Glamping, tank paintball and the Great Outdoors may not sound like the usual hen do – and it’s not! It’s better.
Here at Country Bumpkin Yurts, we’ve been honoured to have hosted 3 hen dos in almost as many weeks. Fancy something a little different for your hens? Have a read of our guide to having an amazing alternative hen do in yurts.
Imagine a beautiful bright tent, big enough for proper beds, fairy lights, candles and a log burning stove. A Mongolian style yurt is a marvellous tent structure – and is your base for the weekend. Glamping combines the best of camping with the luxuries of home. You’ll have hot water, showers and phone charging (none of us can cope without this nowadays). And sleeping in the same space with all the girlies feels like the ultimate sleepover. One of our recent guests maximised on this and provided the hens with their own sleepover kit. How cute!
There are plenty of fun activities for all the hens both on-site and in the local area. You can create an itinerary that suits any and all interests. Here are a few ideas:
#gooutdoors
You could spend the day exploring the surrounding countryside. The Brampton Valley Way is in on our doorstep. There is a little gate straight to it (see our facebook video). We are located by the long, dark and spooky Great Oxendon Tunnels too. These are good fun to venture into – if you dare. There are plenty of wonderful picnic spots just off the track, so fill up a basket of goodies and take it with you to enjoy. Afternoon tea in the fields and woodlands of Leicestershire and Northamptonshire is a delight.
Gin making
During the hen do you could make your very own berry gin as a memento, then drink it on the wedding day or on the bride’s 1-year anniversary. Bring a few bottles of unflavoured gin and some caster sugar with you to Country Bumpkin Yurts. Then go for a lovely walk to collect berries. Depending on the time of year, we suggest elderberries or elderflowers, sloe berries, blackberries, or rosehips. All of these can either be found on site or not far away. Different berries need varying times to seep flavour into the gin, so this will determine whether you crack open the bottles to drink on the wedding day or on the anniversary. It will be a lovely way of getting the hens together again in a year’s time to celebrate the bride surviving 1 year of marriage.
Tank paintballing & water park
If you and your hens are looking for something a bit more adrenaline pumping, try tank paintballing at Armourgeddon or the inflatable challenge at Rutland Aquapark.
Armourgeddon is the ‘home of tank paintball battles.’ The fundamentals of traditional paintball- shoot big balls of paint at something, but without the pain! You take the controls of an FV432 tank. Think paintball without the bruises – the tank bears the brunt of the hits! There can’t be a much better way to let off wedding-stress-steam than a day with the girls, tanks, cannons, mud and guns zipping around a WWII bombing range. You can rely on having a hen do which is fun, exhilarating and memorable.
The Aqua Park measures over 100m by 80m of floating inflatable fun. The Aqua Park has climbing walls, trampolines, balance bars, rockers, rollers, blast bags the UK’s biggest slides and a special corner for adrenaline junkies – it’s awesome! All hens are guaranteed to have a great time – just do not expect to stay dry. At all.
After a day of activities, you have a few options…
A walk or quick taxi ride to Market Harborough (3 miles away) for dinner and cocktails. Or a home (yurt)-cooked meal and a relaxing night in the eco-friendly hot tub with a bottle of bubbly. Market Harborough has loads of restaurants, cafes and bars. There is food to cater to all tastes, cuisines, and budgets. TripAdvisor is a good way of finding the right place for you and your hens. Our favourite places for cocktails with the girls are The Oathill and Louisa’s Place.
On the glamping site, you can use the hobs in the kitchen to make some super comfort food. Macaroni cheese using cheese from the farm shop is an easy and tasty option. Then feel your wedding stresses melt away in the wood-burning hot tub whilst watching the stars. Bliss.
So, there you go, our guide on an alternative hen do. A glamping hen party to remember!
If you are thinking of having your hen do with us, give us a call or email as we can help with decorations and special goodies using our wonderful local suppliers. We love helping you to make your glamping break extra special. Thinking about dates already? You can see our yurt availability here.
Whatever you do for your hen do – enjoy! And congratulations from all of us at Country Bumpkin Yurts.
