Travelling via Eurostar
We arrived at Villages Nature on Monday, after travelling 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 travelling. The food was really tasty and the staff were all very friendly and accommodating throughout our journey.
We had plug and USB sockets inbuilt into our seats so that we could charge our devices, (this was the same for our return journey where we travelled in Standard Premier rather than business) and we also had a lot of room and space and even a large table in front of us, which as a family of four was absolutely perfect! I wasn't sure if we'd have as much room on the way home when travelling in Standard Premier, but I was really happy to find that we did. On the way home, we were supposed to be served a light meal but unfortunately there had been a staff accident and so they were unable to provide food and drink at our seats. We were however, able to collect a croissant and a smoothie from the cafe instead.
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.
Our experience with the Eurostar was very positive - we think that it's a great option when travelling to France. Instead of driving, we got to sit back, enjoy dinner and a drink and Adam was able to play the Nintendo Switch with the boys whilst I did some Instagram work on my phone. The journey itself also felt really quick! My only bit of advice would be to arrive early as the queues to get through passport control and security can be very long.
Villages Nature Paris Accommodation
On 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!
Aqualagon
The Aqualagon water park deserves it's own paragraph because it was quite simply the absolute highlight of our stay in Villages Nature! I had been looking at photos online before our visit and thought it looked impressive, but when actually visiting ourselves it blew us away! It's absolutely HUGE and there's so much to do!
There are about six or seven different giant slides and they are all really fun and well thought out! There's a water playhouse area for the kids, which has a fun slides in, water guns and sprayers and even a huge bucket that spills out when it gets full! There's a rock climbing/obstacle course. There's a fun lazy river in the outdoor lagoon pool where the water is geothermally heated all year round to 30C. There's also a water climbing activity you can do outside, as well a further fun slide! Inside, there is a wave pool that comes on every half an hour. My two boys (aged 9 and 7) loved it!!
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.
We had an amazing time at the Aqualagon and it was the boy's favourite place by far! They spent hours having so much fun! The only fault we could find is that the hairdryers there mostly didn't work and the one that did was very weak. We also weren't able to access the Aqualagon for most of the day on our last day due to a technical issue, but those sorts of things happen from time to time and we just changed our plans to go in the evening instead when it reopened (it closes at 8:30pm so we just stayed right up until then). Overall, the Aqualagon is absolutely incredible and I totally recommend it!
Five Immersive Worlds
- 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.
Restaurants
At 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.
We also ate at Les Délices de la Ferme over at the farm for lunch one day. Though there was only one option for vegans and vegetarians there, we were pleased to see that they did offer something for those that don't eat meat and the dessert was amazing!
I really liked that there were a choice of on-site restaurants at Villages Nature, I found Vapiano seemed to be very busy in the evenings so I do advice arriving half an hour / 45 minutes before you intend to eat. But we ate really well and it was nice to have the options to eat out!
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!
The choice is huge! Some of these activities are included in your stay and others are paid for (you can see which on this page). There's even a small beach at Villages Nature where you can build sandcastles, play volleyball or just relax on a sun lounger.
Villages Nature Paris makes for the perfect place to stay if you want to visit Disneyland Paris as it's so close. It's also a great option if you're looking for somewhere more chilled to retreat back to when visiting the Disney Parks.
As Villages Nature Paris is a Disney owned resort, you get Extra Magic Hours at Disneyland Paris which means you are able to access the park an hour earlier than those who aren't staying at a Disney hotel. There is a bus service that runs from the resort directly to Disneyland which costs 2 Euros per person. We did find the bus to be very busy and so on the way back we took a taxi back which was 20 Euros for the 4 of us and was great because we didn't leave the park until gone 11pm as we stayed for the fireworks, so we had two very sleepy boys! The bus took us about 20 minutes to get to Disneyland but if you're driving, the drive is just 6 minutes!
I've written a separate post on our absolutely magical day at Disneyland Paris as I took so many photos and have so much to say about it that it would make this post WAY too long! Read about our 1 day at Disneyland Paris here!
Our Verdict
We absolutely LOVED our stay at Villages Nature Paris! It was an incredible trip, we made such amazing memories and had so much fun! There's so much to do there that I recommend at least four full days there, or even longer if you can! Disneyland Paris being so close is a huge benefit but also I think Villages Nature Paris makes for a brilliant standalone family holiday because there's so many different activities you can do there and lots of things to see. We all enjoyed our time there very much, so much so that the boys said that they didn't want to come home!
*We were invited to stay at Villages Nature Paris but all thoughts shared are entirely my own.
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