It’s not the photos, it’s not the souvenirs, it’s the memories that make family holidays so special. The memories that come to mind years later when the family meets up again—seeing your kids laughing with others on the swings, gathered around a table playing cards while the rain taps down on the roof, getting ice cream as the sun sets after a walk down the street. The nuances that become part of family lore.
The trouble is creating these memories without needing to schedule every little thing.
Enter, holiday parks.
The Space to Breathe and Live
What do holiday parks offer that your usual hotel accommodation does not? For starters, you’re not stuck in one room and, by day three, everyone is climbing the walls. You have space—actual space. A full caravan or lodge with proper bedrooms, a living area and, depending on how luxurious your holiday park is, a kitchen.
The kitchen aspect is more important than it seems. While everyone loves eating out, there’s something special about lounging around in PJs for breakfast or preparing your own sandwiches for a day at the beach. It feels more like living than vacationing. It’s casual. Children can graze when they’re hungry. You’re not anxiously awaiting breakfast hours for travel to a restaurant by 9 am.
But more importantly, the outdoor space is what makes all the difference. Most holiday parks boast enough outdoor space—not everyone is crammed on top of each other. Paths to wander. Fields for children to let off steam and, ideally, an adventurous play space as their home base for the week.
Where Children Actually Want to Be
For most parents, one of the biggest pitfalls of booking family getaways is that you don’t really know if children will engage or be buried in screens for the majority of the time. Holiday parks mitigate this situation as they are designed with child entertainment in mind.
Holiday parks usually have swimming pools, sports courts, nature walks and kids’ clubs—activities your kids can engage in right there without needing to be convinced. They’ll even meet other children within a day or two.
This is partly due to the layout. Children cycling past on bikes. Families heading to the same pool or takeaway line waiting for chips. Inherent community is formed without forced interactions. Many family holiday parks create this atmosphere naturally where children form small friendship groups throughout the duration of their stay, and, instead of asking when you’re leaving, they’re asking when they can stay longer.
Holiday Park Grandparenting
A big complication for families is how to easily include grandparents on holiday. They want to be involved but not necessarily sharing one room. They need their own space and pace.
When you book a holiday park, you can book adjacent accommodations or ones that are nearby. Grandparents can have their own getaway while still being close enough to join for breakfast or afternoon excursions. Children can have concentrated time with their grandparents without any overlap, making anyone anxious.
The benefits of multi-generational moments naturally occur when there’s a dining room table large enough for everyone or a deck on which everyone sits together at night to bond. Hotels do not afford this luxury unless you’re splurging on multiple rooms.
Weather Is an Afterthought
With British weather being unpredictable at best, it’s important to have options. Unfortunately, with traditional holidays at hotels, if the weather is bad, you’re stuck. Holiday parks boast indoor options—pools and entertainment venues—and the caravans themselves become like separate sanctuaries instead of prisons.
Who hasn’t been on a hotel getaway where it rains and suddenly you have no choice but to sit in one room with three bored children, wondering what overpriced indoor attractions they can do that you didn’t budget?
At a holiday park, you can bring books and games inside where there’s space to spread out—and there’s usually something on-site where you can walk to once cabin fever sets in and you need adult supervision again.
It’s also much cosier being in your own caravan/lodge when the weather isn’t cooperating. Hot chocolate can be made, and film nights can happen once an outdoor activity is cancelled due to rain. It sounds cosy rather than defeating.
Independence Building (For All)
Older children benefit from holiday parks because they learn independence. They can walk to the pool or meet friends at spots they’ve established or explore limited areas independently. It’s freedom with adult supervision—not too much freedom, but enough.
Parents gain independence too—but this isn’t always talked about enough. When kids are enjoying themselves—or happily occupied with a kids’ club—parents can sneak off to read a book at the pool or take a stroll together without being responsible for keeping their kids engaged every moment of the day.
This is harder at a hotel where you’re always together or paying for childcare. Holiday parks provide natural opportunities for all family members to have their independent experiences while still being part of one unit.
The Nightly Fairy Tale
Some of the best memories created during family holidays happen at night after dinner, when families emerge from their accommodations to kick balls around on the grass while parents chat casually after 5 pm.
Maybe there’s entertainment—a karaoke night, bingo, a children’s disco or live music at the bar.
Kids will remember their friends from earlier in the trip who were staying three lodges down; they played together earlier, and then everyone decided to catch an outdoor film at night under blankets.
Parents value the adult conversations they had during downtime between recommendations for sites and experiences they’ve mutually encountered—for shared laughs about parenting mishaps.
Value That Makes Sense
Let’s be frank when it comes to money—it always matters. When you pay for a holiday park, you usually pay less if you’re looking for multiple bedrooms and living space than you would for hotel rooms with multiple bedrooms and no associated common living space.
When families self-cater, they determine if they want to eat out and spend money on every meal or just certain ones, thanks to inflated resort prices usually putting an added financial burden on anyone choosing not to eat in every night.
But more importantly, it’s not about money but time value of experience; when you’re paying exorbitant amounts of money for a short vacation so your family can get their money’s worth as they rush through activities, only to rush home through potential traffic detours because no one wants to pay for another hour in hotel accommodation.
At a holiday park, there’s no rush; mealtimes are leisurely without an always-open time component; afternoons are lazy because there are activities right there waiting; holidays become true holidays without pressure.
What Sticks With You
Years from now it won’t matter which hotel children frequented during a family getaway—or how nice the amenities were—but rather, they’ll remember how they finally learned how to ride a bike with proper practice space after spending days spinning rings and learning how to build forts with those kids from Scotland who are staying in Hampshire just because it was “cheaper.”
They’ll remember that movie night outside in pyjamas with hats because they finally had that kind of freedom, and they’ll appreciate how they had adventure—even if moms and dads took photos only for social media purposes at staged moments over others.
It’s far better than quirked eyebrows in stupid socks at fancy resorts with lines drawn clearly where personal freedom sets in, separate from family-style fun.
That’s why holiday parks are better than all else because life happens naturally at those locations as opposed to forcing it into a grid filled with grown-up pacing issues!
DISCLOSURE – This is a collaborative post.
