Are you looking for a holiday close by where you can enjoy nature and outdoor life, but where you also have plenty of entertainment inside when the weather is bad? Then take a look at Center Parcs De Vossemeren. At this holiday park it's party time all seasons, because in addition to a beautiful pine forest, the park is located around two lakes where you can do all kinds of water activities in the summer months. And with the Lommel Sahara just around the corner, every nature lover can indulge his or her heart's content here, while you don't have to miss out on the swimming paradise and the familiar Center Parcs entertainment either. Saskia spent a midweek there with her family and enjoyed this beautiful place.
Nature experience at Center Parcs
In cooperation with Center Parcs
When you think of Center Parcs, you think of family holidays, fully equipped holiday homes, swimming pools and entertainment for young and old. But did you know that nature lovers can also have a great time at Center Parcs? The originally Dutch holiday concept with 29 parks in Europe, nine of which are in the Netherlands, is surrounded by nature. In fact, it has been the company's philosophy for 55 years to build a maximum of about ten per cent of a park. The other ninety per cent must remain nature so that we as guests can enjoy it and the park remains a good and rich habitat for plant and animal species.
We previously visited another fantastic park in Limburg, the Meerdal. (Check out this review here.) Back then, I learned that every holiday park has a biodiversity plan led by a biologist and landscape architect and a team of nature specialists. This is no different at De Vossemeren holiday park. We took a tour with a ranger and enjoyed the ridiculously beautiful nature of this park while learning how it too is committed to protecting and enriching biodiversity. Besides native species such as bats, deer, squirrels, bees, butterflies, all kinds of bird species and the protected wood ant, this nature reserve is also home to exotics to their liking such as the black swan that has come over from Australia and the otter has also been spotted nearby. You are going to encounter them all and with the keen eye of a ranger, you won't miss a single one.
Center Parcs De Vossemeren is located in beautiful nature with a swimming pond.
Center Parcs: an archetypal Dutch concept
Did you know that Center Parcs was founded in 1968 by a Dutch entrepreneur Piet Derksen? He wanted to bring people together with nature and started his first holiday park on a piece of land in Limburg called Sporthuis Centrum. For that time, it was groundbreaking: holidaying in nature, but in comfortable cottages with sitting pit, television and indoor swimming pool on the park grounds. Although the parks were a lot simpler then than they are now, it was an innovative way of celebrating holidays. He created a holiday concept that grew considerably in the following years. The philosophy always remained the same: building holiday parks in combination with nature restoration projects. What many people do not know is that the green parks were created in places where nature was not in the best condition, such as old mines, gravel and sand excavations and old military training areas. You can't imagine that now when you walk or cycle among all that greenery.
Discover a wonderful piece of nature at De Vossemeren
Center Parcs De Vossemeren in the Belgian Kempen region is known for its endless outdoor activities. You can experience nature by joining organised or self-guided adventures on or just outside the park. Follow the hiking trails or rent a bike and within five minutes you won't encounter a holidaymaker and it's only the sounds of the forest that you'll hear. In addition, this park is known for an impressive water slide ‘The Monkey Splash’ that continues into the whitewater rapids. At a height of 14 metres, you are pulled through a transparent tube at 30 kilometres per hour. From this height, you haven't seen Aqua Mundo, which is the name of Center Parcs' subtropical swimming pools, before. Once I had conquered my fear of heights and emerged safely from the funnel of the slide, I could confidently say: this is awesome! I want to go again!
Just like the Meerdal, De Vossemeren has also undergone a metamorphosis: the cottages and central facilities have been renovated and all kinds of activities have been added to experience nature together. That made us extra curious about this park: this sounds like the best of both worlds! Less than 146 kilometres from Utrecht - just across the border in Belgium - you can experience the ultimate holiday feeling here in the woods without sacrificing luxury.
Sneak peak of a cottage and Aqua Mundo, the swimming pool. Literally the highlight is the slide in the middle of the pool at 14 metres high with a glass vista.
Center Parcs de Vossemeren a unique experience in the heart of nature
We had been invited by Center Parcs to experience a week in their revamped holiday concept of De Vossemeren: sleeping in the revamped cottages, participating in nature activities, exploring the nature trail under supervision and all the familiar Center Parcs activities. This park is an ideal weekend or (mid)week break in both summer and winter. During the day we enjoyed all the activities at the park, in the afternoon we plopped down on our garden chair on our private terrace with a glass of wine and beer, and in the evening we went out for dinner in one of the restaurants where there are plenty of vegetarian choices. Or we even made something, cosy with the fireplace and some music on. The aim of this holiday was to unwind, in which we more than succeeded.
Handy!
At check-in at Center Parcs De Vossemeren, every guest receives a bracelet. This allows you to check in digitally, it is also the key to your cottage and you can use it to book activities. The bracelets also provide access to the Aqua Mundo, and really great: you can use them to operate a pool locker! So you don't need coins (which I always forget by default).
What to expect from the nature activities at De Vossemeren
There are super many indoor and outdoor activities. From mini golf to tennis and from a cooking workshop to laser gaming. All great entertainment, but above all, don't forget to explore nature while you're there. It's so beautiful and educational and free too! You can explore on your own or let a park ranger take you in tow, because then you really learn to look at the beautiful nature with different eyes. Most activities with the ranger are simply free. What is there to do in nature?
- Nature Trail with Ranger and two donkeys. This is a super cool educational outing about the park for the whole family. In 2.5 hours you will learn all about the park's nature reserve while Otto and Rutger, the donkeys walk with the children.
- Nature Skills with Ranger: learn how to survive, e.g. time and direction in nature. Make your own fire and find out which plants are edible and useful for survival. Activities are adapted to the season throughout the year.
- Building Hut with Ranger: collect all the necessary materials, learn to make knots, build a base camp and then... capture flag!
- Dreamcatcher with Ranger: craft a beautiful dreamcatcher together with materials from nature, take it home and dream only beautiful things.
- Nature painting with Ranger: create the most beautiful painting with the richly coloured leaves you can find around you in nature.
- Nature experience: a moment to use all your senses and experience nature together in a different way.
- The Sahara walk: explore the beautiful surroundings of Bosland with the Ranger and discover the unique nature of the Lommel Sahara.
Exploring the park by tandem.
Center Parcs and sustainability
A holiday park - and especially a chain like Center Parcs - can make a lot of positive impact by making its entire operations more sustainable. In the first place, this means green energy generation, good insulation of the cottages and main buildings, good waste disposal, sufficient vegetarian choice and local products in the restaurants and parks rich in biodiversity. All these themes are being worked on, but Center Parcs also admits that there is still work to be done in some areas. For example, the park would like to install solar panels on more roofs or create solar meadows in the area, but it is not always feasible yet due to the wooded surroundings. Work is currently underway to get this done on a large scale. However, all energy is already being generated green and is working towards 25% less energy consumption by 2025 and 35% less CO2 emissions. New parks will not be connected to natural gas.
We previously tipped sustainable travel labels What to look out for when choosing and booking your holiday.
Center Parcs has three of these renowned features:
- Since 2020, all parks have held the Green Key certificate, this is a hallmark that sets high standards for green, sustainability and social commitment in the travel industry. This seal shows that the company is doing everything possible to minimise its pressure on the environment.
- All Dutch parks hold a Green Key Gold certificate. The park received this highest award through additional measures such as the introduction of reusable bags, water conservation, a flora and fauna management plan and a smart thermostat in the cottages, among others.
- Center Parcs was the first company in the leisure sector to comply with ISO 14001 and 150001 standards as they ensure appropriate environmental and energy management.
Surprising sustainable facts about Center Parcs
But there are more sustainable facts that will make you look at your Center Parcs with different eyes. For example, all parks are a biodiversity plan led by in-house biologist Jean Henkens, who has worked at Center Parcs for more than 40 years, little chlorine is needed in swimming paradise Aqua Mundo (goodbye red eyes!), the cottage accommodation is sustainable and energy-efficient thanks to smart thermostats and water-saving shower heads, the tropical décor in the Market Dome and in the swimming pool consists of endangered plants that have been rescued from destruction and given a second life here and cared for without pesticides, in the restaurants you have plenty of vegetarian and vegan choices (the pasta bolognese and the nacho dish, for example, come standard with vegetarian minced meat), orange peels are preserved to make soap, coffee grounds turn out to be an excellent substrate for growing your own oyster mushrooms (we know that at thegreenlist.nl also) and old frying oil is used for biodiesel.
Would you like to know more about all Center Parcs' sustainable projects both in nature conservation, biodiversity, climate and social projects? Then check out this website.
Going on holiday to Center Parcs De Vossemeren?
Find out more about De Vossemeren and the Comfort, Premium and VIP cottages and the other parks.
More sustainable tips from thegreenlist.nl
- Also see: 24 Hours in Tilburg, this is the place to be!
- Also see: Original family holiday: a week's road trip through Friesland.
- Also see: holidays on Terschelling, the list of the best Terschelling tips!
- Also see: Center Parcs De Eemhof: tobogganing down the slides and relaxing in nature
Photo credits: Center Parcs, thegreenlist.nl.
