Center Parcs Sherwood Forest Review From Our Second Visit

There are five Center Parcs resorts in the UK - we visited Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire

The last time we visited Center Parcs Sherwood Forest was in February 2020. It turned out to be our last trip away for some time, for obvious reasons.

Our visit in summer 2025 was more successful.

We stayed in a standard lodge, known as a Woodland Lodge. Ours had four bedrooms and cost us about £1500 for a weekend. It was number 727 and was in the Pine section of the site, if you're interested.

As you'll be aware, Center Parcs has a reputation for being more expensive than other holiday park chains around the UK.

​So, what are you getting for your money, and is it worth it?

The UK Center Parcs are all built within forests

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Our accommodation

The grade of accommodation we chose was the cheapest offered by Center Parcs - but the price was higher because we had a four bedroom version. It was clean and comfortable, and the kitchen had what we needed including a dishwasher (essential in my opinion).

Our lounge in our Woodland Lodge was light and had enough seats for everyone

The kitchen was narrow but well equipped and had plenty of cupboard space

The dining table had enough space for a chair each, which isn't always the case at holiday parks!

We had two bedrooms with king size beds

We also had two twin bedrooms, with mattresses that were slightly narrower than a standard single (I think)

There was also a decent outdoor seating area and a barbecue stand

We had a bathroom, a shower room and a WC

I also had a nosey around the site to see some of the larger and posher properties that are available if you are willing to cough up a bit more. As previously discussed, some of these can cost £10,000 for a week!

This property is an upgrade from the standard Woodland Lodges

Two-storey houses and 'treehouses' tend to be the most expensive

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The swimming pool at Center Parcs Sherwood Forest

For a lot of people, the swimming pool is the main reason to visit Center Parcs. I'm certainly in that category and we made the most of the Subtropical Paradise Pool. Overall, we visited five times - including on our arrival and departure days (you can use the facilities all day, even when you aren't yet checked in).

It must be said, these pools are very well done. 

They are also one of the few things that aren't charged extra, so you'll want to squeeze the juice out of it.

Our younger daughter spent most of her time around the main pool, which gets gradually deeper and has a clear cut off point for more confident swimmers. She also liked the Venture Bay splash park, which is an excellent addition with small slides, buckets that dump water on your head and so on. It's very similar to an indoor splash park we found at Center Parcs Erperheide in Belgium.

Our older daughter and I spent a most of our time exploring the more adventurous activities. ​

The busiest and most popular attraction at Center Parcs Sherwood Forest is the swimming pool

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Water slides and rides at Center Parcs Sherwood Forest

The big water rides are the Grand Cascade and the Tropical Cyclone, where four people sit on an inflatable seat and are sent whooshing down a giant tube. 

I gave Tropical Cyclone a go on my own and realised when I was at the front of the queue that I would need to buddy up with others, as it's not safe to ride alone. This did require me to get cosy with a random family, but they seemed to cope. I had to repeat the trick on the following day when I did the Grand Cascade.

Both rides were exhilarating but I would say that Tropical Cyclone was the slightly more intense of the two.

There are also two good-sized flumes that are mostly enclosed. These were more a familiar sort of thing and were both good fun, if not quite white-knuckle rides.

Queues were an issue. I waited about 20 minutes for Tropical Cyclone and Grand Cascade but I noted that the queue was considerably longer at other times.

When we visited, the main pool was open from 10am to 9pm, but the two big water rides were only open from 11am to 7pm. I visited at 6.30pm on one evening in the hope that everyone would have gone home, but the queue was still pretty mammoth.

The swimming pool at Center Parcs Sherwood Forest is warm and full of things to do

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The Rapids at Center Parcs Sherwood Forest

The rapids at Center Parcs Sherwood Forest are more intense than the ones we tried at Center Parcs Erperheide. I would recommend trying it at a quiet time, as it's difficult to avoid bumping into strangers and it takes a while to figure out a good strategy to keep your speed up. First-timers often end up stopping completely.

If you are visiting with children (or adults) who are unsure about the rapids, then here's my advice:

1. There are three sections to the rapids, which get gradually more intense. The first section is not bad at all and you can get out of the pool instead of carrying on. For the first section, I prefer to go head first and found that I often stopped if I went feet first.
   
   
2. For the second and third sections, you have to go feet first. After the second section, there's another chance to get out of the pool (near to the foot of the short steep slide for younger children). I found it best to go ahead of child one and then I could stand and grab her as she passed. It's very unlikely that you'll get dragged onto the final section, but it gave some reassurance for her.
   
   
3. The final plunge pool is the trickiest bit, as you sometimes get into a bit of a blender of people and swirling water. There are two exits and you need to get yourself to the ropes around the edge before more people come behind you. My advice is to drop off the final slope on the right hand side and grab onto the rope as soon as you land.

There are also hot tubs, an outdoor pool and some other decent slides that kept us entertained.

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Other entertainment at Center Parcs Sherwood Forest

The site covers about 400 acres but most activities are around the middle

A combination of paper maps and Google Maps kept up from getting lost

We were reluctant to sign up for too many activities, as we found at Center Parcs Erperheide in Belgium that the swimming pool takes up quite a lot of time. We also brought our own bikes (hiring is an option, but it's expensive), and I was keen to spend some time cycling round the site. There are very few cars around, as you are obliged to move them to a communal car park once you've unloaded.

Cycling is the best way to get around at Center Parcs - but hiring bikes is about £100 for a family of four for a weekend

The main lake was looking very sparkly when we visited in late August

There are some other free things to do - including a pretty good playground.

This playground filled half an hour of our time

My reluctance to sign up for activities is also - of course - because they are expensive at Center Parcs.

We paid £44 per person for the Aerial Adventure. It was great fun and finished with a thrilling 250m zip line across the main lake, but it would cost a family of five more than £200 for an hour's entertainment.

The Aerial Adventure took about an hour and went through the trees

Activities aren't cheap, but they are well run

The Aerial Adventure ended with a zip ride across a lake

Child one's other choice of activity was cupcakes. Again, this was good fun but at £28 it wasn't cheap.

Child two didn't fancy high ropes or cupcakes so chose pottery painting. I didn't dare ask Mrs Guru how much it cost, but I remember from 2020 that it was the most expensive mug I'd ever bought, by some distance. Yes, I felt like a mug.

The range of activities is large - including pottery painting

We didn't do the woodland minigolf, but it looked good fun

Lots of indoor sports are available in the Jardin des Sport

We also did the Tag Adventure, which was a bit like soft play combined with Ninja Warrior

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Eating out at Center Parcs

We ate out twice at Center Parcs Sherwood Forest. The first time was Hucks, which is an American themed restaurant. The second was the Pancake House.

Both were decent meals and - importantly for us - both of them were very clued up on allergies. The staff were all excellent and deserved the 7.5% tip that is automatically added onto the bill.

Prices for main meals at Hucks were about £15 - £20. The Pancake House was slightly cheaper at about £13 for a main meal. Kids Menu prices are a bit better, with a main, side and drink or main, side and dessert costing about £11.

The Village Square is home to several restaurants

I enjoyed my house salad with cajun chicken

Some national chains have restaurants at Center Parcs Sherwood Forest

This sweet shop proved popular with our children (and I enjoyed my Coconut Cookie ice cream)

There are several Starbucks around the resort

Another familiar name for eating out!

This large pub looked appealing, although we ran out of time to eat there

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Vibe and ambience at Center Parcs

There is a part of me that wants to poo-poo the Center Parcs experience. It's very expensive and it's certainly a rather sanitised way to experience nature compared to wild camping or hiking in the Lake District.

We were lucky to get some sunshine during our stay at Center Parcs Sherwood Forest

However, I must admit I loved our latest visit to Center Parcs. Cycling without hazardous cars is a joy. The swimming pool is outstanding. The activities we did were all well organised. Other guests that we spoke to seemed pleasant and were enjoying themselves.

The lakes make a visit to Center Parcs much more scenic

One downside is the busyness.

​We visited in late August, during school holidays and at times it was a bit much. We queued for 25 minutes to get in (to be fair, it was 40 minutes, when we visited in 2020). I would have liked to go on the big water slides more than once, but the queues were just too long to bother.

The high ropes was a little slow, as it was full and there was a lot of waiting for people in front to conquer a wobbly platform before we could proceed. One of our meals out was very noisy, although we ended up next to the soft play area, so that wasn't surprising.​

Center Parcs is hugely popular, despite charging more than most holiday parks in the UK

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Looking for a cheaper alternative?

Long time readers of this website (Ed: don't flatter yourself) will be aware that we are fans of Center Parcs Europe, which are generally much cheaper than the UK resorts.

The great big caveat is that Center Parcs Europe are hit and miss. There are five out of 28 that get scores in the same ballpark as the UK resorts including:

1. Center Parcs Het Meerdal (Netherlands) 
2. Center Parcs Park Bostalsee (Germany) 
3. Center Parcs Terhills Resort (Belgium)
4. Center Parcs De Vossemeren (Belgium)
5. ​Center Parcs Erperheide (Belgium)

Some get considerably worse scores than the UK resorts! Don't assume that it will be on a par with a UK resort just because it carries the Center Parcs name.

To find out more, read our guide to the best Center Parcs Europe.

Center Parcs Erperheide in Belgium is a cheaper alternative. We visited last year and can recommend it.

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Most of the photos on Holiday Park Guru are original photos that we’ve taken ourselves from our own visits to 100+ holiday parks around the UK. Please don’t use them without permission. ​