Centre Parcs: Handy hints and tips for first time visitors, including what we packed and what we wished we'd packed!

We've just got home from our first family holiday as 4 - a staycation at Centre Parcs Longleat! We had such a wonderful time and I would totally recommend it to anyone with children, babies right up to teenagers. There really was something for everyone!

I know as first-time goers I didn't really know what we'd need to take, but did know that we'd be mostly outside whatever the weather. You can get some information on the Centre Parcs website about the facilities and accommodation, but I thought it would be helpful to type up our experience with what we packed, wish we'd packed and our hints and tips after spending the week there.

We went for a 4 night stay at Centre Parcs Longleat, meaning we arrived on Monday and left on Friday. These are the only 'check-in/check-out' days, so you can either do a 4 night stay during the week, a 3 night stay over the weekend, or a 7 night stay and do Monday-Monday/Friday-Friday. This is because they minimise traffic on the site, so there are only certain times you can have your car out of the designated car park. This was great from a safety point of view as it meant that Mr 3 was able to cycle anywhere without the worry of cars (most the time)!

For most stays, you can't get into your accommodation until 4pm, however, you CAN check-in from 10am and use all of the facilities on your arrival day. We decided to make the most of this, so packed up the car the night before and drove on down in the morning to arrive for 10am so as not to 'miss out' a day of holiday.

Because we couldn't have the car on-site until 4pm, we parked in the car park first. Here is where it's really handy to have specific bags packed just for that first day. I'd packed a changing bag full of everything Baby R (8 months old) needed, as well as a change of clothes for Mr 3. We'd also bought a picnic lunch with us so that we didn't have to search for somewhere to get food when we arrived (although there were tonnes of options we could've chosen from!). If you have space in the car, I'd totally recommend taking a travel buggy that folds small. We weren't able to as the bike trailer we have took up most the boot, but it would've been handy to have a smaller buggy for little trips here and there around the site.

DOWNLOAD MY PACKING LIST HERE which has everything we took & wish we'd taken!

We walked to the Plaza first for a toilet stop and to look around there. Here's where you'll find the little supermarket (ParcMarket). Mr 3 thought this was brilliant as it had little trolleys. They also have a lovely little system that if your child helps with the shopping they get a sticker on a card. 3 stickers = a badge, so we did visit thew shop three times so that Mr 3 could get his! At the Plaza, you'll also find the entrance to the Swimming Pool, restaurants and shops. Mr 3 particularly liked the rivers and ponds within here with fish swimming in and 'secret paths' across the water. Spotting the big fish was an activity in itself!

Outside the Plaza is a fab park, full of climbing equipment for differing abilities. Each park offered a great range of risky play and new challenges, but this was Mr 3's favourite because of the hanging zip wire! We spent a good while here after being in the car for a couple of hours. Baby R enjoyed the little swings too in this park (it was the only one with baby swings actually I think!).

We wandered back up to the car to drop off the picnic bag and grab our pre-packed swimming bags. Again, I had the swimming gear in separate bags so that on this first day it was easy to grab and go. We knew we wanted to swim nearer the time we could get into our lodge, as after swimming we'd have wet hair/wet kit etc, so would want to have the accomodation to go to. Swimming easily lasted about 2 hours each time we went as there was SO much to do.

As you walk into the swimming pool area there is a buggy park where you can park your buggy. There is places to lock the buggy to. We took bike locks and did this, but lots of people didn't. The changing rooms were a bit of a palava. Personally I think that they could do with a bit of renovating... but perhaps that's just me being fussy? There were family changing rooms, which although were small even for us a a family with two very little children, were very necessay as the individual changing rooms were miniscule! There were plenty of lockers though and you don't need a pound because your lodge door key is a wristband that also acts as a locker lock.

In the Swimming Pool there was a splash pool for little ones up to 5 years approx, then a bigger pirate ship splash pool which also had mini flumes that Mr 3 could do independently. There was a big pool - split into two sections, a shallow half that Mr 3 could reach the bottom of most of it, and a deeper half that led into the rapids. We spent a lot of time just bobbing around in the pool with Mr 3 playing in ther water. His confidence of just being in the water and going under came on massively throughout the week just because of this. There is a then a walkway that goes up over the pool which leads to more flumes (2+ years and an adult has to go with any children under 1.2m), and then 2 piste slides for anyone over 1.2m. J and I took turns to go on these slides whilst the other waited with the boys, and they were FAST! Mr 3 thought the huge splash at the bottom was hilarious to watch! Upstairs you can also swim out to the outdoor pool where there was a hot tub, cold plunge pool and wild water rapids (not for children unless confident swimmers without arm bands etc). Both the indoor and outdoor pools were SO warm each time we went which made such a difference to it being enjoyable.

There were chairs and loungers around the outdoor and indoor pool. Some people took towels and changing bags in, particularly with younger babies, and so many mummies were just nursing babies or sitting with snoozing babies - making it a super easy environment to be in with teeny ones. We took a chair swim ring for Baby R. You can buy swimming rings and toys etc in there too. There's also swim float vests, that you can borrow for free, hung up on a rack just as you enter the pool.

After swimming we headed over to our lodge. Super easy as our wrist bands just let us in at 4pm.We stayed in lodge number 802 which was opposite the Plaza train stop - so super convinient for getting everywhere. I was worried that because we were so close to the main space that it would be noisy, but actually we didn't have any noise disturbance in our lodge! It ended up being SO handy being so close to everything and I would totally book the same one again with small children.

We had a two bedroom, new-style lodge. Typically I didn't actually take any photos of the indoors as I completely forgot to, but it consisted of a wide entryway where you could easily park a buggy, a large storage cupabord (which had the highchair, travel cot, airer, hoover and other cleaning items in), a separate toilet, main living space - consisting of a kitchenette, dining space and lounge, two bedrooms - one with a double bed and one with two singles, and a family bathroom. We also had a patio area leading out from the lounge space.

In the lodge we got given a couple of spare bin bags, 3 dishwasher tablets, a little sachet of washing up liquid, a cleaning cloth and a small hand soap bar. Check out my packing list for other household items we took/wish we took!

We ended the day with an evening cycle just down the roads and around the local lodges. With it being so light still in June, we made the most of the daylight hours (& tried to tire Mr 3 out before bedtime!).

On the second morning, we wanted to get a feel for the whole park, so hopped on the land train. We were lucky to have 'The Plaza' train stop right outside our lodge which was super covenient, and Mr 3 loved hearing the train go past. We rode the train the whole way round which took about 30-40 minutes, but was really handy in getting our bearings and seeing how far places were away etc.

Once back and off the train, we then wandered down to The Village Square. It's very quick to walk here (and even quicker to cycle!). Here is where you can do pre-booked activities like Pony Rides, meet Birds of Prey, Pottery Painting etc. There's also a Nature Discovery Area, on-site pub and pancake house here! Both smelt amazing, but we didn't visit either of these. Instead we headed to another park! This park here at The Village Square was much more focused on climbing and offered some great 'riskier play' opportunities. Lots of great challenge for Mr 3 who's a good climber. It suited him brilliantly. There was also a rope to swing between mounds which he loved too. We did this many-a-times trying to master it! There was a slightly smaller climbing frame and slide for littler ones, but it was a bit something of nothing.

After having a picnic lunch on the benches by this park, we'd booked Mr 3 a Pony Ride. This was very calm and lovely, and although was only walking round and round a looped track behind the stables, it was perfect for a first experience with ponies. A short time for the price, but I'm sure many little ones would enjoy it!

We decided that it would be best to swim again later on in the afternoon, so headed home to change and get ready for swimming. Changing beforehand definitely made it a whole lot easier, so I'd recommend taking loose clothing or beach robes etc just to chuck on little ones if you have a lodge close by to the pool. We easily spent a good couple of hours again at the pool before heading to our lodge for dinner. It seemed to work well swimming around 2pm-4pm as then we could get back and dried off, then the little ones flopped on the sofa whilst we made dinner. Swimming is always tiring!

After dinner we went out on the bikes again, and this time investigated where the Outdoor Activity Centre was so that we knew for the morning. Turns out it it past the entrance gates!

On our third morning we were up and out early ready to get down to the Outdoor Activity Centre as we'd booked the Mini Explorers Jeeps for Mr 3. It took about 15 minutes to cycle down - we put both boys in the trailer... however, we followed the signs and paths which was tricky with the big trailer on the back of the bike. It would've been much easier just to stay on the road and go through the entrance gates (we did this on the way back!!) There's also some incredibly steep hills down to the Outdoor Activity Centre, which they recommend you get off and walk for instead of cycling down, which was hard again with the trailer on the back. Best probably to have bike seats instead of the trailer for this, or just walk down with a buggy (but expect this to take longer of course!).

Mr 3 absolutely loved driving the jeep. Although an adult had to walk next to him, the actual pedals and steering was just him so the independence was fab. The course for him to drive round was great too!

Once we'd got back to the lodge, we packed a picnic and jumped on the land train down to the Sports Plaza. On the walk down is another cool park with some really high, but all enclosed, tube slides. Again, offering another 'risky play' style of being high, but without the climbing ability needed as they has stairs up to them. There was also two big proper zip wires at the park too which were fun.

We spent the rest of the morning playing on the beach. We didn't bring buckets and spades with us (we'd know next time), so bought some for £2.50 each from the little kiosk. Being a manmade beach, the sand was quite sharp to be on, but Mr 3 didn't seem to mind. We had our picnic lunch on the beach and then tried out the teeny park next to the beach. This was very much more for little ones and was very small, tucked away round the corner, but gave a few minutes of fun!

After lunch we strolled the long way round the lake and found a fun woody area to climb and play in. There weren't many woodland spaces that we found where you could climb trees etc, as most of it is all protected/used for lodges, so this was a good spot. After this we had a browse inside the Sports Plaza to see what was on offer, and then grabbed an ice cream from the little kiosk this end of the lake, before getting the train back to the lodge. We got the train there and back to here because the slopes to get down to the lake on both side are lonnng and windy, which would mean that walking or cycling them would have been so hard for little legs. Even adults were struggling to cycle back up the slope! Definitely do-able, but hard work, so best we thought to get the train.

We spend the rest of the day at the swimming pool for that later afternoon period before dinner as this was working well for us.

For our final full day we got waterproof-ed up and headed out early, as it was absolutely torrential rain all morning. We're the sort of family that get out whatever the weather and actually it just added to the adventure. First we popped to the ParcMarket to get a Paw Patrol style gingerbread biscuit that Mr 3 had spotted before, then got the train to 'The Cascades' stop. Again, you could cycle or walk but its a big, windy incline back up for little legs! We walked down through The Cascades, which is basically a walk through a woodland area that has lots of mini waterfalls as you go down. It was so calm and peaceful as the only ones there that early. The Cascades leads down to the lake, beach and Sports Plaza.

The rain only got heavier, so we decided to check out the little soft play in the Sports Bar (in the Sports Plaza). At this time (pre 9am!), it was super quiet with only a couple of other little ones there. I'm sure you're probably meant to get food or drinks when you're child is using it, however, there were 3 other families there and they hadn't so... bonus! A free activity! It turned out that there was a mini rollerskating session just about to start in the Sports Plaza, so we booked onto that however... shouldn't have. Mr 3 was too little really and RIP to J's back trying to hold him up haha!! Wouldn't recommend for little ones, though it was very organised and a nice structured session.

After a snack on the beach in the rain, we walked back up to the Village Square park and played there for a little while. We were the only ones crazy enough to be out there in the weather, but great fun! Suitable footwear and extra supervision meant Mr 3 could still climb, even with it being a bit slippier.

At this point it was only 11am, so we decided to get on the train and ride it round the whole site to kill some time before lunch and shelter a little from the pouring rain. There's always so much you can spot, so it's a fun activity that isn't really an activity!

After lunch we headed to the swimming pool again for a couple of hours, then were lucky enough that the sun came out for the evening, so spent that cycling round the site. It's lovely that you can just aimlessly cycle with there being no cars on the roads to worry about, and just soak up the surroundings as you go.

On departure day, you have to have checked out of your lodge by 10am, so after breakfast we went and got the car and packed it up, then returned it to the car park whilst Mr 3 has a last play at the Plaza Park. We'd also bought a postcard the day before, so posted that outside the Plaza too (a good way to do some mark making/writing!).

You can actually stay up until midnight on your departure day, as long as your car is returned to the car park and you are out of your lodge, however, we decided to head home as we knew we had a busy weekend ahead.

Hopefully you've found this useful if you haven't visited Centre Parcs before. I definitely would've liked to have read about someone else's trip before we went! There are obviously tonnes of extra activities that you can book to do whilst on your trip, however, we chose to keep the costs down and just explore more instead. Whatever works for each family. This also was a very brief overview of our days and doesn't cover all of the many hours of the day!! There were plenty of nappy changes, naps in the lodge, quick pops to the ParcMarket or taking Mr 3 out on his balance bike.

Don't forget to download my packing list HERE which has everything we took & wish we'd taken! Thanks for reading!