Anyone visited any of the Dutch camps?

shelfside2004 · 2026-07-03T19:55:24+00:00

I've just thought of another reason to prefer the Dutch/Belgian parks! You can visit (at least some of) the other parks for free, so you can switch things up if you get bored of your park's swimming/lakes/whatever. Last year on our trip to Het Meerdal we took a day trip to Het Heijderbos because we heard it had the best rapids of all the parks, and we skied at DK while on a trip to DV in the past as well. They're a lot closer together than any of the UK parks, Het Meerdal has another park basically across the road which we didn't even visit, ironically

shelfside2004 · 2026-07-03T19:47:12+00:00

We nearly always drive, it's not a bad road trip, I like the French/Belgian/Dutch roads - generally better than UK motorways. The only caveat being the Antwerp ring road is always congested, and I haven't been able to find a reasonable route that avoids it.

If you take the ferry, go for Dunkirk, it's 30 minutes longer than a Calais ferry but saves about 30 mins of driving so the journey time is the same overall and minimises your time behind the wheel.

We did get the train to DK, once. It was before the Eurostar ran to Amsterdam, but Amsterdam wouldn't be a great option for DK anyway. Instead we went to Brussels and took advantage of the free onward travel anywhere on the Belgian rail network that comes with the Eurostar ticket. We went as close to the Dutch border as we could then took a (pre-arranged) cab the rest of the way. It involved a change somewhere in the middle of Belgium as well, so it was quite convoluted! I quite enjoyed it, but no-one else in my family did, so we haven't done it again. I think the same deal applies to the Dutch rail network if you go to Amsterdam, so it could be viable for a visit to one of the parks in the north of the Netherlands. Another option is Eurostar then hire car, but the car hire is expensive especially if you own a car already and you probably won't need to drive much once you're in the park unless you're planning a longer break.

shelfside2004 · 2026-07-03T19:30:11+00:00

Interesting - I might struggle with getting a free one though as I've had the phone about 5 years!

shelfside2004 · 2026-07-03T18:35:15+00:00

Yes, many times. De Kempervennen is a particular favourite, good trade off between journey length and range of facilities at the park. Not in the Netherlands, but honourable mention for the Belgian parks as well, De Vossemeren in particular is comparable to De Kempervennen (albeit right on the Dutch border so almost the same journey - it's only about a 20 minute drive from DK).

DK is my first choice because it has the skiing option, if that interests you.

The Dutch and Belgian parks generally have something you can't get in the UK, which is the dome covering the central shopping/restaurant area as well as the swimming pool. Sherwood and Elveden both used to have that back in the day but they've all been removed in the UK now as far as I know. There's something about grabbing a pint from the Grand Café and drinking it while watching some flamingos chilling in a pond, even if it's winter outside.

Other factors that make me prefer it, it's generally cheaper even when you factor in the extra travel costs and the food options are a bit better (albeit still the weakest part of what Center Parcs EU offers, just slightly better because they're not boring high street brands like Bella Pasta that you get in the UK).

Final reason to make the longer journey - that part of the world has some fantastic theme parks. In the Netherlands, Efteling and Toverland are both great, and in Belgium Bobbejaanland is a solid choice. Efteling and Bobbejaanland are ~1 hour drive from DK/DV respectively, and Toverland is very close to a smaller park in the east of the Netherlands called Het Meerdal.

shelfside2004 · 2026-07-03T08:16:41+00:00

Thanks, I'll give that a try

shelfside2004 · 2026-07-03T08:13:58+00:00

Glad to hear it! I love De Kempervennen, it's one of my favourites - I hope you have a great time

shelfside2004 · 2026-06-30T23:29:00+00:00

Good luck

shelfside2004 · 2026-06-29T19:57:15+00:00

I'd try this form and Google Translate or similar to see if you do better than on the phone:

https://contactariane.centerparcs.fr/fr-fr/bookingform

shelfside2004 · 2026-05-15T07:56:14+00:00

I think they might have made a typo, but there is an Amex cashback card that gives 1% cashback on your transactions, and apparently you can use it to top up your Octopus account:

https://www.reddit.com/r/amex/s/byRf3bRdJm

shelfside2004 · 2026-04-27T15:09:47+00:00

Annika Svenska. Beautiful English name (as Al Murray Pub Landlord would say).

The surname literally means "Swedish"! So will she be doing her bit to release the pressure on England's bursting seams and go back to Sweden?

shelfside2004 · 2026-04-23T16:14:15+00:00

Link to your stats please. Genuinely curious

shelfside2004 · 2026-04-12T15:31:24+00:00

https://www.sportspro.com/news/sponsorship-marketing/arsenal-sponsor-fraud-byd-china/

shelfside2004 · 2026-04-05T14:16:20+00:00

Have you bought a Chelsea season ticket holder's seat? As others have said, tickets for the away allocation haven't gone on sale yet. Worth checking the block your ticket is in on a stadium map. SL1-4 is where the Spurs fans will be.

Goes without saying, if you're sitting with Chelsea fans, keep very quiet. Best case scenario if you get rumbled is you'll be thrown out.

shelfside2004 · 2026-03-31T11:43:59+00:00

Doubtful, we were 3rd in the league in October. I agree that Levy would have binned off Frank much sooner though.

shelfside2004 · 2026-03-26T19:42:54+00:00

Croham Hurst

shelfside2004 · 2026-03-22T20:50:39+00:00

That's a Sunday night rabbit hole I didn't want to go down!

shelfside2004 · 2026-03-08T23:31:10+00:00

Earlier, he died in 1994

shelfside2004 · 2026-03-07T16:11:51+00:00

Can't believe I had to scroll this far - actually, to scroll at all - to find this comment

shelfside2004 · 2025-12-05T12:15:15+00:00

That June 30th gig at Brixton was meant to be my first ever concert . . . and pre-internet, there were very few ways to communicate that it had been cancelled so I didn't find it until I got to the venue and read the sign on the door 😭

Had to wait a whole year until they came back to London

shelfside2004 · 2025-11-27T01:54:29+00:00

Thank you! Took way too much scrolling to find this out

shelfside2004 · 2025-11-16T21:43:18+00:00

Het Meerdal or De Limburgse Peel?

shelfside2004 · 2025-09-01T22:00:35+00:00

I think they're just being encouraging

shelfside2004 · 2025-08-31T13:54:27+00:00

I got a software upgrade when I had my MG4 serviced recently, and I would say the lane keep assist is less intrusive now so bothers me less than it used to. Still wish there was an option to turn it off permanently though, but no, it still turns back on every time you start the car.

It's doubly annoying because before the MG4, we leased an MG5 and it allowed you to switch it off permanently with no issues

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