A Scottish Staycation at Landal Piperdam Lodges, near Dundee

[Discloure: our accommodation was free of charge, in exchange for a review]

As you’ve probably gathered by now, we’ve become big fans of log-cabin style staycations this year: partly because they give us the opportunity to explore parts of Scotland we’ve never really seen before, but also because they’re such a perfect solution for families with young children.

Landal Piperdam, near Dundee, is a particularly good example here, because, as well as the cabins themselves, there’s also tons of activities on offer, plus a bunch of facilities – such as a play barn and park – which help keep little people occupied, while their parents have a bit of a break: or try to, at least.

Here’s how we got on during our stay at Piperdam last week…

The Lodge

There’s a total of 17 (Yes, seventeen…) different styles of lodge to choose from at Piperdam: we stayed in the two-bedroom Raeburn, which had its own hot tub, plus tons of space for Max to run around and burn off some of the copious energy he has right now:

Our lodge was almost brand-new, and I loved the high ceilings and big windows, which made it feel incredibly spacious. We were right at the top of a hill, but many of the other lodges were nestled in the woodland which makes up part of the Piperdam site, with some of the larger cabins right next to the lake. The woodland setting meant there was tons of wildlife around: we spotted a red squirrel as we were driving through the resort one day, and came home that night to find a little rabbit sitting on the lawn outside our lodge. Max had lots of fun gathering pine cones around the cabin, and as for Terry and I, we just counted down the hours until we could slip into the hot tub every night. (And also during the day, actually: the patio area behind our lodge was a complete sun trap, and we were blessed with some amazingly nice weather while we were there, so we made the most of it while we could!)

The Food

All of the lodges at Piperdam come with fully-equipped kitchens, but if you don’t feel like cooking, there’s also a restaurant and bar on site, or you can choose to have food delivered to your lodge, if you prefer. On our first night there, we are at the Room With a View restaurant, which does, indeed, have a pretty nice view of the loch which the resort sits next to:

You can see the various different menus for this restaurant here, and if you’re guessing that Terry had the burger and I had the mac and cheese, then, yes, you guessed right – we really ARE that predictable:

The takeaway menu, meanwhile, isn’t nearly as extensive, but it was really handy to be able to just call down to the restaurant and have hot food delivered to our lodge just as Max went off to bed for the night! (Also, that was a damn tasty burger, not even joking…)

The facilities

One of the things that sets the Piperdam resort apart from some of the other UK breaks we’ve had is the sheer amount of facilities on site. As well as the indoor pool and spa, there’s also a kids’ play barn (Which Max absolutely LOVED, needless to say…), and outdoor play park, plus tons of different activities to try: there’s a full list here, but there’s basically everything from traditional outdoor activities like cycling and archery, all the way through to stuff like zorbing, sea scooters, and the opportunity to quite literally walk on water. No, I’m serious – just click on the link if you don’t believe me. Oh, and the activity barn, where some of these take place, also has a snack bar, which was handy, because there’s not much that’ll drag Max away from soft play: not even food…

While Max became closely acquainted with the contents of the ball pool, meanwhile, my parents (Who came with us) and I decided to try some indoor Segway riding:

Our hour-long session cost £12 each, and by the end of it, I was pretty sure I was just going to jack in the blogging, and become a professional Segway rider: because if that isn’t a thing, then all I can say is it totally should be. (And also, yes, I really suit the helmet, no?) Well, OK, maybe not quite, but when the session ended, I DID spend a bit of time trying to convince Terry (Who volunteered to look after Max, as he’d tried Segways before…) that we really, really needed our own Segway. Doesn’t everyone, though?

Seriously, though, this was just so much fun, and it’s definitely something I’d love to do again, if I had the chance. If it’s not quite your thing, though, there’s so much other stuff on offer here that I’m pretty sure there’d be something for everyone: and, of course, if you do get bored, the Piperdam site is just 6 miles outside of Dundee, and within easy driving distance of places like Perth and St, Andrews, which makes it a great base from which to explore this part of the world. Outside of Scotland, meanwhile, there are Landal Greenparks sites all over the UK and Europe, so take a look at the website to see if any of them take your fancy!

RELATED:

The best lodges with hot tubs in Scotland