and an indoor race track with little cars that you can drive around for €1. 

In Baluba was a cafe for drinks and food, and then a small stage where mainly free kids activities took place most days, like the disco, crafts and storytelling. Twice a week there was also a late night show called Straordinario. It was on quite late for our little ones so we only lasted for the first half (the entire show finished around 10pm) but it was quite entertaining, if a little surreal.

The children's daytime entertainment was hosted by a character called Orry and his three friends, and they were often seen driving about in their Orry Mobiel car, it was a really good way to tie all the children's fun together.

There was plenty to do outdoors too. The children loved the Children's Farm, which was full of baby lambs and goats, as well as rabbits, guinea pigs and ponies. There were plenty of ducks to feed, and lots of outdoor playgrounds, some in the centre and some spread around the park.

As well as all the free activities, we found that the extra activities were very reasonably priced. We've never paid for any extras on our UK breaks as they can be so expensive. But at Erperheide our booking included four 'Toppings' vouchers which you can use towards various extra activities on your stay. We used one voucher to secure a particular villa number, two vouchers to pay for an hour of bowling for the family and one voucher for the children to play mini golf.

There were lots of little craft activities that the children could do, and you paid for them as you did them without needing to book in advance. We paid €2.50 each for the children to decorate a light up stick for the kids disco which they loved. We also treated the children to an Easter Egg hunt for €5 each which they really loved and they came back with more than €5 worth of chocolate each!

The only other activity that we paid for was the Kid Safari. For €12 Harry was able to drive Mia around in a little jeep for half an hour, it took him a while to work it out but it was pretty fun!

Just down the road in Peer is a large Lidl which is easy to spot. Although we took most of our food with us, it was useful for the extras as well as for stocking up on some local favourites like big bags of Belgian waffles! There's a string of other supermarkets and fresh fruit and veg shops in Peer too, and the shop on site at Center Parcs itself is very good and reasonably priced.

We mainly self-catered in our cottage. Erperheide doesn't have the wide range of chain restaurants that we've found in UK parks and the restaurant selection was mainly based around all you can eat buffet style dining, which doesn't really suit us as our children are fussy and don't eat a lot. We did eat a couple of times in the Grand Cafe which offered a range of reasonably priced food and drinks in a pleasant setting along with a couple of play areas for the children.

Belgium has three official languages - Dutch, French and German - and all the important information was given in these three languages as well as English. The Orry kids show was in Dutch and the story time was in Dutch and German, but this didn't seem to bother the children. I do speak German and can understand some Dutch so I was able to translate, but I don't think you'd find it a problem if you couldn't, and all the staff and entertainers knew English.

We had such a brilliant time and would absolutely recommend a holiday in Center Parcs Erperheide, whether you are a Center Parcs regular or not. If you have any questions please do feel free to ask in the comments, I'm very happy to help!

If you are interested in a holiday to Center Parcs, Erperheide, you may like to read my other posts:

First holiday to Center Parcs, Erperheide
Our second holiday to Center Parcs, Erperheide
Our third holiday to Center Parcs, Erperheide
VIP Accommodation at Center Parcs, Erperheide

Another Center Parcs in Belgium which we have visited is Center Parcs, De Vossemeren:

Our holiday to Center Parcs De Vossemeren
VIP Accommodation at Center Parcs, De Vossemeren

If you are looking for things to do in the area you might enjoy:

Plopsa Indoor, Hasselt
The Duinengordel dune belt

And finally I've also written a blog post with lots of tips and advice for visitors from the UK that are interested in staying at a Center Parcs in Belgium. 

You can also see a video from our holiday at Center Parcs, Erperheide in 2018 below:

We paid €680 (approx. £490) for an 8 night stay in a VIP Cottage at Center Parcs Erperheide. The full price for the Channel Tunnel was £146 return, which we paid for at a third of the price using our Tesco Clubcard vouchers. As a comparison, a similar villa for the four of us at Center Parcs Elveden that week would have cost us over £2000, without the many extras that we feel Erperheide offers.