Country Houses and Gardens
Walk and visit stately homes and beautiful gardens
As featured in the LA Times. We English folk love our homes and we love our gardens even more so. So we wanted to combine these two pleasures along with our own originated walking trails, to offer you this enchanting walking based experience.
The itinerary is created to enable you to have time to visit and explore some of the great houses & gardens of the West Country (South West England) whilst enjoying walks and unhurried time in the countryside.
Pictures – with our thanks to the National Trust.
Walks with time to make visits
The trip is multi centre, so you can travel within different counties of South West England, walking and visiting houses and gardens as you go.
From Stourhead, world renowned landscape garden, ruined castles in Capability Brown designed settings, to the humble home of English cottage gardening, there’s a real mix of options on this trail. And not to forget a day or two to hike in the country, just for the joy of nature.
Typically the trails start in the idyllic countryside of South Wiltshire, in the 18th century this was a popular place to have your country house, so the area has a wealth of houses, deer parks and gardens.
Onward to Somerset, this area boasts a wealth of Elizabethan houses and architecture, with castles, hunting lodges and grand houses to explore. And to conclude in ‘Avon’ and the city of Bath, and one of the finest examples of 18th century architecture.
Every trip is customisable to you. Choose rest days and sightseeing days but importantly also a choice of walking lengths and distances. You will liaise with our expert trip planning team to create a trail that’s right for you.
Read more about our food & accommodation here.
Ready to start your adventure?
How to get here
The trail starts to the west of Salisbury in Wiltshire.
The nearest train station for arrivals is at Tisbury, Wiltshire. Travel is approximately 100 minutes from London Waterloo. The journey time by car, about 2 hours from London.
The suggested international airport is London Heathrow which offers an easy transfer, around two hours to the start of the trail. There is also a regional airport at Southampton.
Airport cars often make the most convenient transfer and we can arrange this for you.
Trail highlights include:
- Walk down sweeping drives to admire views of some of the South West’s greatest houses, including Stourhead in Wiltshire and Montacute in Somerset
- Experience the fashions, trends and stories of different periods of English history including Elizabethan, Georgian and the Arts and Crafts movement
- Smell the heady scent of beautiful flowers, roses, red campion and lavender
- Enjoy some pretty spectacular trees! Willows, oak and lime
- Take afternoon tea – with teapot and shortbread in a wonderful English setting
- Explore former kitchens, banqueting halls, kitchen gardens and topiaries
- Walk on trails through picturesque rural English countryside and villages
- Admire ponds, fountains, water features and water lilies
Walking
We are passionate about the experience of walking, the sense of journey, and the wellbeing from time spent outside. Wandering the landscape at 2mph allows time to observe the world around us, connect with nature, and to slow down.
We have a range of trails from 8 to 12 miles. When we curate your itinerary we can customise your daily walks.
We advise that our guests should feel comfortable walking 8 miles a day, to get the most from your trip. To us, it’s nice to feel like you have done something, the sense of achievement, but not so much that the thought of another day is off putting.
To help you find your way we provide local maps and word directions on our trail cards, tried and tested, by our team and Volunteer Trail Guides.
Included in your Foot Trail
- Tailored and crafted Walk and Explore Box with everything you need
- Local Ordnance Survey™ map exerts (waterproof) with your trails annotated
Trail guide cards (waterproof one for each day with easy to follow wording - Foot Trails expertise and experience, working with our Trail Consultants to custom made your trip to suit you and the English season instructions)
- Local stories and histories
- Recommended lunchtime stops at country pubs and cafes
- Nature cards for identifying wild flowers, trees and animals
- Seasonal nature guide book
- Sweets (for a boost on route)
- Your en-suite accommodation
- Breakfasts
- One bottle of wine
- Two decades of expertise and know-how
- Inn to Inn luggage transfers with our trusted driver team
- Drop off services when it makes for a better walk
Example Pricing
Everything about your Foot Trail is deliberate, chosen with care and intent for you. Therefore each trip is quoted individually, and will vary from the example pricing below.
A 6 night Country houses & Gardens itinerary starts from £1100 per person (based on 2 people sharing a room).
How to book
When you get in touch we will take a little time to find out more from you about the experience you would like, the things you enjoy and your travel plans. We then use our passion, experience and local knowledge to craft a daily itinerary for you.
You will receive a full daily itinerary and details of all your accommodations before you book. Once you are happy with your itinerary you simply confirm with your deposit and we will look after everything for you.
Get in touch to start your consultation – contact us
Like to find out more?
To find out more and request an example itinerary for one of our trails, just pop your details in below or give us a call on +44 (0) 1747 820626.
