I took a week off at the start of November with my partner and our daughter to have our first ever family holiday at Center Parcs. If you’re thinking of going, this blog post should help you with tips on what to bring, where to eat and which toddler friendly activities to book.
Where is Center Parcs?
We went to Center Parcs Longleat Forest in Wiltshire where to my surprise the village actually is right in the forest! If you’re lucky like we were, you’re in for some incredible, close encounters with animals that you can see just outside your cabin windows. On our first morning in the cabin, we all got to watch a young deer from our living room window. It was standing just outside the window, calmly looking in. A magical quiet moment for our little family together; we hadn’t turned the lights on yet so it was only the natural, early morning light that came through the trees and floor length windows making us feel part of the woods. I can’t explain just how lovely that felt and honestly, that experience in itself was enough to make me want to stay again.
Center Parcs sits alongside Longleat Zoo so if you have children a bit bigger than toddlers then I would recommend going to the zoo before you check in or when you check out from your stay. I think this additional excursion would be a little too much for small children and this leads me neatly on to my next section; if you have really little ones, avoid booking too many activities. There’s so much that’s already included in a Center Parcs holiday and you’ll have plenty to see so there’s really not as much time to fill as you think! Here are the best activities to choose:
Christmas activities at Center Parcs
‘Baby Owls’ is an absolute must book activity for toddlers. My two year old frequently talks about the time an owl “flew right into my head”! In actual fact its wing tip brushed the top of her head when flying and her reaction still makes her giggle when we rewatch the videos. The activity was equally as fun to be a part of as an adult honestly, with plenty to learn about different owls and their individual personalities. Parents could hold kids on their laps and stretch out their hand where the owl would perch for children to have a closer look. This happened twice per ticket holder so my daughter got to see these beautiful birds and appreciate them right up close. Only one adult is allowed per ticket so rather than booking more activities I would advise buying a ticket per adult so you can all go together and watch your little one’s face light up. Not that it’s a hard thing to do (owls are pretty cute) but I think it’s really important for children to grow up with an interest in wild animals and nature. This fits that brief perfectly.
Another Christmas activity essential for small children was the ‘Festive Pony Ride’, I cannot recommend this one enough. Just like the baby owls session, the pony ride was the perfect duration so it wasn’t too overstimulating but it was long enough that it felt like value for money and my daughter got to do two laps of the woodland pony trail. She did ask to go on another pony immediately after but I think she would have stayed with those adorable Shetland ponies all day if she could! Our Shetland was called Splash, a thirteen year old pony with the most patient temperament I’d ever seen. I was used to Shetland ponies being little terrors but I believe this one had previously been a therapy pony and was an absolute sweetheart. What just topped the whole thing off was that the ponies were dressed festively with bell adorned reins and lead by elves through a mushroom trail surrounded by Giant Redwood trees with Christmas movie soundtracks playing from a giant Christmas tree that sprinkled snow. In the eyes of a toddler, I don’t think it gets much better than that.
We only booked three activities in total and that ended up fitting our schedule perfectly. We were advised by family to book activities well in advance when you book your holiday and I’m glad we did. Our third activity was at the Sports Plaza where we booked a pool table which was a much needed chilled activity where our daughter could run about beside us and me and my partner could play a game together.
Where to eat and how to get about
If you can, rent bikes for the whole of your stay at Center Parcs. It really is the best way to travel and you will have so much fun cycling to and from the village. During the day you’ll be cycling through the trees on rolling cycle paths, passing by the sweet wood cabins and breathing in the cool fresh air before easily parking your bike at the village. When you’ve had your restaurant meal or been for an amazing swim in the 29 degree waters at ‘Subtropical Swimming Paradise’ you can hop back on your bikes and cycle back to your cabin when it’s dark and the trees are all lit with Christmas lights, lighting your way. My daughter was so relaxed on the back of her dad’s bike, she kept happily falling asleep each night on our way to our holiday home.
In the village there’s a Starbucks, a gift shop, a supermarket with toddler trollies, clothes shops, restaurants and most importantly to my two year old… fish ponds throughout. All indoors in a tropical setting which was fun and welcomingly warm which is so needed after chilly bike rides. There are stone steps crossing one of the indoor ponds in the village where you can take your little one to look at the fish (they’re huge!). This became an almost daily highlight for my daughter and it was amazing to be able to do this in an environment that was safe for toddlers and so family friendly, which is actually quite hard to find.
We definitely overbooked restaurants so if you have toddlers I would recommend booking two at most meals out and quite early in the evening to allow for wait times. For toddlers, a day out doing exciting things they’ve never done before in a new place is pretty tiring and it’s better to have a meal in the cabin for the majority of evenings. Bella Italia and The Pancake House were the best places to eat at Center Parcs Longleat Forest and if we go again these are the ones I would choose. At Bella Italia there was a robot cat (I didn’t know that was a thing until our holiday!) that brought your food to the table and the restaurant staff were really lovely. They asked my daughter if she’d like to stroke the robot cat and when she did, it made a happy face on its screen. Again, for a two year old, life doesn’t get much better than that.
What to pack
- Toddler walking boots
- Toddler water proof trousers
- Toddler wellies
- Thick socks and gloves
- Trousers you don’t mind getting muddy and spares because in the winter it’s wet and it rained a lot when we were there
- Warm hats
- Waterproof coats
- Trainers or boots you don’t mind getting muddy
- Food for the cabin and meals in
- Night light as it gets very dark at night which children used to towns and cities won’t be used to
- Baby monitor
- Portable potty and separate backpack to carry this
- Another backpack for spare toddler clothes to carry with you at all times (you never know what your little one will get covered in!)
I may write an additional blog post on what I packed and where I bought everything from, let me know if you’d like to see this and I’ll get that one up asap. It’s been a long one today so if you’ve made it this far, thank you and I hope it’s helped you prepare or decide whether to go on a Center Parcs holiday. I think it was well worth the trip and I hope my little family will go again.
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