One of the world’s oldest Center Parcs resorts has new farm experience and water playhouse
ONE of the first Center Parcs to ever open has two new attractions.
While Brits may think of the holiday resort in the UK, it actually started in the Netherlands.
De Huttenheugte was one of the first Center Parcs resorts to open.
The very first Center Parcs was De Lommerbergen, also in the Netherlands, which opened in 1968.
However, this was sold off in 1996.
De Huttenheugte opened in 1972 and remains as a Center Parcs resort.
The woodland resort has a huge lake as well as a beach to explore
The indoor waterpark Aqua Mundo has two slides and a wild water rapid as well as a wave pool and outdoor pool section.
New to the park is the Water Playhouse, with platforms, slides, water pistols and water buckets.
Also new at the park is the Experience Farm, where kids can “explore the natural environment”.
Otherwise there are nearly 100 other activities including golf, high ropes, kids safari trucks, scavenger hunts, workshops and boating
Inside activities include go karts, arcades, trampolines, silent discos and and shows.
There is even a nearby beach included in the booking right on the lake.
And for food and drink, there are six restaurants as well as a supermarket and shops for clothes, beauty and gifts.
You can stay at the resort with cottages ranging from two to eight people.
Or there is the themed Wonders of Nature Cottage, where you can “follow the footsteps of two nature researchers”.
Don#t want to stay the night? You can book day passes which includes access to the waterpark, shops, restaurants, activities such as laser bag, abseiling, mini golf and playgrounds.
The best way to get there from the UK is to fly to Amsterdam Schipol airport, with flights taking just over an hour and starting from £14.99.
The Center Parcs is then two hours by car from the airport.
A new Center Parcs holiday resort is opening in the UK on the Scottish borders.
The £400million resort will have 700 lodges as well as the indoor waterpark.
But if you do fancy going abroad, you could save as much as £1,000 per holiday.
Mum reveals how to do a cheaper Center Parcs trip in Europe
Mum Catherine Lofthouse visited a Netherlands Center Parcs to save money.
We paid just £680 for a week’s stay, for five of us in a lodge.
We booked in the summer for an Easter break with our lodge five minutes from both the beach and the pool and two minutes from the soft play.
The extra activities seemed cheaper than you would pay in the UK.
We even opted for a couple of free activities, including a beach litter pick, which was a fun way to spend an hour looking after the environment, and toasting marshmallows over a fire pit.
Another trick to make your holiday money go further is to keep an eye on the Too Good To Go app, which offers reduced price food that’s coming to the end of its sell-by date.
The Center Parcs supermarket was offering a bag of food most days for just €4.99 (£4) with a BBQ meat pack, veggie mince, squash, biscuits and snacks.
Research earlier this year found that a trip to the German Center Parcs, Park Nordseeküste, was £957 cheaper in October half term than the UK Center Parcs.
Or wait until next year, with Center Parcs Nordborg opening in Denmark, the first in the country.