We've just returned from a 4 night trip to Les Villages Nature Paris during May half term and it was such an incredible family holiday! Located just 15 minutes drive (25 minutes on the bus) from Disneyland Paris, Villages Nature is the place to stay if you want a sense of relaxation from a trip to Disney or Paris or as a completely stand alone fun family holiday. Villages Nature Paris is an eco-friendly, self catering resort created in collaboration between Disney and Center Parcs, featuring an incredible water park, as well as a petting farm, giant play areas, restaurants, bowling, chocolate making classes, an action factory, bakery, mini market, outdoor tree top course, spa, cycle hire, children's clubs, bars, and lots more! In fact, there's so much to do there that we couldn't fit it all in to our trip!
Travelling via Eurostar We arrived at Villages Nature on Monday, after traveling from London via Eurostar. It was our first experience on the Eurostar and we had very kindly been given seats in Business Premier, which meant that we didn't have to queue for very long when we got to London as we could use the Business priority boarding entrance. It also meant that we had access to the business lounge before our train was ready to board. We had access to complimentary drinks (including alcohol) and food in both the lounge before we boarded and on the Eurostar itself, so it felt like a real treat and we had been able to request a vegetarian meal for each of us on the Eurostar website before traveling. The food was really tasty and the staff were all very friendly and accommodating throughout our journey.
There are 3 ways to travel on the Eurostar - Standard, Standard Premier and Business Premier. In standard you can purchase food and drink from the onboard bar buffet, in Standard Premier you are served a light meal and drinks at your seat and in Business Premier you are served a hot meal and have access to drinks from your seat.
Villages Nature Paris AccommodationOn arrival at Villages Nature I realised just how large the resort was! There are lots of cottages and apartments available all over the resort and some are further away than others. I worried that ours would felt a bit too far away from the 'main hub' and we thought about hiring a buggy or bikes for the time that we were there, but actually we found that it was about a 5-10 minute walk from where we were and it felt absolutely fine, in fact, the walk was actually quite nice, especially so as we had beautiful sunny weather whilst we were there.
My husband and I were given wristbands to wear for the duration of our stay, which acted as our key to gain access to our cottage. The wristbands don't have numbers on so if you were to accidentally loose it then there's no worry that someone who picked it up would be able to gain access to your cottage. We stayed in a 'Premium Cottage' and it was absolutely perfectly for us as a family of four! We had two bedrooms (one with a double bed for Adam and I and a room with 2 single beds for the boys), we also had an ensuite with a large shower off of our room and a big main bathroom with a bath and additional shower in. We had a huge living space with an open plan kitchen attached to it with large sliding windows and doors which brought in so much light and led on to a private wooden decked area which had garden furniture on. The decor was completely in line with the nature-feel of the resort with lots of leaf patterns to the cushions and furniture and on the walls (even the coffee table was in the shape of a leaf). Logan, my youngest son, picked up on the theming straight away and commented to say how much he liked it. We also liked that there was a working wood burner in the cottage too, we never got around to using it but you could buy wood for it from the shop there.
The accommodation was so roomy and I loved all of the natural light. I enjoyed sitting out in the private garden space with a glass of wine and on one of the evenings we enjoyed dinner at the cottage at the big family-sized dining table. We never once felt on top of each other, it was the perfect home away from home!
I saw a number of floats, swimming aides and lifejackets around for those who can't swim which I thought was fantastic and there were always many lifeguards on duty across the entire waterpark. The Aqualagon was really clean and warm and the garden theming was brilliant! I also liked that even when it was busy, it didn't feel cramped because it's so big! The changing rooms were perfect for families and there were always lots available. The lockers there are activated using your wristbands.
- At Villages Nature Paris, you can discover five immersive worlds, each with its own unique theming and experiences. The first is the amazing Aqualagon which I talked about above.
- The second is the Extraordinary Gardens where you can take a leisurely stroll through two hectares of lush gardens whilst enjoying the landscaping inspired by the four elements of nature; earth, air, fire and water.
- The third is BelleVie Farm, which as animal lovers we loved so much! There you can find hands-on activities such as animal care, cookery and gardening. We took a chocolate making class there and it was so interesting and fun! There's also an amazing indoor playground in the restaurant and bar there which we loved as it meant the boys could go off and play whilst we had a drink and a rest as well as when we were waiting for our lunch in the restaurant. We loved seeing all of the lovely animals and I personally loved being able to go in with the goats and pet them. There was also animal feed around so that you can feed the animals if you wished to. We saw donkeys, goats, rabbits, peacocks, chickens, cows, sheep and horses and they all looked very well cared for.
- The forth world is the Forest of Legends complete with rope bridges, treehouses and secret pathways. I'm a little gutted that we never got around to going to the Forest of Legends as we ran out of time, but I heard from a friend who's been to the resort twice that the outdoor playground there is AMAZING!
- The fifth world is the Lakeside Promenade which I would say is the hub of the whole village. Here you can find most of the restaurants as well as the supermarket, bakery, bowling alley, Action Factory, Escape Rooms, Kids club and more. It's beautiful there because it overlooks the lake and there are pretty flowers and little spots to sit and take in the surrounding nature and views scattered about too. You can also hire boats from here too to get out on the lake.
RestaurantsAt Villages Nature Paris you can buy food from the supermarket and cook it back at your cottage, but if you wish to eat out then there a number of on-site restaurants at Villages Nature too. We visited Crêperie Suzette for lunch one of the days and had a VERY tasty savoury crepe followed by a dessert crepe and I highly recommend a visit there!
We tried to eat at Miam Miam Burger but sadly we struggled to see any vegetarian options on the menu for us. We also had dinner at Vapiano which is an Italian which had fantastic options for the whole family and for vegetarians. We loved the decor in there which was very much in line with the nature feel of the whole resort.
I really liked that there were a choice of on-site restaurants at Villages Nature, but I do feel like I should say that we often found that the staff in the restaurants seemed a little overstretched. There was a big queue to get into Vapiano every night that we were there despite tables being free and we found the service could be quite slow in each of the restaurants we ate at with things often being forgotten. This is the only part of our trip that I really noticed it feeling being busy. Of course, it could have been that perhaps when we visited restaurant staff were off sick or on annual leave. But overall it was a small thing and once we had our food, we ate very well. Activities There are SO many activities to do at Villages Nature Paris, there's something to suit absolutely everyone! From bowling, to Segway rides, electric boats, pony riding, hut and den building, mini boats, chocolate making classes, Lets Dance, Ninja obstacle courses, spa treatments, climbing walls, salt cabins, indoor and outdoor playgrounds, archery, swimming classes and lessons, mini golf, the water park, bread making classes, tree trails, gardening, escape rooms, stuffed teddy making classes and much more!