Is Butlins Good For Older Kids? Honest Parent Butlins Review (2026)

We’re big fans of Butlins for an affordable, old-fashioned family fun break by the seaside. It’s not fancy, but it’s a lot of fun, especially for kids. We’ve been visiting Butlins since the boys were toddlers, when we took them on their first of many ‘Just for Tots’ breaks. But now we have a tween and a just-turned teen on board. So is Butlins good for older kids? Will kids aged between 10-15 find plenty to do and enjoy on a Butlins camp?

This piece is aimed at families just like ours: families who are at that tricky in-between stage that still want to have fun with their active kids, but are struggling to find places to take them. Our boys are now 10 and 13, so I will be writing this piece with kids of those ages in mind, but I feel all of this information is relevent for families travelling with children aged from 9-15.

Here’s my full review of visiting Butlins with older kids:

Activities At Butlins Our Older Kids Actually Enjoyed

Splash Waterworld

The highlight of any Butlins break for my teen and tween? A visit to Splash Waterworld (actually several visits, we go for hours every day!) Water slides suitable for older kids, a lazy river, a wave pool: Our boys always have to be dragged out of this waterpark because they love it so much. Honestly, it’s one of the biggest reasons we keep going back to Butlins.

Tip: Arrive as soon as it opens (9 am during our visit) to get on all the water slides without any queues. The park only seems to get busier as the day goes on.

The Arcades

Why is it that arcades are like catnip for kids? My boys just couldn’t get enough and would have happily spent hours here on shooting game, car games, and even a little bit of playing on the 2p machines and the grabbers (for the nostalgia).

Like most arcades, you can get tickets from the games you play and swap these for prizes. Unlike most arcades, the staff are kind and friendly, generous with the kids (even the older, spottier ones!) and this really made the difference from a parent’s perspective.

I’ve popped a photo of the ticket shop below, so you can get an idea of what kind of prizes are available (and prepare your kids for the fact that they’ll come out with sweets! Only sweets!)

The Skypark

This is a relatively new addition to Butlins, and it was an unexpected hit with both my boys! It’s important to remember that teens and tweens are just big kids at heart: they want to go on the park, but most parks are too small, too boring, just not designed with them in mind.

This isn’t true of the Sky Park. Huge slides, tricky climbing nets, obstacle courses that actually pose a challenge. The boys spent a happy hour on two separate days chasing each other around here, and it was so lovely to watch them do this again!

As an added bonus, there is a Sky Park cafe with floor-to-ceiling windows looking out onto the park. So Mike and I could watch the boys play while staying warm and sitting down with a Costa Coffee.

Visiting Butlins with hungry teens? You need to read The Food in Butlins Skegness: Eating Off Plan

What They Didn’t Love

So what didn’t the boys love about our Butlins break? I’ve broken this down as clearly and honestly as I can:

Evening Activities For Teens

We found it really hard to fill the evenings on our Butlins break: What we actually did was have dinner, spend an hour in the arcades, and then go back to the apartment to play card games as a family. The evening shows seem to fall into one of two camps: aimed at young children (I remember fondly the days when they wouldn’t miss a Skyline Gang show) or aimed at adults: we did get a spot at the Live Aid remake show, but they just didn’t want to go!

I would love to see some more teen-friendly evening entertainment put on.

I would also love to see the opening hours of some of the other attractions extended so that there was something for teens, tweens, and their families to do after dinner. The fairground closes at 5pm. The pool hall closes at 6pm. The only thing left open? The arcade. We ended up going into Skegness for a walk along the beach with a bag of chips one evening, and then entertaining ourselves in our apartment on the other two evenings, because it just didn’t feel like families like ours were catered for after 6pm.

For this reason, I do recommend choosing a comfortable apartment. Take a Look Inside: A Fairground Apartment at Butlins Skegness

The Fairground

There are two fairground areas at Butlins Skegness: The Little Stars fairground has smaller rides aimed as pre-schoolers and younger kids then the main fairground.

This used to fill a whole afternoon for us. Now? There were only 4 rides that the boys didn’t deem ‘too babyish’. These were the Go Karts (which cost £7 per ride) the waltzers, the bumper cars, and the swing chairs. I forced them onto the carousel too, because I love riding it with them!

But riding these rides a couple of times a piece? It barely filled an hour! This is a great fairground for kids, but for teens? My boys definitely wanted more.

Is It Worth It? (Parents Perspective)

When the boys were little, going to Butlins was truly a cheap break: in fact, we used to joke it was cheaper than staying at home! They loved the tiny tots fairground, meeting Peppa Pig, all the shows themed around their favourite characters. And all these things are included in the cost of your break. The most we spent was a few handfuls of 2ps in the arcades.

Now? Taking our kids to Butlins is a financial commitment, and I think it’s important to be honest about that! The stuff that tweens and teens will love? So much of it comes with an extra charge. Adventure golf is £5pp, go karts are £7pp, climbing wall £12pp, high ropes £15pp. It goes on and on, and it all adds up. It would cost over £150 for the four of us to do these 4 activities alone, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

That’s no bad thing from one perspective: it’s great that they do have all these extra activities to appeal to older kids and so that all families can have a good time on site. And we are still at the stage where the boys do want to be with us, doing activities as a family. But I think it’s important to be aware that you will be putting your hand in your pocket, over and over again.

And you’ll need to remortgage your house every time your kids go in the arcade: Mine could throw £10 into the car racing games they love so much every 5 minutes! It feels like there are arcade games everywhere on site!

So do I still think Butlins is worth visiting with teens and tweens? Yes I do. There’s so much to keep them occupied, and it still poses excellent value for a UK weekend away. But do we ever just spend the cost of the break any more? Not a chance! The extras are tempting, in my experience neccessary to occupy older kids on the site, and they all add up. Because of this, and because my boys are such water babies (who love being by the beach more than anything) it would probably be better for us to book a cheap weekend overseas for some guaranteed sun, sea, and sand.

Butlins With Older Kids FAQs

Is Butlins Good For Older Kids?

Butlins has a lot of great facilities that will appeal to older kids. The Splash Waterworld in particular is a great facility for tweens and teens. But older kids will have a very different Butlins experience to younger ones: they are likely to be less interested in the character-themed shows or the small fairground, and more interested in paid activities like the climbing wall or high ropes. Facilities such as the snooker and pool hall, arcades, and go karting means Butlins is still a good break for older kids.

Which Is the Best Butlins For Older Kids?

We have visited all 3 Butlins sites in the UK. I feel Butlins Skegness or Butlins Bognor Regis are the two best sites if you’re travelling with older kids, as they are the largest sites. Butlins Minehead backs onto the most beautiful stretch of beach, but the site is smaller, and therefore less appealing to older kids.

Is Butlins Good For a 13 Year Old?

Honestly? My 13 year old really loved our last Butlins break, but we did have a conversation about whether he might have outgrown it. Mostly because he’s been so many times, and seen and done everything that Butlins Skegness (our closest site) has to offer. But I do think there are facilities to appeal to kids this age, and I never heard those dreaded words ‘mum, I’m bored’. I think that Butlins is still a great option for 13 year olds, and especially for ones that have never visited Butlins before.

Note: All information about opening times, shows, and activity prices are based on our most recent Butlins trip. This was to Butlins Skegness in December 25 (2 months ago at time of writing)

You can read our full review of visiting Butlins Skegness at Christmas here: Our Review Of The Butlins Winter Wonderland Break This Christmas (2025 Update)