Darwin Forest
After our Wedding we had a couple of days before we went on our first honeymoon. We’d booked to go to Darwin Forest Country Forest near Matlock. Darwin Forest Country Park is in the beautiful Derbyshire Peak District. It provides luxury self-catering holiday accommodation.
Darwin Forest was the perfect place to stay for the scenic countryside, picturesque villages and the local attractions. For those wanting to relax and take it easy at Darwin Forest, you’ve got everything you need.There are allsorts of different lodges to suit your needs. The lodge we stayed in just fit the two of us and was a spa lodge.
Elite 1 Spa Lodge
We booked to stay in one of the lodges on the park for Monday to Friday. The Elite 1 Spa Lodge had;
- Double bedroom with king size bed
- En-suite bathroom with spa bath, sauna and shower
- Fridge, dishwasher and oven
- TV, DVD and Wifi
The Elite 1 Spa lodges are perfect for couples and even more so for those on their honeymoon! Especially as it has its own hot tub so you can relax with a glass of fizz on the decking outside.
The lodges are all wooden and were so cosy and comfortable. We definitely made ourselves at home.
The lodges are self-catered and we took food for all of our meals. The lodges have a decent sized fridge, cupboard space, an oven, microwave and all the pots, pans and cutlery you’d need.
However, they do have a cafe and a restaurant on site. We had a coffee in the cafe and in the middle of the week we ate in the Foresters Restaurant. It was lovely! We had a spontaneous late lunch after a walk around the site one afternoon too. The pizzas are a must!
Woodland Walks
As the lodges are nestled in picturesque woodland it would be rude not to explore. There are many walks you can take around the site or there is a Trim Trak & orienteering course. However we just took ourselves on a wander round. We figured out that we actually walked the orienting course backwards!
We went in the spring time and we saw baby rabbits, which were adorable! I can imagine that it’d be lovely any time of the year. Including in the rain, it’s just so pretty! It definitely made me wish we’d taken a better camera. Rabbits and squirrels visited us every morning.
Family Friendly
Even though it was our honeymoon, we did have some visitors. We had my parents and Dan’s parents join us for a day to do a swap over with Alfie. I was still breastfeeding at the time, so as you can imagine I needed to see him! We’d also never left him for that long so we’d missed him a lot too!
We popped into the Little Monkeys Soft Play Area with Alfie as the weather was rubbish. It has got to be one of the best play areas I’ve ever taken him too! Alfie and Nanny had an absolute ball… Big kids hey?!
The Foresters Restaurant was perfect for a big group of us and was really child friendly. They got busy very quickly so if you are staying at Darwin Forest I’d book a table just to be on the safe side.
Activities
A chilled out Honeymoon was needed so we didn’t venture out too much. We enjoyed the hot tub, played cards, watched DVDs. However we did play Mini-Golf. It’s such a fun course and we had a great time. Dan did win though… I’m not bitter I promise!
There is also a swimming pool, Tennis Court, Adventure Playground, a Spa and the option to hire bikes. There really is something for everybody and something for the whole family.
Darwin Forest was perfect for our honeymoon and it would be perfect for families also. We had a lovely stay and we’d love to go back! Maybe that’s what we should do for our anniversary?!
Mrs Fox xx
