Which centre parks?

rtw123

Hi Dinah

I am also torn between Whinfell and Sherwood. I have never been before but looking at booking the last weekend in November for family of 4 (11 & 4 yr olds).

I am also wondering about the accommodation. Is it worth paying the extra to go for an exec lodge or are the exec villas just as nice? I like the look of the lodges on the website, really modern. Hoping to get the little one into the kids club so me and hubby can have some chill out time - maybe in the spa!

Good advice about the logs Unity, I was going to purchase them when I booked at a cost of £8.70 per pack !!!! Will be taking a trip to homebargains I think.

rtw123

Skippycat

I've only been to the Whinfell one. It was very good though. We stayed in one of the new style woodland lodges and it was very comfy. Only complaint was that unfortunately the attitudes of quite a few of the bar staff were very poor...

mumoftwins

I have been to Sherwood 7 times and absolutely love it! We did go to Elveden a couple of years ago for a change but soon headed back to Sherwood as we like it so much more - the restaurants are seperate within the Village Square rather than in a Mall setting so it feels more like you are going 'out' for a meal.

Sorry, haven't been to Whinfell but a friend has and she prefers Sherwood.

BillScarab

kaggy wrote: »

I have been to Elveden which was great but have recently been looking at the European ones, are there any that are particularly good/bad? My kids are 10 & 5 and we will be going in Feb 09.

Many thanks
Karen

If you look on the website each site has a 'bird' rating and they also tell you what facilities are available and what age ranges of children they are best suited to.

We've been to Het Heijerbos and De Kempervennen which are both in The Netherlands and they were great. The other one popular with the British is De Vossemeren in Belgium.

De Vossemeren and De Kempervennen are popular with the British as they are the easiest to get to. There's a new one in France thta is about 2 hours from Calais but the French ones always seem more expensive that the Dutch and Belgian ones.

We normally go in February half term as usually the Dutch and Belgian school holidays are different to ours so it's cheaper. Last year we paid £500 for 8 people in a 4 bed room deluxe Villa and that included hiring 8 bikes and the ferry costs for two cars. Unfotunately next February they have the same half term as us so it's not as cheap.

Unity

BillScarab wrote: »

We normally go in February half term as usually the Dutch and Belgian school holidays are different to ours so it's cheaper. Last year we paid £500 for 8 people in a 4 bed room deluxe Villa and that included hiring 8 bikes and the ferry costs for two cars. Unfotunately next February they have the same half term as us so it's not as cheap.

That is very cheap :T. It's just the amount of travelling involved - as one of our party is coming down from Glasgow, travelling by train. This being said, we have booked a weekend in November at Whinfell for seven of us for £375. I got about £90 off using their special offer code .

billynw

Some great advice here guys.

I'm planning on going to Sherwood in Jan for my wife's 30th with our 1 year old.
Never been to a CP before.

Please could anyone give me some advice what to take.
Do you guys well stock up with food & drink before you go?

The log advice is very helpfull.

Thanks again.

lappish22

Hi

we have been to Sherwood several times now, and each time we take less!

We used to take most of our food, but really you are not saving much - the supermarket on site is always well stocked, and if you do a shop on arrival they will deliver it to your lodge, so it tound akes the hassle out of carting it around everywhere.

Don't take too many clothes - you just don't need them!! No-one dresses up (unless dancing at disco till early hours!) but i don't expect you will when you are taking your 1 year old!!!

Logs - buy before you go.

Footwear - trainers and sturdy boots/wellys

Eating out - We hardly ever ate out, but had the occasional take away from the Indian/Chinese. Very nice, but book early for collection as they can get very busy and have to wait ages.

Book any activites you want before you go if you can , including child activities/creche etc, as we have found them to be booked up if we leave it till we get there.

It is a bonus if your lodge has a tumble dryer, as getting the towels dry from the swim pool is much easier and faster!!

Basically, you can do as much or as little as you like. Very relaxing - take a good book (if you have time to read!) and enjoy yourself!!

It is a great place to spend some quality time with the family without everyday distractions.

You will love it...wish I was going again!!!!

moneypooh

I've used the babysitting service at all 4 sites and have had fantastic sitters every time, so have a night out

BillScarab

Sherwood is the only UK one I haven't been to but we always plan what we going to be eating and take it with us. I'd rather be relaxing than shopping when I get there. As lappish22 said try and book things before you go or at the very least as soon as you get there. If you're happy leaving your child in the creche I'd recommend a visit to the Spa.

gingerdad

I have been to sherwood and whinfell, and whinfell wins for me, i think now a much better site, and didn't feel as busy as sherwood. we also enjoyed the one we went to in the netherlands this summer.

GD