This weekend, I visited Whinfell Forest at Center Parcs with my friends from university. I had such a fabulous time and really wanted to write a post, summing the weekend up!

We arrived at 2:30pm on Friday the 19th January. Once we entered the park through the secure gates, I felt like I was in the dome world which was featured in the Simpsons. You feel like you enter a secure, little world of your own. You are surrounded by enormous pine-trees and tiny forest-creatures, which scurry around in the day and night! We were able to enter our lodge as soon as we arrived, but we could not drive our car to the lodge until 3:30pm.

The lodge was clean and well-equipped. Our lodge had three rooms and could sleep six people. We paid for the basic lodge and I dread to see the more expensive lodges... as ours was absolutely lovely, so I cannot imagine what they would look like! We even had our own log-fire, which was fabulous for roasting marshmallows! Not to mention, we had our own patio area outside, equipped with a barbecue. We found it a tad too cold for a barbecue, but I did see our neighbours have one... I was extremely envious!

On the Saturday, we visited the Village Center. It is like an in-door shopping centre. It's equipped with different bars and restaurants, a sweet shop, a supermarket and a gift shop. Inside the Village Center, is the Subtropical Swimming Paradise. It is a huge, indoor pool and it is equipped with waterslides, an outdoor pool, a wave pool, a lazy river and a jacuzzi! We had such a good time, and I would recommend it for anyone who needs to tire their children out!

After swimming, we went back to the lodge and glammed up, before heading out to Hucks. Hucks is a modern, American-style restaurant. To be completely honest, the food was over-priced... but that's Center Parcs for you. Everything at Center Parcs is over-priced, no matter where you go, based on the fact that you are five miles from the nearest town! However, I ordered a Texas Burger and thoroughly enjoyed it. It was tasty and filling, which definitely suits me!

On the Sunday, we woke up to a winter wonderland! The snow was settling heavily, so we decided to take a walk. We then visited the Village Center again to pick up some Krispy Kreme donuts (YUM!) and headed to the Pancake House. Just to warn you, they get extremely busy in there and some people were being asked to wait between 20-40 minutes. However, they give you a buzzer which you carry around with you and they buzz it when your table is ready, which is a fantastic idea! Luckily, there was only two of us going that day, so we managed to get seated straight away. Now, the Pancake House is my ideal dining experience. It sells a range of savoury or sweet pancakes and waffles. I decided to go for Banoffee Waffle, and it did not disappoint! Not only was the food amazing, all of the staff were so lovely to us! I also loved that they were incredibly allergy conscious... My friend had a nut allergy and her food arrived with a warning flag, which allowed her to feel settled that her food was nut-free!

We decided to have a quiet night on the Sunday night, and in the morning we returned to the Pancake House as a large group. This time I had the "New Yorker"... a pancake stack drizzled in bacon and maple syrup. IT. WAS. AMAZING! We had to vacate our lodge by 10am, but you can spend as long as you like in the park on your last day.

Overall, I had a fantastic time at Center Parcs with my friends. My highlight was definitely the waffles and pancakes! There are lots of different activities to do if you're more outgoing. If it had been nicer weather, I definitely would have loved to have gone on the Quad Bike Safari! However, I was quite content sitting by the fire, watching the snow fall and enjoying a cold glass of Prosecco!

Thank you so much for reading my post!