With a big birthday to celebrate, in November 2024 we arranged to spend a long weekend at Center Parcs Sherwood Forest, arriving Friday evening. Center Parcs is somewhere we’ve wanted to go for some time, but with the high prices, we’d wondered whether it was worth it.

Typically, the price of a 3-4 day break at Center Parcs can be the equivalent of a week or more’s stay somewhere else. Indeed, we originally found out about Duinrell while we were searching for a more affordable alternative to Center Parcs in the Netherlands.

While I’ve been fortunate enough to stay at Center Parcs previously at Whinfell Forest, on a work’s trip back in 2019, this was the first time the rest of the family had stayed there. I’d enjoyed that trip, but as you can imagine, it’s quite a different experience being there with work.

When choosing one of the Center Parcs locations to go to, we didn’t want to travel too far and as I’d already been to Whinfell Forest, I’d ruled that one out. Out of the remaining options, Sherwood Forest looked interesting, with the nearby Sherwood Pines forest and its cycling and mountain bike trails.

I was particularly interested in trying the mountain bike trails there. While I haven’t done much in the way of mountain biking for many years, it’s what originally got me into cycling as a teenager, back in the 80s when mountain bikes first appeared in the UK.

While I wasn’t the most able or fittest mountain bike rider (by a significant distance), I did really get into the whole scene, buying all the equipment, reading the magazines and finding out about the origins in California, with the pioneers riding their klunkers on the repack races.

At one time, I was even a member of the North West Mountain Bike Club (though not the most active of members) and my prized possession was an original Reynolds steel-framed Orange Clockwork mountain bike, which cost a significant amount as a teenager and was sadly stolen.

A few months earlier, in anticipation of our trip, I set about getting my old Marin Nail Trail back in working order, replacing the seized disc brakes, cassette and chain and making a few other improvements.

Arriving at Center Parcs

Setting off after work on a Friday night, we made our way through the slow evening traffic to Nottingham, arriving at Center Parcs in the dark, to a sizeable queue waiting to check in. We were a little surprised by this, thinking it’d be relatively quiet out of peak season, but we’d not accounted for the draw of the Christmas-themed Winter Wonderland events.

After finally checking in, we made our way to the lodge, unloaded the car and took the bikes off, then took the car to the car park. For those that are unaware, Center Parcs sites are mostly car free. I say mostly, as cars are allowed on site on the changeover days, Mondays and Fridays.

After getting sorted, we got on our bikes and headed for Village Square, with our first stop being the Subtropical Swimming Paradise, so we could check out the pool and slides before we ate. We followed this with burgers and beer at one of the onsite restaurants, Huck’s.

A little about Center Parcs

For those that have never been there, Center Parcs are typically located in forests, with the central Village Square with a swimming pool and other sport and leisure facilities, such as bowling, racket sports and climbing walls.

Around the site, there’s various outdoor activities, such aerial trekking in the trees, quad biking and Segway tours, archery and water sports on the lake. But while the pool is free, all other activities carry an additional charge.

There’s also various places to eat and drink around the Village Square, plus a small number of shops, including a small supermarket, with a limited range and is unsurprisingly quite overpriced.

In the wider area surrounding the Village Square are the lodges. These vary in size and facilities, but even the most basic are pretty comfortable. Our lodge at Whinfell had extras, such as a sauna, but as I was sharing it with two other men from work, it didn’t get any use!

The site is fairly big, with a network of paths connecting all the lodges, so you can be some distance away from the Village Square, if you’re not careful. Which brings me onto one of the key features of Center Parcs, the absence of cars on site.

I’ve joked when we were there, that we were staying in a 15-minute city, that people pay a fortune to stay at, so there must be something in the idea. But with no cars on site and everything accessible by foot or bike, it really is like you’re staying in a 15-minute city.

With many people bringing bikes or hiring them while they’re there, it really gives families a flavour of what it’s like to live somewhere that isn’t dominated by motor traffic, where it’s possible for the whole family to cycle without fear of death.

It’s really liberating and not just for cycling advocates like me. I’ve spoken to lots of people who’ve stayed at Center Parcs and the thing that sticks with them is being able to get about on bike, in a safe and pleasant environment. And these are people who don’t often cycle.

During the weekend, we made the most of the traffic-free environment, cycling (and skateboarding for our eldest) all about the site. Our lodge was a bit of walk from the Village Square, so being able to cycle there was much more convenient.

I’d go for rides around the site, which if you follow the whole way round, can take a while. Being able to cycle on a nice smooth asphalt path, in a quiet country setting, in among all the trees was really pleasant and somewhat unusual in the UK.

The Subtropical Swimming Paradise

Bit of a wordy title for what is the swimming pool and slides, but I guess you’ve got to call it something. As I mentioned, the pool is free to use, which again is a big selling point and different to Duinrell, where all the attractions are free, except for the pool.

This changes how you use it, as because it’s free, you can come and go as you please. Just want a quick swim? No problem. Want to stay there all day and grab lunch? Again, no problem, and you’re not clockwatching, as you don’t have a limited time slot.

In sheer numbers, the facilities don’t compare to the Tikibad at Duinrell, which has far more slides, but what’s there is pretty good. In particular, we loved the Outdoor Sprudel Pool and
the Wild Water Rapids. The slides were fun too, especially the Tropical Cyclone, which seats four and has quite an exhilarating drop!

The one thing I would say, if you’re going to call it subtropical, then maybe turn the temperature up a little, especially in November!

Food and drink

We hadn’t planned on doing a lot of cooking, as we thought we’d be largely eating out most of the weekend. Though before arriving, we weren’t massively optimistic about the food and drink options, based on the reviews.

For the first night, we played it safe going to Huck’s American Bar and Grill as it seemed to get better reviews. Safe is probably the best description, pleasant enough, but not particularly outstanding.

Like most of the food and drink offerings there, Huck’s felt very chainy, like we were in a restaurant at a shopping mall. It was perfectly adequate, but not somewhere you’d rush back to and overpriced for what it was.

In addition to Huck’s, we had breakfast at Starbucks and Café Rouge, which were both as you’d expect. The best place we ate at was definitely The Pancake House, which didn’t feel as much like a chain and had a pretty good selection of pancakes.

The Pancake House is also set in a nice location, overlooking the lake. With outdoor seating, I expect it’s popular when in the summer, when the weather’s good. It was popular enough when we were there, having failed to get in the first time, then needing to book a table on the following day.

We had drinks in both the Leisure Bowl and Sports Café while we were there, either when we were bowling or playing pool. Both were decent enough and we enjoyed ourselves there and went back again.

In terms of supplies, as I mentioned there’s a small, somewhat overpriced supermarket, largely selling Co-Op products at inflated prices. With nothing else nearby, it was adequate enough, but you wouldn’t want to rely on it.

We’d not brought much with us and were trying to avoid driving anywhere, which meant relying on the shop, which was problematic at times. For example, they didn’t stock any ground coffee, just very expensive Tassimo pods, for the machines in the lodges.

Activities

We didn’t do much of the outdoor activities during this visit, partly as we didn’t have a lot of time, being there just for the weekend, plus I was wanting to do some mountain biking at Sherwood Pines, which took up a lot of time.

While I was mountain biking with our eldest, the other two did the Encounter with Owls activity, which they both really enjoyed. Outside of that, it was largely indoor activities like bowling and pool that we did.

Another factor with the activities, is that you need to book well ahead of time, with the most popular activities selling out before you get there. So if there is something you have your heart on doing, make sure you book early.

Winter Wonderland

As I mentioned, we weren’t really aware of the Winter Wonderland events happening at Center Parcs before arriving there or quite how much of a big deal they are. Like many similar places mid-November onwards, there’s a big push on Christmas events, catering for the latent demand for such things.

It became clear how popular Winter Wonderland was once we saw just how many families with young kids were there to enjoy the experience for the weekend. Sadly, our kids are now way too old now to enjoy such things, a few years ago, it would have been a different story.

For those with kids of an appropriate age, there’s various Christmas themed activities, including the Enchanted Light Garden, a small number of Christmas market stalls, festive entertainment and activities, plus an appearance by Santa. From what we saw, it goes down pretty well with the kids.

Sherwood Pines

While we were having a great time at Center Parcs, I was very keen to get off-site and try some of the mountain bike trails out at Sherwood Pines. Conveniently, it’s possible to cycle the 5km to Sherwood Pines on a largely traffic-free route.

It could be even closer and completely traffic-free if it was possible exit the site at some of the entrances around the perimeter of the site. But as these were closed, it’s necessary to cycle out of the main entrance, where you drive in.

I’ve seen people online mentioning using the alternative entrances, so they have been open at some point, but they were most definitely closed during our stay. It’s a shame they can’t provide a way for these to be open, as they make it much more convenient for anyone wanting to walk or cycle off site.

Using the main entrance, it’s still pretty straightforward getting to Sherwood Pines. At the end of the entrance road, you turn left onto the walking and cycling path that runs round the outside of the perimeter of the site.

It’s quite a rough path, with a fair few potholes along the way, so a similar standard to what we expect from the UK’s National Cycle Network! At this point, the path is next to open fields, while on the other side is the perimeter fence and trees on site.

Reaching the point where the Center Parcs site ends, you each the edge of the Sherwood Pines forest begins, which is easy to spot, by all the trees! There’s also an area with some picnic benches and information boards, if you hadn’t already sussed where you are.

Carrying on to the visitor’s centre in the forest, requires turning right, which you can do at this point or carry on a little further. Either way, as you carry on, the path changes as you ride under the cover of the trees.

From there, it’s a fairly short and pleasant ride to the visitor’s centre, if a little uphill. In the forest, we saw lots of other people walking and cycling around as well, making the most of the relatively pleasant November weather we had.

The visitor centre is your typical Forestry England setup, there’s food and drink options, with a café and shop and the usual glacial service that’s typical at such places. There’s also toilets and information points, with maps and leaflets.

For those wanting to do some activities, there’s the Go Ape treetop course and nets adventure, disc golf and a bike shop and hire. We made use of the latter, hiring a mountain bike for our eldest to ride on the trails, to accompany me.

There’s multiple trails at Sherwood Pines, suiting all ages and abilities, from green routes for the most novice family, to double-black routes in the bike park, with downhill trails and a dirt jump area. Full details on Forestry England’s website.

As our eldest hadn’t done anything like this before, we started with The Robin Hood Trail blue route, to ease ourselves in. This was pretty easy, so after doing a lap, we moved onto The Outlaw Trail red route, which was a little more challenging.

In terms of the trails, there’s plenty of singletrack to ride along, with large berm sections through the trees. There isn’t any massively steep hills to ride up and down, though there’s a few gentle climbs.

The scenery along the trails is lovely, riding through the forest. Especially in the autumn, with all the golden foliage and fallen leaves on the ground. I expect it changes quite significantly throughout the year as the seasons change.

The trails do get quite busy at times. With all abilities using the trails, at times you can find yourself in a queue of riders going round, which can be frustrating, as you wait for an overtaking spot. Given this was November, it must be even worse in the summer.

We went to Sherwood Pines twice during our trip, with me going on a solo mountain bike ride on our second visit there, while the others went for a walk. Again, I went along the The Outlaw Trail, until I managed to get lost at one point, before repeating a large section of the route. Very typical of me!

With the exception of the jumps in the Bike Park, there probably isn’t a lot for your seasoned mountain biker at Sherwood Pines. But for your more casual riders or beginners, it can be lots of fun. We certainly enjoyed it a lot.

With those rides to Sherwood Pines and evenings out, the weekend flew by and it was soon time to pack and head home. After vacating our lodge, we went for a final ride round and lunch at The Pancake House before heading home.

We really enjoyed our stay at Center Parcs, particularly being in such a relaxed, traffic-free environment, surrounded by nature. Having access to the nearby Sherwood Pines really added to the experience too. It was enough for us to return to Center Parcs in the following year, which I’ll be writing about soon.