It might seem like the school bell announcing a new term has only just rung…but the October school break is now just weeks away.
With many UK schools stretching out the autumn breather to beyond a week – many now close for up to two weeks, it’s the perfect opportunity to whisk your brood away for some mid-term fun.
The nation’s holiday parks offer a chance to try a raft of new activities in the great outdoors.
Center Parcs, with five holiday parks across the country, has been a go-to for families wanting to escape into nature – but the brand has faced criticism in recent years over its expensive school holiday prices.
A three-night break at its Longleat site in Wiltshire for four people on October 27th currently costs £1,999, based on four people sharing a woodland lodge.
The good news is there are plenty of alternative UK resorts, offering everything from climbing walls and pottery classes to West End-style shows and heated pools, that come in at a less wince-worthy price.
Here, we round up the latest deals on offer for the upcoming half-term getaway.
FOREST HOLIDAYS
Forest Holidays has 13 sites across the UK, with a break at Argyll Forest Park in Loch Long, Scotland costing £560 for three nights this half-term
A low-key alternative to Center Parcs, Forest Holidays offers family-friendly arboreal abodes – cosy log cabins with woodburners and hot tubs – in scenic UK woods including Sherwood and the Forest of Dean, with the focus firmly on the nature outside your front door.
Great for groups of friends, it’s possible to take a forest ranger course, making nettle rope, building fires and foraging for food.
A three-night break in Argyll Forest Park in Loch Long, Scotland, on October 24th costs £560, based on four sharing a two-bedroom cabin, visit forestholidays.co.uk.
LOVAT HOLIDAY PARKS
Retreat to Penmarlam Lodge Retreat in Fowey, Cornwall, which is part of boutique brand Lovat Holidays, for £558 for four nights this October
A boutique chain with a strong focus on sustainability, Lovat Holiday Parks has refined the holiday park concept without inflating prices.
While there’s tent pitches at some of its gorgeously-set parks – in Suffolk, Norfolk, Cornwall and the New Forest, Lovat’s mainstay is luxury caravans and glamping with hot tubs.
Entertainment is positively wholesome – Lovat’s dog-friendly Green Hill Farm Holiday Village in the New Forest promises fishing, toasting marshmallows on campfires and ranger-led adventures.
Four nights in a pet-friendly two-bed lodge at Penmarlam Lodge Retreat in Fowey, Cornwall on October 27th costs £558, based on four sharing, lovatparks.com.
PARK HOLIDAYS
Park Holidays snapped up rival Bridge Leisure in 2021, expanding their reach to more than 50 sites, many of them garlanding England’s south coast but including Yorkshire and Scotland too
Park Holidays snapped up rival Bridge Leisure in 2021, expanding their reach to more than 50 sites, many of them garlanding England’s south coast but including Yorkshire and Scotland too.
Accommodation? There’s safari tents, standard statics and, at 15 of the parks, luxury caravans where perks include king-size beds, fluffy robes and private decking. Super-fast wifi is standard across sites with swimming pools and an entertainment complex also par for the course.
Three nights in a two-bedroomed Platinum Caravan at Sand le Mere Holiday Park in Yorkshire costs £309, based on six sharing on October 24th, visit parkholidays.com.
PARKDEAN RESORTS
Lake District site Fallbarrow Holiday Park has availability during the school break from £765 for a two-bedroomed lodge for a family of four
A goliath on the British holiday park scene, award-winning Parkdean has 66 UK sites, counting Lizard Point in deepest Cornwall and Dornoch in the Scottish Highlands on its stretching spectrum.
Price-wise, it’s accessible for every budget, with caravans, lodges, chalets, apartments, glamping, maisonettes, bungalows and even cottages in the offing. Entertainment floweth over too, with the largest sites offering multi-sports facilities, arts and crafts, adventure playgrounds, gyms and spas.
Three nights for four people in a superior two-bed lodge at Fallbarrow Holiday Park in the Lake District costs £765, departing October 27th, parkdeanresorts.co.uk.
SHOREFIELD PARKS
When Bedford-based GP Dr Robert Pollock couldn’t find a decent pitch for his family’s annual break back in the 1950s, he did the obvious thing – bought a small holiday park on the South Coast
When Bedford-based GP Dr Robert Pollock couldn’t find a decent pitch for his family’s annual break back in the 1950s, he did the obvious thing – bought a small holiday park on the South Coast.
For the next 18 years, he ran the park as a side-line, making the 260-mile commute from his surgery every Wednesday to oversee the running of it.
The company is still family-owned, having expanded to eight parks offering mostly caravans and lodges across the New Forest and Hampshire.
At the Wilksworth site in Dorset is a pair of hand-built shepherd’s huts, and on the nearby Oakdene Forest Park, families can sign up for two free Go Active+ experiences during their stay – with archery, go-karting and mini jet-ski sessions in the offing.
A select+ lodge at Oakdene Forest Park in Dorset, which sleeps four, costs ££876, based on four-night stays on October 27th, visit shorefield.co.uk
BUTLINS
Bognor Regis is home to Butlin’s flagship park, which recently opened its £15million PlayXperience centre
Britain’s most famous holiday park brand, Butlin’s has reinvented itself in recent years and is now a real rival to Center Parcs.
The Redcoats remain in residence at its three beach-side sites – Skegness, Bognor Regis and Minehead – and kids will love the huge range of activities on offer, from pottery classes to archery and fairground rides.
The Bognor resort in particular has seen handsome investment in recent years.
A £40million seaside-themed Splash pool complex opened in 2019 and last autumn, PlayXperience, a £15million, 50,000 sq ft shrine to state-of-the-art play, was unveiled.
Stay in everything from cheap and cheerful chalets to an all-mod-cons luxury hotel room.
A four-night stay in the Wave Hotel at Butlin’s Bognor Regis, sleeping four people, costs £672 on a room-only basis on October 27th, visit butlins.com.
HOSEASONS
Started by Norfolk harbourmaster Wally B Hoseason in post-war Britain, Hoseseasons now welcomes around 1.7million customers every year across the UK and Europe
Started by Norfolk harbourmaster Wally B Hoseason in post-war Britain, Hoseseasons now welcomes around 1.7million customers every year across the UK and Europe.
A stylish lodge in a green valley? A tipi with a woodburner near the beach?
With hundreds of parks across 10 regions of the UK – including Norfolk, Dorset and Snowdonia – the Hoseasons net casts far and wide, with increasingly bespoke accommodation offered – under in-house brands such as Bouja (affordable luxury) and Daisy Door (cottages).
A luxurious two-bed lodge with a hot tub at Calthwaite Hall Lodges in Cumbria costs £479, based on four sharing for three nights on October 27th, hoseasons.co.uk.
HOBURNE HOLIDAYS
This family-run operator, started by a diversifying farmer in 1912, now boasts eight sites across southern England
This family-run operator, started by a diversifying farmer in 1912, now boasts eight sites across southern England including a cliff-top park on the fringes of the New Forest and three sites in Devon and Cornwall.
Big on family fun, tots and teens are equally well catered for, with pets welcome too – there’s no additional charge for dogs.
Grown-ups will love the chance to book a hot tub at many of the parks, with the stylish-looking Hideaway Lodge in St Mabyn, Cornwall doing a decent impression of a boutique cottage inside.
A deluxe two-bedroom lodge sleeping four at Hoburne Blue Anchor in Somerset costs £484 based on a three-night stay on October 31st, visit hoburne.com.
HAVEN HOLIDAYS
Another big hitter, Haven has 38 sites – mostly coastal – around Scotland, Wales and England
Another big hitter, Haven has 38 sites – mostly coastal – around Scotland, Wales and England.
There are two price bands: ‘Haven Stay’, which enables guests to use the site purely as a budget holiday base or ‘Stay+Play’, which includes on-site activities and entertainment.
Bag the top-of-the-range Premium Plus lodges – some of which offer 540 square foot of space – and find a dishwasher, full-size fridge freezer and a 40-inch flatscreen telly inside.
A two-bedroomed Diamond Lodge at the Wild Duck site in Norfolk sleeping four costs £665, based on a three-night stay on October 24th, haven.com.
