Last weekend we celebrated the start of the six week summer holidays with a mini break to Carden Park. Our Saturday night away at the gorgeous Carden Park near Chester was the perfect start to summer. The last half term has been incredibly hectic for the whole family – more so that the usual end of term craziness of summer fairs etc as my H is now 11, so when the bell rang on Friday at 3:30pm that was primary school done for him! Next step high school! He’s ready! Me? Not so much!
After a fizzy Friday to celebrate we left the school bags and PE kit in the hall on Saturday morning and set off for Chester for some family R&R. En route we stopped at the Cheshire Ice Cream Farm which is just 15-minutes away from Carden Park, for an ice cream – always delicious. Other nearby attractions include Chester Zoo (25 minutes), the Blue Planet (30 minutes) and The Crocky Trail (20 minutes).
Carden Park ‘Cheshire’s country estate’ sits in 1,000 acres of lush countryside, with a mile-long drive winding up through the golf course. The four of us stayed in an estate view family room. The room was a good size with two double beds decorated in a classic-contemporary style, with excellent beds, bedding and modern bathrooms complete with ESPA toiletries.
We arrived about 3pm and top of the kids to do list was the pool. The leisure and spa facilities include an indoor pool, gym and ESPA treaments. Within the pool area there was a fantastic hydrotherapy pool, sauna and steam room which Mr L and I both enjoyed whilst the kids splashed happily for a few hours.
Carden Park really delivers on the activities front. There is an extensive list on offer of things to do there genuinely wasn’t a moment to be bored. There is two championship golf courses, archery, quad biking, Segways, aerial ropes course, Jeep off-roading experiences foot golf and more. After our swim we chilled in our room, we read and the kids watched You Tube videos – standard!
We had booked a table at The Vines, the more casual dining option of the two restaurants, for dinner and enjoyed a lovely meal. The kids declared the garlic bread “the best ever” and heaven arrived in dessert form – doughnuts with a white chocolate dipping sauce!
After supper we all watched a movie in bed and enjoyed an early bedtime and great night’s sleep. Just what we all needed. In the morning we enjoyed a delicious breakfast which no one had to shop or cook for, bliss, and a round of crazy golf.
Check out was at 11am and we were booked to do the Kong high ropes at 1pm so the kids hit the pool for another hour. Once dry we hung out in the games room at The Event Station where most of the on site activities start from. Top tip – book in advance, most activities were fully booked up in advance. There is plenty in the games room to keep everyone occupied – air hockey, pool, table football and table tennis, the kids were almost disappointed when 1pm arrived and Harry invited us to get kitted up.
Harry was great fun, spirits were high and the few nerves were all laughed off by the time we reached Alex and it was time for them to get climbing! By them, I mean the climbers who were Mr L, 11yo Lil’ H and 8yo Diva G. Moi? I was the photographer and ground floor cheer leader!
Thanks to Alex our amazing instructor who skilfully directed the Lancaster tribe through the trees in one piece avoiding some very close near to total meltdowns from the Diva who made it right the way through and even down the mega zip-wire back down to earth.
Thank you so much! Carden Park was an hour away for us yet we returned home, to the PE bags in the hall, it felt like we had been away longer. In a nutshell it was like popping to a luxury Centre Parcs for the night with the blissful knowledge that there was a chef there! Thank you Carden Park, the whole family loved coming to stay!
For the best deal book direct and for latest offers visit www.cardenpark.co.uk
*Disclosure: we were invited to enjoy a free one night stay including breakfast and the aerial high ropes in exchange for our thoughts and of course sharing them with you here.
