England
Day Trip
New Forest
Hampshire, England
Hampshire, England
The New Forest is one of England's most beloved and most distinctive National Parks — a largely ancient landscape of open heathland, ancient wood-pasture and dense woodland in Hampshire and Wiltshire that has been managed as a royal hunting forest since William the Conqueror created it in 1079. The "New" in the name is relative — the Forest's most important habitats are anything but new, and the ancient oak and beech woodlands of the Inclosures contain trees that have stood for 400 years or more.
What makes the New Forest unique in Britain — and indeed in Europe — is the continuation of the ancient practice of common grazing. Around 7,000 cattle, horses, ponies, pigs and donkeys roam freely across the Forest under the management of the ancient office of the New Forest Commoners, creating a pastoral landscape of extraordinary openness and natural beauty. The famous New Forest ponies — small, hardy semi-wild horses — are the living symbols of the Forest and can be encountered at virtually every car park, village green and forest road throughout the year.
About This Destination
One of England's newest National Parks and oldest royal forests, where free-roaming ponies, deer and cattle wander through ancient woodland. The New Forest offers a wonderfully peaceful and distinctly English group day out, with pretty villages and excellent walking.
Beaulieu, at the southern edge of the Forest, combines three outstanding group attractions in a single admission price: the National Motor Museum (one of the finest motoring collections in the world, including Donald Campbell's Bluebird and numerous Bond cars), Palace House (the ancestral home of Lord Montagu, built within the gatehouse of the medieval Cistercian Beaulieu Abbey) and the atmospheric ruins of the Abbey itself. The monorail, simulator rides and "Wheels" interactive exhibition make Beaulieu an excellent choice for mixed-age groups.
Lyndhurst is the administrative and social centre of the New Forest — a busy village with a disproportionate number of excellent independent shops, restaurants and tearooms for its size. The Church of St Michael and All Angels contains a magnificent Pre-Raphaelite east window by William Morris and Edward Burne-Jones, and the grave of Alice Liddell Hargreaves (the inspiration for Alice in Wonderland) is in the churchyard. The New Forest Museum on the High Street provides excellent orientation for first-time visitors.
The New Forest supports populations of all six UK native reptile species (common lizard, sand lizard, slow worm, grass snake, smooth snake and adder) and is one of the finest locations in England for woodland butterflies including the silver-washed fritillary, purple emperor and white admiral. The Ancient Ornamental Woodland at Mark Ash contains some of the finest pollarded beech trees in England — great spreading multi-stemmed veterans that are among the most extraordinary trees in the country.
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Day trip
Distance
~90 miles
Country
England
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