For many Brits, childhood holidays meant donkey rides on the beach, steaming bags of chips, 2p machines and, of course, staying in a caravan at a holiday park.
During the golden age of the British holiday camp in the 50s and 60s, Butlin’s ruled the roost with all-inclusive resorts in popular seaside spots like Blackpool, Brighton, and Great Yarmouth.
But as international travel became more affordable to working-class Brits from the 1970s, seaside resorts suffered.
However, more families are now returning to the British coast as the rising cost of living makes foreign travel inaccessible.
While Center Parcs is known for its idyllic countryside setting, many holidaymakers feel the pinch by having to fork out for extra activities.
It comes as the expert team at Which? has revealed the UK holiday parks where you’ll get more for your money.
Read on to find out which UK parks offer the best value – as well as the one which is described as ‘filthy and run down’.
Center Parcs is known for its idyllic countryside setting and various activities like cycling
Luxury Waterside Lodges are available at various Center Parcs locations, including the Elveden Forest village in Suffolk
Potters Resorts
There are only two Potters resorts in the UK – one in Essex and the other on the Suffolk/Norfolk border – and they’re both five-star rated.
According to the team at Which?, Potters is where you’re likely to see most value.
Breaks are adult-only all year round, with the exception of the school holidays exclusively at Hopton-on-Sea, when the resort transforms into a fun-filled destination for all generations.
Not only was it top of the pile in the survey, but stays are all-inclusive, meaning all your meals, alcoholic drinks and activities are thrown in.
The cost per night is £110 and Potters has a customer service score of 87 per cent.
You can stay in a bungalow, hotel room or suite facilities in scenic settings. Norfolk’s stay is located right next to a golden sand beach.
Potters Resort in Hopton-on-Sea (pictured) is set across 65 acres and is known as the home of the World Indoor Bowls Championships
Activities (including bowls and rifle shooting) and West End-inspired entertainment are also part of the package – both rated five stars by visitors.
Potters itself promises ‘no hidden charges or nasty surprises’.
One visitor praised the high standard of the food, adding: ‘You did not need to worry about having money with you or thinking about the bill adding up.’
John Fowler Holiday Parks
In second place is John Fowler Holiday Parks with a customer score of 77 per cent.
John Fowler promises to deliver a good-value family holiday without charging for lots of ‘hidden extras’ once you’re at the park.
There are 13 different sites in coastal locations of Devon, Cornwall, Somerset and Wales.
The Widemouth Bay Caravan Park in Cornwall, which is part of John Fowler Holiday Parks, is pictured
The heated pools, kids’ club and programme of entertainment are all free – and you won’t have to keep your own gas and electricity meter topped up either.
Accommodation includes caravans, lodges, chalets and glamping pods – so you can cater for yourself or eat in one of the on-site cafes or restaurants.
Happy customers described the food and drink as good and reasonably priced and felt there were plenty of facilities to keep them entertained.
Hoburne Holidays
At just £47 per night and a customer score of 75 per cent, Hoburne Holidays ranks in third place in the Which? ranking.
With nine parks in unspoilt locations in Dorset, Cornwall, Devon and the Cotswolds, Hoburne Holidays gets you back to nature.
Think forest trails, coastal views and lakeside settings. There are top-notch facilities (rated four stars) like golf courses, fishing lakes, swimming pools and spas – with many included in the price of the holiday.
It’s no wonder that guests rated it good value: Hoburne is the holiday park with the lowest price per night in the top half of the table.
Hoburne Bashley Holiday Park in the New Forest National Park, which placed third in the Which? ranking, is pictured
Accommodation at the resort is highly rated. Pictured: A row of static caravans at Hoburne Cotswold Holiday Park
Accommodation was also well-rated, with lots of home comforts thrown in.
For example, chalets at Hoburne St Mabyn in Cornwall are equipped with a wine cooler and hot tub as standard.
Many told they were repeat visitors to Hoburne parks, with one commenting: ‘It was good value, lots of entertainment and plenty for the kids to do.’
Waterside Holiday Group
This family-owned brand has four parks in scenic beach-front locations in Devon and Cornwall.
Each site has its own personality: from lively Bowleaze Cove with its own funfair to the more serene Tregoad, immersed in nature.
Facilities (rated four stars) include paddleboarding, Segway trails and archery – although some of these will cost extra.
Caravans are comfortably wide, with central heating and double glazing, plus widescreen TVs and fully-equipped kitchens – so you can cook for your family on the cheap.
Bowleaze Cove Holiday Park & Spa, operated by the Waterside Holiday Group, is a five-star holiday park located in Weymouth, Dorset
You can also choose a lodge, an apartment, or even glamp in a safari lodge with a private hot tub.
At £69 per night and with a customer score of 74 per cent, summing up a recent trip, one visitor said: ‘It was the cleanest and best-maintained holiday park we have been to. There were lots of facilities to keep you entertained.’
Center Parcs, Pontins and Park Holidays UK: Poor value for money
Three brands mustered only two stars for value for money, including holiday park heavyweight Center Parcs.
All of its five sites are set in 400 acres of idyllic forest. The problem is how much you have to fork out for activities and facilities once you’re there.
For example, at its Sherwood Forest park you’ll have to splurge from £70 for a spa session before you add any treatments.
Kids’ activities are equally eyewatering: £54 for your child to forage for twigs and leaves to build their own den.
So it’s unsurprising that the brand also received just two stars for its variety of free facilities.
Park Holidays Broadland Sands Holiday Park, a caravan park on the coast between Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft, is pictured
Following several closures, only two Pontins sites remain operating as of July 2025. Pictured: Pontins Holiday Park in Pakefield, Suffolk, which closed in early 2025
As one visitor put it: ‘Everything was extra and it already felt expensive enough and meant I didn’t end up doing a lot of activities I wanted to.’
Another simply summarised: ‘Fun time but expensive!’
Pontins and Park Holidays UK also failed to impress despite both costing around £40 per person per night on average.
Pontins, which is owned by Britannia Hotels – rated the UK’s worst hotel chain 12 years running – only has two remaining parks after a series of closures.
It was ranked bottom in the survey, with one visitor describing it as ‘filthy and run down.
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