Ribby Hall Village: Swimming Pool, Day Visits and Lodges Nearby

Picture the kids racing up the slide tower while you grab a lounger, then a pirate golf course, a mini zoo and a show in The Hive before tea. That’s a normal day at Ribby Hall Village, a family-owned, five-star holiday village set in over 130 acres of Lancashire countryside at Wrea Green, between Preston and the Fylde Coast.

VisitEngland rates it five stars.

You don’t have to stay on site to use it, either. Day visitors can book the swimming, Wild Discovery and lots of the activities, so a lodge a few minutes down the road works just as well, often with your own hot tub and room for the dog. Here’s how the swimming works, what else to do and where to stay nearby.

Ribby Hall Village swimming pool: slides, times and booking

There are two pools, both indoors and both open every day, so the weather can do what it likes. The times below come from its own swimming page, and they do change, so check before you set off.

The Leisure Pool and its slides

This is the one the kids will drag you to. It’s tropical themed, with a splash lagoon for the smallest children, interactive water features, swimming lanes, hot tubs and feature showers. Then there are the thrill slides. The star is a 48m interactive slide, added in a £1.5m refurbishment in 2017, that loops out of the building and back in while you play a reaction game on a touchpad, so everyone can compare scores at the bottom! The slides shut at 7pm, an hour before the water does.

The adults-only pool

Fancy lengths in peace? The 25m pool is for over-16s, with fast lanes, loungers, a sauna and a steam room, and it’s only open to Health Club members and holiday guests.

Rules for children in the water

• One adult for each child under 4
• One adult for every two children aged 4 to 7
• Older kids need an adult swimming with them, and the day visitor page says 12 and over can swim alone
• The changing rooms are wheelchair accessible

Can you swim here on a day visit?

Yes. Day visitors pre-book online through the day visitor swimming page, and slots are released on a rolling basis, 24 hours before each session. Set a reminder, as school holiday slots go quickly.

Staying on site? Holiday guests book every swim through their My Account page. For anything else, call 0800 085 1717.

What else is there to do at Ribby Hall?

There’s rather a lot, and while plenty of the shows and toddler sessions are included in a break for staying guests, other activities are charged and booked separately.

The Hive

It’s open daily from 9am until late. Inside you’ll find daytime and evening shows, an arcade with air hockey, soft play for little ones and a café serving all day. There’s pizza from Papa John’s on site too, plus Terrazza for Italian and a bar for the grown-ups.

Wild Discovery and the outdoor stuff

Wild Discovery is Ribby’s own mini zoo, with farmyard animals, an exotic house of jungle creatures, a Safari Walk and a free flying bird show. Tickets are on the Wild Discovery website, and under-2s go free.

• Pirates Bay Adventure Golf, a 12-hole pirate course (4 and under free)
• Pedal boats on the lake, and a climbing wall that looks over it
• Bike hire, archery, tennis and a nine-hole golf course for 14 and over
• An adventure play area with a pirate ship
• A woodland trail with wood carvings and a pond dipping platform

For the grown-ups

Grown-ups get a look in too, as The Spa Hotel won the Good Spa Guide’s UK’s Best Day Spa award and staying guests get one personal training session in the gym during their stay.

Christmas and Halloween

At Christmas there’s Santa’s Grotto and a Sleeping Beauty pantomime. Midweek Little Elf breaks add free activities for under-5s. Halloween brings a Trick or Treat Trail, which lines up neatly with our October half term deals.

Staying on site: cottages, hot tubs and holiday homes

The village’s own cottages, pine lodges, larger signature properties and The Motel are all booked direct with it. Some cottages are dog friendly, and there are hot tub breaks and baby and toddler breaks. Fall for the place and there are luxury lodges and static caravans for sale. Recent TripAdvisor reviews mention refurbished cottages and a welcome pack for the dogs.

Staying there gets you the adults-only pool and the included activities, but day visitors can use most of the other facilities too.

Want your own lodge instead, with a hot tub on the deck and a quieter evening? Book one close by and pop over for a swim.

Lodges near Ribby Hall with hot tubs and room for the dog

Every park here is within an hour’s drive, and all of them welcome pets. Sharing a bigger lodge between two families is the easy way to keep the cost down.

Ream Hills Holiday Park, Lancashire

Driving Distance: About 6 minutes (2.7 miles) | Sleeps: Up to 16 | Hot tubs: Yes | Pet friendly? Yes

Lodges beside a lake in quiet Fylde countryside, each with its own outdoor hot tub and the largest sleeping 16, just 4 miles from Blackpool.

Waterside Hambleton Lakeside Lodges, Lancashire

Driving Distance: About 16 minutes (8.4 miles) | Sleeps: Up to 6 | Hot tubs: Yes | Pet friendly? Yes

Part of the Evermore collection, these lodges wrap around small lakes. Every one has a hot tub right on the water’s edge. It’s rated 4.8, and there are walks from the front door.

Beacon Fell View, Lancashire

Driving Distance: About 28 minutes (17.1 miles) | Sleeps: Up to 4 | Hot tubs: No | Pet friendly? Yes

Wide views over the Ribble Valley from 35 acres of landscaped parkland, with an indoor pool and fishing on site. It’s a good fit for couples or a small group with a dog.

Riverside Holiday Park, Lancashire

Driving Distance: About 36 minutes (21.2 miles) | Sleeps: Up to 8 | Hot tubs: Yes | Pet friendly? Yes

Ten minutes’ drive from Southport, with leisure facilities of its own (an indoor pool, gym, adventure playground, bar and restaurant) and Pleasureland and Southport Pier close by.

Bowland Escapes, Lancashire

Driving Distance: About 47 minutes (23.6 miles) | Sleeps: Up to 6 | Hot tubs: Yes | Pet friendly? Yes

Rolling Ribble Valley countryside, 2½ miles from Chipping and 9 miles from Clitheroe’s 12th-century castle. Animal-mad kids will love it. The lodges sit right next to Bowland Wild Boar Park, with tractor rides and animal feeding. The park says family passes come free with your stay, so ask which dates it’s open.

Ribble Valley View, Lancashire

Driving Distance: About 34 minutes (24.3 miles) | Sleeps: Up to 4 | Hot tubs: No | Pet friendly? Yes

Sweeping views over the pastures of a working dairy farm, a stone’s throw from the Forest of Bowland, and a 4.7 rating from guests.

There are more on our Lancashire lodges page and right across North West England, and our hot tub holidays guide is worth a read too.

Days out on the Fylde Coast

• Blackpool: the Pleasure Beach, and Sandcastle Waterpark, the UK’s largest indoor waterpark with 18 slides and attractions. The Illuminations light the full six miles nightly from 4 September to 1 November, then a shorter stretch until 3 January 2027.
• Lytham: the windmill on the green has a local history exhibition, and Lytham Hall has gardens and woodland (see Visit Lancashire’s guide).
• Fairhaven Lake: on the seafront towards St Annes, with boat rides, adventure golf and the RSPB’s Ribble Discovery Centre, a short hop from the beach.

Heading on to the Lakes? See our guides to lodges near Kirkby Lonsdale and lodges near Cartmel, or Park Cliffe family glamping pods. For the Yorkshire seaside instead, there’s our review of The Bay in Filey.

What to pack

Planning a summer visit? Start with our school summer holiday offers, or search every park on Book Holiday Lodge by hot tub, pets or beds.

Ribby Hall lodge FAQs