I went to European Center Parcs way cheaper than UK - I've already booked to go back

We've all know the joke about Center Parcs: if you want to check when the schools are breaking up just check the Center Parcs website for when the prices double.

But despite you needing to remortgage your house or sell a kidney to be able to afford a visit in the school holidays, it's unquestionably really great for young families.

There are alternatives in the UK. I visited Sherwood Castle Holiday Forest last year - I'd give it a solid 6/10 (it had some very weird features) but it was a long way from Center Parcs itself.

But here's a way you can get the Center Parcs experience without the Center Parcs prices: go to Center Parcs... in Europe. It was started by the same person as those in the UK (Dutch entrepreneur Piet Derksen) and now boasts 26 resorts in the Netherlands, Germany, France, Belgium and Denmark. There are many many similarities with the UK Center Parcs, but one thing that is dramatically different is the price.

It's cheaper. A lot cheaper. And as a result it's becoming more and more popular with Brits who don't mind driving on the wrong side of the road.

My family, including in-laws and cousins, visited the De Haan park, near Ostend, in Belgium, during Easter and spent a week in accommodation for 12 people.

It cost just under £3,000 for 7 days. By way of comparison, to visit the Center Parcs at Sherwood Forest for 7 nights this May half-term would set us back £4,800. It might be a lot easier, and cheaper, to travel to Sherwood Forest than it is to go to Belgium (though if you're in the south-east of England that's not necessarily the case) but you're certainly not saving nearly two grand.

The key question is it worth the extra effort? In short, yes. The journey itself is a breeze. From Calais it's an 80-minute drive along very simple roads that, unlike UK roads, appear to have been maintained since the end of the second world war.

The park itself is similar to UK Center Parcs. Perhaps it's not quite as polished, but De Haan has a fantastic water park with rapids, two slides, a wave machine, lazy river and two spa pools.

Our accommodation was great. There was no oven but there were foam mattresses, a sauna and two big fridges. There are stacks of activities, excellent restaurants that are not painfully expensive and a convenient supermarket.

And you're a 15-minute walk (via a woodland park with a huge slide) away from a great beach which in summer would be gorgeous. You're also a short walk away from a tram stop which quickly and cheaply takes you into Ostend, a beautiful little city with great restaurants, shops and places to visit.

As a veteran of many Eurocamp-style holidays, Center Parcs is a real step up and it comes with lots of little bonuses, such as an Aldi on the doorstep. It was so impressive that we've decided to tag three days onto our summer holiday at another Center Parcs in the Netherlands.

For those who don't fancy the drive, I can tell you this: it's the easiest I've ever done in mainland Europe. For those worried about the language barrier don't be, everyone speaks better English than I do.

I've always loved the sense of adventure that comes with visiting somewhere different and this sort of holiday gives you all that, with a shed-load of convenience and comfort at the same time. Have I also mentioned that it's loads cheaper?