A Home For The Weekend In The Woods at Kelling Heath

On Friday I celebrated my 28th birthday with Adam and our boys with a trip to Norfolk to stay in a luxury holiday home at Kelling Heath. 

Arriving around 4pm after a 3 hour drive (check-in starts from 3pm), it was so lovely to find what would be our home for the next two nights, nestled in between tall trees in the woodland. The positioning of our holiday home was my idea of perfect - calm and peaceful among nature. 

The tall trees and the space between our holiday home and the surrounding homes meant that we felt like we had privacy and that our little outside area was more like our own little garden with a little bench (or table if you'd prefer) that on a hot summers day you could eat at.

Inside was just as lovely - each room made it really feel like a luxury holiday home. The living area was spacious yet cosy, I loved the layout and the fact that the boys had room to play on the floor. There was a TV Adam and I could watch in the evening and an electric fire that helped create a really cosy feeling in the evenings. 

The kitchen was again spacious and modern and there was a lovely wooden table big enough for our family of four to eat dinner at together. The two bedrooms were also spacious and had tons of cupboard storage space. We had one double bed in one room and two single beds in the other, we requested a travel cot for Logan and the staff arrived less than five minutes later to swap the bed out for him. There was an en suite off of the main bedroom and another toilet and shower opposite the boys room. The shower was lovely, I stayed in there far longer than I needed to and the water pressure was great. 

About a five minute walk from us was the main village square where there was reception where we could speak to the staff, check-in and out and get information about things to do at Kelling and the surrounding area. There was also a lovely little shop where you could get your essentials from, two restaurants and a bar along with amusements and a fun indoor play area for the kids. There was also a gym and an indoor and an outdoor swimming pool. I saw table tennis set up and a market on the day we were leaving, plus they had their own little red squirrels which are part of a national scheme for captive breeding. The village square is also where the entertainment runs from and where you can hire bicycles and start out on different walks and trails.

Unfortunately on our main day at Kelling Heath (the Saturday) the weather worked against us and literally poured with rain ALL day long, so we didn't get to experience as much as we would have liked. We'd bought some sheep feed from the little shop for 50p and were exited about going to feed them, but the weather was so bad we had to turn around whilst on route. We did however make it to the viewing point where we managed to snap a few photos before getting thoroughly soaked. So we parked the idea of outside activities which was such a shame as we felt that Kelling Heath had so much to offer in the way of an outdoor family break, and instead we opted for indoor swimming.

One thing that really struck me was just how clean and modern everything seemed to be at Kelling Heath and for a clean-freak like me that was just perfect. I've previously had issues with swimming changing facilities in other places, but the changing facilities at Kelling were kept clean and the modern decor was a great touch. The boys loved having a swim with their Daddy, they had such huge grins on their faces. I so badly wanted to capture a photo, but as with most swimming pools, no photographs were allowed. Everything was really lovely, but I did just feel a little like the staff at the swimming pool could have been a little happier. 

After our swim we headed over to The Forge & Terrace restaurant for lunch. We found that the menus cater really well to vegetarians and whilst the boys opted for egg, Adam ordered himself a vegetarian cooked breakfast. - which he must have loved as he gobbled it down rather quickly!

We headed back to our holiday home afterwards to let the boys nap and have a rest and then once they'd done that we headed out again to see if we could make it on to a steam-train. We'd sadly missed the best time to catch the train as we were due to have dinner at 5pm at the restaurant again, so we instead went for a walk to see the Fishing Lake and to see where the trains passed by (which is quite a view!).

For dinner we ate again The Forge & Terrace. Both the adults and the kids menus had plenty of veggie options to choose from and it was nice to see healthy options on the kids menu. The boys had cheesy pasta as they're such big fans of pasta and Adam and I opted for the vegetarian chilli. It wasn't quite what we were expecting, but none the less it was nice to see that they had made an effort to have a vegetarian alternative. The staff in the restaurant were super friendly and very accommodating. 

After dinner we headed back to our holiday home to snuggle in front of the electric fire and watch X Factor after the boys went down for the night. In the morning we had to check out by 10am. The weather was (typically) sunny, but as we had to check out of our home it meant we had to pack the pushchair away to make it fit in with all of our belongings so we couldn't stay for the day. It's good to know that it is possible to park in their car park after check out though and enjoy your last day there. 

It was really lovely to experience Kelling Heath, it's such a beautiful place with so much to offer. It's super clean and modern. I personally found the lack of wifi a little difficult, but then my Husband and I do both have jobs that are run through the Internet, someone else might not find switching off a problem. (There is free wifi available in the village square). I feel that in hindsight we probably should have gone for longer, 4-5 days minimum (plus some nicer weather) is probably more what we needed to really get to experience everything on offer and explore the surrounding area too because there is so much on offer. I feel like Kelling Heath would be the perfect break for a family who love getting outdoors and being close to nature. 

A Three-night short break for four in a Luxury Holiday Home like we stayed in starts from £172, a week starts from £277. A Three-night short break for four in a Woodland Lodge starts from £353, a week starts from £696. For more information about holidays at Kelling Heath Holiday Park call 01263 588 181, or visit www.kellingheath.co.uk

A little video of our weekend in the woods:

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We were invited to stay at Kelling Heath in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts, opinions and photos are all my own.