Half an hour after the ring road the brick gives way to hedges and you're parked beside somebody's barley field. That's the trick the middle of England plays. You can be deep in Staffordshire woodland or beside a Leicestershire lake before the kids finish their sandwiches.
No airport, no luggage limits, no queue for breakfast. A lodge or a static caravan gives you separate bedrooms, your own kitchen and decking to sit out on once the children have gone quiet. So this guide sticks to holiday parks Midlands drivers can reach after work on a Friday.
Every opening time and price below was checked on 16 October 2026.
What's it actually like staying on a Midlands holiday park?
Quieter than most people expect. The big complexes with cabaret and a club are a coastal thing. Inland holiday parks here are small, two to twenty-five holiday homes in farmland or woodland, and the leisure facilities rarely go beyond a pool. That's the trade for the quiet.
What you get is a self catering holiday home to yourself:
- A kitchen with a proper oven, hob and fridge, so breakfast costs what it costs at home
- Separate bedrooms, usually a double and a twin or a bunk room
- Decking with furniture, and on most lodges in this area a private tub
- Parking beside the holiday home instead of a multi-storey
- Somewhere to hang wet coats, which in central England matters
Two words get used loosely. A static caravan is the cream box on a steel chassis, ten or twelve feet wide. A lodge is timber clad, wider, better insulated and far more likely to have a tub outside. It also costs more. A few parks nearby add glamping pods and safari tents on top.
Six holiday parks Midlands families keep coming back to
Every park below is bookable through us. Driving times run from Birmingham city centre.
Market Bosworth, Leicestershire - about 38 minutes from Birmingham - sleeps up to 6 - hot tubs / pets / fishing
Five lodges sit around a lake on the Warwickshire and Leicestershire border, fifty acres of parkland with twenty acres of water in it. The covered verandah looks straight out over the water.
Rated 4.9 by guests. Fishing, pets welcome and a tub on the deck, which settles most arguments in a family of four.
Cannock Chase, Staffordshire - about 39 minutes from Birmingham - sleeps up to 5 - hot tubs / indoor heated pool / adults only
An indoor pool, heated, tennis courts, and a twenty-acre nature reserve where wild deer wander through the trees. It holds a David Bellamy Gold Award.
Adults only, so think couples rather than school holidays. The nearby Birches Valley Forest Centre is up the road, Rugeley and its pubs three miles away.
Snitterfield, Warwickshire - about 44 minutes from Birmingham - sleeps up to 10 - hot tubs / pets
Ten minutes from Shakespeare's town. One-bedroom lodges with ceiling-to-floor bedroom windows and a free-standing bath, and booking several together takes you to ten people.
Theatre tickets can be pre-booked at a discount for an evening at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. Pets go in selected lodges only.
Bretby, Derbyshire - about 50 minutes from Birmingham - sleeps up to 6 - hot tubs / pets / indoor heated pool
The second holiday park here with an indoor pool, plus a sauna, free Wi-Fi and yoga classes you can book ahead. Luxury lodges over unspoilt South Derbyshire countryside, with a bath as well as a shower.
Burton upon Trent sits a short hop north. Another 4.9, though some extras carry a charge.
Bridgnorth, Shropshire - about 55 minutes from Birmingham - sleeps up to 6 - hot tubs / pets
Three hundred acres of rolling parkland, a golf course on the doorstep and long views across the Shropshire countryside. The two-bedroom holiday homes have a king-size room with its own shower and private decking.
Nearby Bridgnorth is the northern end of the Severn Valley Railway, so this is an easy base for a steam train day.
Freehay, Staffordshire - about 67 minutes from Birmingham - sleeps up to 6 - hot tubs / pets
Forty-six acres of quiet woodland, log cabins and timber-clad lodges among trails that start at your door. It won a Visit Staffordshire Tourism Award in 2026 and stays open all year.
Of everywhere here, this holiday park is nearest Alton Towers. Covered tubs, wildlife in the trees, and pets are welcome although not in every cabin, so say so when you book.
Compare the six at a glance
Holiday parks near Birmingham: how far is the drive?
There aren't any holiday parks in Birmingham itself
Worth saying plainly, because thousands search for it every year. Parks need land and the city has none spare. The nearest sit twenty-five to forty-five road miles out, across Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire and Shropshire, with more over the Leicestershire and Derbyshire border in the East Midlands.
You sleep in a field, and the city is there when you want it.
The quickest runs out of the city
- Bosworth Lakeside Lodges, Market Bosworth: 27 road miles, 38 minutes
- Silver Trees, Cannock Chase: 27 road miles, 39 minutes
- Stratford Upon Avon Lodge Retreat, Snitterfield: 32 road miles, 44 minutes
Half the list is inside forty-five minutes. If your front door isn't in the city centre, our postcode search measures from where you actually live, and the West Midlands listings cover the counties one by one.
Which Midlands holiday parks have a swimming pool?
Fewer than you'd hope. Inland holiday parks round here are small, and a swimming pool needs numbers to pay for itself. Two of our six have one:
- Silver Trees on Cannock Chase: an indoor pool, heated, tennis courts beside it, adults only
- Knights Lodges at Bretby: an indoor pool and a sauna, and pets are welcome
If the swimming pool is the whole reason for the break, ask at the booking stage whether the leisure facilities open year round and whether they carry a charge.
Family days out within easy reach
Two major theme parks, a safari park, a chocolate factory and a whole Victorian town, all inside an hour of most of these holiday parks.
Alton Towers, Staffordshire
- Open: mid-March to early November. The 2026 season ran 14 March to 8 November
- Tickets: one-day passes from around £32 online, a good deal more on the gate
- Allow a full day, and expect August queues
- Nearest park here: Quarry Walk Lodges
CBeebies Land keeps the under-sixes going all morning, which buys the grown-ups a turn on The Smiler. Scarefest takes selected dates in September and October. For what's close by, read our guide to holiday parks near Alton Towers.
Drayton Manor Resort, Tamworth
- Tickets: from around £27.50 for ages 4 to 65 ahead, around £45 on the gate
- Included: Thomas Land and the zoo, no second ticket
- Allow a full day
- Nearest parks: Knights Lodges or Bosworth Lakeside Lodges
Thomas Land runs to more than twenty-five Thomas and Friends attractions, the gentlest big day out in the area with a toddler in tow. Older ones go straight for Apocalypse.
West Midland Safari Park, Bewdley
- Admission: from £19.90 an adult, £15.90 a child, £25.90 with a ride wristband
- Rides: the Adventure Theme Park runs February half term to October half term
- Where: Bewdley, Worcestershire DY12 1LF
- Allow most of a day
Four miles of drive-through safari, twenty-one rides and a dinosaur trail, on the edge of nearby Bewdley. You stay in the car for the animals, the saving grace on a wet afternoon. Prices from the park's own site.
Cadbury World, Bournville
- Tickets: from £18 online or £28 on the day, family entry from £68
- Booking: essential, and you get a timed slot
- Allow three to four hours
- Where: Bournville, south side of the city
Entry covers the self-guided tour, the café, the shop and the African Adventure play area. They may not let you in if you're late, so check the ticket page first.
Black Country Living Museum, Dudley
- Open: 10am to 5pm
- Tickets: adult £27.95 advance, 3 to 15 year olds £15.50, under-3s free
- The bit people miss: every ticket includes twelve months of free returns
- Where: Tipton Road, Dudley DY1 4SQ
A twenty-nine acre open-air museum where the trams run, the shops are staffed in period dress and the narrowboats are tied at the wharf. Pay once, come back all year! Allow four to five hours, as the museum's page suggests.
National SEA LIFE Centre, Birmingham
- Tickets: from £19 in advance
- Open: 10am to 4pm when we checked
- Where: the city centre, and indoors end to end
The UK's only 360-degree ocean tunnel, Gentoo penguins, and Ozzy and Ola, the first sea otters kept anywhere in the country. Details on the centre's site.
Warwick Castle, Warwickshire
- Open: daily except Christmas Day, with a short closure in early January
- Tickets: dynamic, so online in advance always beats the gate
- Allow four to five hours
- Nearest park: Stratford Upon Avon Lodge Retreat
Ramparts to climb, daily shows on the lawn, a river running past the walls. The castle closed from 5 to 16 January in 2026, so check the calendar before building a winter day around it.
Blists Hill and the Ironbridge Gorge, Shropshire
- Open: Blists Hill Victorian Town 9am to 5pm
- Booking: any visit before 2.30pm has to be pre-booked
- Tickets: adult £24, £26.40 with Gift Aid; 5 to 17 year olds from £12; under-5s free
- Closed: Enginuity, the Museum of the Gorge, the Darby Houses, Broseley Pipeworks and Coalport
Here's what most guides still have wrong. The Ironbridge Gorge museums changed hands during 2026 and ironbridge.org.uk now redirects to the National Trust's Ironbridge Gorge page, where several of the ten are listed as shut for conservation work. Don't buy an annual passport expecting all ten.
Severn Valley Railway, Bridgnorth to Kidderminster
- The line: sixteen miles of Worcestershire and Shropshire countryside, steam and heritage diesel
- Stations: Bewdley, Arley, Highley and Hampton Loade among them
- Don't miss the Engine House visitor centre at Highley
- At Christmas: Santa's Steam Specials and carol trains
Which timetable is running changes through the year, so check the railway's site before you plan a day around it.
Walking, woods and water
Nobody comes here for mountains. What you get is woodland you can lose an afternoon in, a few steep ridges with surprising views, and canal towpaths everywhere.
Cannock Chase
Birches Valley Forest Centre is the way in: bike hire, a café, toilets, a play area and Go Ape in the trees above. Follow the Dog and the Monkey Trail are the serious mountain biking, Lady Hill and Fairoak the level circular routes.
Clent Hills
Six miles from junction 4 of the M5, and the best short walk near the city. On a clear day the view runs out to the Black Mountains. The National Trust car park at Nimmings Wood is B62 0NL, £4.80 a day, free to members. Pets need a lead in the car park and on the Viewpoint path.
The Malvern Hills
A long spine of hills on the Worcestershire and Herefordshire line, steep enough to feel like a climb and short enough to be back for lunch. Herefordshire orchards and the Worcestershire plain spread out below, and there's a farm shop at the foot of most lanes.
The southern edge of the Peak District
From Bretby or Freehay the bottom of the national park is a morning away, which is far from obvious on a map of Birmingham. Limestone dales, stone villages, and nothing like the August crowds further north.
Taking pets along
Five of our six parks take pets, and these are the things worth checking before you book:
- How many pets are allowed, and any charge per pet per stay
- Whether the decking around the tub is fenced
- Whether every holiday home takes them, or only some, as at Quarry Walk and Snitterfield
- Where the nearest off-lead walking is, because much of this is working farm land
Filter the site down to parks that welcome pets, or to holiday homes with a tub.
Best time to visit the Midlands
There's no coast to govern the season. The calendar runs on school holidays, opening dates and how much mud you'll put up with.
The quietest and cheapest month on the parks. Alton Towers and Drayton Manor are shut and Warwick Castle closed for a fortnight in early 2026, so build the week around indoor days at Cadbury World and the Black Country Living Museum.
Half term wakes things up and the safari park's rides reopen for the season. Cold, bright days on Cannock Chase are a fair trade for midweek lodge prices.
Alton Towers reopened on 14 March in 2026, so this is the first month you can do a theme park and a tub in the same weekend without paying August rates.
Easter, plus Shakespeare's Birthday Celebrations in Stratford-upon-Avon in late April, a free street parade that ends with flowers at Holy Trinity Church. Woodland parks look their best as the leaves come back.
Two bank holidays, bluebells in the Staffordshire and Shropshire woods, and light evenings that run past nine. One of the busiest non-school-holiday months, so book early.
The Royal Three Counties Show fills the Malvern showground in mid-June with thousands of animals and free entry for under-16s. Schools are still in, so the parks stay calm.
The school holidays start and prices climb with them. Alton Towers ran a Minecraft event from 18 July to 28 August in 2026, worth timing a Staffordshire week around if that lands with your lot.
Busiest and dearest, and every attraction queues. Worth it if the long holiday is the only window you've got, but book months out and go midweek wherever you can.
Arguably the pick of the year. Ludlow Food Festival takes over Ludlow Castle in mid-September, the walking is perfect, and park prices drop the week the schools go back.
Half term brings Scarefest to Alton Towers and Halloween evenings to the Black Country Living Museum. It's also the last month for the safari park's rides before they close for winter.
Alton Towers closed on 8 November in 2026 and Birmingham's Frankfurt Christmas Market opened on 5 November, so the city becomes the day out. Properly good weather for sitting in a tub in the dark.
The Frankfurt market runs to Christmas Eve and the Severn Valley Railway puts on Santa's Steam Specials. A lodge with the heating on between Christmas and New Year is a quietly brilliant way to spend a week.
The market takes over Victoria Square and New Street from 5 November to 24 December 2026, opening 11am on weekdays and 10am at weekends, says its own visitor page.
What to pack for a Midlands park break
Half of this is the usual. The rest is specific to a week in the middle of England, in weather that changes its mind hourly.
Midlands holiday park FAQs
Are there any holiday parks in Birmingham itself?
No. The city has country parks and canal moorings, but nowhere to put a holiday home. The nearest parks are twenty-five to thirty road miles out, which is thirty-five to forty minutes in normal traffic.
Which holiday parks are closest to Birmingham?
Of the parks we list, Bosworth Lakeside Lodges at Market Bosworth is about 38 minutes away and Silver Trees on Cannock Chase about 39. Both are roughly 27 road miles from the city centre.
Which are the best family holiday parks near Birmingham?
Bosworth Lakeside Lodges is the easiest for a family: closest to the city, a lake and fishing on site, sleeps six and takes pets. Quarry Walk works better if Alton Towers is the point of the trip. Silver Trees is adults only, so rule it out for a family holiday however good the pool looks.
Are there caravan parks in the Midlands for touring and camping?
Plenty, but they're a different thing from what we do. We list holiday homes you rent by the week or the short break, not touring pitches you bring your own caravan or tent to. If you're towing, look for a touring park with pitches of its own, or a Camping and Caravanning Club site.
Can we bring the dog?
Five of the six holiday parks here take pets, though not always in every holiday home. Check the number allowed, any charge, and whether the one you want is pet-friendly before you pay.
Do we need to book attraction tickets before we arrive?
For some, yes. Cadbury World says pre-booking is essential and gives you a timed slot, and Blists Hill needs booking for any arrival before 2.30pm. Alton Towers, Drayton Manor and Warwick Castle are all a lot cheaper online than on the gate.
What's the difference between a static caravan and a lodge?
A static caravan sits on a steel chassis and is ten or twelve feet wide. A lodge is timber built, usually wider, better insulated and more likely to have a tub outside and underfloor heating in. Lodges cost more and tend to be the ones with the views.
When's the cheapest time to book a Midlands break?
January and February midweek, by a distance, with early December close behind. September is the best value in decent weather, because prices fall the week the schools go back while the walking is still good.
Where to start
Take one thing from this: the driving times. The holiday parks Midlands guests book through us sit almost entirely inside an hour of Birmingham. Alton Towers on the Saturday, the Clent Hills on the Sunday, home for tea.
Have a look at the full list of UK holiday parks, then narrow it down by county and see what's free on your dates.