Summer Holidays 2019: the top holiday parks in England

With the August bank holiday on the horizon, our minds have already started to wander off to thoughts of kicking back, relaxing and soaking up some rare British sunshine. So, with that in mind, we thought we’d look at some of the top holiday parks in England for an affordable summer getaway.

What our criteria was

While there are countless of fancy-schmancy holiday parks we could have listed here, we wanted to make sure our list ticked some boxes:

To make our list of top holiday parks in England, each holiday park had to be:

✔️ A nice, relaxing holiday park with lots to do

✔️ In an interesting (or beautiful) part of the country

✔️ Child-friendly

✔️ Affordable, but doesn’t break the bank. (It’s the summer holidays, we all deserve a treat!)

And so, with that in mind, here’s our pick for the top 5 holiday parks in England for families on a budget.

1. Hoburne Doublebois, Cornwall

Hoburne Doublebois in Cornwall, which is one of the most picturesque (but typically expensive) places in the UK. However, this holiday parks seems reasonably affordable, coming in at around £600 for 2 adults and 2 children for a week of being just 20 minutes away from the beach.

And, it looks really nice! Check it out:

The location is perfect for excursions out into everything Cornwall has to offer, from Cornish pub only two minutes away from the site to Looe, an idyllic Cornish coastal town, just a 20-minute drive up the road. The amazing Eden Project is only half an hour away, too.

With its TripAdvisor score coming in at 4.5 out of 5, this site is easily one of the top holiday parks in England, especially if you’re looking for a quiet, chilled-out week away.

2. Hopton Holiday Village, Norfolk

Sitting pretty next to a golden beach and packed with on-site facilities, Hopton Holiday Village in Norfolk is a fantastic holiday park if you’ve got little ones.

In fact, it’s probably one of the best child-friendly holiday parks in the country. There are arcades, children’s entertainers, swimming pools, mini-golf, adventure activities, nearby beaches and a tonne of family-friendly days out in the surrounding area.

Check out this video to get a little taste of the what a week at Hopton Holiday Village involves:

With a TripAdvisor of 4.5 and a week-long trip coming in at around £900, Hopton Holiday Village easily earns its spot on our list of the top holiday parks in England.

3. Lakeland Holiday Park, The Lake District

The Lake District is, without question, one of the most beautiful places in the UK. And, as such, finding an affordable place to stay isn’t easy.

That’s why we were so excited to find the Lakeland Leisure Park, an affordable holiday park just a 20-minute drive away from the awesome Lake District sights and coming in at between £800 and £900 for a week away in the summer holidays.

Here’s a slightly dated video that gives you a quick look at the site:

What we really liked about Lakeland Leisure Park was the sheer number of things for the kids to do, from kayaking, canoeing, pedalling or paddle-boarding on the lake to going on a treetop adventure course in the forest.

The TripAdvisor score for this site is a little lower than the previous two parks, but it’s still a very good 4 out of 5, with a few points docked for the on-sight restaurant food, which is OK, but not great.

However, a holiday park at that price on the doorstep of the Lake District, let alone with all of the adventure activities for the little ones, easily earns a bronze medal on our list of top holiday parks in England.

4. Sandy Balls, Hampshire

A holiday park that caters to everybody, from those who like being close to nature, to those who like luxury, to those who just want a week of sniggering at the park’s immature name…

Sandy Balls can be a little pricier than the other parks on the list in peak season, with luxury lodges coming in at around £1500 per week, but if you want to forego the personal hot tub and choose a more basic holiday home, you can take a family of four for between £650 and £700 during the summer holidays.

And, if you need convincing of just how nice the New Forest is — and how much stuff there is to do for the whole family — just check out the video:

So, if you’re looking for one of the best child-friendly holiday parks — or, actually, one of the top holiday parks in England at all — look no further than Sandy Balls. Surrounded by lush green forests, wild horses and deer and with tonnes of stuff to do, it very nearly took the top spot on our list.

However, it lost out to…

5. Thornwick Bay, Yorkshire

Having recently undergone a £10 million renovation, the Thornwick Bay holiday park ticks every single criteria we had when we were looking for the top holiday parks in England, blowing all the other parks out of the water.

We found holiday homes available for £550 for a family of four for a week, which is great, especially when you see just how amazing this site (and the surrounding area) is:

There are activities for kids of all ages, next-level campsite entertainment (they have their own theatre company that perform in the evenings) and fantastic food (including wood-fired pizzas) from the on-site restaurants.

And, if you like to do a bit of twitching, the Flamborough Cliffs nature reserve is a great place to spot puffins, do a bit of crabbing or just go paddling. And it just so happens that the whole area is incredibly picturesque, too.

Did any of these top holiday parks in England catch your eye? Or are you planning on spending your summer holidays somewhere different?

Let us know in the comments!

Author The Bamboo Team
Posted 21 June 2019

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