Butlins, Minehead. Summer Family Road Trip. Part 1

The first week of August saw the first of our summer road trips. We embark on road trips in the truest sense of the word. We travel from place to place staying in different hotels most nights. This year though, we tried something a little different. To mark the start of our holiday, we stayed at Butlins, Minehead for the weekend.

Butlins, Minehead

Butlins, Minehead is a favourite destination of mine. We holidayed here when I was a child and I have taken my children here on a number of occasions.

The resort was built in 1962 and has been popular with families ever since.

Minehead is a seaside town in Somerset. It lies on the outskirts of Exmoor National Park. The Butlins site lies on the seafront and makes the most of its coastal location. A visit to Butlins in Minehead is reminiscent of the seaside holidays of old. Although a modernised resort, Butlins still retains some of that old holiday charm.

Staying at the resort from Friday until Monday, we certainly weren’t short of things to do. In fact, we would have needed a few extra days just to tick off all the items of our to-do list. Here are just a few of the activities we managed to do.

Swimming

The resort has both an indoor and outdoor swimming pool. We took a splash in the indoor pool. It was great for kids and adults alike. Aurelia loved the ‘lazy river’ and the wave pool. There were also slides for younger children, a deeper pool for more confident swimmers and bubble pools to relax in.

The pool opens at 10 am and closes at 5 pm. We found that the pool was quieter later in the day.

Access to both pools is included in the price of your holiday, so there’s no extra cost!

Crazy Golf

For the cost of £4.00 per player, we had a round of crazy golf. Aurelia loves this game. She had a blast at Dino Falls Adventure Crazy Golf earlier this year and couldn’t wait to play again! The course had 9 holes and took around 30 minutes to complete.

The Go-Kart Circuit

Aurelia loved her experience on the go-karts. They were ideal for kids of her age (5). A turn cost £2.00 and she had such fun!

The Circus

I absolutely love the circuses at Butlins! The circus is held in a purpose-built big top. This year, the circus was performed by ‘Gandeys’ and had a ‘Greatest Showman’ feel to the show. It really was the Greatest Show too!

We were treated to trapeze artists, jugglers, limbo dancers and motorcyclists. Each act truly had us all on the edge of our seats.

Not to forget the utterly hilarious clown, Bippo.

We booked our tickets online before our holiday and they cost only £5.00 each.

Traditional Fairground

No trip to Butlins would be complete without a visit to the traditional fairground. All rides are included in the price of the holiday.

Rides include a merry-go-round, children’s trampolines (great for burning some extra energy off the kiddies). We enjoyed a ride on the dodge cars and the Helter Skelter.

There are plenty of other rides on the site (which are far too fast and scary for us).

A personal favourite of mine was the Hall of Mirrors.

Arcade

In the evenings, Aurelia spent lots of time playing in the arcades on the 2p machines. The machines also dispense tickets. She saved these until the end of the holiday and got herself a few little treats to take home. (Items she promptly forgot about as soon as we left the resort!)

The Beach

As mentioned above, Minehead is a beautiful coastal town. The beach is literally across the road from Butlins. The beach is clean and well maintained. We went for a paddle in the sea, built sandcastles and bathed in the sun on the sandy beach.

The beach also has an excellent play area for kids. Aurelia spent an hour or so one evening playing on the equipment as we listened to the relaxing sounds of the waves.

Food

We always add a premium dining plan to our visit. It is money well spent! This includes breakfast and an evening meal, buffet style. The food is always absolutely delicious. There is always a huge selection (my fussy eaters have never moaned). And there is always plenty of food.

To give you an idea of what’s on offer – at breakfast:

• Porridge and cereals
• Fruit
• cheese and cold meats
• Full English breakfast – fried, boiled and scrambled eggs. Hash browns. Fried bread. Bacon, Sausages. Beans. Tomatoes. Mushrooms, etc.
• Toast
• Made-to-order pancakes with a range of toppings
• Made-to-order omelettes
• Danish pastries

Evening meal:

• Made-to-order burgers
• A variety of pasta dishes
• Fish and chips
• Cottage Pie
• Lasagne
• Roast dinner with all the trimmings
• Made-to-order stir-fry
• A children’s buffet, eg chicken nuggets, pizza, chips, beans
• Sponge and custard
• A selection of cakes
• Ice cream

All meals are served with hot and cold drinks.

If you do visit Butlins, add premium dining to your package, I can’t recommend it enough!

There are also plenty of restaurants and eateries throughout the resort.

Accommodation

We’ve stayed in a variety of accommodation types at Butlins over the years. Including apartments and caravans. As we were only staying for the weekend, this time we opted for a simple chalet.

The chalet consisted of 2 bedrooms with 2 beds in each of them and a bathroom with a shower. We also had a TV in one of the rooms. The chalet was huge! We had ample room for ourselves and all of our luggage.

The chalet was clean and modern.

What Make Butlins Great!

What makes Butlins great is the staff. Not just the Red Coats who work tirelessly to keep the kids entertained throughout the day but all the staff on-site. From check-in, we were greeted with a friendly face. The restaurant staff make a wonderful fuss of the kids. They greet the kids with a ‘hig-five’ and a huge smile. The bar staff are always polite and courteous. The gardeners smile and wave as you pass them by.

If you’ve never been on a Butlins holiday, try it! If you’ve got kids, they’ll love it! Aurelia (the child who at home is often still awake at midnight) was exhausted by 7 pm every night.

We needed a full week to fit in all the resort has to offer. And we truly can’t wait to return to Butlins Minehead!