Center Parcs Food and Drink: The Complete Guide (2026)

Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. If you book or buy through them I may earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you. Read our full disclosure.

✓Last visited:

The cost of food and drink at Center Parcs can quickly become your biggest expense of the trip. In my experience, what you bring, where you eat out and how you use the on-site ParcMarket can be the difference between a reasonable break and a very expensive one.

Center Parcs Food & Drink Costs

How much you spend on food and drink on a trip to Center Parcs depends almost entirely on how much food you bring with you compared to how much you order in or eat out.

Based on our July 2026 stay at Whinfell Forest, here’s roughly what a family of four should budget for a four-night stay across three scenarios:

• Bring Your Own: £70 – £140. We stopped at the supermarket closest to our village (Sainsbury’s Penrith for Whinfell) and spent £54 on top of a £23 top-up at B&M for extras like snacks and drinks. This didn’t include any alcohol but did cover breakfast, snacks and most lunches and dinners.
• Occasional Meal Out: £120 – £180. This is what we try to aim for now that we visit as a family. We’ll get most of the basics from the supermarket but still expect to order in at least once and get the occasional snack whilst out. For us it’s the best balance of value and effort.
• Ordering In & Eating Out: £160 – £320. This was us before visiting Center Parcs with kids, but now we simply can’t afford it. Ordering in typically costs £35 plus £3.95 delivery while a family meal out will typically cost £60 to £80 before drinks.

The rest of this guide is about how to land in that middle scenario rather than the third — what to bring, when to use the ParcMarket, and when eating out is actually worth it.

Bringing Your Own Food and Drink

There are no restrictions on what food or drink you can bring to Center Parcs. Alcohol is permitted, as are soft drinks, snacks and full meals.

Not only does bringing your own food and drink save you money, it can also be easier. For example we picked up a crate of 30 cans of Diet Coke from the supermarket and unpacked them from the car outside of our lodge.

If we did the same at the ParcMarket we’d have to walk or cycle back with them, which, depending on where you’re staying, could be quite far.

Center Parcs lodges are fully self-catering with a well-equipped kitchen. Most lodges include:

• Oven, hob and microwave
• Fridge with small freezer compartment
• Dishwasher
• Pots, pans and utensils

ParcMarket

Every Center Parcs village has an on-site supermarket called the ParcMarket. This store has a comprehensive range of food and other essentials. However, it’s significantly more expensive than a standard supermarket, particularly for alcohol and soft drinks.

Bringing your own food from home or stopping at a supermarket before you arrive is one of the single most effective ways to reduce the overall cost of a Center Parcs break.

Starter Packs

If you’d rather not think about food shopping before you go, Center Parcs offer a Starter Pack and a Family Grocery Pack that are delivered to your lodge before you arrive.

Restaurants

Every Center Parcs village has similar restaurants:

• Family-friendly: Huck’s (American grill), Bella Italia (Italian), The Pancake House.
• Grown-up: Rajinda Pradesh (Indian), Café Rouge (French), Foresters’ Inn (pub food).
• Quick stops: Sports Café, Starbucks, Chango’s Grill.
• Adults-focused: Huck’s cocktail bar (evenings) and licensed venues around the plaza.

For a four-night stay, we’d suggest booking two evenings out at most, and picking restaurants that don’t overlap with what you’d cook at home — lean into Indian or Asian over pizza or pasta, which are the harder meals to knock together in the lodge.

Most families end up eating out at least once, and the question is when it’s worth the extra cost. Three scenarios usually make sense: arrival day (long drive, unpacking, nobody wants to cook), a full weather washout (breaks up a stay-in day), or a specific celebration. Beyond those, a Restaurant Runner meal deal or cooking in the lodge is usually the better value.

If you’re visiting Center Parcs during the school holidays or over weekends during peak season I’d suggest reserving a table in advance to avoid disappointment. Table reservations can be made on the Center Parcs website and mobile app.

Takeaway Options: Restaurant Runner and Delivery Apps

If you’d rather not cook and don’t want to eat out you can order a take-away.

Restaurant Runner (Center Parcs delivery)

Restaurant Runner is Center Parcs’ on-village delivery service, formerly known as Center Parcs Dining In. You order via app or QR code and food is delivered straight to your lodge.

• Delivery hours: 4:30pm to 10pm daily, last orders at 9:30pm.
• Delivery charge: £3.95 flat per order.
• Menu covers: pizza (£13.25-£17.50), traditional Indian curries (£14.75-£16.75), Chinese and Thai (£13.25-£17.75), kids’ meals (£7.25-£8.25), sides, dips, drinks and ice cream.
• Meal Deals: Chinese Favourites (£34.95), Pizza Meal Deal (£36.95), and Rajinda’s Meal Deal (£39.95) each feed a family of four before drinks.
• Account: you’ll need to set up a Restaurant Runner account, which is separate from your main Center Parcs booking account.

Restaurant Runner is usually the best value option when you don’t feel like cooking but don’t want the effort or expense of a proper sit-down meal out. For a family of four, a meal deal plus delivery works out at around £40 total, which is roughly half what the same meal would cost at Huck’s or Foresters’ Inn.

Just Eat and Uber Eats

Both Just Eat and Uber Eats deliver to Center Parcs, but drivers can only bring your order as far as the security gate at the village entrance. When your food arrives at Center Parcs security you’ll need to collect it from there yourself.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are some of the most frequently asked questions about taking food and drinks to Center Parcs: